By BT is offering 4G home broadband with a choice of 15Mbps or 30Mbps download speed.
In the UK, BT is now offering unlimited 4G home broadband for customers who aren’t able to get a fibre broadband connection in their home. You can get unlimited data on their 4G-based broadband service, with a choice of download speeds (up to 15Mbps or 30Mbps).
Customers signing up to BT’s 4G home broadband service will receive the BT 4G Home Hub router. In addition, you’ll get most of the normal benefits of BT Broadband including access to BT Wi-Fi hotspots and inclusive anti-virus.
In this article, we’ll review BT’s 4G home broadband service including the plans available and the BT 4G Home Hub Router. We’ll also look at the speeds available on the service before comparing it to alternative providers and looking at the 4G coverage that’s available.
Contents
BT 4G Home Broadband Plans
4G Home Broadband Plans
In the UK, BT now offers a choice of two 4G home broadband plans. Both plans give you access to unlimited 4G data. You’ll just need to decide on the download speeds you require:
- The 15Mbps plan allows you to browse, stream and download on EE’s 4G network. On this plan, you can stream HD-quality video on around 2-3 devices at the same time but it won’t be possible to stream 4K ultra-HD video.
- The 30Mbps plan allows for faster browsing, streaming and downloading on EE’s 4G network. On this plan, you can stream HD-quality video on up to 6 devices at the same time, or 4K ultra-HD video on one device.
The following table shows a list of BT’s 4G broadband plans:
| Service | Data | Monthly Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
 BT 4G Home Hub | Unlimited data Up to 15Mbps | £53.73 per month No upfront fee 24 month contract | See deal |
BT 4G Home Hub | Unlimited data Up to 30Mbps | £75.48 per month No upfront fee 24 month contract | See deal |
Alongside your 4G broadband plan, you’ll get most of the normal benefits of being a BT Broadband customer. This includes free access to over 5 million BT Wi-Fi hotspots, BT Parental Controls and BT Virus Protect (with an inclusive license for up to 15 devices).
Unfortunately, EE TV and Complete Wi-Fi are not currently available to 4G home broadband customers.
4G Broadband vs Fibre Broadband
In most cases, we’d only recommend choosing BT’s 4G home broadband if you’re unable to get a fibre broadband service at your address. This is because BT offers faster download speeds along with lower monthly prices on their regular fibre broadband plans.
At present, you can get the following fibre broadband plans from BT, with prices starting from £29.99 per month for an average download speed of 36Mbps:
| Service | Download Speed | Monthly Cost (will rise each April by £3) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
 Fibre Essential | 36Mbps average download | £29.99 per month plus £11.99 upfront 24 month contract | See deal |
Fibre 1 | 50Mbps average download | £30.99 per month plus £11.99 upfront £50 reward card 24 month contract | See deal |
Fibre 2 | 67Mbps average download | £31.99 per month plus £11.99 upfront £50 reward card 24 month contract | See deal |
In addition, it’s also possible get an ADSL (copper) broadband plan if you’re unable to get fibre broadband at your address.
You can add features like EE TV and Complete Wi-Fi to your fibre broadband plan from BT. For more information, see our BT Broadband review.
4G Broadband vs Hybrid Connect
As an alternative to their dedicated 4G home broadband service, BT also offers a service called Hybrid Connect. This combines fibre broadband together with 4G broadband in one package and is generally cheaper than taking 4G broadband on its own.
With Hybrid Connect, your fibre broadband service is used as the main connection. However, things will automatically switch over to 4G if your fibre broadband service is disrupted. You’ll also be sent your Hybrid Connect straight away, so you can get online the next day.
To get Hybrid Connect, choose one of BT’s fibre broadband plans, starting from £29.99 per month. You’ll then have the option of adding Hybrid Connect for an extra £7 per month during the checkout process.
There’s more information in our BT Hybrid Connect review.
BT 4G Home Hub & Router
The BT 4G Home Hub (also known as the 4G Home Router) is a 4G-powered home broadband router from BT. It’s based on the very similar 4GEE Home Router, a device that’s used to offer 4G broadband on EE.
When you’re using the BT 4G Home Hub, it’ll allow you to get up to 32 devices connected to the internet at the same time. BT says you’ll get dual-band Wi-Fi 5 connectivity (802.11a/b/g/n/ac), with up to 30 meters of range for your Wi-Fi signal. You’ll also get 2 Gigabit Ethernet sockets for connecting wired devices to your network and two SMA sockets for attaching optional external antenna.
