Why You Can Trust CNET T-Mobile quietly raises Home Internet monthly price to $60 for new customers
The carrier's alternative to cable internet is getting more expensive.
T-Mobile's Home Internet has been billed as a cable alternative that offers fast internet speeds, over its 4G and 5G networks, for a flat monthly rate. After charging $50 per month for the initial run of its pilot or test program, the carrier appears to be taking a page out of cable's playbook and has quietly raised the price this week to $60 per month.
Equipment, taxes and fees remain included in the pricing, though you need to make sure you set up automatic payments. A T-Mobile spokesperson told CNET that those already in the pilot would not see their $50 rate increase.
"Since the start of the pilot, we've made significant improvements to our Home Internet service, including network performance, equipment and customer service," a spokesperson told CNET, adding that the company believes that this new price "reflects the value."
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In his early testing, CNET's Rick Broida was impressed with the service, seeing download speeds as high as 145 megabits per second, with uploads as fast as 80Mbps. As one could expect in a pilot program, the speeds did vary and dropped to as low as 15Mbps for downloads and 8Mbps for uploads.
On its website, T-Mobile says that the "vast majority of our customers experience speeds of 25Mbps or more," but cautions that speeds "will vary as this service is relatively new." Unlike some cable providers, T-Mobile says it has no data caps for its Home Internet offering.
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The change in pricing comes as T-Mobile seems to be nearing a wider launch of the service. Last week the carrier announced a version of T-Mobile Home Internet for business customers, which it calls T-Mobile Home Office Internet. The offering is similar to the consumer pilot but restricts access to gaming services and video streaming sites like Netflix, as it is meant to be a dedicated connection for an employee and not internet shared with the whole family.
T-Mobile is hosting a virtual analyst event on Thursday where it may share additional details about its consumer home internet ambitions.
CNET's Rick Broida contributed to this report.