Verizon's new 5G home gateway taps faster mmWave and AR

Verizon has a new 5G home router, promising potentially more performance than your traditional cable or DSL broadband might deliver, and a slick augmented reality setup process. The new Verizon 5G Internet Gateway taps the carrier's fledgling 5G Home service, which expanded into two new cities from today.

That adds Minneapolis and St. Paul to the count, though it's still far more likely that you're outside of coverage for 5G Home Internet. So far, there are just eight cities where you can access the service: the new locations join Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; Sacramento, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Houston, TX; and Indianapolis, IN.

Verizon says that it aims to have at least ten locations in total where 5G Home Internet is offered by the end of the year. Speeds will vary, but with this new 5G Internet Gateway you could see maximum download rates of up to 1 Gbps, the carrier claims. Typical download rates are around 300 Mbps.

That's because the new gateway is the first MMwave 5G CE/Router it's offering. Along with mmWave support, it also has boosted antenna range, and Verizon has a new AR setup system for finding the best location to position it. Existing Verizon subscribers get 5G Home Internet service for $50 per month, while non-subscribers pay $70 per month. New sign-ups get a year's subscription to Disney+ along with a Stream TV set-top box, plus an Amazon Smart Home Bundle including an Echo Show 5, Ring Stick Up Cam, Echo Dot, and an Amazon Smart Plug.

For those outside of Verizon's 5G coverage, there's now broader availability of LTE Home Internet. That, as the name suggests, uses 4G LTE rather than 5G, the advantage being far wider availability. As of today, the home internet service is available in "parts" of 189 markets, across 48 states, Verizon says.

The downside, of course, is lower speeds. Verizon says you'll get typical rates of 25 Mbps with up to 50 Mbps peaks, with unlimited data included in the monthly fee. That's $40 per month if you're an existing Verizon customer, or $60 per month if you're not. The LTE Home router is $240, but Verizon will cover that with a $10/month credit over 24 months.