The following table shows the technical specifications of the BT 4G Home Hub:
| BT 4G Home Hub (BT 4G Home Hub) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Home Broadband Plans | |
| Price: | From £53.73/month |
| Data: | Unlimited |
| Unlimited Data: | £53.73/month |
| Contract Length: | 24 months |
| Mobile Connectivity | |
| 4G Connectivity: | Category 7 LTE |
| 4G Download Speed: | Up to 300 Mbps download |
| 4G Upload Speed: | Up to 100 Mbps upload |
| 4G Bands: | LTE bands TBC |
| External Antenna: | Yes, 2x SMA connectors |
| Home Network Connectivity | |
| Dual-Band Wi-Fi: | Yes |
| Wi-Fi Connectivity: | 802.11a/b/ |
| Wi-Fi Devices: | Up to 32 devices |
| Ethernet: | 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports |
| Other | |
| Model: | BT 4G Home Hub |
| Colour: | Black |
| More Information: | See bt.com |
Unfortunately, the BT 4G Home Hub is not compatible with some of the more advanced features available on the BT Smart Hub for fibre broadband. However, you can add some of these features another way. For instance, mesh networking is also available using a separate BT Whole Home Wi-Fi system (the Complete Wi-Fi system isn’t currently available on BT’s 4G home broadband).
For more information about the 4G Hub, you can see the detailed product specifications on the BT website.
BT 4G Home Broadband Speeds
On BT’s 4G home broadband service, you can choose between maximum download speeds of either 15Mbps or 30Mbps. You should note that both of these are quoted as an ‘up to’ speed. This differs from most other home broadband services which are advertised with an ‘average’ download speed that at least 50% of customers are able to obtain.
In practice, the download speeds you’ll get on BT’s 4G home broadband service will be dependent on the 4G coverage available where you live. You can use BT’s 4G coverage checker to get an idea of the signal in your area. Across the country, BT has previously quoted an average speed of 31Mbps on their 4G network. However, this can vary substantially depending on area (e.g. it might be a lot slower in areas with poor or marginal 4G coverage).
You can often use an external 4G antenna to improve the speeds on your 4G home broadband service.
If you’re unable to get fibre broadband at your address, BT’s 4G home broadband may be faster than a regular fixed-line broadband service. However, if you’re living at an address where BT’s fibre broadband plans are available, you’ll almost certainly get faster speeds using fibre broadband instead.
Alternatives
Alongside BT’s 4G home broadband service, there are a number of other 4G home broadband providers you can consider. These include Three’s 4G home broadband service, EE’s 4GEE Home Router and Vodafone’s GigaCube Broadband.
At present, the best value 4G home broadband service is available on Three Broadband. They offer unlimited 4G broadband for just £24/month. This is available without any speed restrictions so you may be able to get faster download speeds than those available on BT’s service (subject to 4G coverage from Three in your area):
| Service | Data | Monthly Cost (will rise each April by £2) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
 Three 4G Hub | Unlimited data | £24.00 per month No upfront fee 6 months half price 24 month contract | See deal |
See all Three 4G Home Broadband deals →
Meanwhile, EE offers 4G home broadband on their 4GEE Home Router. Given BT is also using EE’s network for 4G coverage, you’ll get the exact same coverage on the 4G home broadband services from BT and EE. The main difference is you’ll get uncapped download speeds on EE (albeit with a monthly download limit on most plans).
| Service | Data | Monthly Cost (will rise each March by £1.50) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
 4GEE Home | 100GB data | £35.00 per month No upfront fee 18 month contract | See deal |
4GEE Home | 300GB data | £45.00 per month No upfront fee 18 month contract | See deal |
4GEE Home | Unlimited data | £50.00 per month No upfront fee 18 month contract | See deal |
Finally, Vodafone also offers a range of 4G home broadband plans. You can choose from a range of data allowances between 100GB and 300GB per month.
| Service | Data | Monthly Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No price plans could be found matching this criteria. | |||
For more information, see our comparison of the best 4G home broadband deals in the UK. In addition, you might be able to get 5G home broadband if you’re living in an area with 5G coverage.
Coverage & Availability
BT offers 99% population coverage on their 4G home broadband service. In the background, this is provided using EE’s 4G mobile network so you can get it in all of the same places you can get 4G from EE.
