Best Prepaid 5G Home Internet Providers
Pay as you go with a prepaid plan from a budget mobile carrier
May 8, 2026 | Share 
Brand Guides, Internet Buying Guides
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Visible Home Internet
- Starting price: $25.00/mo. (prepaid annually)
- Speeds: Up to 200Mbps
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MINTernet
- Starting price: $40.00/mo. (prepaid annually)
- Speeds up to: 415Mbps
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Straight Talk Home Internet
- Starting price: $45.00/mo.
- Speeds up to: 200Mbps
Availability and speed may vary by location, and prices are subject to change. See Mint Mobile disclaimers.
Visible and MINTernet are our top picks for prepaid home internet. The prices are great, and you can sweeten the deal if you bundle with mobile service from each company. You get the best deal with each if you pay a year ahead.
Both Visible and Mint Mobile are owned outright by the parent networks (Verizon and T-Mobile, respectively), but you can’t get prepaid plans from the Big Three.
If Mint and Visible aren’t your cup of tea, you have other options! Keep reading for info about all our top 5G picks for prepaid home internet service.
In this review:
How 5G home internet works | Visible | MINTernet | Straight Talk | Metro by T-Mobile | Total Wireless | TracFone Wireless | My take
In this review:
How 5G home internet works
Prepaid home internet from mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) is delivered over the air, using signals from cell towers. You need a dedicated gateway to receive the signal, commonly referred to as a 5G router.
This type of fixed wireless internet is faster than ever, but the signal is prioritized relative to both mobile phone traffic. If you buy through an MVNO provider, your signal will also be deprioritized relative to home internet traffic for Verizon and T-Mobile brand-name customers.
The service is good enough for most households, though, and it’s easy to cancel and return your equipment if it doesn’t work out. If you need to save money and can’t get prepaid home internet from a fully wired provider, 5G home internet from an MVNO is worth a try.
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Cheapest prepaid 5G home internet: Visible Home Internet
Availability and speed may vary by location, and prices are subject to change.
Visible Home Internet is our winner for price, and you get access to the ultra-reliable Verizon Wireless network. It’s a great deal if you pay up front for a year, and we love that you get to keep the free internet router you get when you sign up.
We love this deal, but it was just announced in April 2026. That means it might disappear. You should also know that you need to be a Visible wireless customer to qualify for Visible Home Internet. Mobile plans start at $20 per month when you pay ahead.
Best prepaid internet on the T-Mobile network: MINTernet
Availability and speed may vary by location, and prices are subject to change. See disclaimers.
MINTernet from Mint Mobile is our top pick for MVNO home internet on the T-Mobile network. There are no equipment lease fees, which is great! You don’t get to keep your home internet router, though, and that means fees if you don’t return it after you cancel your plan.
The best pricing from MINTernet is available to customers who bundle with unlimited mobile phone plans. If you need both and agree to prepay for a year’s worth of service, you’ll pay just $540 total. Compared to average prices for home internet and unlimited mobile plans, that’s a savings of at least 64%!
Straight Talk
Availability and speed may vary by location, and prices are subject to change.
Straight Talk is our top pick for accessibility. You can pick up your router at any Walmart store, and there are no activation fees. You have to buy the router outright for $99, but then you can refill your subscription at the same Walmart store where you bought your device. If you prefer, you can also pay by phone or online. You can also set up autopay, but there’s no discount for doing so.
The Straight Talk home internet service runs on the Verizon network, and you can save an extra $10 per month with certain Straight Talk mobile plans.
Metro by T-Mobile
Availability and speed may vary by location, and prices are subject to change.
Metro by T-Mobile offers simple, straightforward fixed wireless home internet for a flat rate, with $10 in monthly savings if you sign up for autopay. Better yet, taxes and fees are included—it makes the math easy. You manage it all through the Metro app.
That said, you’ll need to budget a little extra to get started. There are no credit checks, but the router costs $50, and you may be charged an additional $25 activation fee.
Total Wireless 5G Home
Availability and speed may vary by location, and prices are subject to change.
If you want to be on the Verizon 5G network and like bundling your home internet and mobile phone plans, Total Wireless 5G Home Internet is a great pick. It starts with a router cost of just $4.99 when you bundle. You read that right—$5, not $50. Then, you get $15 off per month when you choose both services.
Like with most other pay-as-you-go plans we recommend, Total Wireless doesn’t require credit checks or long-term contracts, and there’s no discount for autopay.
TracFone Wireless Home Internet
Availability and speed may vary by location, and prices are subject to change.
TracFone Home Internet is easy to get, whether you shop online or visit stores like Walmart or Dollar General. You can pay as little as $39 per month if you belong to the AARP and sign up for autopay. There are no contracts or credit checks, but you have to pay for the router up front. That fee is $29.99 for AARP members and $39.99 for other customers.
TracFone uses the Verizon network, so you have to be in an area where Verizon has excess mobile network capacity to sign up. Even if that’s not the case, you may be eligible for Verizon Fios. There’s no prepay option, but the service quality is much better, you get free internet equipment, and you can still get a discount for bundling with TracFone mobile.
Pro tip: Try AT&T Internet Air, but there’s no prepaid option
AT&T doesn’t offer prepaid home internet on its 5G network, but its AT&T Internet Air plan comes close. There are no contracts or data caps, and your internet router lease is included with the monthly price. Recently, AT&T started offering these plans nationwide.
My take: Check 5G in your neighborhood before you commit
The quality of your 5G home internet connection depends entirely on the towers in your neighborhood. They need to be new, they need to be close, and there needs to be enough of them to handle the mobile and home internet traffic from every active device in the area.
There are no great ways to find out what your 5G home internet service will be like until you try it, but you can get an idea based on the quality of service you get on a cell phone that’s on the same network.
Verizon’s MVNOs don’t give you a lot of options for trials, but you can try a free test drive with T-Mobile if you have a compatible phone with an eSIM for up to 30 days.
Either way, you probably won’t be able to sign up for any 5G home internet if the carrier determines that it won’t be able to provide decent service. It might give you the ick to get turned down in the moment, but it’s better than paying a year in advance for an unusable service.
Plans disclaimers
Mint Mobile 5G Home Internet plans
MINTernet — Upfront payment of $540 (equiv. to $45/mo.) for 12-month plans req’d; taxes & fees extra. Delivered via 5G cellular network; speeds vary due to factors affecting cellular networks. Over 50GB/mo. may slow when network is busy (over 1TB/mo. on MINTernet). Unlimited phone plan includes up to 20GB hotspot; video streams in SD. Not available in all areas. Loaned Gateway device subject to non-return fee. See terms.
Author - Chili Palmer
Chili Palmer covers home tech services, with a special focus on understanding what families need and how they can stay connected on a budget. She handles internet access and affordability, breaking news, mobile services, and consumer trends. Chili’s work as a writer, reporter, and editor has appeared in publications including Telecompetitor, Utah Business, Idaho Business Review, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, and Switchful.com.
Editor - Jessica Brooksby
Jessica loves bringing her passion for the written word and her love of tech into one space at HighSpeedInternet.com. She works with the team’s writers to revise strong, user-focused content so every reader can find the tech that works for them. Jessica has a bachelor’s degree in English from Utah Valley University and seven years of creative and editorial experience. Outside of work, she spends her time gaming, reading, painting, and buying an excessive amount of Legend of Zelda merchandise.
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