By The Huawei AI Cube B900 (Three’s 4G Hub with Alexa) offered unlimited 4G home broadband with a built-in Amazon Alexa smart speaker.
In the UK, Three previously offered the Huawei AI Cube B900 router with unlimited data (also known as the 4G Hub with Alexa). Customers purchasing the device also received a free Amazon Echo Dot with their purchase.
Working as a two-in-one device, the AICubeB900 has an integrated Amazon Alexa smart speaker as well as giving you unlimited 4G home broadband on up to 64 devices at one time. This is all delivered without the need for a phone line or cable, making it a good alternative to fixed home broadband.
In this article, we’ll review the Huawei AI Cube B900 router from Three, including the price plans available and the capabilities of the device. We’ll also compare it to the Huawei HomeFi Plus B535 router from Three.
Contents
Huawei AI Cube Price Plans
For many people, 4G technology now provides a viable alternative to fixed home broadband that’s delivered through a phone line or cable. As it uses mobile network technology, you can get a high-speed broadband connection without being limited by the speeds you can get through a phone line or cable. You can also get your broadband connection set up quickly without an engineer visit, and there’s the flexibility to bring your broadband connection with you to other places.
Three previously offered a choice of two 4G-powered home broadband routers: the Huawei B535 HomeFi+ and the Huawei AICubeB900.
As the more expensive of the two devices, the Huawei AI Cube B900 gives you a built-in Amazon Alexa smart speaker. This means you can use it to control your smart home devices, for listening to music or for making internet-based phone calls. This is in addition to the router capabilities, with support for Category 6 LTE download speeds (up to 300Mbit/s) and dual-band Wi-Fi (802.11ac).
If you replace your fixed-line home broadband connection with an AI Cube router, it may be possible to cancel your landline connection. This can save you in the region of £20/month, offsetting much of the cost of getting an AI Cube router. However, you’ll need to find an alternative way to make phone calls if you do this (e.g. using your mobile phone instead of a landline, or making internet-based phone calls using your AI Cube).
As an alternative to buying your AI Cube from Three, you can also buy the Huawei AI Cube from Amazon for around £69. You can then buy a SIM card separately for your AI Cube if you decide to do this (e.g. Three offers an unlimited data SIM card from £20 per month).
Three 4G Hub
As of 2021, Three no longer offers the Huawei AI Cube B900 to new home broadband customers. Instead, you can get their newer 4G Hub router on the following price plans:
| Service | Data Allowance | Contract Length | Upfront Price | Monthly Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Three 4G Hub | Unlimited Data | 24 month contract | £0 | £22/month with 6 months half price |
The new 4G Hub supports Category 12/13 LTE speeds on the Three network. This means you’re able to get download speeds of up to 600Mbps and upload speeds of up to 100Mbps.
Huawei AI Cube B900
The Huawei AI Cube B900 is Three’s 4G home broadband router with a built-in Amazon Alexa smart speaker (4G Hub with Alexa). The router supports Category 6 LTE speeds (up to 300Mbit/s download and up to 50Mbit/s upload). Most users, however, will get more realistic download speeds of around 10-20Mbit/s depending on their location. The AI Cube’s home broadband service can be used on up to 64 devices at one time with dual-band 802.11ac wi-fi connectivity. There’s also an Ethernet socket for connecting a wired device to your network.
In addition to working as a 4G router, the AI Cube also doubles up as a smart speaker solution. It has four built-in microphones with far-field voice recognition and a 360° speaker. This means you can use it in much the same way as you would an Amazon Echo. For instance, you can control your smart home devices, make internet-based phone calls or listen to music through online steaming services. The AI Cube’s interface allows you to control everything by voice, simply by asking Alexa to do something for you.
Compared to the Huawei B535 HomeFi Plus router, you get fairly similar router specifications. Both routers support a maximum download speed of 300Mbit/s and have dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity on up to 64 devices at one time (including 802.11ac wi-fi). You do, however, lose some connectivity options. For instance, there’s no external antenna support. The AI Cube also has just a single Ethernet socket for connecting wired devices to your network, whereas the Huawei B535 has 4 Gigabit Ethernet sockets. The AI Cube also offers slower uploads (up to 50Mbit/s rather than 100Mbit/s).
Being a 2-in-1 device with an integrated Amazon Alexa speaker, there are some trade-offs to be made in the AI Cube’s design. Most importantly, the optimal location to place a smart speaker in your home is normally fairly centrally in your living room. This may differ from the optimal location for a 4G router which is often closer to a window sill (to maximise the signal strength of your 4G connection).
For customers living in an urban area with fairly good mobile coverage, the trade-offs getting an AI Cube might be fairly small (as you possibly didn’t want to use an external antenna anyway and coverage might be better in the middle of your living room). However, for customers living in a suburban or rural area, a more mainstream router like the Huawei B535 will be a much safer bet.
