T-Mobile’s AWAY™ Plan for RVers and Nomads for $160/mo now back to Coming Soon – Webpage Added

The T-Mobile Home Internet plan priced at just $50-60/month has been a popular way for RVers, boaters, and nomads to keep connected. This was due to non-enforcement of the fixed location terms on the plan. 

Many T-Mobile reps even actively sold this plan as suitable for RV use - sometimes even signing people up with the store's address as the service location to get the line created.

In April 2024, T-Mobile caused panic in the nomad community by announcing a new plan targeted at RVers for a much higher price of $160/month.

But then on May 8, they delayed the launch of the plan at the very last minute, supposedly due to a technical glitch. 

Today, however, T-Mobile has updated the Home Internet section of their site to include an official page for the AWAY™ plan, with a banner saying it's Coming Soon. 

T-Mobile AWAY Video 

 

Recap: T-Mobile AWAY™ Plan

The new AWAY™ plan is very similar to T-Mobile's popular Home Internet plan for fixed locations at eligible addresses.  

Unlike Home Internet plans - the AWAY™ plan officially supports usage anywhere on the T-Mobile nationwide network.

But this mobility comes at a price - the AWAY™ plan costs $110/month for 200GB of capped data, or $160/month for unlimited data. (Prices reflect AutoPay discount - otherwise it's an additional $5/month.)

T-Mobile's justification is that it only sells T-Mobile Home Internet plans in locations where it has enough excess 5G capacity to serve the demands of fixed location customers. If there are too many customers in an area, T-Mobile can just stop signing up new users until it has built out enough capacity to serve them.

Mobile users, on the other hand, put completely different types of demands on T-Mobile's network - as they are regularly traveling into areas without that excess capacity. 

Additionally, the AWAY™ plan, instead of having fixed-location terms of service like Home Internet, instead has terms of service that state the opposite: "For use at multiple locations on T-Mobile network; not for extended use in the same location." It's unclear how T-Mobile defines "extended use."

What’s New On the AWAY™ Page?

We noticed some subtle changes on the new AWAY™ plan page that differ from what was previously announced, including:

• 1080p Video Throttle Gone - Previously it was announced that the AWAY™ plan would throttle video streaming to 1080p, which differed from the Home Internet version of the plan. The terms now state that "Video streaming resolution depends on available speeds" - meaning 4K video should be possible if you have high enough speeds. 
• Ability to Pause Service - T-Mobile has added the option to pause service twice a year for 90 days, for $10/month. 
• Away is now AWAY™- The name of the plan is also now AWAY™ instead of the previously announced Away (which was confusing to use). 

When is AWAY™ Coming?

As of the time of publishing, T-Mobile has a banner at the top of the AWAY™ page saying "AWAY™ is coming soon. Stay tuned!"

We have reached out to our press contacts for any further information they might be able to share, and will update here if we learn anything new. 

T-Mobile Home Internet Fixed Location Enforcement

When the Away plan was first announced, leaked internal T-Mobile customer support documents indicated that "Home Internet Service Address Validation" was also coming. This meant that customers using TMHI service at locations other than their service address might start receiving notifications to either update their address, or switch to a new plan. 

When the launch of the Away plan was delayed on May 8, our press contacts officially acknowledged address validation was coming, but that it was also being delayed. 

We are hoping they will be able to give us additional information on when address validation might be coming and how it might be implemented. We will update here as we learn anything new. 

Alternatives to T-Mobile AWAY™

With such a huge price increase for the AWAY™ plan, especially for those used to a $50-60/month unlimited plan with TMHI - we know many will be shopping for alternatives. 

T-Mobile compares its AWAY™ plan to other options from competitors to make their own plan look better:

However, these are far from the only options you might want to consider. 

We hosted a live video event on May 8, 2024 that included recommended alternative options to T-Mobile Home Internet to consider, all of which are also included on our Top Data Plans Pick page as well. 

 

Other T-Mobile Home & Business Internet Changes

To add insult to injury with the AWAY™ plan webpage release, while our team was fact-checking T-Mobile's Home Internet pages - we also noted these changes to the product line-up:

Home Internet Price Reduced to $50/month

Back in January, T-Mobile increased the price for new customers to $60/month (with autopay) for the unlimited Home Internet plan. It had previously been $50/month.

Today, their webpage reflects the pricing as back to $50/month (with autopay, $55/month without) when purchased standalone, and $40/month when bundled with a premium smartphone line. 

We have been unable to find any official announcements or coverage about this change in pricing. 

Home Internet Lite is now Fixed Location

T-Mobile has also added terms to their Home Internet Lite plans (which were previously available anywhere) that :

"Home Internet Lite plans activated starting May 9, 2024 may only be used at the approved address.".

The Lite plans are tiered data plans that T-Mobile offers in locations not eligible for the unlimited plan option. 

Business Internet has Fixed Location Terms?

The Business Internet variant of this plan, available for $60/month - has always been marketed for business use at pop-up locations and temporary work sites, and for hybrid workers.

Therefore this plan has been our recommendation for nomads, as it seemed to more officially support mobile use. The plan also allows use in your own provided router or device, making it far more flexible. 

However, we noted that the terms have changed to now include this statement:

"For use only at location provided at activation."

We are unclear if address validation will also apply to the Business Internet version of this plan. 

Concluding Thoughts

On the one hand - it is great to see a major carrier like T-Mobile specifically offer an unlimited data plan to the RV and nomad market.

On the other hand - a lot of people who have come to rely on T-Mobile Home Internet have already expressed outrage at the AWAY™ plan that costs three or four times as much.

Based on feedback from our audience, this plan might backfire on T-Mobile - driving people towards other cellular options, third-party plans, and even Starlink. Especially with the news that the Starlink Mini Dish with a possible lower-cost data plan might be coming. 

The downsides of the Home Internet plan were easy to put up with when it cost $50-60/month - but now the downsides of the AWAY™ plan begin to really stack up:

• No international usage - not even in Canada or Mexico.
• SIM locked to the Gateway which uses AC power - you can not move your service into a more powerful or flexible router or smaller mobile hotspot device.
• All usage is at a low priority on T-Mobile's network, and usage exceeding 1.2 TB a month is pushed to an even lower priority level.

For anyone feeling that T-Mobile is telling you to "Go Away" - our Plan Picks guide is constantly updated with all the latest options suitable for our RVing and boating audience.

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