Newsletter
As 5G continues to roll out across the US, it’s important to take a look at the coverage from each of the three major networks in the US. That includes AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. Now that Sprint is officially gone, and part of T-Mobile. Dish is working on a 5G network, but we don’t expect that to be nationwide for a few more years still.
5G is available “nationwide” but that doesn’t mean that there is coverage in every single US city. On top of that, carriers are also adding capacity to these cities, so as more devices connect to their 5G network, they are able to keep the speeds up. T-Mobile for one, is adding capacity to over 1,000 cities as we speak.
This article will be routinely updated as 5G rolls out to more and more cities.
AT&T
AT&T is rolling out both Sub-6 and mmWave 5G networks right now. It has branded its mmWave network as 5G+, which is starting to roll out in major cities and at major venues now. mmWave will mostly be available at stadiums, arenas and major metro-areas. Where the capacity could be very useful.
Cities
- Arizona
- Phoenix
- California
- Los Angeles
- Menlo Park
- Oakland
- Redwood City
- San Bruno
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- San Jose
- West Hollywood
- Florida
- Jacksonville
- Miami
- Miami Gardens
- Orlando
- Tampa
- Georgia
- Atlanta
- Indiana
- Indianapolis
- Illinois
- Chicago
- Kentucky
- Louisville
- Louisiana
- New Orleans
- Maryland
- Baltimore
- Ocean City
- Michigan
- Detroit
- North Carolina
- Charlotte
- Raleigh
- Nevada
- Las Vegas
- New York
- New York City
- Ohio
- Cleveland
- Oklahoma
- Oklahoma City
- Pennsylvania
- King of Prussia
- Philadelphia
- Tennessee
- Nashville
- Texas
- Austin
- Dallas
- Houston
- San Antonio
- Waco
- Wisconsin
- Milwaukee
Airports
- Florida
- Tampa International Airport
Arenas and Venues
- California
- Dodger Stadium – Los Angeles
- Oracle Park – San Francisco
- Colorado
- Ball Arena – Denver
- Florida
- Hard Rock Stadium – Miami
- Raymond James Stadium -Tampa
- Georgia
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium – Atlanta
- Illinois
- United Center – Chicago
- Indiana
- Lucas Oil Stadium – Indianapolis
- Louisiana
- Mercedes-Benz Superdome – New Orleans
- Minnesota
- U.S. Bank Stadium – Minneapolis
- Nevada
- Las Vegas Convention Center – Las Vegas
- North Carolina
- Bank of America Stadium – Charlotte
- Spectrum Center – Charlotte
- Texas
- AT&T Dallas Stadium – Arlington
- AT&T Center – San Antonio
- Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center – Dallas
- Toyota Center – Houston
- Utah
- Vivint Arena – Salt Lake City
- Wisconsin
- American Family Field – Milwaukee
- Fiserv Forum – Milwaukee
T-Mobile
T-Mobile is working on rolling out its 5G layer cake. Which is essentially is using its 600MHz, 2.5GHz spectrum and then mmWave. So you get the coverage with 600MHz, then some added capacity with the 2.5GHz spectrum, and in dense areas you’ll get mmWave for the faster speeds. Currently there are only six cities with mmWave available (and the entire 5G layer cake). Those include Atlanta, Cleveland, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York.
