How it works · vs 5G home internet
5G home internet from Verizon and T-Mobile uses the same cellular network your phone is on, with an indoor modem catching whatever signal reaches the window. Jelly's fixed wireless uses a roof-aimed dish on a dedicated tower link, so your speed isn't competing with everyone's phone at 7pm.
Both are wireless. That's where the similarity ends. Fixed wireless is a dedicated link from your roof to a single tower; 5G home internet is a cellular subscriber, just like a phone, in a box on your windowsill. The differences below all flow from that one fact.
Jelly · fixed wireless
Roof-mounted dish, aimed at one tower, dedicated capacity per sector.
Verizon / T-Mobile · 5G home
Indoor modem catches the same signal phones use. Capacity is shared with everyone in the cell.
| Category | Jelly fixed wireless | Verizon 5G Home Internet | T-Mobile Home Internet |
|---|---|---|---|
| What network you're on | Dedicated WISP network on licensed / CBRS spectrum | Verizon's 5G cellular network (same as their phones) | T-Mobile's 5G cellular network (same as their phones) |
| Antenna location | Roof-mounted dish, professionally aimed | Indoor router (windowsill or wherever signal is best) | Indoor "trash can" gateway, self-placed |
| Capacity model | Capacity engineered per sector for our customers only | Shared with all phones on that cell; home users deprioritized vs phones during congestion | Shared with all phones on that cell; home internet is explicitly lower-priority |
| Evening peak performance | Stable — load is planned | Variable — drops when neighborhood is busy | Variable — most-noticeable drop, since home is deprioritized |
| Install | Pro install, 1.5–2 hours, line-of-sight verified first | Self-install or pro; you find a signal spot | Self-install; you find a signal spot |
| Rural / hilly performance | Strong — towers sited on peaks for line of sight | Weak — depends on existing cellular footprint | Weak — depends on existing cellular footprint |
| Speeds | 50–300 Mbps typical, consistent | ~85–300 Mbps advertised; varies by signal | ~72–245 Mbps advertised; varies by signal |
| Data caps | None, no throttling | Unlimited, but home traffic deprioritized vs mobile | Unlimited, but home is the lowest priority class |
| Local support | San Diego team, the same techs who installed you | National call center | National call center |
| Starting residential price | $69/month, unlimited, no contract | Varies; typically $50–$80/month with autopay/phone bundle | Varies; typically $50–$70/month with autopay |
It shares with phones
A 5G cell is finite. When the bar gets out, baseball game lets out, or the neighborhood comes home from work, every phone on that cell competes for the same airtime — and the carriers explicitly deprioritize their fixed-wireless home product behind their mobile customers. Your speeds drop when you most need them.
The modem is indoors
A box on a windowsill catches whatever signal makes it through your wall. Stucco, low-E windows, and a long distance to the cell site all chip away at signal strength. Customers end up walking the modem around looking for a spot that holds 100 Mbps — sometimes literally balancing it on a high shelf or in an upstairs window.
mmWave doesn't reach far
The fastest "5G" is mmWave (24 GHz and up). It's blocked by leaves, walls, and human bodies, so it really only works within a block of a small cell. The "5G" reaching most homes is sub-6 GHz, which behaves a lot like 4G LTE — the speed jump is real but smaller than the ad spend implies.
5G home internet is often the right choice if…
Jelly fixed wireless is often the right choice if…
What about Starlink?
Starlink isn't a cellular product, so it dodges the "shared with phones" problem above — but it picks up its own set of trade-offs. The dish has to talk to a satellite about 340 miles up, which adds latency you'll feel on calls and games, and Starlink cells in suburban San Diego are now busy enough to slow down at peak.
Full Starlink comparisonMost of San Diego is already in our coverage. Send us your address — we'll tell you straight whether fixed wireless will be a real upgrade for you, or if your existing service is already in a good spot.
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