Best Unlimited Wireless Internet

Data effective 4/13/2021. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Our pick: Which unlimited wireless internet plan is best?

T-Mobile Home Internet is the best unlimited wireless internet plan you can get. It’s fast, affordable, and easy to set up.

It costs a straight fee of $60 a month—including installation and equipment—and gives you average speeds of around 100 Mbps. You get unlimited data and you can toggle back and forth between 4G and 5G connections, depending on where you are. All in all, it’s the most widely available, cost-effective, and practical wireless internet you can get right now.

Get T-Mobile Home Internet

If you’re looking for something you can use with a cell phone, go for T-Mobile’s Magenta MAX plan. Costing $85 a month for one line, it’s the only cell phone plan you can get that gives you totally unlimited data, with no throttled speeds after you hit a certain data threshold (as is common with most other unlimited cellular plans). And it comes with 40 GB of high-speed hotspot data, which is quite generous for the price.

What is unlimited wireless internet? And how does it work?

Wireless internet works by running over a cellular signal. It comes in a variety of types that deliver different ranges of speeds and come with varying prices and amounts of data.

Unfortunately, you can’t always get unlimited data from a wireless internet plan. Cellular and wireless providers aren’t equipped to deliver internet at the same capacity as internet providers that operate over wired networks, like fiber and cable. However, you can still find some deals, and there are plenty of ways to make wireless internet work for you.

Below, we break down the different types of wireless internet and explain the strengths and weaknesses of each one.

5G home internet

5G home internet is a relatively new internet service, touted by Verizon and T-Mobile along with a couple other smaller providers. It’s fast, delivering speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps, and it comes at a price competitive with cable providers—you get unlimited data, and extras like installation and equipment are included as part of the monthly fee.

Availability is limited mostly to a handful of urban centers nationwide. But it will likely expand as 5G gains in wider use. So keep an eye out because this could be an excellent alternative to expensive cable and fiber plans.

4G LTE home internet

While 5G home internet gives you fast speeds in cities and urban areas, 4G LTE home internet is geared mostly toward rural customers. So long as you have good cell service in your area, you can get decent speeds (usually between 25–100 Mbps) and plenty of data for prices ranging from $40 to $100 per month. That means it’s a perfect alternative to satellite internet (another common rural internet option), which tends to be slow but costs a lot more.

Hotspots and standalone data plans

Most cell phones come with hotspot functions to provide a Wi-Fi connection for computers, gaming consoles, and other networking devices. But you can also buy a separate hotspot to connect more devices, get faster speeds, and preserve your cell phone’s battery life. 5G hotspots also come with Wi-Fi 6 capability, making them great for big groups of users.

You’ll need a data plan to make your hotspot work, and cellular providers sometimes charge an arm and a leg for data. As far as we can tell, you can’t get an unlimited data option for a hotspot, so a hotspot is better for short-term or temporary use than it is for a permanent home-internet solution.

Still, you can find some generous data offerings from providers like T-Mobile and AT&T, which both have plans that give you 100 GB of data for $50–$55 per month.

Cell phone plans

Most cellular providers have upped their game when it comes to speed and data, offering unlimited data plans and much faster connections over 4G LTE and 5G.

Fixed-wireless internet

Available primarily in rural areas and places where internet service is limited, fixed-wireless internet is the go-to alternative to a pricey satellite internet package. Depending on how strong the cell service is in your area (fixed-wireless connections run on cell signals), you can usually get good speeds at a fair price.

Not all fixed-wireless providers have unlimited data options, but many do. Definitely spring for an unlimited data plan if you can because otherwise you may end up with a relatively small data cap and expensive overage fees to go with it.

What to look for in an unlimited wireless internet plan

When you’re shopping around for a wireless internet plan, you want one that matches your needs and also gives you adequate speeds and cellular coverage. And it’s nice if you can get unlimited data, although that may not always be possible.

There’s a few types of wireless internet out there, and the one you want depends on what you’ll use it for. Here’s a rough breakdown of their different specialties:

• City dwellers: Go for a 5G home internet plan, which gets you fast speeds in densely populated areas.
• Digital nomads: Use a cell phone or hotspot to get Wi-Fi wherever you go.
• Rural residents: Pick 4G LTE home internet or a fixed-wireless plan to get faster speeds and more data at a lower price than satellite internet.