The following table shows a side-by-side comparison of the Huawei B535 HomeFi Plus and the Huawei AI Cube B900 routers:
| Three 4G Hub (2019) (Huawei B535 HomeFi Plus) | Three 4G Hub with Alexa (Huawei AI Cube B900) | |
|---|---|---|
 | | |
| Mobile Connectivity | ||
| 4G Connectivity: | Category 7 LTE | Category 6 LTE |
| 4G Download Speed: | Up to 300 Mbps download | Up to 300 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 | LTE bands 1, 3, 7, 8, 20, 32 & 38 |
| External Antenna: | Yes, 2x SMA connectors | No |
| Home Network Connectivity | ||
| Dual-Band Wi-Fi: | Yes | Yes |
| Wi-Fi Connectivity: | 802.11a/b/ | 802.11a/b/ |
| Wi-Fi Devices: | Up to 64 devices | Up to 64 devices |
| Ethernet: | 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports | 1 Gigabit Ethernet port |
| Other | ||
| Model: | Huawei B535 HomeFi Plus | Huawei AI Cube B900 |
| Colour: | White | White |
| Other Features: | - | 360° Alexa smart speaker. Free Amazon Echo Dot. |
| Review: | Three 4G Hub (2019) Review | Three 4G Hub with Alexa Review |
You can see the full specifications for the Huawei AICubeB900 on Three’s website.
As an alternative to the AI Cube, you can combine the Huawei B535 router with something like a standalone Amazon Echo speaker. This is available for about £90. The advantage of having a standalone Amazon Echo speaker is that it can be placed anywhere in your home: it isn’t necessary to balance this against where you’ll get the best 4G network coverage.
Alternatives
The closest alternative to getting a Huawei AI Cube B900 router is getting Three’s newer 4G Hub router.
The following table shows a list of price plans available with the 4G Hub:
| Service | Data Allowance | Contract Length | Upfront Price | Monthly Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Three 4G Hub | Unlimited Data | 24 month contract | £0 | £22/month with 6 months half price |
If you’re also looking at 4G-powered home broadband solutions from other mobile networks, you can consider Vodafone’s GigaCube and EE’s 4GEE Home Router.
For more information, see our full guide to 4G home broadband and 5G home broadband services in the UK.
Coverage
Three offers 99.8% population coverage on their 4G network and 98.7% population coverage on their 3G network.
Before purchasing a Huawei AI Cube from Three, it’s strongly recommended that you check the coverage in your area. You can do this by entering your postcode on Three’s online coverage map.
Check Three Coverage (three.co.uk) →
If you’re travelling abroad, it’s also possible to use the AI Cube router in other countries through the Go Roam offer.
For more information, see our in-depth guide to the coverage on Three. Alternatively, find out coverage compares across different mobile networks in the UK.
Frequently Asked Questions
| What is the Huawei AI Cube? | The Huawei AI Cube is a two-in-one device. It works as a 4G home broadband router, giving you fast broadband internet on up to 64 devices. As well as this, it functions as an Amazon Alexa smart speaker, allowing you to control your smart home devices and to listen to music. |
|---|---|
| How does the AICubeB900 compare to the B535 HomeFi+ router? | Both devices function as a 4G home broadband router, with the AI Cube B900 also having a built-in Amazon Alexa smart speaker. With the AI Cube, you’ll lose out on external antenna support which is often useful for improving coverage and download speeds. You’ll also get fewer Ethernet sockets and slower maximum upload speeds. For many people, a better option will be getting a Huawei B535 for £22/month and pairing this with a standalone Amazon Echo speaker. |
| Does the Huawei AI Cube support 5G? | No. The Huawei AI Cube B900 only supports 3G & 4G, with up to Category 6 LTE speeds (up to 300Mbit/s download and up to 50Mbit/s upload). See our guide to 5G home broadband if you’re looking for a router that supports 5G coverage. |
| Does the Huawei AI Cube support Bluetooth? | Yes. You can use the Huawei AI Cube as a Bluetooth speaker for listening to music from other devices. Alternatively, you can listen to music directly on the AI Cube by connecting it through the relevant Alexa apps and skills. |
| What coverage can I get with the AI Cube? | You can get 99.8% population coverage when using the AI Cube on Three. You should check the coverage in your area by entering your postcode on Three’s website. |
| Can I use the AI Cube when travelling abroad? | Yes. It’s possible to use the Huawei AI Cube when travelling abroad in other countries. With Three’s Go Roam offer, you can use the AI Cube at no extra charge in 71 destinations (including most of Europe, the USA, Australia and more). |
More Information
For more information about the Huawei AI Cube, please see Three’s official website.
Allan Hall said:
I want to add ethernet switch and feed other devices to the AI cube, is this possible? In other words use the mobile broadband signal to feed hardwired devices
Ken replied:
Hi Allan,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, it should be possible to connect an Ethernet switch to the AI Cube using an Ethernet cable. This will mean it functions as just a 4G router and smart speaker, with your switch distributing the connection onto other devices.
Ken
Jennifer Edwards said:
Hi there,
I just ordered the Huawei AICubeB900 from three. I intend to use it with an amazon fire stick that is Alexa enabled.
My question is: will the two Alexa’s get confused?
Better yet: can I disable Alexa on the cube as I have no interest in streaming music, asking about the weather, or getting my horoscope. I just ordered the thing for basic WiFi to feed the fire stick.
Ken replied:
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks for your comment. To answer your questions:
1. I believe the Alexa device in closest proximity to you should be the one that responds to your voice command. However, I haven’t actually tried this so I don’t know how well the feature actually works!
2. You can mute the AI Cube’s microphone which will essentially disable the Alexa smart speaker functionality.
Hope this helps,
Ken
S West said:
Hi Ken,
Can you use the AI cube without a SIM card and as a stand alone Alexa enabled speaker? Our 3 contract has ended and we now have BT broadband
Ken replied:
Hi there,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, I believe it should be possible to attach your AI Cube to your BT Smart Hub using an Ethernet cable. This would allow you to use it as a standalone Amazon Alexa device.
