Articles by Samuel Contreras

What you need to know

Verizon Ultra Wideband 5G is coming to four new cities and 5G Home Internet is coming to three more cities.
Verizon will pay up to $500 early termination fees for customers to switch to 5G Home Internet beginning April 29.
Verizon is giving new customers that switch a free Samsung Chromebook 4.

Verizon announced that it’s bringing its Ultra Wideband (UWB) 5G coverage to four new cities bringing the total to 71. On April 22, Ultra Wideband service will come to New Orleans, LA; Fresno, CA; Riverside, CA; and San Antonio, TX. The best cell phone plans now come with 5G including Verizon’s Ultra Wideband service which is available with its Play More, Do More, and Get More unlimited plans. All Verizon plans now include Nationwide 5G which makes up most of Verizon’s 5G coverage.

Verizon’s 5G Home Internet is expanding to three new cities starting with Riverside, CA on April 22. Memphis and San Antonio will follow on May 6 bringing the total number of covered citie…

The best phone plans for seniors look a lot like the best phone plans in general. Luckily for most of us, all three of the major carriers offer coverage where we live, so unless you’re really after the 5G experience, you don’t need to worry about which network you’re on as much as getting the right plan. Whether you want something simple like a flip phone or are proficient with smartphones like Android and iPhone, T-Mobile Essentials Unlimited 55 has everything you need for a reasonable price, including unlimited talk, text, and data.

Best Overall: T-Mobile Essentials Unlimited 55

T-Mobile has a few distinct advantages for seniors. First of all, there are T-Mobile stores all over the country, so you can talk to an actual human being to set up your phone and service. The next is that it offers a discount for customers 55 and over and has the wisdom not to make customers refer to themselves as seniors if they don’t want to.

T-Mobile has three tiers of plans available to 55 and old…

Ticks every box

TP-Link Archer AX90

$300 at Amazon

Pros

Fast tri-band Wi-Fi 6
2.5Gbps WAN/LAN Ethernet
Set it up with an Android app
Support for OneMesh expansion

Cons

HomeShield requires a paid subscription

The TP-Link Archer nails the sci-fi look with a design that looks inspired by Art Deco with a dash of Neo-Futurism. It delivers AX6600 Wireless speeds with eight-stream tri-band Wi-Fi 6 for added capacity in congested areas compared to dual-band. This router also comes with a 2.5Gbps WAN/LAN port for those with a high-speed home network.

Fast as lightning

Netgear Nighthawk RAX70

$297 at Amazon

Pros

Fast tri-band Wi-Fi 6
Ethernet Link Aggregation
Works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant
Set it up with an Android app

Cons

No multi-gig Ethernet
Netgear Armor requires a paid subscription

The Netgear Nighthawk RAX70 continues Netgear’s handsome spaceship-like design with its six antennas concealed in the wings. This router delivers tri-band Wi-Fi 6…

Perfect Fit

TP-Link Archer AX3000 / AX50

$141 at Amazon

Pros

AX3000 speeds are fast enough for most
Four Ethernet ports
Smaller size
HomeCare software included

Cons

Only dual-band Wi-Fi
Coverage is not as strong

The TP-Link Archer AX50 (known as the AX3000 at Walmart) is a great balance for many people, with its fast AX3000 speeds being more than enough for most. Four Ethernet ports make it easy to connect your wired devices, while a USB 3.0 port lets you hook up an external storage device. TP-Link includes HomeCare with the AX50 model, which provides great parental control software and antivirus protection.

Support more devices

TP-Link Archer AX6000

$270 at Amazon

Pros

Fast AX6000 speeds
Eight Ethernet ports
Dual USB ports with USB-C
HomeCare included

Cons

Large size makes it hard to place
Expensive
Only dual-band Wi-Fi

The TP-Link Archer AX6000 is a great option for many people who need to get many devices online. Even if you haven’t made the jump t…

What you need to know

T-Mobile Home Internet launches today with 30 million covered households.
Unlimited data costs $60 per month with no equipment fees.
Nearly 10 million covered households in rural America.
T-Mobile has the largest rural 5G network. Five times larger than Verizon and double of AT&T’s coverage.
T-Mobile Hometown is bringing better access and support for T-Mobile services to rural America.

T-Mobile just became one of the largest ISPs (internet service providers) in the country with the official launch of its 5G-based home internet solution. In its Next Un-carrier Move announcement T-Mobile officially launched its home internet service after a year of testing. The service has been launched with 30 million eligible households giving many Americans a new choice for home internet. 40 percent of Americans only have one ISP option making T-Mobile a compelling option for many underserved communities.

