4G Mobile Broadband Deals: Get Connected Using A Portable 4G Hotspot

4G mobile broadband deals are available from £10/month, allowing you to access broadband internet through multiple devices on-the-go.

In the UK, 4G-powered mobile broadband services can be a convenient way to get your devices connected to the internet.

Starting from £10/month, you can get a mobile broadband hotspot that connects to a 4G mobile network in the background. Using a 4G signal, it produces your own personal wi-fi network that other devices can connect to for access to the internet. This allows you to use mobile broadband on a wide range of devices including your laptop, tablet, smartphone or other smart home devices.

At present, 4G mobile broadband deals are available from EE, Three and Vodafone. Each mobile network offers different mobile broadband devices with a range of data plans available from 2GB per month up to fully unlimited data. In this article, we’ll review and compare the best 4G mobile broadband deals in the UK.

Compare Mobile Broadband Deals

You can use the following interactive comparison tool to find the best value mobile broadband deal for your usage. Start by selecting the amount of data you’d like, followed by the length of the contract and the mobile networks you’d consider:

Service	Data	Monthly Cost
No price plans could be found matching this criteria.

You can scroll down the list of price plans to see all of the mobile broadband deals available that match your requirements. For further information, read on through the rest of this article and we’ll discuss the mobile broadband service on each UK network in more detail.

Mobile Broadband By Network

EE

At present, EE offers 4G mobile broadband from £20/month and 5G mobile broadband from £50/month.

For 4G broadband, most people will choose either the 4GEE WiFi or 4GEE WiFi Mini devices. The two mobile wi-fi hotspot devices are very similar and work in broadly the same way. You’ll get access to faster speeds and better battery life on 4GEE WiFi, at the cost of it being a larger and heavier device than the 4GEE WiFi Mini. Both devices are available from £20/month for 15GB data.

For 5G mobile broadband, EE offers the HTC 5G Hub router as part of their 5GEE WiFi service. You’ll get access to faster 5G download speeds along with built-in tablet and hub functionality. Unfortunately, however, it remains a hugely expensive option at £50/month for 50GB of data. For this reason, most people will still be better off choosing 4G mobile broadband from EE.

The following table shows a side-by-side comparison of the four mobile broadband devices on EE:

	4GEE WiFi (EE 4GEE WiFi (2018))	4GEE WiFi Mini (EE 4GEE WiFi Mini (2018))	EE Huawei 4G WiFi 2 (Huawei E5785)	5GEE WiFi (HTC 5G Hub)
Mobile Connectivity
5G Connectivity:	-	-	-	Up to 2630 Mbps download
5G Bands:	-	-	-	5G NR band n78
4G Connectivity:	Category 12 LTE	Category 7 LTE	Category 6 LTE	Category 20 LTE
4G Download Speed:	Up to 600 Mbps download	Up to 300 Mbps download	Up to 300 Mbps download	Up to 2000 Mbps download
4G Upload Speed:	Up to 100 Mbps upload	Up to 100 Mbps upload	Up to 50 Mbps upload	Up to 316 Mbps upload
4G Bands:	LTE bands 3, 7 & 20	LTE bands 3, 7 & 20	LTE bands 1, 3, 7, 8 & 20	LTE bands 1, 3, 7, 8, 32, 38 & 40
External Antenna:	No	No	No	No
Home Network Connectivity
Dual-Band Wi-Fi:	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Wi-Fi Connectivity:	802.11a/b/g/n/ac	802.11a/b/g/n/ac	802.11a/b/g/n/ac	802.11a/b/g/n/ac
Wi-Fi Devices:	Up to 20 devices	Up to 20 devices	Up to 16 devices	Up to 20 devices
Ethernet:	-	-	-	1 Gigabit Ethernet port
Other
Battery:	4,300mAh (15 hours usage)	2,150mAh (8 hours usage)	3,000mAh (12 hours usage, 600 hours standby)	7,660mAh
Dimensions:	6.6 x 9.6 x 1.88 cm	6.3 x 9.2 x 1.33 cm	10.8 x 6.2 x 1.73 cm	12.9 x 10.0 x 4.3 cm
Weight:	150g	85g	125g	340g
Model:	EE 4GEE WiFi (2018)	EE 4GEE WiFi Mini (2018)	Huawei E5785	HTC 5G Hub
Colour:	Black	Black	Black	Black
Other Features:	-	-	-	Hub & tablet functionality
Review:	4GEE WiFi Review	4GEE WiFi Mini Review	EE Huawei 4G WiFi 2 Review	5GEE WiFi Review

As well as offering portable 4G and 5G mobile broadband solutions, EE also offers 4G and 5G-powered home broadband services. You should consider using 4GEE Home or 5GEE Home instead if you’re mainly using the service in a fixed location where there’s access to a mains power supply.