Ken
Stuart said:
I’m thinking of buying the ai cube but before I do can you connect the ai cube to
iPads/iPhones
sky q
Nintendo switch/PlayStation 4
Ken replied:
Hi Stuart,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, the AI Cube will work with any wi-fi enabled device, including everything that you’ve listed in your message 🙂
Ken
Emmanuel said:
Hi Ken,
I would like to know how to connect a WiFi booster to an Alex Huawei AI Cube please
Ken replied:
Hi Emmanuel,
Thanks for your comment. You can use the Ethernet/LAN port on your Huawei AI Cube to attach your Wi-Fi Booster. Alternatively, if you’re just using a Wi-Fi Repeater, you can configure this to connect to the AI Cube’s wi-fi network.
Hope this helps,
Ken
John scott monk said:
I’ve had this device for about 8 months now and its been brilliant but I’ve just moved house and cant get a signal in the house. I get about 2 to 5 mbps which is stressfull. In my flat I was only get 50 to 60 mbps which is normal for where I live. I’ve had to get get sky in. Now I cant cancel my contract with 3 as they want me to pay 300 pounds. And I cant afford that. Anyone know what I can do
Ken replied:
Hi John,
Sorry to hear about the poor data speeds in your new home. There are several things you could possibly try:
1) If you’d still like to use your AI Cube for broadband, test out different placements for it (ideally near an upstairs window, facing towards your nearest mobile mast). You may find this significantly improves the quality of your service. Alternatively, a friend or family member might be able to make use of the router.
2) If you still aren’t able to get a good result, do note that the SIM card can still be used in a different device (e.g. in a 4G tablet, mi-fi or smartphone). If you do decide to use it in your smartphone, be aware that it doesn’t include any minutes.
3) Similarly, the AI Cube can also still be used an Amazon Alexa smart speaker. Simply connect it to your Sky Broadband router using an Ethernet cable.
All of the above options should work out better than cancelling your contract.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Alex said:
Hey Ken (and readers),
Is there any way to disable the top lights on the device? I can’t find any setting anywhere!
Thanks in advance.
Ken replied:
Hi Alex,
I don’t think there’s a way to disable the lights – or at least, nothing that I’ve managed to find 🙁
Ken
Malcolm said:
Hi Ken,
I’m considering replacing my landline when my contract runs out – I have 3 on my mobile at home with great speeds. Can you tell me if the Huawei routers include features like DDNS and port forwarding? I use both of these with my current BT Home Hub. Thanks.
Ken replied:
Hi Malcolm,
Great question. Unfortunately, I’m not sure about this! Perhaps someone else reading this article might know for sure?
Ken
Attiq Rahman said:
Hi Ken, I have the B900-230 but it barely covers half of the house.
I bought the Tenda Nova mesh WiFi system but cannot get it to connect to the Internet.
Can you help.
Many thanks in advance
Alison said:
My al cube is saying ethernet disconnected, how do I get the ethernet cable to work so I can connect my sky q main via ethernet cable?
Steve said:
Hi
I’ve ordered a AI cube from three as WiFi is very bad from talk talk giving me about .3 m, I have a iPhone XR on ID mobile and in a goos spot up in window I can get about 8.0 m, I’m hoping thr cube will be as good, but if not can I connect a external antena
Thanks
Steve
Ken replied:
Hi Steve,
Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, the Huawei AI Cube doesn’t allow you to use an external antenna. If you’d like the ability to use an external antenna, I’d recommend getting the Huawei B535 HomeFi+ router instead. This is available with unlimited data for £20/month and allows you to attach an external antenna.
Ken
Steve replied:
Thank you
Signal is actually really good compared to land line WiFi,
I’ve got another question if that’s ok?
Can you tell me how do I connect a TP link AV 600 WiFi extender?
Thanks
Steve
Ken replied:
Hi Steve,
Without being an expert on the TP Link AV 600, I believe it’s simply a matter of connecting the powerline adapter to your Huawei AI Cube B900 using Ethernet (in the same way that you’d connect it to any other router).
Ken
Steve replied:
Thank you very much
Steve
Linda Woodward said:
Hi can I connect my cube to an Echo dot, if so how?
Thanks
Ken replied:
Hi Linda,
Thanks for your comment. You simply need to connect your Echo Dot to the wi-fi network that’s produced by the AI Cube!
Ken
Jim said:
I’ve got a HUAWEI AICube B900 and it was great for a few months but now we seem to be suffering some range problems with it in the house. Nothing has changed or been moved. Both my mobile phone (iPhone 7) and my Wife’s Samsung disconnect where previously they’d been fine. I just tried to log on to the cube through my Chrome web browser using the 192.168.8.1 IP address but I get the folowing response:
“This page isn’t working192.168.8.1 didn’t send any data.
ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE”
Any suggestions please as Three haven’t been very helpful?
Thanks in advance
Jm
Ken replied:
Hi Jim,
Sorry to hear about the issues you’ve been having with the AI Cube. It’s odd that you’re getting that error when trying to access the router administration screen. Normally, that might indicate something like being connected to the wrong wi-fi network (as the fact you’re online would imply you’re connected through the router), or potentially a hardware issue with the router that’s stopping you from accessing the admin screen. If it’s the latter, Three Customer Services would unfortunately need to take a look into this for you and/or provide you with a replacement device if necessary.
Ken
Jim replied:
Thanks for the reply Ken. I resolved the problem accessing the router and the problem with range/bandwidth within the house seems to be the fact that the TP-Link extender used for our home alarm drags all the bandwidth and kills the ability to use the internet. I have an alarm engineer coming out Thursday to look at a wifi bridge solution.
