379 Customer Reviews over 10 pages
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- Location
- Pembroke Dock
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2023-04-16
- Comments
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Absolutely rubbish constantly crashing worst internet of my life and I've been with sky says it all
- Location
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- Location
- London
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2021-05-04
- Comments
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I am thrilled with 3's insane speed . even though speed vary between 500 mbps to 5gbps . I have a tower just near my window , may be thats why I am getting this super speed . I am happy so far
- Location
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- Location
- London
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2020-12-10
- Comments
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Hi, I seriously question any negative "reviews" of three mobile.I've found them brilliant for customer service. You always get through to a real person. Someone who is normal, personabke and really at ease with any query you have. I've just got their broadband unit. It's great.It works. That's all I ask. Granted I live in Central London but hey: that's the advantage of cities over a village! Compared to VirginMedia which is constantly suffering from digging up the riad or your front drive 3mobille is a dream.
- Location
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- Location
- Manchester
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2019-05-24
- Comments
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I signed up to mobile board band with three.oldham.9£ a month.this is fantastic.i connected it up it's been on since yesterday afternoon and still connected this morning went in to google straight away.i was with
ee. before .with similar mobile boardband with ee..very slow and going off all the time .with three didn't go off once.and u don't have to charge it as often.very happy.
- Location
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- Location
- near bristol
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2023-02-27
- Comments
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Back in Oct '22 we ordered a 4G router (ZTE MF286D). Very impressive speeds. After a week we sent it back as we were in contact with Shell Broadband until May. We weren't charged anything, even for the data we'd used. May '23 we dumped our landline and got the same router on a 24 month contract. Speeds are around 100Mbs down, 5-20Mbs up. I've seen 150Mbps at best. We had part of one day sub-10Mbps and their status checker said they were working on our mast.
Our son moved house and I suggested he get a Three router until BT installed his broadband, then send it back wthin 30 days. The sent a 5G router which falls back to 4G in their village. BT messed him around so he kept it. He's in a "not great" 4G area but still gets 40-70Mbps - easily enough for two people WFH and a toddler watching youtube.
Sooo... get one on the 30 day moneyback guarantee. Trial it. Expect slightly slower speeds when everyone is home.
- Location
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- Location
- Manchester
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2019-09-20
- Comments
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I've had a very positive experience so far. Far better value for money than my old network and coverage seems a lot better as I no longer experience grey areas of poor signal.
The customer service has been good, I've only messaged them once but they gave a quick and helpful response. It was easy enough to activate the sim and move over my number. Roaming also works smoothly - I've used it in Spain recently and my 4G was working as normal the whole time and with no extra cost.
- Location
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- Location
- london
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2018-02-08
- Comments
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well im just inbetween serviceproviders so i bought this 3mobile wifi 4g modem...really fast.great reception,,plus you can watch netflix on your smart tv with out using your data allowance.im very happy over all
- Location
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- Location
- East Sussex
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2020-05-23
- Comments
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I’ve had a mobile with three for many years now and have found their cover both here U.K. and abroad great. What a lot of people who go for home broadband don’t realise is that it’s base reception with be as good or bad as their mobile signal. However, and this is the most important thing with a home broadband Wi-Fi one may need a on outside arial connected to the receiver to boost the signal. I have the Huawei B535 that I use in my motorhome with a roof mounted arial. One the arial is fitted it’s essential to tell the Rueter to use the outside aerial and there’s a video on YouTube that will tell you how to do it,
- Location
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- Location
- Glasgow
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2022-08-10
- Comments
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Really cant beat 3 Mobile 5g BB package I was truly astonished at the speed I was getting 175mbs download over Wifi can vary from device to device but plug an ethernet cable in and i get 250mbs+ only small grip it Upload speed could be better Just over 10Mbs but that's enough for what i do
- Location
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- Location
- Leicester
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2019-01-22
- Comments
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I went into the Three shop in Highcross, Leicester, with queries and problems that I had with my new phone. The two staff who helped me were outstanding; with so much knowledge and such a wish to help. They sorted everything, and it wasn't a quick fix, taking 2 minutes, but they had patience. So, thank you to Three. I would not hesitate to use them again.