Before signing up to BT’s 4G home broadband service, it’s important to make sure there’s 4G coverage in your area. You can do this by entering your postcode on BT’s 4G coverage map:
Meanwhile, if you’d like to check the availability of other BT Broadband plans such as ADSL and fibre broadband, you’ll need to check the coverage through this page instead.
For more information, see our in-depth guide to coverage on EE or our guide to mobile networks using EE coverage.
More Information
For more information about BT’s 4G home broadband, please see BT’s official website. You can also read our guide to 4G broadband services in the UK.
Bill wiggett said:
Can I use the BT disc signal extender equipment with the BT 4G router?
Ken replied:
Hi Bill,
Thanks for your comment. If you have BT’s Whole Home Wi-Fi system, it should also work with this (as that’s designed to work with any ISP or broadband service). However, the Complete Wi-Fi system will only work with BT’s fibre broadband service.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Michael Tapley said:
Why can we not simply use a phone SIM with unlimited data? Ofcom are supposedly enforcing the open internet regulations which outlaw the discrimination between end user devices. I have a home broadband mobile router/modem and I used an unlimited data plan with UW. Unfortunately UW didn’t like my usage and told me to cease and desist!
I would be interested to know your views on Ofcom’s enforcement (or lack thereof) of the 2015 regulations.
Fibre broadband gives me 2.5M download speeds so mobile is my only option at the moment.
Ken replied:
Hi Michael,
Thanks for your comment. There’s more information in my guide to SIM cards for dongles and routers. However, in short, you’re right: Ofcom have said that providers shouldn’t discriminate between different categories of device.
Some providers (like O2, Tesco, giffgaff, Virgin Mobile, etc) try to claim to 4G home broadband routers are different, as they’re not “mobile devices”. As such, they restrict usage of their unlimited data SIM cards to exclude 4G home broadband routers. As far as I know, Ofcom haven’t made any further rulings on whether this is permitted, so I imagine this policy will stand until someone makes a complaint (and until Ofcom makes a further ruling to clarify, if applicable).
Ken
Michael Tapley replied:
Thanks Ken, your views concur with my findings. Most MISPs are trying to wriggle and squirm around this. I complained to Ofcom and was told “no case to answer” as there is no ruling despite pointing out that it is an Ofcom document!! However, the next day, I got a follow up call suggesting that I may have been given the wrong advice. I was promised a call back but am yet to hear. If anything turns up, I will brief you here.
Ken replied:
Hi Michael,
Thank you very much for taking the time to report back with your findings. Do please let me know if you hear any more from Ofcom as I’m very curious to see what they come back with!
Thanks,
Ken
Ken replied:
Hi Michael,
Hope you’re well! I was just wondering whether you ever heard back from Ofcom about this? I’ve had another few comments about it, and I was wondering whether you ever received an “official verdict” from Ofcom?
Thanks,
Ken
Michael Tapley replied:
Ken,
Thanks for following up! I did hear back from Ofcom but only to say that they were still “in discussion” with Utilities Warehouse. I suppose no news is good news here but you have reminded me to chase up the issue. I will do so soon!
In the meantime, I signed up to a business internet service from EE that specifically allowed it to be used in a router. It is from a company called Rural4g. The advantage is that I can now “move” my internet service from place to place and save the line rental of at least two useless telephone lines!
Michael Tapley replied:
I forgot to mention that I am getting 78Mbit/sec download speeds from this service (near Saltash in Cornwall) and around 60Mbit/sec in East London. Upload speeds are also quite healthy so we are quite happy with streaming as well as Skype, Google etc conf calls.
I did use the secret codes for checking out radio reception strength that are available on an iPhone, of course, before committing to the 2 year contract!
Ken replied:
Hi Michael,
Thanks very much for this! The speeds sound absolutely fantastic – really glad to hear that it’s working well for you 🙂
Many thanks again for taking the time to keep us updated!
Ken
Keith said:
I was sold a package by BT when I moved in to my new house, at no time did anyone explain that the speed I was signing up to was going to be a variable ADSL 0.9 to 3.0Mb. With government guidelines saying all households should be able to receive at least 10Mb, I would say I was mis-sold this product. I was offered 4G as an alternative after I complained about the very poor speed, but this was at an extra cost and then my phone line almost doubling my monthly payment.
I was given loads of bad advise, incorrect information and down right lies during the hours I spent on the phone. It turns out that fibre is available in my area but there is no spare connections in the local cabinet, something I should have been told at the outset. I was told as a solution apart from 4G, was to watch for my neighbours moving home then phone BT to ask if a connection in the cabinet had become available, unbelievable!