Jim
Jim replied:
Problem seemed to be caused by a TP-Link range extender we had plugged in. It was dragging down all the bandwidth and while phones showed good signal strength there was no internet. It was our home alarm systems engineer who worked it out as it was dragging down our cloud alarm system too. He removed the TP-Link and fitted a wi-fi bridge direct to the alarm. As that acts as just another device the problem was resolved. Hope this might help anyone else who has a similar probem.
Ken replied:
Hi Jim,
Thanks a lot for sharing the solution with us – I’m sure this will definitely come in handy to other readers experiencing the same problem.
Much appreciated!
Ken
Lee Newell said:
Hi, I wish to leave my broad band
I have HUWAI CUBE
IT SHOCKING SLOW
I left a company that was faster.
I was promised this is excellent for my need.
It won’t even supply my smart tv, just buffering
Not good at all
Thomas Oneill said:
When I got the AI cube from 3 I had speeds of 45 Mbps up to about 60 Mbps. After 2 month’s it’s dropped to 8 to 10 Mbps YouTube even started buffering that’s never happened in my area for me before. I contacted 3 on the chat line probably 8 or 9 times they where most helpful one guy tested it for me colour of lights etc and thought it might be stuck on 3g.also my phone wasn’t playing very well on WiFi that’s never happened on the 3 years I’ve had it for. As far as the tech team goes the don’t understand me and I them so that’s a waist of time. One guy told me I need to send it back to Huawei as the 14 day period is up and Huawei hold the warranty all in all I wish I never went near the cube also I have been with 3 for 5 years on a unlimited SIM for my phone and had no trouble before. The cube is a 24 month contract and would need to pay to to get alternative providers
Ken replied:
Hi Thomas,
Sorry to hear about the issues you’ve had on your AI Cube. It’s possible this might be due to congestion on your local mast (e.g. lots of other people using the network in your area). Alternatively, it might be worth testing out a different placement for your AI Cube router in case this allows you to pick up a better signal (possibly from a different mast). Three should hopefully be able to advise you on this, but I’d definitely try out the latter myself in case this helps to improve the speeds.
Ken
Thomas Oneill replied:
Hi Ken
Thanks for replying I did as you said moved it and moved my device also disabled my VPN. 3 messaged me earlier today to inform me of mentainence work going on in my area now it works perfectly well.now I’ll put the ice cap back on and wait.
Patrica said:
If l purchase a Alexa myself . How do l go about getting a sim
Ken replied:
Hi Patricia,
Are you buying an AI Cube elsewhere e.g. from Amazon? If so, you can simply get a SIM card to slot inside the AI Cube. Typically, I’d recommend getting an unlimited data SIM card (around £20/month on Three) but you can also look at the full range of SIM cards listed on this page.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Ellis said:
Will I be charged if I put the mobile data on ?
Ken replied:
Hi Ellis,
Thanks for your comment. Which data plan are you using with the Huawei AI Cube? At present, all of their price plans come with unlimited data so you shouldn’t be charged anything extra for having this feature switched on.
Ken
Jacqueline Gudgeon said:
Got the Huawei AI cube on Tuesday…. OMG, What a complete heap of c**p, I have not been able to do anything with it.
I put it in one room and it has full signal, yet I am sitting 10 feet away from it and I have no internet…
Will be getting rid of it and going back to Sky…..
Dragonfly said:
After reading Ken’s reviews and replies to my questions. We went ahead and bought the Huawei 525 from Amazon, and put a Vodafone sim card (unlimited max) in it. We decided not to go with Three Huawei 535 because we already have Three sim cards with our mobiles which we can tether to our computer for wifi – if required. We did not want to put all eggs in one basket because if Three goes down (recently) then we have no wifi – thus went for Vodafone in the Huawei. The Huawei 525 and Vodafone sim card replaced (previously) BT fast internet we had. We hardly used the landline phone (BT would not let us just have fast internet without paying for phone) so we ditched BT. The speed on the Huawei 525 has not been as fast as BT (as expected – FaceTime photos tend to be blurred from time to time or cut out altogether). However, we are OK with this as it saves us £20 per month. We are in E14 London area.
We want to be able to use the Vodafone sim on our mobile when we travel (no point leaving it in the Huawei), however, Huawei device takes the micro size and our iPhone takes the nano size 🙁
We only use wifi for internet browsing, some youtube, emails – not downloading movies or tv shows so not sure how fast the Vodafone sim would be for these.
Kris replied:
Hey,
you can always pop your nano sim into micro sim cut out, usually new sims come in the large size and you pop out the size you need so you may have it lying around, if not i’m sure you’ll be able to find one online,
All the best,
Tess Carr said:
Can I use extenders on this?
Ken replied:
Hi Tess,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, it should be possible to use a wi-fi extender with the AI Cube in the same way as you would any other router.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Dragonfly replied:
I forgot to say above that yes we use the BT wifi extender (in our bedroom) which we bought when we had BT services, and it works OK with the Huawei device.
Ruth said:
Apparently 3 have just withdrawn the Huawei B535… have you any idea why?
Ken replied:
Hi Ruth,
Thanks for your comment. Three have actually withdrawn the Huawei HomeFi B311, which is an older router that came before the Huawei B535 HomeFi Plus. The reason for this is simply because it was replaced by the newer B535, which offers far better specs (better 4G download speeds, dual-band wi-fi support, etc).
