T-Mobile Adds Home Internet Options in the Heartland
T-Mobile is putting its fast "UC" 5G network to new use by delivering affordable home internet to the heartland.
In our 10,000-mile Best Mobile Networks drive, we saw significant growth in T-Mobile's fastest network on a drive between Kansas and Oklahoma. Today, T-Mobile is announcing new home internet service(Opens in a new window) there, as well as in Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, and some bordering parts of nearby states. Here's the map:
The list includes a grab-bag of places served by different forms of internet. Kansas City, Des Moines, and Denver are all huge; Craig (CO), Guymon (OK), and Sikeston (MO) are tiny. Kansas City, Spencer (IA), and Pittsburg (KS), among other cities, have competitive fiber providers.
But often fiber won't cover every address in town, fiber plans aren't affordable, or there are other barriers. For instance, wired internet installers often won't come to families staying in mobile homes or motels.
T-Mobile's approach to coverage is worth understanding. The home internet units share the mobile network, so T-Mobile only sells home internet service on cell sectors where it feels it has capacity available, and sometimes, it sells out. Availability(Opens in a new window) can come and go for an address, based on T-Mobile adding more capacity to its cells. That's why just having T-Mobile "bars" doesn't guarantee home internet access, and why checking for availability once won't tell the whole story.
We have a full review of T-Mobile Home Internet from last year. In general, it isn't as good as fiber, but it really beats DSL. It's also very easy to install, and costs $30-$50/month depending on what other T-Mobile promotions you're using.
The new coverage should be available today.
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