Mint Mobile just launched its cheapest 5G home internet offering yet, starting at $30 per month - but there's a catch. The Ryan Reynolds-backed carrier requires customers to bundle a phone plan and pay at least three months upfront to hit that price point. Without those conditions, the service can cost up to $50 monthly, making the pricing structure more complicated than traditional broadband.
Mint Mobile just threw a curveball at the home internet market. The prepaid carrier, famous for Ryan Reynolds' cheeky marketing, launched what it's calling "5G Home Minternet" - a name so aggressively branded it might make you wince. But the service itself? That's where things get interesting.
The headline grabber is that $30 monthly price tag, which immediately undercuts most major carriers' 5G home internet offerings. But dig into the fine print and you'll find a pricing puzzle that would make a telecom lawyer proud. To snag that $30 rate, you need to already have a Mint phone plan and commit to paying three months upfront. Miss either requirement and your monthly bill jumps to $40 or even $50.
Here's how the math breaks down: new customers with a phone plan pay $30 monthly for the first three months, but renewals bump to $40. Want to lock in $30 long-term? You'll need to pay for a full year upfront. Skip the phone plan entirely and add $10 to whatever rate you qualify for. It's a structure designed to keep customers locked into Mint's ecosystem - smart business, confusing for consumers.
The technical specs tell a more straightforward story. Mint Mobile runs on T-Mobile's network, so you're getting the same 5G infrastructure that powers the Un-carrier's home internet service. Speeds typically range from 133-415 Mbps download, with unlimited data that throttles during network congestion. The catch? Mint's throttling kicks in after 1TB of usage compared to T-Mobile's 1.2TB threshold.
What you won't get are the premium perks bundled into T-Mobile's pricier plans. No advanced security features, no streaming service bundles, no priority customer support. It's bare-bones internet for price-conscious consumers who just want reliable connectivity without the extras.
