While driving to look for the best mobile network in America, we weren't surprised to see AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon competing for top speeds in the nation's big cities. But we were shocked to see the carriers dueling it out at the tail-end of America: in the Florida Keys.
AT&T hasn't announced this, but we saw AT&T's brand-new C-band 5G in Key Largo, Long Key, and Big Pine Key, although not in Key West. AT&T confirmed those locations, as well as Islamorada and Marathon. The carriers seem to be divvying up the Keys for now. T-Mobile and Verizon have their fastest 5G on Key Largo and in Key West. AT&T has the middle.
And it's all clearly a work in progress. Verizon has five towers in Key West, according to CellMapper. Verizon's own coverage map shows probably three of the five have C-band.
The new tech has little hamlets like Layton, Florida, posting blistering AT&T download speeds of 391Mbps, while Verizon and T-Mobile both show speeds over 300Mbps in Key West.
So What's It For?
Yes, you can livestream your marlin fishing in 4K. But the real opportunity here is home internet—especially if what you have in the Keys is a vacation home.
Wireless 5G home internet takes a lot less in terms of installation than wired, it typically doesn't require a contract, and it beats the heck out of satellite. If you can get it, it's considerably cheaper than Starlink.
Key West is eligible for Verizon 5G home internet. Key Largo looks like it has T-Mobile home internet right now. And on Long Key, you might want to look into an AT&T hotspot.
To find the best mobile provider in bigger cities—including who might be offering 5G home Internet now or soon—see our Best Mobile Networks feature.