By 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.
Contents
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/ | 802.11a/b/ | 802.11a/b/ | 802.11a/b/ |
| 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/ | 802.11a/b/ |
| 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/ |
| 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.
Ken Peck said:
Hi Ken,
Regarding your comments above about home broadband speeds. An external antenna will enable the router to pick up a weaker signal, not a stronger one. i.e. it’s more sensitive.
Best Regards,
Ken.
Ken replied:
Hi Ken,
Thank you so much for the feedback on this! I agree, the wording I used was probably a little bit ambiguous here. I had intended it to mean that it picks up a signal much better. You’re right in saying that actually means it can pick up and use a weaker signal. I’ve updated this to hopefully make it a bit clearer!
Thanks again,
Ken
Richard Canning said:
Hi Ken and Dave,
I have a similar issue, I wish to setup smart home devices in my motorhome and I’m looking for a 5g router that will run off 12v but still act like a home broadband device.
Any ideas.
Thanks in advance
Dave M said:
Hi Ken. Thanks for the very useful website. I’m looking for a system to set-up on my boat, so ideally a router thats powered via USB (or 12 Vdc) as we don’t always have mains power. But also with sockets for an external antenna.
Do you have any suggestions?
Ken replied:
Hi Dave,
Thanks for your comment, and a very good question! Unfortunately, I’m not an expert on USB-powered routers, so I don’t have anything I’m able to recommend at the moment. Perhaps someone else reading this article might be able to help?
Ken
Ross Stephenson said:
Hi Ken, am I right in thinking that if my network provider (Three) is suffering from cell congestion at peak times, no matter how good my outdoor antenna is it still won’t increase my speed. Morning download speed around 20Mbps, 5pm to 11pm download speed 3Mbps. Many thanks.
Ken replied:
Hi Ross,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, if cell congestion at peak times is the limiting factor for download speeds, it’s probable that an external antenna will not help to increase your download speeds. Saying that, it can still help in certain situations (e.g. you might be able to get a signal from a different mast which is a lot less congested).
Ken
MARK CAMPBELL said:
Question …..
I just moved to my mums for a couple of weeks and she has no wifi so I e bought a 02 dongle and a sim with unlimited data. Can I plug that into an lg smart tv and use the internet through the dongle ? Baring in mind mum does not have wifi.
Ken replied:
Hi Mark,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, it should be possible to do this, providing your LG Smart TV is compatible with the dongle. Do make sure this is the case however, as lots of smart TVs only have USB support for memory sticks. If your TV doesn’t support USB dongles directly, consider getting something like a Mi-Fi instead.
Ken
Gary Quick said:
Hi Ken
Really enjoyed looking through your web page. I have a question for you. I have a EE mifi device which I have now got unlocked I still have a pay monthly data plan with EE but it’s expensive compared to other deals now. So yesterday I bought a sim only deal for a phone from Three hoping I could put it into the mifi and use the unlimited data with the deal. I read on internet that this could be done but after fitting the sim in the mifi it didn’t work. I went into the software and it seemed to pick up the fact that it was a three SIM card but obviously something else needs changing in the software. EE says it should work and to be fair they were quite helpful. Do you have any suggestions on what I can do to get it going ?
Ken replied:
Hi Gary,
Thanks for your comment. It should be possible to use a Three smartphone SIM card in a mobile broadband device (as per Ofcom’s net neutrality judgement last year). As to why it isn’t working on your device, unfortunately I’m not quite sure the reasons for this. Assuming you’re getting signal from Three but no access to data, the most likely reason is that you’ll need to update the Access Point Name (APN) settings. If you’re unable to even get a signal from Three, it’s possible that your device isn’t properly unlocked.
Ken
Gary Quick replied:
Hi Ken
Just to let you know I have changed the Apn info and I did get the sims working but it’s just not as fast as the EE sim that the unit is meant for. The other sim I got from Three only just gets 3G but EE gets 4g.(better signal) Unless their is something else in the mifi unit that is throttling back the performance of the sim. For instance my iPhone sim is Vodafone and I have 4g generally in the phone when I am in Dorset but when I put the sim it in the mifi unit I only get 3G and slow response from the mifi unit.
Do you think if I purchased a mifi device completely unlocked from say Amazon it would perform better than the EE device I have.. I read that some units are better than others.
Thanks for your help.
