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T-Mobile Home Internet vs Starlink

When T-Mobile is the better buy, when Starlink fixes what T-Mobile can’t, and how to test both at your own house before you pay twice.

Updated Facts checked 16 min read By Starlink Switch USA

Tall lattice cell tower beside a farm with a silo and white barns behind a green field
Photo: Corey Coyle, CC BY 3.0 (colour toned down)

Answer first · current to

T-Mobile Home Internet vs Starlink comes down to one test: how T-Mobile does at your house at 8 p.m. Where the signal is strong and evenings hold up, T-Mobile is usually the better buy. Its regular price is $50/mo with AutoPay on the Rely plan, and in Ookla’s US data for April–June 2026 (Q2 2026) its users measured a median of 222.7 Mbps down with 46 ms lag.

Starlink is the better fix when T-Mobile is fast late at night but crawls every evening because the tower is crowded, when a weak signal doesn’t improve after you’ve moved the gateway, or when T-Mobile doesn’t serve your address at all. Starlink costs whatever starlink.com quotes for your address, and the dish needs open sky.

T-Mobile sells three 5G Home Internet plans: Rely, Amplified and All-In. The regular prices with AutoPay are $50/mo (Rely), $60/mo (Amplified) and $70/mo (All-In). Prices need AutoPay from a debit card or bank account, otherwise $10 more a month.

The lower prices you may see are a limited-time offer. Right now T-Mobile’s plan table shows lower prices for new internet-only lines. They come from a monthly bill credit that needs a code at checkout, not from a new regular price. T-Mobile’s price promise doesn’t lock them in either: a 5-year price guarantee on the internet price itself; taxes and fees, limited-time promotions and network management are not covered. Budget on the regular price.

  • If you have a T-Mobile phone line, Home Internet costs less: with a qualifying T-Mobile postpaid voice line, $20 a month off for now ($30, $40 or $50 with AutoPay); T-Mobile calls this credit limited-time, and its plan FAQ still describes the usual voice-line price of Rely as $35 ($15 off).
  • Taxes and fees: T-Mobile includes taxes and fees for qualifying accounts, but accounts that already pay them on a T-Mobile phone line pay Regulatory Programs & Telco Recovery Fees of up to $2.60 per line plus surcharges.
  • Up front: a one-time setup fee of $35. The gateway (the box that picks up the 5G signal and makes your Wi-Fi) is included, with no annual contract and no monthly equipment fee.

Starlink sets its price by address: US Residential prices vary by region, and starlink.com hides Residential prices until you type in an address. For reference, with no address entered, Starlink’s US national order list showed Residential 100 Mbps at $49.50, 200 Mbps at $76.50 and Max at $143 a month on Nov 3, 2026; prices vary by address, and starlink.com shows yours once you enter it, while starlink.com still quoted $55, $85 and $130 monthly for those plans that day on the order page of one public test address, a courthouse in Broken Bow, Nebraska (the national prices until about Oct 25, 2026). Elsewhere, press checks found Residential prices up to 20% above or below the standard price, depending on the address. Then the kit: buying costs $349, and renting, where Starlink offers it, starts with a one-time $0, $99 or $199 set by address and plan (the $99 adds professional installation; the $199 is a rental kit that includes it).

The usual complaint in reader forums is that Starlink costs close to twice what 5G home internet does. Check that against your own numbers: the T-Mobile plan you would actually use, with or without a phone line, next to the monthly figure starlink.com quotes for your address. Every cost of switching, added up

Why is T-Mobile fast at 3 a.m. and slow at 8 p.m.?

Your T-Mobile gateway shares the cell tower with every phone and home around it. Late at night there’s plenty to go around. In the evening, when the whole area streams, games and scrolls, each home’s share shrinks. If your speeds are fine overnight and poor every evening, the tower near you is crowded.

T-Mobile says so in its own plan terms: during congestion, T-Mobile Home Internet customers may get slower speeds than other customers, and slower still after 1.2 TB in a month. In other words, when the tower is busy, other T-Mobile customers can come first.

Starlink has busy hours too, which it names as 6 pm to 11 pm local time. Its plan terms say speeds can slow during network congestion and peak hours, Residential 100 and 200 Mbps slow down sooner than Residential Max, and Starlink may cut the speed of households that use far more than a typical home. Neither company promises evening speeds. The difference is who you share with: on T-Mobile, everyone near your tower; on Starlink, the other Starlink users in your area. That’s why the only fair test is the same one for both, at the same busy hour.

