Verizon Prepaid Home Internet: A Definitive Guide

Ongoing research on Verizon has led me to their Prepaid home internet. And to help you determine whether this internet’s worth getting, I’ve compiled FAQs and other important information.

I’ll cover these points to help you decide whether you should get this plan:

• What It Is
• Who Is Prepaid Internet Best For
• How It Works
• Internet Speeds
• Plans And Pricing
• What It Includes
• Availability
• Versus Other Verizon Wireless Internet Plans?
• How It Compares To Other Prepaid Home Internet Plans
• Prepaid Deals

Let’s dive in.

What Is Fios Prepaid Internet?

Fios Prepaid internet offers a way for customers to prepay home internet bills for Verizon’s 300, 500, and 940 Mbps home internet plans. You’ll have to renew your internet plan every 30 days. And it’s only available in nine states.

Unlike other providers that use cable broadband to deliver internet services to your home, Verizon only uses fiber optic cables. Using these glass cables ensures you experience uninterrupted internet.

How?

Fiber optic cables and wiring are less susceptible to electrical interference and lousy weather conditions [1].

Who Is Verizon Fios Prepaid Best For?

You’ll want Verizon Prepaid home internet in the following scenarios:

• Have a bad or no credit history
• Don’t want to commit to Verizon Fios plans
• Want to try Fios internet
• Working on rebuilding your credit score
• You live in Verizon’s supported areas
• Someone staying in a temporary residence

I’ll cover the states Verizon supports in a bit.

Verizon Wireless won’t run a credit check on you when going for Fios Prepaid. Though soft inquiries won’t affect your credit score, you’ll have to pay a security deposit of up to $100 if you’re building your credit.

Or if you don’t have a fantastic credit history.

Even if you have stellar credit, you may have reservations about Verizon. Thus, you’ll have an opportunity to ‘test’ their services before committing.

Once you make it through a month, you can decide if you want to commit to a monthly Fios home internet plan. Then you can get your hands on some of their freebies (and cheaper pricing).

How Does Verizon Prepaid Home Internet Work?

New Verizon Fios customers will sign up for Prepaid Internet through Verizon’s website or by calling their customer service. You’ll pay a $99 activation fee and your first 30-day prepayment.

From thereon, you’ll make 30-day prepayments through your My Verizon online account or mobile app.

Fios Prepaid Internet Speeds

Verizon offers three tiers for their Prepaid plan (download/upload): 100/100 Mbps, 300/300 Mbps, and 940/800 Mbps.

100 Mbps is enough for a household with three devices to simultaneously stream 4K resolution video on streaming service apps like Netflix. It’s also great for four users to do online tasks at the same time.

300 Mbps works great for homes with around eight devices using the same network. If they perform light online tasks like streaming 1080p content, playing video games online, and Googling stuff.

940 Mbps can support over 20 devices watching 4K content simultaneously. Prepaid Gigabit works best as a temporary means to have a LAN party. Or, you’ll want this plan if you constantly upload and download massive files.

Because 940/800 Mbps speeds will make the process go significantly faster. Even if you have multiple people using the same network.

Verizon Prepaid Home Internet Pricing

You’ll pay for Fios Prepaid in full 30 days in advance. The amount you’ll pay will depend on the plan you choose. And these tiers include:

• 100 Mbps: $39.99/mo.
• 300 Mbps: $59.99/mo.
• Gigabit Connection: $79.99/mo.

These prices already include Verizon’s Auto Pay discount (but not taxes). So without that discount, you’ll want to add $10 per month to each plan. For instance, without Auto Pay, you’ll pay $49.99 monthly for the 100 Mbps plan.

Even when you enable the automatic payments feature, which gives you the discount, you’ll have to wait up to a couple of billing cycles to see the discount.

I can’t tell you what you’ll pay for taxes. These depend on your city and state.

You’ll also need to pay a $99 activation fee. That’s significantly higher than other internet service providers’ activation fees. For instance, Xfinity Prepaid charges only $80.

Verizon Wireless gives you a couple of options for routers:

• Bring your own
• Pay $199 to use their Fios Quantum Gateway router

Using a Verizon router gives you access to customer support. That’s nice for anyone who’s not savvy with routers. Plus, it helps optimize your router’s performance by enabling certain features.

Their FAQ suggests you’ll get a $79.99 credit on your account for the first month of your Prepaid subscription [2]. If you buy their router.

You’ll make prepaid payments through:

• Verizon Fios kiosks
• In-store
• My Verizon online account
• By calling 
• My Verizon mobile app

They’ll remind you to pay a week or two before the month ends.

You also won’t have to put down a security deposit. That’s part of the point of prepaid internet.

What Does Verizon Prepaid Include?

Verizon Prepaid home internet does not include any special freebies or perks. Other than not having to go through a credit check.

