Three’s mobile broadband service allows you to stay connected on-the-go, either using a mobile wi-fi hotspot or a 4G-enabled tablet.
If you’re looking to stay connected on-the-go, Three offers a range of mobile broadband products such as a mobile wi-fi hotspot (MiFi) or a range of 4G-enabled tablets. This allows you to continue working wherever you are and to keep your family entertained even in places where wi-fi isn’t available.
For customers wanting access to mobile broadband on up to 10 devices at one time, Three’s mobile wi-fi hotspot is currently our recommended product. You can use it to connect all of your devices to the internet, including your laptop, tablet, smartphone and other smart home devices. Unlimited data is available on the mobile wi-fi hotspot from £22/month.
For customers wanting access to entertainment and their favourite applications wherever they go, a range of 4G-enabled tablets are available from Samsung, Apple and Huawei. You can get a 4G tablet from as little as £12/month, with unlimited data currently available from £28/month.
In this article, we’ll review Three’s mobile broadband service including both the mobile wi-fi hotspot and the 4G-ready tablets. We’ll also compare Three’s mobile broadband service to their home broadband products like the Huawei B535 HomeFi Plus and the Huawei AI Cube B900. We’ll also look at the coverage available on Three and how you can check availability in your area.
Contents
Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspot
For the majority of customers wanting to connect multiple devices to the internet, Three’s mobile wi-fi hotspot (Mi-Fi) is our recommended device. You’ll get a pocket-sized 4G router in the form of the Huawei E5573bs-322. The device connects to Three’s 3G and 4G network and broadcasts a wi-fi signal for your other devices to connect to.
With the Huawei E5573bs-322 hotspot, up to 10 devices can be connected to your hotspot at the same time. Supported devices include your laptop, tablet, smartphone and other smart devices (essentially, any device that has the ability to connect to wi-fi). You can access up to Category 4 LTE speeds (up to 150Mbit/s download and up to 50Mbit/s upload) though actual speeds will vary in practice and will normally be closer to 15Mbit/s.
The Huawei E5573bs-322 has a micro-USB port for charging and can operate for up to 4 hours on battery. The most popular mobile wi-fi hotspot plans are £22/month for unlimited data, £13/month for 40GB data, £10/month for 20GB data or £9/month for 2GB data. The following table shows a list of price plans that are currently available:
| Data Allowance | Contract Length | Upfront Price | Monthly Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 month contract | |||
| Unlimited Data | 24 month contract | £0.00 | £22/month |
| 40GB Data | 24 month contract | £0.00 | £13/month |
| 20GB Data | 24 month contract | £0.00 | £10/month |
| 15GB Data | 24 month contract | £0.00 | £15/month |
| 10GB Data | 24 month contract | £0.00 | £15/month |
| 5GB Data | 24 month contract | £0.00 | £12/month |
| 2GB Data | 24 month contract | £0.00 | £9/month |
| 12 month contract | |||
| Unlimited Data | 12 month contract | £29.00 | £27/month |
| 40GB Data | 12 month contract | £19.00 | £12/month |
| 20GB Data | 12 month contract | £19.00 | £17/month |
| 15GB Data | 12 month contract | £19.00 | £20/month |
| 10GB Data | 12 month contract | £19.00 | £17/month |
| 5GB Data | 12 month contract | £19.00 | £15/month |
| 2GB Data | 12 month contract | £19.00 | £12/month |
| 1 month contract | |||
| 15GB Data | 1 month contract | £39.00 | £20/month |
| 5GB Data | 1 month contract | £39.00 | £15/month |
| 2GB Data | 1 month contract | £39.00 | £10/month |
| Pay As You Go* | |||
| 1GB Data (1 month validity) | Pay As You Go | £39.99 | Top-up as required |
| 3GB Data (3 month validity) | Pay As You Go | £45.99 | Top-up as required |
| 12GB Data (12 month validity) | Pay As You Go | £69.99 | Top-up as required |
| 24GB Data (24 month validity) | Pay As You Go | £89.99 | Top-up as required |
* Customers with a Mi-Fi on Pay As You Go can use the Data Reward plan. This offers 200MB of free data per month, with further usage costing 1p/MB.
See all Three Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspot Deals →
On Pay Monthly price plans with 15GB of data or more each month, you’ll get the Go Binge service included. This allows you to use six services (Netflix, TV Player, Snapchat, Soundcloud, Deezer and Apple Music) without it counting towards your download allowance.
For more information, see the Huawei E5573bs-322 on Three’s website.
4G Tablets
Three also offers a range of 4G-enabled tablets which allow you to go online wherever a 4G signal is available. Unlike wi-fi only tablets, you can still use it where wi-fi isn’t available. This gives you lots of added flexibility. For instance, you can use it to keep the family entertained whilst you’re on-the-go, or in places like your garden or your car.
