Editor's Note: This story comes from CableTV.com.
If you’re stuck between having satellite internet and no internet at all, we’d recommend Starlink thanks to its unlimited data caps, excellent availability, great performance, and high download speeds.
But if you’re deciding between T-Mobile 5G Home Internet or Starlink, we’d recommend T-Mobile overall.
T-Mobile 5G Home Internet’s no-cost installation and equally fast internet speeds make it the clear winner over Starlink (psst—T-Mobile’s our winner for the country’s best value internet provider).
If you’re going by our annual customer satisfaction survey ratings, both Starlink and T-Mobile rank highly across the board in categories like reliability, internet speeds, and customer support.
And in overall satisfaction, Starlink and T-Mobile both made the top three out of 25 internet service providers, with Starlink coming in first. You’ll get great internet service on both providers.
Compare T-Mobile 5G Home Internet to Starlink head-to-head
| Service | Price | Download speed | Upload speed | Data cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T-Mobile 5G Home Internet | $35.00–$70.00/month* | 170-498 Mbps | 12-55 Mbps | Unlimited |
| Starlink | $80.00–$165.00/month** | Up to 400 Mbps | Up to 40 Mbps | 50 GB–Unlimited |
*$35.00/mo. with Autopay and a T-Mobile voice line. 5-year price guarantee. w/AutoPay. Guarantee exclusions like taxes and fees apply.
**Plus hardware, shipping & handling fees, and tax. Fully refundable. Depending on location, some orders may take 2 weeks or more to fulfill.
Data effective as of publish date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
Living somewhere without cable or fiber internet service? T-Mobile and Starlink can fit your home’s internet needs depending on your budget and local internet options. Let’s break down what you need to know about each ISP.
T-Mobile vs. Starlink plans and prices
Starlink may have wider availability, but T-Mobile 5G Home Internet offers cheaper internet service with no hidden fees (and great bundle discounts) that bump it ahead of Starlink. Keep on reading to learn more about both provider’s plans and prices.
T-Mobile plans and prices
| Package | Price* | Download speeds up to | Upload speeds up to | Data cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T-Mobile Rely Internet | $35.00–$50.00/month | 87-318 Mbps | 12-55 Mbps | Unlimited |
| T-Mobile Amplified Internet | $45.00–$60.00/month | 170-498 Mbps | 12-55 Mbps | Unlimited |
| T-Mobile All-In Internet | $55.00–$70.00/month | 170-498 Mbps | 12-55 Mbps | Unlimited |
*$35.00/mo. with Autopay and a T-Mobile voice line. 5-year price guarantee. w/AutoPay. Guarantee exclusions like taxes and fees apply.
Data effective as of publish date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
T-Mobile’s internet service is a little different from your standard cable ISP. T-Mobile 5G Home Internet is a 5G home internet service, meaning that it uses T-Mobile’s existing 5G mobile data network to bring internet service to your home.
But different tech aside, you likely won’t notice much difference between a normal cable internet plan and T-Mobile 5G Home Internet.
With maximum download speeds of around 500 Mbps, T-Mobile will be fast enough to cover most homes’ basic internet needs. You might run into problems if you regularly download large PlayStation or Steam games, but T-Mobile will be more than enough for emails or Netflix streaming.
Plus, T-Mobile doesn’t have restrictions like data caps or low upload speeds. You won’t have to worry about racking up overage fees or laggy performance when taking Zoom calls. And the discount you get when bundling their internet with a T-Mobile mobile plan doesn’t hurt either.
Starlink plans and prices
| Plan | Price** | Download speed | Upload speed | Data cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential Lite | $80.00/month | Up to 250 Mbps | Up to 35 Mbps | Unlimited standard data |
| Residential | $120.00/month | Up to 400 Mbps | Up to 40 Mbps | Unlimited standard data |
| Roam 50GB | $50.00/month | Up to 300 Mbps | Up to 30 Mbps | 50 GB |
| Roam Unlimited | $165.00/month | Up to 300 Mbps | Up to 30 Mbps | Unlimited standard data |
**Plus hardware, shipping & handling fees, and tax. Fully refundable. Depending on location, some orders may take 2 weeks or more to fulfill.
Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
Starlink’s prices may seem bogglingly high, but like with most satellite ISPs, we’re grading them on a significant curve. Satellite ISPs provide internet access via physical satellites that are launched into orbit, and they’ve traditionally been last-resort options for rural households that don’t have access to cable or DSL internet.
By satellite ISP standards, Starlink beats the competition by a considerable margin. With speeds up to 400 Mbps, Starlink provides comparable performance to T-Mobile 5G Home Internet, and you won’t have to settle for low-quality video streams and slow page loading.
Also, Starlink doesn’t have data caps on its residential plans, which we love. You’ll only get hit with a hard data cap if you go with the more flexible, non-residential Roam 50 GB plan.