Why to run speed tests in the busy evening hoursA 24-hour strip from 6 am to 6 am with the busy evening hours, about 6 to 11 pm, shaded. A speed test at 3 am meets a quiet network; a speed test at 8 pm meets a busy network and shows the speed you actually get when it matters. Test both services at the same busy hour, several days in a row.busy evening hours6 amnoon6 pmmidnight6 am8 pmBusy network3 amQuiet networkTest both services at the same busyhour, several days in a row
Home internet is busiest in the evening. A speed test at 3 a.m. can look far better than what you get at dinner time, on T-Mobile and on Starlink.

What Ookla measured across the US

Median download and lag, all US users (Ookla)

T-Mobile Home Internet, download (Q2 2026)
222.7 Mbps
Starlink, download (Q1 2026)
127.39 Mbps
T-Mobile Home Internet, lag (Q2 2026)
46 ms
Starlink, lag (Q1 2026)
39 ms

Crowd-sourced Speedtest medians from Ookla. The quarters differ because Ookla reports 5G home internet and satellite separately.

On these national numbers T-Mobile looks faster than Starlink, with lag that’s close. But a national median hides two things that matter at a rural address: rural fixed-wireless users get lower download speeds and 7–13 ms more latency than urban users on all three carriers, and fixed-wireless speeds dip in spring and summer, when leaves and heat weaken the signal. Your own 8 p.m. test is the number that counts.

Weak signal or crowded tower? Try a better gateway spot first

Before you spend money on anything, work out which problem you have. They need different fixes.

  • Slow at every hour, even late at night: the signal reaching your gateway is weak. A better spot can fix that.
  • Fine late at night, poor every evening: the tower is crowded. No spot in your house adds capacity to the tower.

If it’s the signal, try this before you think about switching:

  1. Move the gateway toward the tower. An upstairs window on the side of the house facing the tower usually beats a shelf in the middle of the house. Keep it away from metal, mirrors and big appliances.
  2. Watch the signal reading. Use the signal bars on the gateway or in T-Mobile’s app, and move the gateway a little at a time.
  3. Give each spot a day. Run a speed test at 8 p.m. and again late at night, and write both down.
  4. Ask about an outdoor antenna only after that. Some gateway models have antenna connectors and many don’t, so check your model before you buy one.

T-Mobile pays your old provider’s cancellation fee

If you’re leaving HughesNet, Viasat or another provider in the middle of a contract, this is a real reason to choose T-Mobile. T-Mobile reimburses the early termination fee (the fee for leaving a contract early) from your previous internet provider, up to $750. It’s paid as a prepaid card, not cash, and the card expires. You need proof of the fee, a record of good standing with your old provider, and to send it in by T-Mobile’s deadline after activation. Read the offer terms on T-Mobile’s home internet page before you cancel anything.

For scale: a HughesNet customer can owe up to $400 to leave early, and Viasat charges $15 for each month left in your minimum term; no fee on month-to-month plans. T-Mobile’s cap is higher than either. Verizon has a similar credit of up to $500 (Verizon vs Starlink). We haven’t seen Starlink offer anything like it. Work out your own fee with the fee calculator.

It goes both ways. In Starlink owners’ own forums, one story comes up regularly: Starlink worked well for a year or more, then T-Mobile upgraded a nearby tower, Home Internet became available at their address, and they moved to save money each month. If T-Mobile serves your address and holds up in the evening, the same logic applies to you: there’s no prize for paying more for the same result.