The service costs $60 per month with autopay and unlike most cab…

What you need to know

New and existing customers can upgrade to a new 5G phone, Samsung A32 5G with any working phone trade-in.
All T-Mobile and Sprint customers still on limited plans will be upgraded to unlimited for no extra cost.
Unlimited 5G upgrade is also available to Verizon and AT&T customers for the same or less than their current limited plan.

T-Mobile is continuing its march towards 5G for all and it’s starting with a free 5G phone for anyone that doesn’t yet have one. Part of T-Mobile’s Next Un-carrier Move announcement, all working phones are accepted so if you’ve been holding on to your old phone, it’s now time to get your free upgrade. This plan is designed to get the 92% of Americans without a 5G phone to upgrade to the new network.

Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile said:

This is the moment we’ve been working toward since we shared our vision for a faster, more inclusive future — a vision we called 5G for All — when we announced our plans to merge with S…

TP-Link has been making networking equipment for ages, and it’s quite good at it. Not only that, TP-Link routers, more often than not, offer competitive specifications at great prices. Most of us want to buy a router that will last a few years and provide more than enough speed. The Archer AX21 is the best overall balance of speed with Wi-Fi 6 and OneMesh support for a low price. Still, there are plenty of excellent choices on the market, and with our list, you’ll be able to find the best TP-Link router system to suit your needs.

Best Overall: Archer AX21

The TP-Link Archer AX21 isn’t the fastest router you can get by any stretch, but it’s fast enough for most homes and comes in at a fantastic price. For the money, you get AX1800 Wi-Fi 6 speeds, four open Ethernet ports, and OneMesh support. The speed breaks down to 1201Mbps at 5GHz and 574Mbps at 2.4GHz. Four Ethernet ports make it easy to connect all of your wired devices at full gigabit speed.

OneMesh support is included with…

Linksys has been making routers for years and is known as one of the leading companies providing reliable hardware with solid features. Linksys has continued to innovate with its Velop series and began moving into Wi-Fi 6 for modern devices. The MAX-STREAM MR7350 is the best Linksys routers for most people with sufficient speed and mesh capabilities baked in, but there are other options as well. We researched for you and compiled a list of some of the most dependable models on the market right now.

Best Overall: MAX-STREAM MR7350

The Linksys MAX-STREAM MR7350 router is an affordable Wi-Fi 6 router that also comes with mesh capabilities. The dual-band connection can deliver wireless speeds of AX1800 with 1,201Mbps at 5GHz and 574 at 2.4GHz. Like all Wi-Fi 6 routers, it is backward compatible with 802.11ac/n/g/b/a and has four gigabit Ethernet ports so you can get your entire network connected.

The MR7350 is mesh capable and works with more MR7350 routers as well as the higher-end…

The best mesh Wi-Fi systems are the networking versions of working smarter, not harder. Compared to a traditional router, mesh systems use several smaller Wi-Fi routers placed around your home to cover you from multiple angles and dodge things like thick walls that can kill your signal. Whether you want top speed and customizability or simplicity and consistency, there’s a mesh system that will work in any home. Our top pick goes to Eero, which hits all of the sweet spots of a Wi-Fi system in a small, understated housing that loses obtrusive articulating antennas. Still, there are plenty of other trusted systems we rank as some of the best mesh Wi-Fi routers on the market today and we’ve included them all on this list.

Best Overall Mesh Router: Eero

Eero made one of the first consumer mesh Wi-Fi systems, and the company keeps making them better with each revision. The current third generation Eero has the best blend of advanced networking features of any system available thanks t…

Buy in bulk

Mint Mobile

From $15/mo. at Mint Mobile

Pros

T-Mobile 5G and 4G LTE network
Unlimited talk and text
Affordable plans
Free calls to Canada and Mexico
Hotspot data with every plan

Cons

Must buy in bulk
Unlimited plan slowed at 35GB
No multi-line discounts
Taxes and fees aren’t included

With Mint Mobile, you can save money by signing up for three, six, or 12 months at a time. Each plan comes with unlimited talk and text and no overages once you’ve used your data. Speeds will be lowered, but you can upgrade your plan mid-cycle or easily add more data.

Big on data

Boost Mobile

From $10 /mo. at Boost Mobile

Pros

T-Mobile (and former Sprint) network
Multiple data plan options
Unlimited music streaming
Shrink-it! plan discount
Hotspot data with every plan

Cons

Unlimited plan slowed at 35GB
Weaker device compatibility

If you have great T-Mobile coverage, Boost Mobile has a plan for everyone that offers plenty of data, great international calling…