- Arizona
- Eloy
- Arkansas
- Jacksonville
- North Little Rock
- Trumann
- California
- Azusa
- Baldwin Park
- Citrus
- Florence-Graham
- Garden Grove
- La Puente
- Los Angeles
- Monrovia
- Norwalk
- Ontario
- Paramount
- San Fernando
- Temple City
- Walnut Park
- West Carson
- Willowbrook
- Connecticut
- New Haven
- Delaware
- Wilmington
- Florida
- Azalea Park
- Dunedin
- East Lake-Orient Park
- Elfers
- Holiday
- Inwood
- Key Vista
- Longwood
- Minneola
- New Port Richey
- Nokomis
- Oak Ridge
- Port Richey
- Progress Village
- Ridgecrest
- Sky Lake
- Venice
- Westchase
- Zephyrhills
- Georgia
- Atlanta
- Dallas
- Gainesville
- Grayson
- Johns Creek
- Mableton
- Newnan
- North Atlanta
- Riverdale
- Scottdale
- Smyrna
- Winder
- Illinois
- Addison
- Arlington Heights
- Aurora
- Batavia
- Belleville
- Bellwood
- Bloomington
- Bradley
- Bridgeview
- Buffalo Grove
- Burbank
- Calumet City
- Carol Stream
- Champaign
- Channahon
- Chicago
- Chicago Heights
- Chicago Ridge
- Cicero
- Crestwood
- Dolton
- Eglin
- Elk Grove Village
- Elmwood Park
- Evergreen Park
- Forest Park
- Glendale Heights
- Granite City
- Hanover Park
- Hazel Crest
- Hoffman Estates
- Indian Creek
- Ingalls Park
- Kankakee
- Lake Zurich
- Lansing
- Lemont
- Lockport
- Lombard
- Lyons
- Markham
- Maywood
- Melrose Park
- Midlothian
- Mount Prospect
- Mundelein
- Naperville
- Niles
- Normal
- Norridge
- North Chicago
- Northlake
- Oak Lawn
- Palos Hills
- Park Forest
- Paxton
- Pekin
- Plainfield
- Richton Park
- River Grove
- Riverdale
- Romeoville
- Schaumburg
- South Chicago Heights
- Stone Park
- Streamwood
- Swansea
- Tinley Park
- University Park
- Urbana
- Vernon Hills
- Waterloo
- Waukegan
- Wheaton
- Wheeling
- Woodridge
- Worth
- Indiana
- Crown Point
- Evansville
- Greenwood
- Hammond
- Indianapolis city (balance)
- Lawrence
- Merrillville
- Kansas
- Overland Park
- Pittsburg
- Wichita
- Maryland
- Crofton
- Largo
- Laurel
- Lochearn
- Maryland City
- Melrose
- Middle City
- Middle River
- Parkville
- Revere
- Saugus
- Severn
- Towson
- Urbana
- Massachusetts
- Holbrook
- Waltham
- Michigan
- Bangor
- Center Line
- Clinton
- Decatur
- Eastpointe
- Inkster
- Warren
- Ypsilanti
- Minnesota
- Columbia Heights
- Elk River
- Hilltop
- Hopkins
- Maplewood
- Minneapolis
- St. Paul
- Missouri
- Black Jack
- Carthage
- Charlack
- Clayton
- Cliff Village
- Columbia
- Dennis Acres
- Flordell Hills
- Foristell
- Grandview
- Houston Lake
- Joplin
- Kirkwood
- Lake Mykee Town
- Lawson
- New Bloomfield
- Raytown
- St. Joseph
- St. Louis
- University City
- Warrensburg
- Nevada
- Enterprise
- New Jersey
- Atlantic City
- Brooklawn
- Camden
- Cliffside Park
- Clifton
- Dover
- East Newark
- East Orange
- Echelon
- Edgewater
- Elizabeth
- Elmwood Park
- Englewood
- Fair Lawn
- Fairview
- Fort Lee
- Franklin Center
- Garfield
- Glen Rock
- Guttenberg
- Hasbrouck Heights
- Hoboken
- Interlaken
- Jersey City
- Kearny
- Linden
- Lodi
- Morristown
- Newark
- North Arlington
- Palisades Park
- Passaic
- Paterson
- Pine Hill
- Pine Valley
- Ridgefield
- Rockaway
- Roselle
- Rutherford
- Secaucus
- Somerville
- Totowa
- Trenton
- Union City
- Victory Gardens
- Wallington
- Wanamassa
- West New York
- Wharton
- Wood-Ridge
- New York
- Amsterdam
- Babylon
- Central Islip
- Copiague
- East Williston
- Franklin Square
- Freeport
- Garden City
- Garden City Park
- Green Island
- Harbor Isle
- Hempstead
- Island Park
- Lake Mohegan
- Lindenhurst
- Long Beach
- Malverne Park Oaks
- Middle Island
- Mineola
- New York
- Plainview
- Shrub Oak
- South Hempstead
- Terryville
- Troy
- University Gardens
- West Babylon
- West Hempstead
- Williston Park
- North Carolina
- Apex
- Asheville
- Charlotte
- Clemmons
- Concord
- Cornelius
- Hendersonville
- Kernersville
- Pineville
- Piney Green
- Stallings
- Statesville
- Valley Hill
- Vanceboro
- Winston-Salem
- Youngsville
- Ohio
- Avalon