Hope this helps,
Ken
Ruth Mulholland replied:
Hi Ken,
I actually rang 3 yesterday specifically asking about the B535, but they said they’d only just withdrawn in the last week and it wasn’t showing on their website yet. They gave me the alternative of a Huawei AI Cube instead (which has Alexa built in), but I’ve actually stuck with my Vodafone mifi box as I spoke to vodafone and they’re sending me a new sim which gives me unlimited data at a cheaper price.
Ken replied:
Hi Ruth,
As of today, you can still order the Huawei B535 from Three through this link so I think their call centre staff might have got a little bit confused! It’s definitely the Huawei B311 that they’ve recently withdrawn, rather than the Huawei B535.
Ken
mark harrison said:
Is the 3 version unlocked so I can try a different network?
Ken replied:
Hi Mark,
Thanks for your comment. As far as I know, I think all devices sold by Three should be unlocked for use on any mobile network.
Hope this helps,
Ken
mark harrison said:
Try to stream live TV via this abs it just buffers all the time – phone and Internet support useless just telling me to reset which has no effect – don’t buy
Kelly Carney said:
Imy Huawei A1 cube arrived today. I began the set up but my cube keeps displaying the top red light that says no signal 🙁
Ken replied:
Hi Kelly,
Sorry to hear about this. Are you expecting there to be 4G coverage in your area? I believe you can log in to your router using Huawei’s HiLink app to see further information about the status of your connection. You can also use that data to change the position of your router to improve the signal strength you’re able to get.
Ken
Alan Martin said:
Keeps telling me no sim card !!
Ken replied:
Hi Alan,
Does the SIM card work in a different device? It’s possible you might have a faulty SIM card (or perhaps a faulty router that’s unable to read it). I’ve had no problems getting the AI Cube to recognise my SIM card…
Ken
Natalie Robinson said:
Huwaei AI cube was amazing at first. So slow now and sometimes doesnt work at all exclamation mark next to my wifi logo on my phone. Very disappointing constantly using my mobile date on my phone as our wifi is so rubbish. Called for help last week and was told they couldn’t find anything under my postcode where I had my Cube delivered to so she couldn’t help!! Wasing my money every month so annoying please can someone help?!
Leslie Graham replied:
When did you get it?
Richard Wear said:
Be careful because it does not work with some devices, Netflix, smart TVs.
Tried to sting me 300 when I wanted to cancel in store, they said the 14 day cooling off period only applied to internet purchases and not in stall, beware, beware, beware.
Ken replied:
Hi Richard,
Thanks for your comment. Can you elaborate on what you mean with regards to this not working with Netflix, smart TVs, etc? The Huawei AI Cube simply produces a regular wi-fi network so there shouldn’t be anything stopping you from using certain devices with it?
Ken
Rhiannon replied:
We have had ours 2 days and been using it to connect to our sky account and through that netflix. It keeps disconnecting after several hours and we have to go back and input password. Is this the issue you had?
Jude Martin said:
I am looking at this for my caravan to be able to have unlimited internet. Does this seem my best solution?
Jude Martin replied:
Also reading it isn’t supporting Netflix? Is this still the case as that is primarily what I want it for 😔
Ken replied:
Hi Jude,
I think this is a fine solution for what you’re looking for, providing you can get coverage from Three where you live 🙂 You can definitely use it for Netflix without any issues when you’re watching on another device that’s connected to your AI Cube (e.g. on your laptop or smart TV).
Hope this helps,
Ken
Alan James Sandison said:
Can Al cube be used outdoors? If so what is the power source?
Ken replied:
Hi Alan,
Thanks for your comment. I believe the AI Cube is designed to be used indoors, but there’s nothing that stops you from using it outdoors. You’ll just need to make sure you can attach it to a power socket and that you keep the device protected from the elements (preventing damage from rain, wind, etc). Also, I don’t know how well the Alexa speaker functionality will work – the device might find it harder to pick up your voice commands when outdoors.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Alan James Sandison replied:
Many thanks for your response, much appreciated.
Nicola Nelson said:
Hi, can you use alexa features like announce and drop in on the hauwei ai? I have tried to use this feature and it doesn’t seem to work. Why is announce not supported?
Thanks.
Jim Obasa said:
Hello. Wondering if 3’s Cube can be used temporarily in another location for short periods. My home is in London but occasionally go to West Yorkshire for a week to stay with family. Can I take my Cube with me as their Virgin Wi-Fi is unbelievably slow.
Ken replied:
Hi Jim,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, you can absolutely do this – it’s one of the major benefits of having a 4G-based home broadband service! Obviously, this is subject to network and coverage where you’re going – performance may differ from your normal location.
Ken
Dolly Smith said:
HELLO,
Where in the house is best to place your Cube, we have got ours in the front room and still get the buffer now and again which i never had with my previous network ? and really struggle with amazon fire stick to get to work, i’m thinking of cancelling it because of this ?
Ken replied:
Hi Holly,
Thanks for your comment. Ideally, your 4G router should be placed near an upstairs window, facing in the direction of your nearest phone mast from Three. This will maximise the strength of the mobile signal you get (websites like CellMapper.net can help you to find nearby masts). In practice, this often isn’t where you want to use your Amazon Alexa assistant (normally in the front room), which I think is one of the downsides of having a 2-in-1 device. For this reason, you could consider getting a Huawei B535 router instead and pairing it with a standalone Amazon Echo speaker.