What kind of speeds will you get over wireless internet?

Wireless internet reaches speeds ranging anywhere from 1 Mbps to well past 1,000 Mbps.

A wireless connection uses 4G LTE and 5G radio waves. How fast your speeds will be depends on the following:

Factors that impact wireless internet speed

• How close you are to the nearest cell tower
• What network provider you have
• Whether you have priority data or not
• Whether there are any obstructions from nearby trees or buildings

Once you have your wireless internet connection, you can take a speed test to see what kinds of speeds you’re getting throughout the day. That will help you figure out if there’s anything that impacts how fast your internet is going and whether you can address it.

As you shop around for wireless internet plans, it’s important to know what kind of internet you can find in your area—be it wireless or broadband. That way you can get a sense of different prices and speeds based on what’s available. Type in your zip code below to get more information.

5G home internet

T-Mobile Home Internet is the most widely available 5G–based home internet service out right now. It taps into 4G signals when 5G isn’t available, so speeds will be a bit slower but still good enough for a household of three to five people. Costing $60 per month, it gives you speeds ranging from about 25 Mbps to 100 Mbps.

Verizon 5G Home Internet isn’t as widely available—it’s in something of a trial stage right now as Verizon builds up its nationwide 5G network. But it gives you a lot faster speeds than T-Mobile will since it primarily draws from 5G networks (rather than both 4G and 5G like T-Mobile).

If you’re looking for a low price and zippy speeds, Starry Internet is another great 5G home internet option. Costing $50 per month, it’s available mostly in apartment buildings and gets you speeds of up to 200 Mbps.

Best 5G home internet plans

4G LTE home internet

T-Mobile and Verizon are the two biggest names when it comes to 4G LTE home internet. They both have plans with affordable prices, great speeds, unlimited data, and no extra costs for installation or equipment.

If you can’t get T-Mobile or Verizon in your area, we recommend UbiFi. An MVNO available in many rural parts of the country, it gives you unlimited data and an LTE modem/router capable of connecting up to 200 devices. The only drawback is that its plan costs more than Verizon or T-Mobile—but it’s still cheaper than satellite internet.

And then there’s Nomad Internet, which gives you a portable internet connection that you can take anywhere—the most practical choice if you’re living out of an RV or regularly traveling cross-country. With Nomad, you get a hotspot-looking router that essentially works like a hotspot but gives you unlimited data, which is something a hotspot can’t do.

If you don’t like how Nomad is working, you have 14 days to try it out before returning it for a refund.

Best 4G LTE home internet plans

Hotspots and hotspot data plans

Cell phone plans

T-Mobile’s Magenta MAX plan is the only cellular plan that gives you a truly unlimited data package. You can use as much data as you want on your phone without having your speeds throttled once you reach a cap. You’ll still have a limit on high-speed hotspot data, but 40 GB per month is pretty nice.

Most other “unlimited” cell phone plans will slow down considerably—often to snail-like 3G speeds—once you use up a certain amount of high-speed data. But that’s not too big of a deal because Verizon and AT&T still give you a lot of high-speed data per month on their best cellular plans. On both of these plans, you also get access to 5G for no extra cost and 15 GB of high-speed hotspot data per month.

Best cell phone plans

Fixed-wireless internet

Fixed-wireless might soon become a bit obsolete now that 5G and LTE home internet are coming on the scene, but it’s a great way to go for rural users who don’t want to shell out big bucks for a satellite internet plan.

The kinds of plans you can get depend a lot on what kind of cell service you have in your area. You won’t always get unlimited data, but we definitely recommend choosing an unlimited option if it’s available—even if it costs more. Rise Broadband has the best deal you can get, with a plan that gives you solid speeds and unlimited data for $64.95 per month.

We also like AT&T Fixed Wireless Internet. It has a stricter data cap though—just 350 GB per month. So you’ll need to be a bit budget-conscious about how much time you spend doing things like streaming and downloading large files. It costs $10 for every 50 GB you use over your data cap.

Unlimited wireless internet specs and features

Our verdict