Verizon has offered 5G home internet for a while now, alongside its competitors AT&T and T-Mobile, but it has been expensive outside of bundle deals with phone plans. The company now has a cheaper prepaid option through its Total by Verizon subsidiary.

Total by Verizon, the mobile carrier owned by Verizon and formerly known as Total Wireless, now offers 5G home internet service. It’s similar to the home internet services offered by Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile: you get a large modem that connects to the same cell towers as smartphones, with its own built-in Wi-Fi router or the ability to use your own. 5G home internet services are an increasingly-popular alternative to the limited options most Americans have for land-based internet, as T-Mobile reported 2.1 million home internet customers by the end of 2023, and Verizon has over 3 million home internet customers.

The home internet service from Total uses Verizon’s network and infastucture, but with lower maximum speeds, prepaid no-contract billing, and cheaper prices than Verizon’s existing service. There is unlimited data, but the download speed is maxed out at 200 Mbps—that’s still incredibly fast, but T-Mobile’s internet can reach much higher speeds in areas with excellent coverage. Verizon the pricing “starts” at $45 per month, but that’s only with automatic pay enabled and at least four phone lines already on Total’s Unlimited plans. The normal price is $60 per month, with a $5 discount on top of that if you enable automatic payments. However, Total by Verizon also makes you pay for the router first, which costs $99.99 with activation.

The new service is a bit less expensive than Verizon’s postpaid home internet, which costs $60/mo (before discounts) for “high-speed downloads” and $80/mo (before discounts) for “higher-speed downloads.” Those plans don’t make you pay for the $100 router first, but they are postpaid, so there’s usually a credit check involved.

Verizon’s new postpaid 5G home internet service doesn’t look all that compelling, but it might make the most sense for you if Verizon has the best service in your area out of the big three carriers. You can go to Total by Verizon’s website to check if the service is available at your address.

Source: Total by Verizon