T-Mobile Home Internet vs Starlink (checked Nov 3, 2026)
What we compareT-Mobile Home Internet5G from a cell towerStarlinkResidential, low-orbit satellites
Monthly priceregular price, before limited-time offersRely $50/mo, Amplified $60/mo, All-In $70/mo, with AutoPay. Lower limited-time prices for new lines right now.Set by address: US Residential prices vary by region, and starlink.com hides Residential prices until you type in an address.
With a phone plan from the same companyWith a qualifying T-Mobile postpaid voice line, $20 a month off for now ($30, $40 or $50 with AutoPay); T-Mobile calls this credit limited-time, and its plan FAQ still describes the usual voice-line price of Rely as $35 ($15 off).No discount to get: no Starlink Residential plan includes home phone or voice service; Starlink sells internet service.
ContractNo annual contract and no monthly equipment fee.Month-to-month with no long-term contract (some offers excepted). Check the order summary for any term.
Equipment and setupThe 5G gateway is included. One-time setup fee: $35. You set it up yourself.Buy the kit for $349, or rent it where offered: a one-time $0, $99 or $199 set by address and plan (the $99 adds professional installation; the $199 is a rental kit that includes it).
Measured downloadmedian of all US users (Ookla); 5G: Q2 2026, Starlink: Q1 2026222.7 Mbps127.39 Mbps
Measured uploadmedian of all US users (Ookla); 5G: Q2 2026, Starlink: Q1 202618.12 Mbps21.46 Mbps
Measured lag (latency)median, lower is better (Ookla); 5G: Q2 2026, Starlink: Q1 202646 ms39 ms
Speed the company statesTypical downloads of 170–498 Mbps on Amplified and All-In (170–354 Mbps on Rely) and typical uploads of 12–55 Mbps.Starlink's Specifications expect 80–100 Mbps download on Residential 100 and 80–200 Mbps on Residential 200, 15–35 Mbps upload on both, and send you to the coverage map for Residential Max.
When the network is busyin each company’s own wordsUnlimited data. During congestion, T-Mobile Home Internet customers may get slower speeds than other customers, and slower still after 1.2 TB in a month.Unlimited data on every Residential plan, but speeds can slow during network congestion and peak hours, Residential 100 and 200 Mbps slow down sooner than Residential Max, and Starlink may cut the speed of households that use far more than a typical home. Peak hours: 6 pm to 11 pm local time.
Where it worksAddress-based: T-Mobile says Home Internet reaches 70 million households, but each address is checked and the service only works at the address given at activation.Needs open sky: Starlink wants as much open sky as it can get, though a dish with part of its view blocked often still works. Starlink says plan offerings vary with network capacity, regulatory approval and local demand, and some plans may not be available in your area.
If the test failsA 15-day test drive: cancel inside 15 days of activation, send the gateway back, and ask for the refund (paid as a bill credit) no more than 30 days after you cancel.A kit bought on starlink.com and sent back undamaged inside 30 days of your Payment Due Date earns a full refund, first month's fee included.
Equipment back when you leaveGateway back within 45 days of cancelling, or a fee of up to $370.Bought kit: yours to keep. Rented kit: after you cancel, a rented kit has 30 days to reach Starlink in good condition; otherwise you're billed its full retail price.
Measured rows for the 5G service: Ookla (Speedtest Intelligence data), in its article of August 26, 2026, covering April–June 2026 (Q2 2026). For Starlink: Ookla’s newest US satellite report, covering Q1 2026. Both are medians of crowd-sourced Speedtest results from all US users, with every plan and home Wi-Fi mixed in, and the quarters differ, so treat them as a rough guide. Rural fixed-wireless users get lower download speeds and 7–13 ms more latency than urban users on all three carriers. Every other row comes from each company’s own pages on the dates listed under Sources.

The same rows, in the same order, are on our Verizon 5G Home and AT&T Internet Air comparisons.

Reality check

Keep T-Mobile, or choose it, if…

  • T-Mobile’s speed at 8 p.m. is good enough for your household on most evenings. It costs less and needs no dish.
  • A better gateway spot fixed your evening speeds.
  • You’re leaving HughesNet or Viasat mid-contract and T-Mobile serves your address: T-Mobile reimburses up to $750 of the fee as a prepaid card, with conditions.
  • You have a T-Mobile phone line. The phone-line discount makes Home Internet cheaper still.
  • Trees or hills block most of the sky at your house, and the Starlink app finds no clear spot.
  • Cable or a funded fiber build is due at your address within about a year. Wait and compare then.

Use the same yardstick for both: the same device, the same room, the same hour, several evenings in a row.

Testing both, in order
  1. Log eveningsT-Mobile, 1 week
  2. Check the skyStarlink app
  3. Set up StarlinkT-Mobile still on
  4. Same testsboth, 8 p.m.
  5. Decidekeep one

  1. Log a week of T-Mobile evenings

    5 minutes a day

    Run a speed test at about 8 p.m. and again late at night, every day for a week. Write down download, upload and ping (lag). Make one video call in the evening. Test next to the gateway, with a cable if your computer has a port, so weak Wi-Fi in a far room doesn’t muddy the result.

