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The other day, I ran into an endcap display of Straight Talk Home Internet. I was interested, because two months ago (in September 2022), I got rid of my DSL home internet service and was basically using my phone’s internet as a hotspot.
While you can get away with using the Visible unlimited data plan as your main internet… it’s not exactly ideal. You see, I have a lot of “smart” devices that constantly need an internet connection, such as my security cameras and my photo frames.
This couldn’t come out at a better time. I’ve been shopping around for something like this.
I did some research, apparently the Straight Talk Home Internet is basically a Walmart’s version of Verizon’s Home Internet service. I actually tried to order the Verizon’s service, but for whatever reasons, Verizon will not service my address.
From my understanding, the main differences between Straight Talk and Verizon is that Straight Talk is pre-paid, meaning you pay for your internet in advance, while Verizon is post-paid, meaning you are billed after (and you may actually be locked in a contract).
According to the Straight Talk’s website, their service will include “Truly unlimited Home Internet 5G/LTE Network”. You are going to get 5G or 4G, however some customers may only get 4G LTE, depending on their network reach. They further expand on that statement, “Our new prepaid home Internet plan with fixed wireless easily supports the Internet needs of your entire household. Straight Talk’s home router provides an all-in-one service for broadband and Wi-Fi, and we also include unlimited data. That means no data usage caps, no auditing of use, and no overage fees.”
It sounds too good. I’ve previously had Comcast and they put a data cap on my service, and some months I would go over. When I did, my service was downgraded to very slow speed. My Skype (when I was paying for the VOIP phone service) was not usable. It was horrible. If this new Straight Talk service is reliable, with no caps, I may end up trying more streaming services, such as going back to Game Pass.
10/27/2022: So I got the router today and setting it up was relatively easy. You just have to power up the device and login to Straight Talk’s website or app and activate the router’s MEID number. Since I prepaid for the service, the service recognized my unlimited home plan and connected. The router, itself, is just like the Verizon brand, except at the very bottom of the device, it’s branded Tracfone (which owns Straight Talk).
As for speed - it varies. When you are close the router, connected to the 5G/5GHz band, you can get 95-100mbps. That’s really fast, I download a few very big games on my Steam Deck and it was quick. I was able to get the games running in a few minutes.
You can also get the same speed if you connect directly via ethernet cable.
However, the bad news: the further you move away from the router, the slower your speed will get. I was down the in basement and I was only getting 8mbps because I could only connect to the 4LTE/2.5GHz band. This also depends on the time of day. When everyone is on the network, it was slow… but at night, the speed bump to 25mbps.
I will play around with some of the settings to see if I can get a better speed, but I think the reality is that I’m probably going to only get about 10-20mps downstairs. I can’t move the router to the basement as it needs to be close to a window to get better reception, since the technology is based on the Verizon 5G Network.
So far, I’m just happy it is working, but no entirely impressed. It’s still much faster than DSL, but at times it can be just as slow.
While you can get away with using the Visible unlimited data plan as your main internet… it’s not exactly ideal. You see, I have a lot of “smart” devices that constantly need an internet connection, such as my security cameras and my photo frames.
This couldn’t come out at a better time. I’ve been shopping around for something like this.
I did some research, apparently the Straight Talk Home Internet is basically a Walmart’s version of Verizon’s Home Internet service. I actually tried to order the Verizon’s service, but for whatever reasons, Verizon will not service my address.
From my understanding, the main differences between Straight Talk and Verizon is that Straight Talk is pre-paid, meaning you pay for your internet in advance, while Verizon is post-paid, meaning you are billed after (and you may actually be locked in a contract).
According to the Straight Talk’s website, their service will include “Truly unlimited Home Internet 5G/LTE Network”. You are going to get 5G or 4G, however some customers may only get 4G LTE, depending on their network reach. They further expand on that statement, “Our new prepaid home Internet plan with fixed wireless easily supports the Internet needs of your entire household. Straight Talk’s home router provides an all-in-one service for broadband and Wi-Fi, and we also include unlimited data. That means no data usage caps, no auditing of use, and no overage fees.”
It sounds too good. I’ve previously had Comcast and they put a data cap on my service, and some months I would go over. When I did, my service was downgraded to very slow speed. My Skype (when I was paying for the VOIP phone service) was not usable. It was horrible. If this new Straight Talk service is reliable, with no caps, I may end up trying more streaming services, such as going back to Game Pass.
10/27/2022: So I got the router today and setting it up was relatively easy. You just have to power up the device and login to Straight Talk’s website or app and activate the router’s MEID number. Since I prepaid for the service, the service recognized my unlimited home plan and connected. The router, itself, is just like the Verizon brand, except at the very bottom of the device, it’s branded Tracfone (which owns Straight Talk).
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100mbps Speed Test |
However, the bad news: the further you move away from the router, the slower your speed will get. I was down the in basement and I was only getting 8mbps because I could only connect to the 4LTE/2.5GHz band. This also depends on the time of day. When everyone is on the network, it was slow… but at night, the speed bump to 25mbps.
I will play around with some of the settings to see if I can get a better speed, but I think the reality is that I’m probably going to only get about 10-20mps downstairs. I can’t move the router to the basement as it needs to be close to a window to get better reception, since the technology is based on the Verizon 5G Network.
So far, I’m just happy it is working, but no entirely impressed. It’s still much faster than DSL, but at times it can be just as slow.
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How much does it cost to get this and get it started. Is there a cost for the router and the 45.00 monthly payment for the unlimited internet. My husband and I already use straight talk as our phone service.
Posted by: Heather Cypher | 03/25/2023 at 09:35 AM
You have to buy the router at $99 and pre-pay the first month $45, so in total, to get started: you need to pay $150. I've had it for five months now - no slow downs (usually reliable around 80-100mbps) - but that's just my experience. It could be different for someone else, depending on their connection and how many people uses their service. So far, no problems for me. Sometime you might have to turn off and turn on the router, but this is normal with many routers (sometime it just needs to restart).
Posted by: W♥M | 03/25/2023 at 09:56 AM