- Brooklyn
- Cincinnati
- Columbus
- Finneytown
- Hamilton
- Hanover
- Lancaster
- London
- McKees Rocks
- Monroe
- Rossmoyne
- Sandusky
- Oklahoma
- Broken Arrow
- Choctaw
- Del City
- Smith Village
- Oregon
- Aloha
- Newberg
- Sherwood
- Pennsylvania
- Aldan
- Aliquippa
- Allentown
- Arnold
- Beaver
- Bellmawr
- Bethlehem
- Blawnox
- Brackenridge
- Braddock
- Bridgewater
- Bryn Mawr
- Chalfant
- Chester
- Collingswood
- Colwyn
- Darby
- Duryea
- East Lansdowne
- Folsom
- Kerrtown
- Lansdowne
- Levittown
- Liberty
- Meadville
- Millbourne
- Munhall
- New Kensington
- North Braddock
- Philadelphia
- Phoenixville
- Rankin
- Ridley Park
- Rutledge
- Tarentum
- Upland
- Verona
- Whitaker
- Yeadon
- Youngstown
- Rhode Island
- Woonsocket
- South Carolina
- Goose Creek
- Sangaree
- Tennessee
- Berry Hill
- Franklin
- Hendersonville
- Knoxville
- Lebanon
- Maryville
- Oak Ridge
- Sevierville
- Shelbyville
- Texas
- Bacliff
- Cloverleaf
- Dallas
- Fifth Street
- Galena Park
- Houston
- Jacinto City
- La Porte
- Nassau Bay
- Shenandoah
- South Houston
- Stafford
- Virginia
- Alexandria
- Arlington
- Bailey’s Crossroads
- Brambleton
- Broadlands
- Bull Run
- Falls Church
- Hampton
- Herndon
- Highland Springs
- Lake Barcroft
- Loudoun Valley Estates
- Manassas
- Manassas Park
- Merrifield
- Newport News
- Norfolk
- Richmond
- Springfield
- Sudley
- Tysons Corner
- Virginia Beach
- Washington
- Yorkshire
- Washington
- Burien
- Geneva
- Monroe
- Oak Harbor
- Snohomish
- Washington D.C.
- Wisconsin
- Beloit
- Milwaukee
- Neenah
- South Milwaukee
- West Allis
Verizon
Verizon’s network is expanding pretty quickly, though they did start building it out a bit differently from its competitors. While AT&T and T-Mobile focused on Sub-6 5G first, Verizon focused on mmWave. Which has sort of backfired on them, because of how mmWave works. Because mmWave coverage is so short, there’s plenty of jokes about how bad the coverage is, especially if the wind is blowing.
But it does now have Sub-6 rolled out nationwide. So you can get 5G virtually anywhere. But again, because that is the same spectrum as its 4G LTE network, it’s not necessarily faster than 4G LTE. At least for now.
To bolster its 5G network, Verizon spent a whopping $52.9 billion to secure more C-Band spectrum in an FCC auction in 2021. Verizon is expecting to cover around 100 million people with this new spectrum by March 2022. For those that might be unaware, C-Band is Sub-6 5G spectrum that ranges from 3.7GHz to 4.2GHz. Which would help Verizon compete with T-Mobile’s 2.5GHz spectrum it got from buying Sprint.
- Akron, OH
- Albuquerque, NM
- Anaheim, CA
- Ann Arbor, MI
- Arlington, TX
- Athens, GA
- Atlanta, GA
- Baltimore, MD
- Boise, ID
- Boston, MA
- Charlotte, NC
- Chicago, IL
- Cincinnati, OH
- Cleveland, OH
- Colorado Springs, CO
- Columbia, SC
- Columbus, OH
- Dallas, TX
- Dayton, OH
- Denver, CO
- Des Moines, IA
- Detroit, MI
- Durham, NC
- El Paso, TX
- Fort Wayne, IN
- Fremont, CA
- Fresno, CA
- Grand Rapids, MI
- Greensboro, NC
- Hampton Roads, VA
- Harrisburg, PA
- Hartford, CT
- Hoboken, NJ
- Houston, TX
- San Antonio, TX
- Indianapolis, IN
- Jacksonville, FL
- Jersey City, NJ
- Kansas City, MO
- Knoxville, TN
- Las Vegas, NV
- Little Rock, AR
- Los Angeles, CA
- Louisville, KY
- Memphis, TN
- Miami, FL
- Milwaukee, WI
- Minneapolis, MN
- Nashville, TN
- New Orleans, LA
- New York, NY
- Norfolk, VA
- Oklahoma City, OK
- Omaha, NE
- Orlando, FL (Sept 9)
- Panama City, FL
- Philadelphia, PA
- Phoenix, AZ
- Providence, RI
- Raleigh, NC
- Richmond, VA
- Riverside, CA
- Sacramento, CA
- Salt Lake City, UT
- San Diego, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- San Jose, CA
- Sarasota, FL
- Scranton, PA
- Sioux Falls, SD
- Spokane, WA
- St. Louis, MO
- St. Paul, MN
- St. Petersburg, FL
- Syracuse, NY
- Tacoma, WA
- Tampa, FL
- Tucson, AZ,
- Washington D.C.
