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Trying to decide on which are the best 5G modems and ISPs for your home or workplace? Get the inside scoop from professionals in this article.

 

We came up with the best 5G modems and ISPs for those in need of internet. For many homes and businesses, choosing to change internet providers usually comes down to the following reasons: 

  • The current internet service provider has proven themselves to be unreliable 
  • The home or business is moving and needs internet service immediately 
  • The current internet service provider is gouging  
What are the best 5G modems and ISPs for wireless internet?

For businesses, I highly advise you to own the hardware outright. The most popular routers with integrated wireless modem are Cradlepoint followed by Peplink.   

For homes, I would argue that upgrading the modem to business grade becomes a question of, is the juice worth squeeze?

Why should you buy a third party 5G modem?

5G industry experts call the cylinder devices commonly deployed in residential communities, ‘trash can’ devices. They basically look like trash cans and may operate like trash.

However, you can expect to pay around $1000 for a third-party modem. While you may be looking for the best 5G modems and ISPs, this price is a hard no for most residential locations, but businesses can justify the costs if there is a significant upside. 

The 5G ‘trash can’ device will get fixated on potentially one crappy cell tower for uploading and downloading your data. The fancy $1000 5G internet modem will always be scouring for the most optimized cell tower for better internet service.

Network Engineer and IT Administrators will request that the ISP modem (which is sometimes an integrated router) be dumbed down to bridge mode or passive modem so that their preferred on-premises IT networking hardware performs all the routing, switching, and Wi-Fi Access Point functionality.

5G device compatibility

Check the 5G device compatibility to make sure it will work for whatever modem you select.

Check 5G availability:

5G Router Recommendations

Now that we’ve covered the best 5G modems and ISPs, we’ve chosen these routers for their good reputation in the industry. Check out our recommendations for routers below.

Global Telecom

When considering what the best 5G modem and ISPs are for you, it is important to ask your team what 5G specs are critical to you. For us, we need a business grade 5G modem with an ethernet RJ45 jack, but this hardware simply does not exist. So the next important follow up question is, can the router set it to bridge mode or passive mode?

Remember, we wish to utilize different router, switch, and Wi-Fi Access Point hardware for managing our business network. Being able to dumb down the router so it acts as a modem is critical to our IT requirements. Based on those requirements, we selected the Titan 5000 from Global Telecom to provide 5G internet services to our Managed IT business.

Peplink

Amongst the best 5G modems and ISPs, Peplink can be found in many organizations as the backup internet to the hardware circuit. Click on the datasheets linked below for the Peplink BR1 Pro 5G. This is a device with an MSRP of $999. It does support 5G, has a 2.5 Gbps WAN port, and 1 Gbps LAN ports. It can also be used in bridge mode.

Cradle

Cradle can also be found in many organizations as the backup internet to the hardware circuit.

Home (and Possibly) Business Modems

We created a compilation of the best 5G modems and ISPs, though the list below digresses into 5G internet devices designed for home and for users on the go. Therefore, they are less robust and reliable, but definitely cheaper.

T-Mobile’s Nokia 5G

This 5G router or high-speed internet gateway is white labeled as T-Mobile’s 5G modem.

Verizon’s 5G ARC-XCI55AX

This 5G router or high-speed internet gateway is white labeled as Verizon’s 5G modem.

✅ Disguised NEW Gateway – Verizon 5G Home Internet – ARC-XCI55AX vs ASK-NCQ133 – New Features

A Variety of Netgear Nighthawks for People On the Go

You can enable IP Passthrough Mode (Bridge Mode) on the MR1100. One of the biggest drawbacks of the Nighthawk Mobile Hotspot is its lack of support for bridge mode, which means that you won’t be able to use the hotspot to pass a public IP address to a connected device. So, for anyone who wants to extend their home network, this won’t be very convenient. As a result, you will need to double NAT the device, which might create problems with network performance and security.

Additional Nighthawk resources (later models)

Get the NETGEAR Nighthawk M6 5G Wi-Fi 6 Mobile Hotspot Router (MR6150) here.

A Few Extra Things to Note About Finding the Best 5G Modems and ISPs

Vendor quote – price parity

This pricing should be the same as any quote from a direct rep, but if the direct team undercuts the indirect team, I’ll make sure that Cox matches the lower price before the customer signs anything. I can escalate to make that happen. Providers are supposed to honor “price parity,” meaning the customer is given the same rate no matter which sales channel they work with (web chat, 800#, direct, partner).

Network quotes workflow

Customer only signs with Cox, not Network Quotes, but Network Quotes helps with all the PM work at no cost to the customer. Once the order is signed, the customer will receive emails from Cox and I will be CC’d as the Cox partner. The customer has full control and visibility.

About ‘on-net’

‘On-net’ is one of those tricky terms providers use…but it is good news. It basically means that the building is within a provider’s fiber footprint – that there is, in fact, fiber in or near the building.

Even with the best 5g modems and ISPs, it can still take 90 days to install – the reason being (besides bureaucracy), is that even in an on-net building there may not be enough capacity for the new circuit, thus requiring an upgrade. Or, even if fiber is just across the parking lot, the property owner may have to be engaged for ROE and trenching. I just like to set a realistic expectation with customers that fiber install times can vary.

After a fiber contract is signed, the first major milestone is the site survey which will determine what construction is needed, if any, and then we’ll have a tentative install date. This date is usually pretty accurate and can be used for planning purposes. The site survey usually happens 2-3 weeks after signing.

Business Internet Resources:

The Best 5G Modems and ISPs Summary

There’s a great deal of options out there for 5G modems and ISPs, but hopefully this list will help get you on the right track. As usual, knowing your budget and your requirements is the best place to start. If you want a professional opinion, we’d be happy to help!