Three Home Broadband Review – Plug In and Get Unlimited 5G or 4G Broadband!

Unlike regular cable broadband, 4G home broadband operates through air waves. Three gives you two options; you can choose between home broadband or mobile broadband. The network’s home broadband uses a 4G Wi-Fi hub (or 5G Wi-Fi hub if you’re eligible) you can plug in anywhere in your home or office. Three Home Broadband doesn’t require any landline or installation.

What is 4G Home Broadband?

Three 4G Home Broadband’s internet travels through the airwaves, just like the internet handsets use. You can set up your home wireless broadband in your home/office using a 4G hub provided by Three. With the network’s hub, all you have to do is plug it in and in about a minute it should automatically connect to the internet. No engineers or landlines needed. Three still provides an installation service in case it’s needed.

What is 5G Home Broadband?

5G is currently the fastest generation of wireless technology and in the UK, Three has more 5G spectrum than any other network operator. This means their infrastructure is superior to others, at least at the time of writing. However, this doesn’t mean they offer larger 5G coverage across the country. More spectrum means way more data, moving way faster. Three’s super-fast 5G lets you download files faster than ever, with less lag than ever, even if there is multiple individuals using the same broadband at the same time.

Three’s 5G is only available in 193 cities and towns at the moment. If you’re looking to get access to 5G data speeds, you’ll need to be in Three’s 5G coverage area. Also keep in mind that Three’s 5G isn’t available in all areas of every city they list. Don’t worry though, if your area doesn’t have 5G yet, the network will let you know.

Three’s 5G Home Broadband works exactly like their 4G home broadband, you just need a 5G hub instead of a 4G one. You can use your hub anywhere you can get a 4G or 5G signal. If you’re on Three’s 5G service the 5G broadband hub remains the property of Three. If your contract ends or if you decide to switch networks and cancel your current contract, Three will want the hub back.

If the coverage in your area is good 4G technology can deliver faster data speeds than regular fixed-line home broadband, but usually a fixed-line will still offer faster and more stable internet speeds.

Three’s 4G & 5G home broadband offers come with unlimited data and they all offer the same data speeds, of course 5G being the faster of the two. You can choose to sign up for a 12 month contract or 24 month contract with Three. You pay less per month when you choose a longer contract, but you’ll be spending more overall and it will be harder to cancel your contract if you’re unhappy with the service.

You’ll have to pay more, if you want your hub to come with Alexa. While you get to keep the 4G hub once your contract is over, the 5G hub still belongs to Three and you’ll have to return it if you don’t wish to continue with the network.

There are no special benefits to being a Three Mobile customer as well as being a broadband customer, but we still recommend checking out our Three Review.

For people who are always on the move, we recommend checking out our Three Mobile Broadband Review.

Three’s 4G coverage lags behind other major networks. The network provider offers over 99% population coverage, but its landmass coverage is not as good as EE, Vodafone or O2. The gap between the EE and Three is big and it’s increasing. When we look at Open Signal’s 4G test results, we see that Three’s average 4G download speeds are around 22.2Mbps and upload speeds are around 8Mbps. These data speeds are enough to stream full HD video content be it Netflix or YouTube or any other video/music platform. However, if you’re going to share your internet with others you might experience difficulties, especially during peak periods.

You can check out our EE Review to find out why they’re consistently ranking first when it comes to 4G. You can also read our BT Complete Wi-Fi Review to check out a good alternative.

The network also offers SIM only deals. Make sure to check out our BT Mobile Review and find out why their family mobile plans are highly recommended.

5G Coverage & Data Speeds

According to OOKLA’s October 2020 speed test results Three has the fastest 5G download speeds in the country. The network’s 5G download speed is measured at 201.1Mbps, and on top of that Three has more 5G spectrum than its competitors. They have 140MHz of 5G spectrum and they’re using 100MHz of the spectrum for 5G. This means Three’s 5G is not only the fastest, but also can handle more data than others. If you want to discover more about the generations of wireless technology you can read our ‘How fast are 4G and 5G?’ guide.

If you decide to get Three Home Broadband, your network hub will arrive the next working day after your order. Currently, the network offers two different hubs, but you can only get the 5G hub, if you’re in an area where Three’s 5G coverage is available. As stated earlier, if you opt for the 5G Home Broadband, you don’t get to keep the hub as it still belongs to Three, even if you finish your whole contract.

Three 4G Hub

The Three Home Hub gives you wireless home broadband on 4G on data speeds. There’s no need for a landline and you can connect up to 25 Wi-Fi enabled devices to this hub. Three’s 4G Hub also has four network ports for wired connection. The hub supports ‘n’ standard as well as supporting WiFi 802.11 b/g standards.

The hub is compatible with a wide variety of operating systems. Three also offers a Wi-Fi hub with Alexa voice assistant built in.

Three 5G Hub

Three’s 5G Hub gives you wireless home broadband on 5G data speeds. This hub can connect up to 64 Wi-Fi devices and also has two network ports for a wired connection. Three 5G Hub supports the Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/a/ac/ax standards on dual band Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz and 5Ghz.

Given how Three’s 5G coverage is very limited at the moment, there’s a big chance the network doesn’t have 5G in your area yet. In that case Three will let you know, so you don’t have to worry about accidentally signing up for a 5G deal and finding out you can’t use it.

If you’re looking for a wireless home broadband plan Three offers competitive prices and unlimited data. However, Three scored the least amount of points in both Open Signal and OOKLA’s October 2020 network coverage test results. Wireless broadband data speeds can be affected by certain types of walls and windows, the number of users, and environmental factors, so make sure to set up your hub correctly.

Thankfully, the network gives you a 30-day money-back guarantee, so if you’re unhappy for any reason you can easily cancel your contract. Alternatively, you can test the waters with a 1-month contract.