Hope this helps,
Ken
William said:
Does the a1 cube connect to a non smart television. I have sky entertainment package with sky but can not use catch up, or boxsets etc As I do not have a broadband connection. Will the cube allow me to watch these.
Ken replied:
Hi William,
Thanks for your comment. Does your Sky box connect to the internet either using Wi-Fi or using an Ethernet cable? If so, you can connect it to the AI Cube to access the catch-up services you discuss.
Hope this helps!
Ken
Dragonfly said:
Hi Ken,
Found your reviews very helpful – as we have been thinking of ditching our BT fibre broadband for either Three Huawei B535 or Vodafone Huawei B528. I have a couple of questions:
1. While Three is cheaper than Vodafone, we currently have mobile phone sims with Three and the signal strengths can be a hit and miss (in E14 London area). Our concern is to go with Three Huawei, then we have all our eggs in one basket. If Three network goes down, then we can neither use mobile nor the cube! To overcome this, we are thinking of buying Huawei from Amazon – and buy a sim card from another network other than Three, but most are expensive and they tend not to have data only sims (included texts and calls). A bit of a dilemma. Your thoughts?
2. I quite like Three AI cube, but the other half does not like Alexa (said we would be spied on). Do you know if we can disable Alexa on Three AI cube?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts on the above.
Ken replied:
Hi Dragonfly,
Thanks for your comment and some excellent questions!
1. I think it’s really dependent on the coverage you’re able to get from Three. If, like you say, the coverage is a little better on Vodafone, it may be worth paying a little extra to get the SIM card from Vodafone. Vodafone currently offers an Unlimited Max SIM card from £30/month which could be used in an unlocked router like the Huawei B525.
2. I think there is a way of disabling the microphone functionality on the AI Cube. However, I think this would probably defeat the point of having the device! If you’d like a more traditional router without the Alexa functionality, I’d recommend getting the Huawei B535 from Three (it has better technical specifications and is cheaper than the AI Cube, so is a much better choice if you don’t want the Alexa functionality). You can always add the Amazon Echo as a separate device later on if you’d like the smart speaker functionality 🙂
Ken
Dragonfly replied:
Many thanks Ken for your reply – appreciated your comments (food for thoughts!).
I guess there are 2 options here for us: 1. Buy Huawei B525 from amazon and buy Vodafone unlimited SIM. 2. Go with Three – their Huawei B535 with an unlimited SIM. I don’t think we can buy Huawei B535 alone from Three without their SIM card as the Huawei is locked into Three.
Again, thanks for taking the time to do the reviews and explain things for unsavvy IT like us.
Ken replied:
Hi Dragonfly,
Exactly right, and glad to be able to help! I haven’t actually tested this myself with the Huawei B535 router, but at least for mobile phones, devices sold by Three should normally be unlocked. This is probably also true of the Huawei B535 but obviously I can’t guarantee that (though other readers might be able to share some feedback). If you’re looking to use the Vodafone network however, it will probably be much easier to get the B525 from Amazon.
Ken
Wendy said:
Hi I’m looking at getting the AI Cube and as I’m new to all this technology, this is probably a silly question but will it connect to my sky box as I pay for catch up and box sets but with not having any internet I’m unable to use this facility.
Ken replied:
Hi Wendy,
Thanks for your comment, and certainly not a silly question! Sky’s on-demand TV service does make use of a wi-fi internet connection. So indeed, you can connect your Sky+ or Sky Q box to the AI Cube’s Wi-Fi network to watch on-demand catch-up TV and box sets.
Ken
Dayna said:
What the connectivity distance like? Can you connect a booster to it like you do with normal boardband?
Ken replied:
Hi Dayna,
Thanks for your comment. I don’t think Huawei have published any official numbers on how far the wi-fi signal will travel so you should probably expect it to be fairly similar to any other router. You can indeed use a wi-fi repeater/booster, or there’s also a Gigabit Ethernet socket for you to connect it to a switch or mesh network solution.
Ken
Jen said:
I have been unable to connect any devices and it wont allow me to make calls even though I have linked all the devices through the apps and my current call provider – It says this device cannot offer this service?? I am very confused as the Huawei web site says it can do all of it
Jacob Green said:
Its great for gaming and i get high speeds around the 50-60 meg range the people getting slow speeds need to move the device position around to find best place in house. They may not be in a very good coverage are if speeds are still low. Should do research before buying like I did I went from 14meg fibre with sky and paying line rental. to 60 meg. also three messed me about abit and quoted me wrong so I got the it for £20,a month and they credited my account with 2 lots of £50 quid after they messed up again. basically got great wifi for free for 5 months. Then only 20 a month after… lol.. Would Recommend check your 4g coverage. Spotify thing is annoying though we connect to it by bluetooth with phone so spotify still works though..kinda annoying its unsupported. But you can just call out radio 1 or kisstory or have amazon music. but we have spotify so no point. its not a big deal anyway.. The speeds and price make up for it with a nice design and no phone line.. Great
Ken replied:
Hi Jacob,
Thanks for sharing your feedback! Great to hear about the 50-60Mbit/s speeds you’re getting on the AI Cube, and also some great tips there on trying out different positions for the router. Sadly, one thing that does make this a bit more complex with the AI Cube is the fact people often want their smart speakers in the centre of their living room rather than in an upstairs bedroom where the signal strength might be a lot better. In my opinion, this is one of the downsides of having a two-in-one device as opposed to having a simpler router (like the HomeFi or the Huawei B525) and a separate Amazon Echo speaker.
