Verizon Ups the Home Internet Ante with Free Nintendo Switch Offer
New customers can also choose a $200 Target gift card or a Samsung Chromebook.
New Verizon customers can nab a free Nintendo Switch if they activate new service by March 31.
Verizon is upping its home internet freebies with a new offer aimed squarely at the gamer in all of us. And it may be one of the best internet deals we've seen in a while.
New Verizon customers who sign up for the company's 5G Home Plus or LTE Home Plus services this month can snag a free Nintendo Switch with their purchase, the telecom giant announced on Monday. You'll get a non-OLED Switch with neon blue and neon red Joy-Cons, but no included game. If you're looking for games, you'll need to buy Switch favorites, such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons or Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, on their own. Still, the Switch alone is a $300 perk.
Verizon's 5G Home Plus and LTE Home Plus are generally available in most markets, and Verizon has an availability tool to check for any given address. The company's 5G Home Plus costs $80 per month, while LTE Home Plus starts at $35 per month.
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Verizon uses free giveaways and gift cards to attract new users to its Home Internet and mobile services. However, it requires customers to stick with its services for varying periods to ensure they don't try to nab a free deal and quickly cancel their contracts. With its Nintendo Switch offer, Verizon requires that you sign up for service before the end of the month. You'll also need to be a customer in good standing (read: pay your bill) for 65 days before you'll get the Switch. You'll also need to submit a Switch claim no later than Aug. 31.
The Switch isn't the only goodie included. Verizon is also offering those who sign up for 5G Home Plus and LTE Home Plus their choice of a $200 Target gift card or Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Go. That offer ends April 10, and as with the Switch deal, customers will need to wait 65 days before they can qualify for the offer.
Locating local internet providers
Verizon's Switch offer comes at a particularly interesting time for Nintendo. The iconic game company is rumored to be working on a Nintendo Switch 2, but reports surfaced earlier this year that suggested Nintendo had decided to delay that console's launch from late 2024 to early 2025. If that's indeed the case, it means whoever takes advantage of the Switch offer will have plenty of runway to enjoy the console before it's replaced.
You'll also be able to take advantage of an overall solid home internet experience. In CNET's review of Verizon's 5G Home Internet, we liked that Verizon didn't require contracts to sign up and offered straightforward pricing plans. And while speeds were sometimes inconsistent in our testing, Verizon's 5G network generally held up quite well. We gave the service a score of 7.2 out of 10.