  2. Check your sky with the Starlink app

    15 minutes

    The Starlink app helps you pick an install spot and check for obstructions that could interfere with service. Install the app before you order, and check the spots where a dish could go: a roof peak, a pole, an open patch of yard. How to check your spot

  3. Set Starlink up next to T-Mobile

    day 1

    Keep T-Mobile plugged in. Pick a spot with open sky, plug in, and the dish finds satellites in a few minutes; current kits don't point themselves, so you rotate the dish the way the Starlink app's alignment screen tells you. Day-one setup

  4. Run the same tests on both at 8 p.m.

    3+ evenings

    Test each service in the same spot, at the same hour, on at least three evenings. Look at ping and how much it jumps around, not only download speed: a steady ping is what keeps video calls and games smooth.

  5. Decide, then close out the one you don’t keep

    30 minutes

    Keeping T-Mobile? If Starlink doesn’t work at your house, a kit bought on starlink.com and sent back undamaged inside 30 days of your Payment Due Date earns a full refund, first month's fee included. Moving to Starlink? Cancel T-Mobile and send the gateway back (next section).

Don’t have T-Mobile yet? Try it first: it’s usually the cheaper option and needs no dish. T-Mobile offers a 15-day test drive: cancel inside 15 days of activation, send the gateway back, and ask for the refund (paid as a bill credit) no more than 30 days after you cancel. Want every date worked out? The switch planner makes a dated checklist.

Leaving T-Mobile Home Internet

  • No contract to break: T-Mobile Home Internet has no annual contract and no monthly equipment fee.
  • Send the gateway back within 45 days of cancelling, or T-Mobile charges up to $370. Photograph the gateway and its power cord in the box, and keep the tracking number. Returning old equipment
  • Your phone line stays. Cancelling Home Internet doesn’t end a T-Mobile phone plan, but any discount tied to having both can change. Ask before you cancel.

What switchers ask

Starlink or T-Mobile Home Internet in a rural area?

Check T-Mobile at your address first. If it serves you and holds up at 8 p.m., it usually costs less. Pick Starlink if T-Mobile isn’t offered, the signal stays weak after you’ve moved the gateway, or evenings are poor because the tower is crowded. Rural homes tend to get slower 5G than homes in town, so test at your house.

My T-Mobile Home Internet was fine, but now it slows down every evening. Is my tower congested?

Probably, if late-night speeds are still good. Run tests at 8 p.m. and late at night for a week. Good at night and poor in the evening points to a crowded tower; poor at every hour points to a weak signal.

Should I put an outdoor antenna on my T-Mobile gateway instead of switching?

Only if the problem is a weak signal, and only after you’ve tried better spots inside. Check that your gateway model has antenna connectors first. An antenna can’t fix a crowded tower.

Which has lower lag for gaming, T-Mobile Home Internet or Starlink?

They’re close on paper: Ookla’s US medians were 46 ms for T-Mobile Home Internet (Q2 2026) and 39 ms for Starlink (Q1 2026). What hurts games is lag that jumps in the evening, so test at 8 p.m. One difference if you host game servers: on Starlink, Residential gets IPv4 through CGNAT, so no public IPv4 address and no inbound IPv4 connections (a public IPv4 is offered only on Local and Global Priority plans), while native IPv6 works on every plan.

Is Starlink worth about double what T-Mobile costs?

Only if T-Mobile doesn’t work well at your house in the evening. If it does, keep the savings. Compare the regular T-Mobile price you’d pay with what starlink.com quotes for your address.

Does T-Mobile really pay my HughesNet early termination fee?

T-Mobile reimburses a previous provider’s early termination fee up to $750, as a prepaid card, if you meet its conditions (proof of the fee, good standing with the old provider and a deadline after activation). Read the terms on T-Mobile’s page before you cancel.

Does Starlink slow down in the evening too?

It can. Starlink says speeds can slow at peak hours, which it names as 6 pm to 11 pm local time. That’s why you test both at the same hour.

Will Starlink work in snow and heavy rain?

