T-Mobile 5G Home Internet Hidden Costs: How Much Do You Really Pay?

Curious what’s actually going on with your T-Mobile bill? Let’s look at a real one. I spoke with Garrett Briggs, one of my colleagues at our office in Draper, Utah, who has been a T-Mobile customer for two years. Garrett pays for four wireless lines and 5G home internet at two different addresses. Here is the “Bill Summary” page from his most recent bill:

He tells me the connection and speed has been “pretty good.” But here’s the burning question—is his billing predictable? “Yep,” he tells me, “I know exactly how much the bill is going to be.”

• Total monthly bill: $341.87
• Price for four voice lines: $180
• Price for T-Mobile 5G Home Internet: $100 ($45 + $55)
• Equipment fees (iPhone payments): $41.46
• Protection Plan: $19.35
• One-time charges: $1.06

So … do we see any hidden fees? At the top of Garrett’s bill, you can see $90 followed by the charges for the Voice lines and the Mobile Internet. The $90 charge actually represents the two Voice lines that are “Included” while the other two Voice lines are broken down into $45 and $45. So it’s not so much sneaky as it is a little bit weird.

• Netflix through T-Mobile: $0.00
• One-time roaming charge: $1.00 (international call for four min.)
• Government taxes and fees: $1.35
• T-Mobile fees and charges: $0.06
• City gross receipts tax: $0.16
• State and local sales tax: $0.37

Ahh, we found some extra T-Mobile charges (see in bold)!

You can see an extra $0.06 tacked onto the roaming charge. And a $1.35 total for taxes and fees. Not bad! We think a total hidden charge of just under $2.00 is nothing to be upset about.

In contrast, many internet providers charge equipment fees for their modems or routers at an extra $10 or more per month. Some internet providers even tack on a Wi-Fi fee to charge you as much as an extra $10 for … wait for it … using the internet.

T-Mobile stays true to its claim that “you won’t have to worry about exploding bills and price hikes.” Its straightforward pricing structure is apparent in Garrett’s bill, and other than a miniscule tax fee, Garrett isn’t being duped into paying for anything extra. Gasp! An honest internet provider?! It seems like T-Mobile is one of the rare ones.

While T-Mobile is as straightforward as it gets, there are still some fees that require a bit of fine-print reading (we got you!).

Many customers complain about the autopay discount. For T-Mobile customers, setting your account to autopay gets $5 trimmed off your bill every month. However, the first bill may not reflect that autopay discount. Similarly, it can take one billing cycle for this monthly discount to kick in.

If you don’t see the autopay discount on your bill, call into customer service and ask them to get rid of that extra $5.

Taxes and fees used to be baked into the base rate of T-Mobile’s internet plans. However, they are no longer included under T-Mobile’s newest five-year price guarantee. T-Mobile has the ability to adjust these additional charges (which could affect your overall bill).

It’s worth noting that your first T-Mobile home internet bill will probably be higher than your standard monthly rate.

Extra T-Mobile fees included in your first bill:

• Autopay fee: $5/mo.
• One-time activation fee: $35.00
• Credit check deposit: Depends

While you can politely and firmly ask T-Mobile to waive the autopay fee and the one-time activation fee, the credit check may be a little more tricky.

There’s a little more mystery around T-Mobile’s credit check. I reached out to a T-Mobile rep over the online chat function, and he told me, “yes there is going to be a credit check to set up service, however we do not focus on credit score, it’s really to check if you have had t-mobile service in the past and if it was paid off or kept up with bills…”

T-Mobile does run a credit check to set up service, but it’s more about confirming if you had a previous T-Mobile account and if you paid it all off. If the credit check reveals anything negative, there may be a required deposit. However, the rep could not give me a specific price. The price may be completely dependent on the amount that wasn’t paid from a previous T-Mobile account, but that’s just my speculation.

When the T-Mobile rep mentioned the 15-day free trial, I asked if I would have to pay for the 15 days in advance and then expect a refund if I cancelled after the trial ended. He assured me that it would cost me $0 to set it up with him online (as long as my credit check looked good).

Here’s a full breakdown of fees you might see on your T-Mobile bill.

T-Mobile doesn’t lock you into any annual contracts, so you never have to worry about early termination fees. It also doesn’t sneak in a data cap into its fine print, so you don’t have to worry about overage fees appearing on your next month’s bill either.

And you definitely don’t want to deal with late fees, so it’s another reason to enable autopay (even though $5 per month doesn’t seem like grand savings).

It’s worth noting that T-Mobile is not known for built-in price hikes. Unlike many competitors, you don’t have to brace for a $20 to $30 price jump after a year or two.

T-Mobile 5G Home Internet actually doesn’t have any hidden fees. We can’t say the same for other internet providers.

Some other providers slam you with hidden fees—including cable internet provider, Xfinity, with its massive $20 to $30 price hikes if you sign up for its 12- or 24-month plans. Spectrum Internet slaps a hefty installation fee on your first bill (whether or not you choose professional or self installation, it’s at least $30). And while Verizon 5G internet seems incredibly straightforward, it’s known to quietly increase its “extra fees” every few years and tinker with its promotional deals in a way that has actually increased customers’ monthly bills.

Before you get your heart set on T-Mobile home internet, make sure to check if it’s available in your area. It’s good to know what your home internet options are, what’s most affordable, and which provider is going to give it to you straight when you sign up.