Regards
Gary
Ken replied:
Hi Gary,
Thanks for getting back to me. Unfortunately, I don’t think this is an issue related to the MiFi previously being locked to EE. It’s likely you’ll get the same results with another unlocked MiFi (e.g. perhaps the signal from Three is weaker where you live). Are you using your mobile broadband connection on-the-move or simply at one location? If it’s the latter, you could consider getting a 4G home broadband router, perhaps in combination with an antenna. This may give you a more reliable connection, along with faster speeds (I typically recommend the Huawei B525 router as a good mid-range option costing around £120).
Ken
Gillian Everett said:
I’m living in my own house with a family member as tenant. They have a Sky package for internet, tv, landline etc. I’m paying half towards the cost (£100/2) and feel this is expensive, especially as I don’t use most of the features. I’d like to either get a dongle or use my Samsung Galaxy S8 as a mobile broadband device. I don’t download films or music but do use BBC iplayer, plus Googling, emails, fb etc. I’ve not long moved back from living permanently in France and plan to sell up shortly, so looking for something short term. Which would be cheapest – use the Samsung as a hotspot or buy a dongle and get a PAYG data plan – say 15GB? TIA
Macgowan said:
Hello,
I live on a hillside in rural Wales,1mile + from BT exchange so landline Broad Band was only 6-7mbps & fibre est.up to 17.
I now use BT mobile 25-40mpbs and no problems , so landline cancelled.
Landline can’t compete with 4g if you can get a good signal.
We are lucky, two transmitters a few miles SW.
Three is also good 4g 25-30mbps.
In London my BT is 24mbps inside, I assume slower because more users ?
I always come to your website for info. on mobile and refer friends & family here.
Thanks
Ken replied:
Hi there,
Agreed – I think 4G is a really good technology for covering “the last mile” and can definitely match or beat home broadband in many situations (the only disadvantage being that data packages tend to be limited in size, so making it quite restrictive if you want to consume lots of multimedia online).
Ken
Vena Wong said:
Is UK using GSM or CDMA for cell phone technology? what kind of phone I should bring with me to UK?
vena
Ken replied:
Hi Vena,
We use GSM technology here in the UK. Therefore, you should bring a GSM handset with support for one of the following:
For 2G coverage, either GSM900 or GSM1800.
For 3G coverage, you’ll need WCDMA2100.
For 4G coverage, you’ll need LTE bands 3, 7 or 20.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Dave said:
Hi Ken … is there a difference between a data sim and regular voice sim … for example if I had a regular voice sim with 1gb data / month could I use it in a mifi device and use it as a wifi hotspot. Effectively using it only as a data sim.
Many thanks
Ken replied:
Hi Dave,
There aren't really any differences between data and voice SIMs – they both work in the same way (although the Access Point Name settings may differ). However, it may be against the Terms Of Use of your voice SIM to use it in a MiFi device.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Derek said:
I use Vodafone pay as you go for occasional use, such as when I am on the road. Although it is £15/Gb, its big advantage for someone like me is that the money that one pumps the sim up with does not disappear at the end of the month. Provided a connection is made once in every six months (no surfing required, just plug it in and wait until it acquires an IP address), the credit does not run out. All the other providers' PAYG plans last only 30 days every time one pumps the card up.
Vince said:
This is an interesting read today http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13544197
Vince said:
Hi Ken, i regularly read your posts with great interest.
Could you please do a similar table which includes Pay As You Go tariffs ?
Thanks
Ken replied:
Hi Vince,
Thanks for the suggestion! This is something we will look into!
Many thanks,
Ken
Winter said:
Hi Ken, Had been thinking about getting Orange mobile broadband because they had some nice big data allowances including an unlimited* (20GB) on the Panther £35.
However, just been looking on their website and Panther seems to have completely vanished!? Has it really gone or do my eyes need testing again? Can only see Racoon and Dolphin on there. Admittedly I haven't been to the Orange site in quite some time so perhaps this is old news, but it's the first I've noticed this.
Also Dolphin seems rather rubbish now, I seem to recall them having 3GB for £15. Now you only get 1GB anytime + 1GB quiet time for £15, and what happened to happy hour? I don't see that mentioned any more either.
Seems O2 aren't the only ones being tight with data allowances.
I don't have a landline so tend to rely heavily on mobile phone and mobile broadband for all my communications.
Ken replied:
Hi Winter,
Unfortunately the mobile networks have been cutting the mobile broadband tariffs with high usage allowances as they tend not to be so profitable. I'm sorry I can't give you a specific answer regarding Orange Panther but it is quite possible it has been withdrawn.
It's worth looking at Three (see link in the article above) who are offering 15GB for £15.99 per month. This might be a good alternative to the Orange tariff and appears a bit cheaper too.
Ken
g said:
hi i have a pay as you go SIM, will it work in my dongle provided i top up using an add-on ? Thanks !