Will your Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T mobile network suffer for someone else’s Wi-Fi at home?

Nothing good comes without a cost, and we, the mobile users, may soon be paying the cost for others to have good home Wi-Fi. Are you ready for that?

In the race to provide fast home internet, America’s biggest wireless carriers – AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon – may be creating a problem they’ll soon struggle to fix. The issue centers around Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), which delivers internet over 5G mobile networks. So far, so good. On the surface, it seems like a smart use of existing infrastructure. But as more homes sign up, many experts are now warning that the extra traffic might push these networks to their limits – hurting mobile phone users in the process.

FWA works by sending an internet signal from a cell tower straight to a receiver in your home, using the same 5G signal that powers your phone. It’s a game-changer for people in rural or underserved areas where traditional broadband (like fiber or cable) isn’t available. And it’s booming: in early 2025, FWA added more broadband customers than cable companies did.

But…

This success comes with a catch. While smartphone users might scroll social media or stream a few shows, a household using FWA is online constantly – with laptops, smart TVs, and entire families pulling data at the same time. Analysts estimate that FWA customers consume about 30 times more data than a typical mobile phone user. Mind-blowing, but also logical. Multiply that by millions of customers, and you start to see the problem: wireless networks have finite capacity.T-Mobile and Verizon – the most aggressive FWA players out there – are already pushing the limits. According to analysts at Bernstein, Verizon is using around 83% of its total available network capacity, and T-Mobile is at 68%. These aren’t hard limits, but they suggest the networks are getting somewhat crowded. If demand keeps rising, the quality of mobile service may start to suffer – especially in cities or other high-traffic areas.

The CTIA, a trade group that represents the wireless industry, has issued even stronger warnings. It says that starting as early as 2026, networks may fail to meet demand during peak times – like evenings when everyone’s home and online. By 2027, they estimate that nearly a quarter of traffic in high-demand areas could go unmet. And by 2035, networks might only be able to satisfy 27% of peak-hour demand without more spectrum – the radio frequencies that carry wireless data.

Now what?

In simple terms, your phone’s 5G signal could get slower or less reliable, especially when the network is under pressure. Calls might drop more often. Videos might buffer. Apps could lag. And ironically, it won’t be because more people are using phones – it’ll be because more homes are using 5G as their main internet source.

Still, not everyone agrees with these gloomy forecasts. Analysts from TD Cowen suggest the warnings might be exaggerated, especially since CTIA has a clear motive: to push regulators to free up more spectrum. And real-world data from Ookla, which tests internet performance, shows that FWA speeds have actually improved in the past year – a sign that congestion might not be hitting just yet.

The bigger debate and a possible solution

Should carriers be expanding FWA so aggressively if it risks hurting the mobile service that most customers actually rely on? The genie is out of the bottle, I’m afraid. No reverse gear on this one.FWA might be good for profits and competition with cable, but mobile users aren’t signing up for it – and they may be the ones who suffer. After all, if you’re paying for a reliable 5G mobile plan, you don’t expect it to slow down because your carrier sold home internet to your neighbors.

There is some hope on the horizon. A new version of 5G, called 5G-Advanced, is expected to roll out in the next few years.

5G-Advanced offers several technical upgrades that could help mobile networks handle rising data demands from both smartphone users and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) customers.

One key improvement is enhanced MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output), which allows networks to transmit and receive more data streams at the same time, significantly boosting capacity and efficiency. This means carriers can serve more users without adding more physical infrastructure.

Another important area is AI-driven optimization. With smarter algorithms, networks can better predict traffic patterns, manage resources in real time, and prioritize services dynamically – all of which can reduce congestion, especially during peak hours.

However, while these upgrades delay the impact of network strain, they don’t eliminate the core issue: demand is growing faster than available capacity, and eventually, more spectrum or offloading solutions will be needed.

And beyond that, 6G – still years away – could open up entirely new levels of capacity. But these technologies are not magic fixes. They’ll require new equipment, more investment, and most importantly, more spectrum, which is in short supply.

FWA’s success has backed carriers into a corner. They’ve struck gold using networks built for mobile, but companies may have to choose between growing FWA and keeping mobile networks fast and reliable.

I bet they’ll choose both, and things will get messy for a period of time. In the long run, I hope it’s not the phone that pays the price.