On Three, you can choose from a range of 4G tablets from manufacturers such as Apple, Samsung and Huawei. We think the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 2019 is a good all-round option if you’re looking for an affordably priced tablet with which to keep the kids entertained. You can get it with no upfront cost on a range of price plans such as unlimited data for £30/month, 40GB of data for £19/month or 2GB of data for £12/month. The tablet has a 10.1-inch display, Dolby Atmos 3D surround sound, a digital playground for kids and 32GB of onboard storage.
The following table shows a list of 4G tablets on Three and how much you’d need to pay for different amounts of data:
| Tablet | Unlimited Data Plan | 40GB Data Plan | 10GB Data Plan | 2GB Data Plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 2019 | £30/month | £19/month | £15/month | £12/month |
| Apple iPad 7th Generation | £40/month & £49 upfront |
£33/month & £49 upfront |
£33/month & £49 upfront |
£29/month & £49 upfront |
| Huawei MediaPad T5 | £28/month | £23/month | £17/month | £13/month |
| Apple iPad Pro 11 | – | £48/month & £49 upfront |
£48/month & £49 upfront |
£42/month & £49 upfront |
| Apple iPad 9.7 | – | £33/month & £49 upfront |
£33/month & £49 upfront |
£27/month & £49 upfront |
For more information, see Three’s website for a full list of the 4G tablets they offer.
Mobile Broadband VS Home Broadband
As an alternative to Three’s mobile broadband service, you can also choose a 4G home broadband service from Three. This is similar to mobile broadband in many ways, with the same 4G technology being used to power the service. It has many of the same benefits including no need for a phone line and no need for an engineer visit for installation.
With 4G home broadband, the main difference to 4G mobile broadband is that it’s mainly designed to be used in one fixed location. You’ll lose the portability of having a battery-powered hotspot that you’re able to carry in your pocket. In exchange, however, you’ll get a much faster mains-powered router giving you significantly better overall performance. As your home broadband router doesn’t need to optimise for battery life, you’ll normally get a stronger wi-fi signal that travels further and is accessible on more devices. You’ll also get the ability to attach wired devices to your network through a Gigabit Ethernet socket on the router.
Depending on the 4G home broadband router you choose, additional functionality may also be available on it. For instance, the HomeFi Plus router (the Huawei B535) allows you to attach an external SMA antenna. This can improve the strength of your 4G signal, giving a more stable connection and faster download speeds compared to the built-in antenna. Meanwhile, the Huawei AI Cube router has a built-in Amazon Alexa smart speaker and assistant.
Huawei B535
The Huawei B535 is available with unlimited data from £20/month:
| Service | Data Allowance | Contract Length | Upfront Price | Monthly Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Three HomeFi Plus | Unlimited Data | 24 month contract | £0 | £20/month with special offer |
Three HomeFi Plus | Unlimited Data | 12 month contract | £29 | £27/month |
Three HomeFi Plus | Unlimited Data | 1 month contract | £29 | £30/month |
This is our recommended home broadband router for the majority of users. It supports Category 7 LTE speeds (up to 300Mbit/s download and up to 100Mbit/s upload) and offers dual-band wi-fi connectivity on up to 64 devices. You’ll also get 4 Gigabit Ethernet sockets and the ability to attach an external SMA antenna.
Huawei AI Cube
The Huawei AI Cube B900 is available from £25/month with unlimited data included:
| Service | Data Allowance | Contract Length | Upfront Price | Monthly Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Three AI Cube | Unlimited Data | 24 month contract | £0 | £25/month |
Three AI Cube | Unlimited Data | 12 month contract | £49 | £32/month |
Three AI Cube | Unlimited Data | 1 month contract | £149 | £32/month |
See all Huawei AI Cube deals →
This is slightly more expensive than the Huawei B535 but comes with a built-in Amazon Alexa smart speaker. You can use this for controlling your other smart home devices or for listening to music.
For more information, see our full review of Three’s 4G home broadband service.
5G Home Broadband
For customers living in selected parts of London, Three also offers a 5G home broadband service. You’ll get the Huawei 5G CPE Pro router with unlimited data included from £29/month.
| Service | Data Allowance | Contract Length | Upfront Price | Monthly Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Three AI Cube | Unlimited Data | 24 month contract | £0 | £25/month |
Three AI Cube | Unlimited Data | 12 month contract | £49 | £32/month |
Three AI Cube | Unlimited Data | 1 month contract | £149 | £32/month |
You can enter your postcode on Three’s website to see whether 5G home broadband is available in your area. We’ve also got an in-depth review of the service.
Coverage
In the UK, Three currently offers 99.8% population coverage. This includes 99.8% coverage on 4G and 98.7% coverage on 3G.
Before signing up for Three’s mobile broadband service, we’d strongly recommend double checking 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) →
For further information, see our full guide to the coverage on Three.
More Information
For more information on Three’s mobile broadband service, please see Three’s official website.
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