Three

Three offers a choice of two mobile broadband devices: the Huawei 4G Plus Mi-Fi (Huawei E5783B) and the Huawei E5573bs-322. For most people, the newer Huawei 4G Plus Mi-Fi is our recommended device. It gives you access to mobile broadband internet on up to 16 devices at the same time, with download speeds of up to 300Mbit/s and up to 6 hours battery life on one charge.

You can get the Huawei 4G Plus Mi-Fi on a range of price plans from 2GB of data for £10/month to fully unlimited data for £23/month. The older Huawei E5573bs-322 is available at a slightly lower cost if you’re choosing a 20GB or unlimited data plan from Three.

The following table shows a side-by-side comparison of the two mobile broadband devices on Three:

	Three 4G Plus Mi-Fi (Huawei E5783B)	Three 4G Mobile Wi-Fi (Huawei E5573bs-322)
Mobile Connectivity
4G Connectivity:	Category 7 LTE	Category 4 LTE
4G Download Speed:	Up to 300 Mbps download	Up to 150 Mbps download
4G Upload Speed:	Up to 100 Mbps upload	Up to 50 Mbps upload
4G Bands:	LTE bands 1, 3, 7, 8, 20, 28, 32, 38 & 40	LTE bands 1, 3, 5, 7, 8 & 20
External Antenna:	No	No
Home Network Connectivity
Dual-Band Wi-Fi:	Yes	No
Wi-Fi Connectivity:	802.11a/b/g/n/ac	802.11a/b/g/n
Wi-Fi Devices:	Up to 16 devices	Up to 10 devices
Other
Battery:	1,500mAh (6 hours usage, 350 hours standby)	1,500mAh (4 hours usage, 300 hours standby)
Dimensions:	10.8 x 6.2 x 1.6 cm	9.7 x 5.8 x 1.3 cm
Weight:	95g	75g
Model:	Huawei E5783B	Huawei E5573bs-322
Colour:	Black	White
Review:	Three 4G Plus Mi-Fi Review	Three 4G Mobile Wi-Fi Review

Three also offers 4G and 5G home broadband services. This is available with a choice of different mains-powered routers, with the Huawei B535 HomeFi Plus being their most popular option. This is a 4G-powered home broadband service offering unlimited data on up to 64 devices from £20/month. You can also choose the Huawei AI Cube B900 router with a built-in Amazon Alexa smart speaker, or the Three 5G Home router if you’re living in selected parts of London. For more information, see our in-depth review of Three’s HomeFi broadband service.

Vodafone

Vodafone offers a 4G-powered mobile broadband service on up to 10 devices at the same time through their Vodafone R219 mobile wi-fi hotspot. This allows you to access Category 4 LTE speeds on the Vodafone network (up to 150Mbit/s) with a range of plans from 2GB per month to fully unlimited data.

If you’re using your Vodafone mobile broadband service only a laptop, you can also use the Vodafone K5161 USB dongle as a lighter and more portable alternative to the Vodafone R219.

The following table shows the specifications of Vodafone’s 4G mobile wi-fi hotspot:

	Vodafone Mobile Wi-Fi (Vodafone R219)
Mobile Connectivity
4G Connectivity:	Category 4 LTE
4G Download Speed:	Up to 150 Mbps download
4G Upload Speed:	Up to 50 Mbps upload
4G Bands:	LTE bands 1, 3, 7, 8 & 20
External Antenna:	No
Home Network Connectivity
Dual-Band Wi-Fi:	No
Wi-Fi Connectivity:	802.11b/g/n
Wi-Fi Devices:	Up to 10 devices
Other
Battery:	1,500mAh (6 hours usage, 350 hours standby)
Dimensions:	10.0 x 5.8 x 1.37 cm
Weight:	95g
Model:	Vodafone R219
Colour:	White
More Information:	See vodafone.co.uk

If you’d like to access 4G or 5G broadband internet at home, consider getting the mains-powered Vodafone GigaCube router instead. This is much less portable than the Vodafone R219 and prices start from £30/month for 100GB of data. However, you’ll get access to faster download speeds, much better performance and the ability to connect more devices at the same time.