Mostly. Starlink says a downpour, heavy snow or hail may drop the connection for a short spell, and service should return when the weather clears. Its dish is rated IP67 (Type 4), works from −30 °C to 50 °C (−22 °F to 122 °F) and melts up to 40 mm (about 1.5 in) of snow an hour.

Where these facts come from

We took every figure and rule on this page from the pages below; the oldest reading dates from . Terms move often, so confirm with the provider before you cancel or order.

  1. 15-Day T-Mobile Internet Test Drive (support)T-Mobile USA · checked Nov 3, 2026 · primary source
  2. 5G Home Internet (Verizon)Verizon · checked Nov 3, 2026 · primary source
  3. 5G Home Internet Plans (T-Mobile)T-Mobile USA · checked Nov 3, 2026 · primary source
  4. Customer Agreement (Residential), Version 9.22Viasat, Inc. · published Oct 8, 2026 · checked Nov 3, 2026 · primary source
  5. Early Termination Fees and Other Important Terms (customers who subscribed on or after July 8, 2025)Hughes Network Systems, LLC · published Jul 8, 2025 · checked Nov 3, 2026 · primary source
  6. Ookla's 2026 US Starlink speed reportOokla · published May 5, 2026 · checked Nov 3, 2026 · primary source
  7. Our starlink.com order-page screenshots for a Broken Bow, NE test address (no order placed)Starlink · checked Nov 3, 2026 · primary source
  8. RV Mobile Internet on Starlink's address-based price test (Oct 2026)published Oct 30, 2026 · checked Nov 2, 2026 · secondary source
  9. Standard 4 X spec sheet (PDF)Starlink · checked Nov 3, 2026 · primary source
  10. Starlink app listing, Apple App StoreStarlink · checked Nov 3, 2026 · primary source
  11. Starlink plan descriptions (US legal document)Starlink · published Oct 8, 2026 · checked Nov 3, 2026 · primary source
  12. Starlink specifications (US legal document)Starlink · published Mar 11, 2026 · checked Nov 3, 2026 · primary source
  13. Starlink support: contract questionchecked Nov 2, 2026 · primary source
  14. Starlink support: first-time setupStarlink · checked Nov 3, 2026 · primary source
  15. Starlink support: IP addressesStarlink · checked Nov 3, 2026 · primary source
  16. Starlink support: moving your service addresschecked Nov 2, 2026 · primary source
  17. Starlink support: obstruction check before installStarlink · checked Nov 3, 2026 · primary source
  18. Starlink support: plan eligibilitychecked Nov 2, 2026 · primary source
  19. Starlink support: Residential plansStarlink · checked Nov 3, 2026 · primary source
  20. Starlink support: returning a kitchecked Nov 2, 2026 · primary source
  21. Starlink support: the referral programchecked Nov 2, 2026 · primary source
  22. Starlink support: weather and serviceStarlink · checked Nov 3, 2026 · primary source
  23. Starlink terms of service (US)published Aug 6, 2026 · checked Nov 2, 2026 · primary source
  24. starlink.com front page as a US visitor with no addresschecked Nov 2, 2026 · primary source
  25. Starlink's US Residential price list (no address)checked Nov 2, 2026 · primary source
  26. Starlink's US Roam price list (no address)checked Nov 2, 2026 · primary source
  27. T-Mobile Home InternetT-Mobile USA · checked Nov 3, 2026 · primary source
  28. U.S. FWA Was Envisioned as a Rural Broadband Fix, but Urban Users Are Embracing It TooOokla · published Aug 26, 2026 · checked Nov 3, 2026 · primary source
  29. Why are my speeds slow outside or during peak hours? (Starlink help center)Starlink · checked Nov 3, 2026 · primary source
  30. r/Starlink: Starlink owner of 14 months orders T-Mobile Home Internet after a tower upgradeReddit · published Mar 20, 2026 · checked Oct 21, 2026 · primary source
  31. r/Starlink: owner switching from Starlink to T-Mobile Home InternetReddit · published Sep 1, 2024 · checked Oct 21, 2026 · primary source

Checking method: each price, fee and rule here links to the provider’s or regulator’s own page, dated the day we read it. No internet provider pays for a place on this site; the only income is the Starlink referral explained on our money page. Our fact-checking · How we make money · Corrections

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