Verizon 5G Home is available in these cities:
- Birmingham, AL
- Phoenix, AZ
- Tucson, AZ
- Fremont, CA
- Los Angeles, CA
- Orange County, CA
- Riverside, CA
- Sacramento, CA
- San Diego, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- San Jose, CA
- Denver, CO
- Hartford, CT
- Miami, FL
- Orlando, FL
- Pensacola, FL
- Sarasota, FL
- Tampa, FL
- Atlanta, GA
- Des Moines, IA
- Chicago, IL
- Fort Wayne, IN
- Indianapolis, IN
- Louisville, KY
- New Orleans, LA
- Detroit, MI
- Minneapolis, MN
- Saint Paul, MN
- Kansas City, MO
- St Louis, MO
- Charlotte, NC
- Greensboro, NC
- Raleigh, NC
- Omaha, NE
- Las Vegas, NV
- Niagara Falls, NY
- Cincinatti, OH
- Cleveland, OH
- Columbus, OH
- Scranton, PA
- Memphis, TN
- Arlington, TX
- Dallas, TX
- Houston, TX
- San Antonio, TX
- Salt Lake City, UT
- Seattle, WA
- Tacoma, WA
- Milwaukee, WI
5G Frequencies
As was the case with 4G LTE, each of the carriers use different bands for 5G. Below is a quick cheat sheet to find out which bands are used by which carriers. This can be very useful for those that are buying an unlocked smartphone to use on a 5G network in the US.
- AT&T
- n5 (850MHz)
- n260 (39GHz)
- T-Mobile
- n71 (600MHz)
- n41 (2.5GHz)
- n260 (39GHz)
- n261 (28GHz)
- Verizon
- n5 (DSS for Sub-6)
- n261 (28GHz)
There will be more bands added as the C-Band spectrum is rolled out and baked into these networks. And as older 3G and 4G LTE networks are sunset, in favor of 5G.
mmWave vs Sub-6
We’ve talked a lot about mmWave vs Sub-6 5G networks in the past, but it’s a pretty simple thing to explain. Sub-6 is basically any spectrum that is under 6GHz. This is great for coverage, as the lower spectrum is better with coverage, but doesn’t offer as much capacity for speed. This is what T-Mobile used to launch its nationwide 5G network, as it is essentially the same spectrum that is used for 4G LTE.
mmWave is where you’ll see those speeds. You’ve likely seen those speed tests of 1GBPS or eve 2GBPS on a smartphone. That comes from mmWave. As it can offer a ton of speed, but the coverage on mmWave networks is completely garbage. It really only works outdoors, and if the wind blows to hard, you’ll be knocked off of it. And we’re not kidding.
However, when you blend Sub-6 and mmWave together, you get the best of both worlds. The incredible Gigabit speeds that 5G promises, but also the great coverage that allows it to work indoors, and maybe even replace your ISP. So that is important to remember here.
Prepaid and MVNO carriers
These are the nationwide carriers, and the ones that own the networks. But they are not the only carriers that have 5G service. Most prepaid and MVNO carriers that run on these networks have access to their 5G network. That includes Metro by T-Mobile, Cricket, Visible, Xfinity Mobile and others. And in most cases, they are the same price as their 4G LTE plans were.
There’s also Dish network, which is working to roll out its own 5G network. Dish has been buying spectrum over the past decade or so, which means it has a pretty substantial warchest. And it also bought Boost Mobile and Sprint’s 800MHz spectrum from T-Mobile (in order for regulators to approve of the T-Mobile/Sprint deal). So they have the means to build out a 5G network, but building out a 5G network nationwide is not easy or quick to do. Many are not expecting this to be done until 2025 at the earliest. And it’ll likely take longer, due to the pandemic.
So there are plenty of choices when it comes to 5G carriers, and if you want to learn more about their plans, you can click here. Most carriers are not charging extra for 5G. Though some of their plans may be charging extra, or not have it included. Like Verizon’s mmWave network is not included in its cheapest unlimited plan.
There’s plenty of options for 5G, and it’s fairly likely that there is 5G available in your city.