Mobile Broadband Coverage

You can access 4G mobile broadband wherever there’s 4G coverage available from your mobile broadband provider.

At present, all of the major networks claim to offer 99% population coverage for 4G. However, it’s important to double-check the coverage for your area, as the exact locations covered will differ by mobile network. You can do this by entering your postcode on the relevant websites:

• Check EE mobile broadband coverage (for 4GEE WiFi & 5GEE WiFi)
• Check Three mobile broadband coverage (for Huawei 4G Plus MiFi & Huawei E5573bs-322)
• Check Vodafone mobile broadband coverage (for Vodafone R219)

For more information, see our in-depth reviews of the coverage available on EE, Three and Vodafone. You may also find it useful reading our overview of mobile coverage and 5G coverage in the UK.

Alternatives to Mobile Broadband

4G & 5G Home Broadband

As an alternative to getting mobile broadband, you should consider getting 4G or 5G home broadband as well. This works in a similar way to 4G mobile broadband, using either a 4G or 5G signal to deliver internet to your device.

The main difference is that instead of using a small battery-powered hotspot, you’ll get a much more powerful mains-powered router. This gives you access to faster download speeds and better performance along with features like the ability to attach an external antenna.

The following table shows a side-by-side comparison between using a 4G mobile broadband dongle and home broadband router:

	4G Mobile Broadband Dongle	4G & 5G Home Broadband Router
Overview
Best for:	Getting online in multiple locations (e.g. in the car, on the train, on holiday, etc).	Getting online when you’re at home (or in other places as well if you bring the router with you).
Price:	Plans start from £10/month, or from £22/month with unlimited data. Unlocked dongles are available from £20.	Plans start from £20/month with unlimited data. Unlocked home broadband routers are available from £80.
Mobile Connectivity
Portability:	Most portable. Normally a pocket-sized device that runs on battery-power. You can use it wherever a 4G signal is available.	Less portable as the router is heavier and usually around the size of a book. It always needs to be plugged in to a mains power supply.
Download speeds:	Dongle will be constrained by size & power. Will therefore have a smaller antenna and will offer slower speeds on 4G.	Has a larger antenna so can pick up a signal much better. Up to 300Mbit/s on 4G and up to 1Gbit/s on 5G.
External antenna:	Not supported (typically).	Normally supported (router dependent).
Home Network Connectivity
Wi-Fi:	Gives a weaker wi-fi signal as constrained by size & power. Normally has around 10 metres range and supports 10-20 devices.	Gives a faster & much stronger wi-fi network signal. Normally has around 30 metres range and supports up to 64 devices at the same time.
Ethernet:	Not supported (typically).	Normally supported. Up to 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports (router dependent).

In terms of raw performance and network connectivity options, a 4G home broadband router will normally outperform a mobile broadband dongle. For this reason, we’d normally recommend it unless you require the extra portability offered by a mobile broadband dongle.

For more information, see our full guide to 4G & 5G home broadband deals.

Tethering

Another alternative to getting a mobile broadband hotspot is simply tethering from your smartphone instead. This allows you to share your smartphone’s internet connection with other devices like your laptop and tablet.

The disadvantage of tethering from your smartphone is you’ll need to make sure you always have the device with you. All of the devices you’d like to connect to the internet must be in close proximity to your phone. Additionally, you’ll need to make sure there’s enough data remaining on your mobile phone plan.

For more information, see our guide to tethering on UK mobile networks.

More Information

For further information, read our in-depth reviews of EE mobile broadband, Three mobile broadband and Vodafone mobile broadband. We’ve also got a range of guides on broadband providers more generally, including 4G & 5G home broadband services.