Ken
Simin said:
When 5g comes out on three can the Al cube b900 work on 5g thanks
Ken replied:
Hi Simin,
Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, the Huawei AI Cube B900 doesn’t support 5G technology. I believe, however, the SIM card and price plan should be fine for 5G as Three are not charging any extra for this. You can therefore simply upgrade to a 5G router at a later date to get access to 5G.
Ken
John Groves said:
Hi
Does anyone have any update on the Spotify issue with the AI cube as it would be great if it would function just as my Amazon echo does. After all it does say it’s an Alexa device.
Thanks
John
DEBRA COYLE said:
My Huawei B900 AI Cube says Apple Music is not supported on this device ??
Clearlybex replied:
Mines saying the same. My husband reckons it’s due to the “America/HUAWEI fall out”.
jodie replied:
hi did you mange to resolve this problem as i am having the same issue aswell as netfix
thanks
John replied:
Hi Jodie are you also experiencing Netflix not working when running via the internet from the AI cube? For some reason mine will just not work with Netflix.
Thanks
John
Lesley Alty said:
Hi
We are in a rural area , get 4g on the phones but internet is less than 3mg , would this device work if we get good 4g signal ?
Thanks
Ken replied:
Hi Lesley,
Thanks for your comment. As a general rule of thumb, you can expect the coverage on your AI Cube to be equal or better than the coverage on your smartphone (assuming of course that both devices use coverage from Three). Given that you’re only getting 3Mbit/s on your phone, it’s difficult to say what the data speeds will be like when using an AI Cube. It’s possible that it won’t go much higher than 3Mbit/s (in which case, I’d say the product probably isn’t going to be that suitable for you).
Ken
WEINA said:
why no connection the next day?Strange
Ken replied:
Hi Weina,
Thanks for your comment. I believe the AI Cube service should be ready to go as soon as you receive your device? There’s no need to wait for the service to be connected – you just need to pop the SIM card inside the AI Cube.
Ken
Doulton replied:
I have just got 1 and mine wont work its saying internet may not be available do you know why ?
Ken replied:
Hi Doulton,
Thanks for your comment. Do you have any more information on why the internet isn’t working for you? For instance, is there an error message on your router or your account?
Ken
Michael Wafer said:
Hi, I’ve purchased this device (Al Cube). Can you explain what the lights mean, on the top ring? There is a rotating yellow light on it & it’s very distracting/annoying. I can’t find any information on what it means, how to prevent it/accept it!
aditya replied:
The lights are for Amazon Echo, if they keep going round in a circle that means it’s not connected to an internet connection. May be you need to configure it using the Alexa app? More information on the Alexa / Echo website.
Michael Wafer replied:
I will check, later this week, if this is the problem. Thanks for the reply. I’ll let you know if I get it sorted out.
Nathan said:
I’m looking at getting this but I don’t really know what kind of wifi signal range this device will put off.
Will it travel about 20 meters?
Ken replied:
Hi Nathan,
Thanks for your comment. As the AI Cube is a mains-powered device, it should give you pretty similar wi-fi range to any other router. I don’t know the exact limits of how far it can travel, but I should have thought that 20 meters would probably be fine (assuming, of course, there weren’t too many obstacles in the way). You have the option of using it with a wi-fi extender or a mesh networking solution if you need to extend the range beyond what the AI Cube can give you.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Stephen Jackson said:
Hello.
I am looking at replacing my BT broadband (not fibre) with the AI cube. Can I use by BT in-line power adapters using the ethernet port and BT mini hub to extend the range throughout the house? Also, will it be compatible with my BT Youview set-top box?
Thank you.
Stephen
Ken replied:
Hi Stephen,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, I think it should be possible to do this. The Ethernet port on the AI Cube works in exactly the same way as the Ethernet port on a traditional fixed-line broadband router (though you only have the one port). If you need additional ports, you can use an Ethernet switch, or consider something the Huawei B525 router which has 4 Gigabit Ethernet sockets. Regarding Youview, it should just work with your set-top box in the normal way.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Stephen Jackson replied:
Hello Ken.
Many thanks for your reply. Most helpful!
Regards,
Stephen
Dee replied:
Hi Stephen, I’m looking to do the same as you so will be happy to hear how it turns out.
Arthur Hunter said:
Hi, can I use the Al cube to watch internet TV?
Ken replied:
Hi Arthur,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, you can use the AI Cube’s wi-fi connection to watch internet TV on your other devices (e.g. on your laptop, tablet, smart TV, etc). You obviously won’t be able to watch it on the device itself as it doesn’t have a screen.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Matt said:
Can this connect to my home wifi network?
Ken replied:
Hi Matt,
Thanks for your comment. The AI Cube is designed to connect to Three’s 4G network and produces a Wi-Fi signal for your other devices to connect to. It can therefore replace your current home wi-fi network, so you can cancel whatever home broadband provider you’re using at the moment.
I believe (though I’m not 100% sure) that it is possible to connect the AI Cube to your existing home wi-fi network and to use it purely as an Alexa smart speaker solution. However, to be totally honest, you’d be much better off choosing something like the Amazon Echo. It’s far cheaper than an AI Cube as you won’t need to pay for the 4G home broadband feature.
Hope this helps,
Ken
joe greenwood said:
can I still get this for £24 pm
Ken replied:
Hi Joe,
Sadly, that was a time-limited offer that Three ran for a couple of days in April. The price has since gone back up to £25/month.