You’ll have the option to buy or rent a Verizon Fios router, which will add more to your bill. Alternatively, you can rent your own router, but you’ll need one that’s compatible with Verizon’s Optical Network Terminal (ONT).

We have a guide that shows you many third-party routers that are compatible.

Fios Prepaid Home Internet Availability

You’ll find all Verizon Fios plans in the following cities and states:

Check Verizon’s Fios availability map at Verizon.com/home/Fiosavailability before you order a plan or choose a different provider.

Because Verizon can change this information at any time.

Fios Prepaid vs. Other Verizon Wireless Internet Plans

Here’s how Verizon’s Prepaid home internet plan compares to other Fios internet plans:

Fios Plan	* Speed (Download/upload)	** Price
300/300	300/300 Mbps	$49.99/mo.
500/500	500/500 Mbps	$69.99/mo.
Fios Gigabit Connection	940/800 Mbps	$89.99/mo.
Fios Prepaid 100 Mbps	100/100 Mbps	$39.99/mo.
Fios Prepaid 300 Mbps	300/300 Mbps	$59.99/mo.
Prepaid Gigabit Connection	940/800 Mbps	$79.99/mo.

* These speeds may not reflect what you’ll actually get. Various circumstances can lower your download and upload speeds.

** Only for new customers. They don’t include taxes and other fees. These prices already include discounts for enabling features like automatic payments.

Verizon’s Prepaid Fios plans cost at least $10 more than their postpaid home internet counterparts. But with Prepaid, you have the option of 100 Mbps.

It’s $10 cheaper than the postpaid 300 Mbps plan.

But no Prepaid plans are eligible for military, nurse, veteran, and other special Verizon discounts.

I’d only recommend getting Prepaid Internet if you don’t have the best credit and want to avoid paying a deposit.

Or, if you’re in a household with three or fewer people and don’t qualify for Verizon’s other deals, go for the 100 Mbps Prepaid plan.

You’ll also want these plans if you’re living somewhere temporarily (for less than a year). You won’t have to worry about credit checks or not getting a security deposit back.

Though none of Verizon’s Fios plans require contracts, it could take time to set things up or cancel your plan later on [3].

Verizon Fios Prepaid vs. Other Prepaid Home Internet Plans

Here’s how Verizon Prepaid home internet compares to prepaid plans other internet service providers offer:

Prepaid Home Internet Plan	* Price	** Speeds (Download/Upload)	Data Cap
Fios Prepaid	$40–$80 every 30 days	100–940/100–800 Mbps	None
Xfinity Prepaid	$40 every 30 days	50/10 Mbps	1 TB
Cox StraightUp Internet	$50 every 30 days	100/5 Mbps	1.2 TB
CenturyLink Prepaid	$50/mo.	100/30 Mbps	1.0 TB

* These prices don’t include sales tax and other fees.

** These are max internet speeds. You may not get what you see.

Fios Prepaid home internet offers the best value because of having no bandwidth cap. And it offers the highest download and upload speeds on the list.

Homes that continually upload files onto cloud servers, use security cameras, or livestream will love this plan. And they have more options to choose from. For instance, you can prepay gigabit internet.

Other internet service providers don’t give us this luxury.

You can’t do much with Xfinity’s 10 Mbps.

If someone in your home wanted to livestream on Twitch, you’d have difficulty trying to run home security cameras. Because they require a decent upload speed to upload footage to your server continually.

Cox and CenturyLink charge more, have a data cap, and give you less upload speeds.

But nothing’s perfect. Verizon limits its Prepaid home internet to nine states (I mentioned them earlier). If you’re not in any of these states, you’ll have to stick with one of the other ISPs.

Verizon Prepaid Home Internet Deals

Verizon Fios Prepaid internet for homes doesn’t have any deals. Nor can you use ‘Those Who Serve’ discounts to get cheaper Prepaid plans.

The ‘Those Who Serve’ discounts refer to $25 off Fios home internet plans that certain groups (like veterans and nurses) can sign up for.

You also can’t bundle Verizon internet Prepaid plans with 5G plans to get a lower overall bill. With other Fios plans, you can.

The biggest ‘deal’ you’ll find for Fios Prepaid Internet is the account credit you get when you buy a Verizon router. They’ll apply a $79.99 credit to your account during the first month of service.

In a way, you’ll get $79.99 off your $399 Verizon router. Around 22% off.

FAQ: Verizon Prepaid Home Internet

Explore these frequently asked questions to learn more about Verizon’s Prepaid home internet.

Conclusion

Verizon Fios Prepaid home internet doesn’t offer the best prices in many circumstances, but it can save you money. If you don’t have the best credit.

It’s also a great way to get high-speed home internet if you’re temporarily staying somewhere. Like a short-term apartment or home rental.

If Verizon Prepaid isn’t for you, then you’ll want to consider exploring Verizon’s other home internet plans.