Key Points:
- T-Mobile Home Internet (TMHI) now costs $60 with autopay for new customers and adds a 1.2TB deprioritization limit.
- Existing TMHI customers keep their current pricing and terms and will not see their prices increase.
- T-Mobile's Small Business Internet and Business Internet plans also increased in price.
- Additionally, T-Mobile is changing the terms of its "Price Lock" policies.
Today, T-Mobile raised the price of its very popular Home Internet service from a base $50 with autopay to $60 with autopay. Included with this increase were the business versions of these plans, which also increased to $60/month. The price increase only affects new sign-ups - existing customers are grandfathered into their current pricing.
T-Mobile Home Internet (usually abbreviated TMHI) is a popular connectivity option for stationary and mobile users because it combines unlimited high-speed but deprioritized data for a reasonable price.
Table of Contents
T-Mobile Price Increase Video
What is T-Mobile Home and Small Business Internet?
T-Mobile Home Internet is intended to be a fixed-location cellular service to compete with wired internet service providers. For a single monthly price, including taxes and fees, customers get unlimited data and a 5G cellular router.
This sounds great, but the option does come with some significant tradeoffs:
- All data is deprioritized compared to other customers.
- The plan must be used in the included gateway device. Only some gateway devices have antenna ports; most do not (See our Gear Center entry for full details on available devices).
- The plan is only available at specific locations where T-Mobile has excess capacity, so customers need a valid address in one of those areas to sign up.
- The option is intended for fixed-location use only. T-Mobile is not currently enforcing this, so you can use this while mobile, but T-Mobile could start enforcing those terms in the future.
There are two variations of this plan:
The first is "T-Mobile Small Business Internet," which is identical to THMI except that it's used for small business accounts instead of consumer accounts.
The second is the "Business Internet Unlimited" plan, which is a business-only plan that you can use in any data-device.
Price Increase Details
The $10 price increase to $60/month is a return to historical pricing - the service was also at $60/month early in its tenure during part of 2021. But for most of its existence, it's been $50, so this is a significant increase.
The $60/month is the standalone price with autopay. Without autopay, the price is $5/month more. Discounts are available for those who have T-Mobile voice lines:
- $40/month (with autopay): Added to a Go5G Next, Go5G Plus, or Magenta MAX phone plan
- $50/month (with autopay): Added to a Go5G, Magenta, or Essentials phone plan
Additionally, keep in mind that T-Mobile changed its autopay policy last year to no longer accept credit cards - only debit cards and bank transfers can be used for the autopay discount.
Metro-by-T-Mobile, which is T-Mobile's prepaid subsidiary, sells the same plan on prepaid, but you must also have a phone line to sign up for the service. The plans are not available online, you must sign up in a store. At press time, pricing for the Metro plan still shows $50/month pricing. We'll update this article if and when that changes.
1.2TB Deprioritization
One additional change is that customers who sign up for service starting 1/18/2024 will have additional deprioritization after 1.2TB of use in a month. Customers on existing TMHI and small business plans do not have this limitation.
T-Mobile Lite Plans Also Increasing
T-Mobile also offers consumer Home Internet Lite Plans, which include buckets of tiered data and are meant to be an option for customers living in an area where the unlimited plan is unavailable. The Lite plans have also all increased by $10/month - these prices include autopay:
- 100GB - $60/month
- 150GB - $85/month
- 200GB - $110/month
- 300GB - $160/month
The business-only versions of these plans are not increasing in price and continue to be significantly less expensive than the consumer Lite plans. See our T-Mobile Business Gear Center entry for details.
T-Mobile Changing Price Lock Policies
Another negative change from T-Mobile regards its "Price Lock" guarantee. This is a general policy change that applies to any new line of service or new account going forward and is not directly related to the price increase on Home and Business Internet plans.
Previously, T-Mobile's "Price Lock" guarantee was a promise not to raise prices in the future on any line and account you have. The promise was that once you signed up for a plan and line of service, T-Mobile would not raise the price on that in the future. Price increases on retired plans are something we've seen AT&T and Verizon do with regularity to incentivize customers on older plans to switch to newer plans, and T-Mobile's Price Lock policy was a part of its package of "uncarrier" consumer-friendly policies.
But now, for new lines and accounts, T-Mobile's Price Lock only promises to cover the final month of your service if it raises prices in the future, and then you decide to cancel to avoid the price hike.
All current T-Mobile customers retain the old guarantee for current lines as long as they keep them in good standing.
Concluding Thoughts
Over the past year, we've seen price increases from all the carriers, both blatant and subtle, and we see more coming on the horizon. It's an unfortunate reality of the current state of the industry.
It's also sad to see T-Mobile drift further from its "uncarrier" heritage, where it had positioned itself as the demonstrably consumer-friendly carrier with the most consumer-friendly policies.
Despite these unfortunate changes, there are still great values for mobile internet data out there and even TMHI is still a great deal at $60/month compared to most alternatives.
We do keep track of all the best data plans for RVers, nomads, and boaters on our website, which include options from all the carriers, and our members get early tips for price changes like this one, as well as deeper advice and analysis. Please check the links to our guides and membership program below for more information.
Further Reading
- Gear Center: Review: Unlimited Home and Business Data Plan and Gateways by T-Mobile
- Guide: The Best Cellular Data Plans for RVers & Cruisers
- Guide: Which Cellular Carrier is Best for RV or Boat Mobile Internet?
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