Ken
leo said:
TRY CONSIDERING VIRGIN MOBILE UNLIMITED DATA SIM WITH HUAWEI B525 EXTERNAL ANTENNA .. I USUALLY GET ABOUT 68Mbps
John Catterall said:
The Huawei AI Cube B900
will there still be support for the Huawei AI Cube from Three after the Trump ban on Huawei products and the likes of Google , UK ISPs etc also banning them ,,,
l am looking to switch to 3 WiFi for my home internet use …l am at present a 3 Mobile user , so it makes sense to have all my eggs in one basket
Ken replied:
Hi John,
Thanks for your comment. That’s a great question about the Huawei AI Cube. Whatever happens, the functionality of your existing router shouldn’t change or break. Therefore, I wouldn’t worry too much about it! It’s possible that you’ll stop getting software updates for the device, but I think this is probably more applicable to the smartphones rather than the routers.
Ken
Vince said:
Just started using the Huawei A1 Cube on Three. On Wifi the first day it was showing speeds of around 10mbps, yesterday I connected it with an Ethernet cable and I am lucky if it shows 2mbps at one point it dropped below 1mbps. Any advice is there something I am doing wrong? We tried walking about with the cube and nothing changed. Help please, if this does not drastically improve It will be coming back to you.
Vince
Ken replied:
Hi Vince,
Many thanks for your comment. I’d definitely recommend reading some of the other comments on this blog post, and also over on my blog post about the HomeFi B311 router. There are a lot of things I’d test out, including the placement of your 4G router. Normally, it’s best to place it close to a window (ideally on an upper floor of your house and facing in the direction of your nearest phone mast). Additionally, a 4G antenna will greatly improve download speeds for many people, but it isn’t possible to use this with an AI Cube router (consider something like the Huawei B525 instead, in combination with a standalone Amazon Alexa speaker).
Hope this helps,
Ken
Hiten Patel said:
Thank you Ken for putting up the review of the Three AI cube , which i have purchased, and have to say i love it , great download speeds, nice speaker, able to connect via the ethernet port to another router (asus blue cave) giving more ethernet ports. have coonected to my nest heating, hue lights , and connect rest of my devices. I got it for 24 pounds per month for unlimited data . highly recommended
David Townsend replied:
What sort of up and down speeds are you getting on the system now? Could you run Ookla Speedtest on it and report back please?
Many Thanks
Dave T
Hiten Patel replied:
Hi Dave , I’ve used the Ookla speed test and am getting 55Mbps downloads and 20Mbs uploads . Now this does vary but on average this is what I’m getting. Hope this helps.
Many thanks
Hiten
Gerard said:
Hi Ken, I have recently purchased and installed a Huawei B525s-65a router for home use. In Wifi setup it shows four SSID’s (two for 2.4GHz & two for 5GHz) .Please could you explain the functions of these additional SSID’s.
I have also found the Huawei technical information online for this router to be extremely poor and I would like to understand the potential of this router.
Please could you offfer any links to relevant quality reading for the router above that would help me achieve this.
Ken replied:
Hi Gerard,
Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, your best bet would probably be the manual or instruction guide provided by Huawei! With regards to the SSIDs, I understand there are separate SSIDs for the wi-fi networks operating at 2.4GHz and 5GHz. I’m not sure why there are two SSIDs for each frequency however…
Ken
Stu said:
Anyone know if I can use it without a SIM card i.e. simply connecting it to another wi-fi network as you would an Echo?
I’m thinking about getting one, however I’m just considering how I might use it if after 24mths I decide I don’t want 4G broadband anymore. Rather than it become obsolete, it would be good to use it as another alexa device.
Ken said:
Hi all,
Just wanted to share a bit of good news: Three have just reduced the cost of the AI Cube from £25/month to £24/month. You’ll still get unlimited data as before 🙂
Ken
John said:
Hey
I just got one AI Cube on Wednesday (4/4) and speed of internet is horrible. Mostly internet is so slow that is showing me that connection was lost. I have to reset it at least few times a day…so my experience is more than bad.
Jonny said:
I’m currently looking at buy the Huawei AI Cube B900 all I am concerned about is the download speed, as an avid gamer I need this to be good as possible and be able to handle 2 Xbox’s on simultaneously would you recommend that this is a suitable option?
Leon Hunter replied:
I’m no expert bit I’d avoid these options for gaming. Even if you get good download speeds the latency will be twice as slow as a normal broadband connection.
Gareth said:
Pretty impressed with my AI Cube so far, but it won’t play music from Spotify – Alexa tells me it isn’t supported by this device 🙁
Jade said:
Can you connect smart tv’s to this product? I also have a Sonos speaker. Would this connect to 4g internet rather than broadband?
Ken replied:
Hi Jade,
Yes, you can indeed connect your Smart TV and Sonos Speaker to the AI Cube. It just produces a wi-fi network that your other devices can connect to (only behind that, it uses 4G technology to connect to the internet, rather than a landline or cable like traditional home broadband).
Hope this helps!
Ken
steve replied:
Having the same problem with Spotify . Hope they have an upgrade to sort this.
Jason Heeney said:
I just got one of these on Tuesday (26/03) and was shocked by the download speeds, I generally range from 52Mbit/s to 70Mbit/s download speeds, I was expecting it to be in the region of 25-30Mbit/s.
Ken replied:
Hi Jason,
That’s really impressive stuff. It’s great to hear that you’ve been getting good download speeds with the AI Cube!
Ken