T Mobile has announced a new plan for its 5G home internet service, which will not require applicants to undergo a credit check. The prepaid service will take T-Mobile Metro Brand, and customers will be able to sign up at Metro retail stores. This brings a prepaid option to T-Mobile’s $50 a month service, which has no data caps or contracts, which could be attractive to users who don’t have great internet options available from traditional ISPs.
It’s good to see T-Mobile offer an option that doesn’t require credit approval (especially given the status of credit reports in the US). However, there are a few major bugs worth pointing out if you’re investigating the service. With the non-Metro postpaid plan, the T-Mobile router is included in the $50/month price (with autopay), but with the Metro option, you’ll have to pay $99 up front. You must also have “one or more voice lines” to register, which not a requirement for postpaid option.
There are also a few other asterisks that are shared between the Metro and non-Metro versions of T-Mobile’s 5G home internet. The biggest thing is that you have to live in an eligible address, which not everyone will do. You might also see slower internet speeds if T-Mobile’s network is busy, and you’ll have to pay an extra $5 a month if you don’t want to use autopay.
T-Mobile did not immediately respond to an email from the edge wondering if the two versions of the service provided the same speeds, but I couldn’t find anything in their press release to indicate that Metro customers would get different service.
T-Mobile’s 5G home internet certainly has its naysayers. The CEO of Comcast has mocked, though it’s easy to imagine some ulterior motives there. As well didn’t work very well for me when I tried it for a month, although it is quite possible that others may have more luck with it than me; in fact, many commenters praised it.
In my review, I suggested that people go out and try it to see if it worked for them, since T-Mobile doesn’t force you to sign a contract or pay activation fees. Both of those things are also true for the Metro version, but the $100 gateway charge that’s locked onto T-Mobile’s network makes it much less of a “try it out” transaction. That makes it hard for me to fully praise T-Mobile for this new deal; I’d hate to see someone switch to it, find out it doesn’t work very well for them, and then be a bit stuck.
Still, at the end of the day, I’m happy to see that the traditional ISPs are getting some competition, even if it’s from companies that are dominant in another very established market. And it’s nice to see T-Mobile offering an option for those who can’t or don’t want to go through a credit check. I wish there weren’t so many asterisks.