T-Mobile vs. Starlink fees and extra charges
Starlink fees and extra charges
- Standard hardware: $349.00
- High-performance hardware: $2,500.00
Starlink’s biggest downside is its sizable equipment costs. Most residential users will be fine with Starlink’s standard kit—the high-performance kit is mainly designed for businesses, power users, and residents who live in polar areas.
But at the same time, Starlink’s $349 equipment charge will likely be a tough ask for most households.
Starlink’s not alone here, as most satellite ISPs offload their satellite costs onto subscribers: HughesNet’s satellite internet costs $449.99, while Viasat’s equipment costs $299.99. But if you’re coming from a cable or fiber ISP, Starlink’s equipment costs will likely induce some sticker shock.
T-Mobile fees and extra charges
- None
You won’t have to worry about fine-print fees with T-Mobile. The provider includes internet equipment with your monthly bill, and its contract-free service means you won’t get hit with a surprise annual price hike.
But if you don’t want to enroll in AutoPay, you’ll have to pay an additional $5 monthly.
T-Mobile vs. Starlink specs and features
T-Mobile and Starlink aren’t traditional internet providers, so they have their share of quirks and unique features. Here’s what you need to know before you sign with either ISP.
Equipment
T-Mobile customers just have to place T-Mobile’s high-performance gateway device (which is a combo modem/Wi-Fi router) near a high point or window to get the best internet signal.
The higher-tier Plus plan also comes with a Wi-Fi Mesh Access Point, which is an additional piece of equipment that expands your 5G Home Internet coverage, providing more consistent speeds across your home (i.e., upstairs, basement, back or front yard, etc.).
By comparison, Starlink customers must physically mount the Starlink satellite outside to connect to the internet. Oh, and Starlink customers must pay $349 for their equipment, versus $0 for T-Mobile’s. Bummer.
Understanding download speeds
With a traditional cable or fiber ISP, your internet plan has one maximum download speed listed, and you’ll typically expect internet performance around that benchmark. However, T-Mobile and Starlink’s wider download and upload speed ranges are a byproduct of the tech behind each ISP.
Day-to-day 5G and satellite internet speeds heavily depend on variables like the amount of coverage and network traffic in your area. If you’re close to a 5G tower or have a clear sky view, you’ll likely hit the high end of each provider’s speed range. But if your area has minimal coverage, your internet performance may be inconsistent.
No contracts or data caps
If there are two things we at CableTV.com hate more than anything, it’s contracts and data caps.
No one likes getting roped into an internet plan for two years (What if you move? What if Google Fiber comes to town?). And stopping a Netflix binge mid-season due to data overages? No, thank you.
Thankfully, you won’t have to worry about either of these things if you sign up for T-Mobile 5G Home Internet or Starlink’s residential plans. Both providers provide the flexibility of no contracts, allowing you to switch or drop the service anytime you need.
And with unlimited data, you’ll also dodge any pesky overage fees. Starlink does reserve the right to throttle data, but you won’t need to budget in any extra data fees.
Can you get T-Mobile 5G Home Internet or Starlink in your neighborhood?
T-Mobile 5G Home Internet’s availability is the service’s biggest downside. T-Mobile has rolled out the service city by city since it relies on the provider’s existing 5G tower network. But in practice, it means that it’s a crapshoot whether or not your address qualifies for service.
As a satellite ISP, Starlink isn’t restricted by a local, built-in network, so it has nearly coast-to-coast availability within the U.S.
At the moment, Starlink is widely available throughout the entire Western Hemisphere. Currently, small areas of states like New Mexico and West Virginia are awaiting coverage, but if you want Starlink, there’s a good chance it’s available where you live.
T-Mobile 5G Home Internet vs. Starlink customer service
Both Starlink and T-Mobile were high performers in our Internet Customer Satisfaction Survey, ranking first and third, respectively, out of 25 ISPs.
Starlink’s results are particularly surprising, given the overall bad rep satellite internet providers (rightfully) get. For example, the other major satellite ISP in our survey, HughesNet, clocked in dead last in that same survey. That’s as big a discrepancy as you can get.
We chalk this up to Starlink’s newness, its faster speeds compared to competing satellite ISPs, and its low-Earth orbit satellite system, the latter of which significantly increases its reliability (it came in first in our reliability customer rankings!). Impressively, Starlink’s customers are highly satisfied with the provider’s reliability and average download speeds.
But even with Starlink’s top-notch finishes, we still think T-Mobile is the better fit for most internet users.
Starlink outperforms competing satellite internet providers by a healthy margin, and had stellar customer satisfaction results in our survey—it’s a must-have if your household’s in a rural area or isn’t served by major providers. But T-Mobile’s lower costs and similar download performance give it the edge for most internet customers.
We even choose T-Mobile 5G Home Internet for our own personal internet needs! A member of our CableTV.com team, Garrett B., has been using T-Mobile’s Unlimited plan for over a year.
There have been no reliability or speed issues for him, even with an entire household’s worth of devices connected to the service. He has no plans to switch from T-Mobile and has even recommended the service to family and friends.
Hear more of what Garrett had to say about his T-Mobile experience in our T-Mobile 5G Home Internet review.
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