- Location
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- Location
- Manchester
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2023-01-16
- Comments
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At 1st signal was up and down. Put very good now. As though a miracle has happened.
- Location
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- Location
- SHEFFIELD
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2020-04-18
- Comments
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Been with them for 7 months. Had download speeds of over 100mbps early morning, but typically over 50mbps most of day. Upload speeds excellent but never used. Any queries dealt with through chat very good. Only gripe is with the intro of 5G - it has been rolling out to my location since end of Feb for phones but not shown on coverage map. Broadband is supposed to follow. Youtube after 9:00 pm always "loading" - suspect this may not be Three's fault?
- Location
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- Location
- Gravesend
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2023-01-02
- Comments
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I have been using Three 5G home broadband now for six months. Download speeds are averaging 500 Mbps and upload 100 Mbps. I would recommend to anyone who has Three 5G coverage in their area.No drop outs at all..One very satisfied customer.
- Location
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- Location
- Waterlooville Portsmouth
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2021-06-20
- Comments
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I have read all the reviews below and felt disappointed by many of them. I ordered the dongle mobile WiFi for use in my camper van. I think I have had it for nearly a month now. As a test I shut down my Virgin set and used purely the dongle for TV my wife and my internet use, and I have used it for heavy work. A couple of t8mes during the England vs Scotland match we had a bit of spinning circle in the middle of the TV. I have calculated we use approx 2gb or is it 2mb download per day. This is normal everyday usage for us. So we have had no problems. Speed was brilliant. No internet delays. I would say at times it was better performance than our Virgin contract at £64 per month. I opted for the £12 per month for 10 wotsits per month. Now we have tested the network etc we are fast running out of the gb or mb so I have had to go back to our virgin setup. I want to upgrade and go up two levels of down load package with the dongle now so we can be 100% on the dongle. I will save money without a doubt for what use we want from the internet. There must be technical or end user reasons why people are having problems, we had NONE. I have not had to use the support service that’s why I could not put any stars against them. I would highly recommend this product/service. If people had problems and I did not then the company has listened to the gripes from feedback and sorted them out before we brought into I it.
- Location
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- Location
- Newtownabbey
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2019-10-24
- Comments
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My phone internet runns at over 60 mbs . How can you complain. Love 3 mobile
- Location
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- Location
- United States
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2015-08-10
- Comments
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I studied abroad in the UK for a year and found Three to be the cheapest phone company with the best and most reliable service. I would highly recommend their monthly all you can eat data plan, especially if you plan on traveling, because the nearly unlimited data usage allows you to tether, create hotspots, (a pleasant surprise), as well as message and call your friends through Facebook messenger, which I thought were all well worth the cost of 18 pounds per month. That being said, I did run into a few issues with being charged for data I didn't use and calls while abroad that were incorrectly charged. However, customer service was able to solve both issues and reaccredit my account (though it took a bit of digging). While I had to ask for a manager in both instances, the management level of their customer service team was both professional and helpful and I wish I had requested to talk to them earlier, as the representatives that answered both of my calls, while pleasant, didn't have much power.
The only major issue I had with Three as a company was their international payment plan. It took me over 1 month to figure out how I was supposed to pay my 18 pound bill after I had terminated both my UK bank account and address because once you close your account with them, you aren't able to access your My3 account (a technical mistake they should fix). The system is very out of date and they only accept transfer payments from your bank which, if you live in the US, is an additional $45-$50. For an 18 pound payment, that wasn't worth the cost at all. After quite a few transfers and being on the phone for over an hour, I talked to a customer service manager and the issue was resolved. The way upper management handled my dilemma was to my satisfaction and the reason I'm giving the company 4 stars. However, if you are planning on moving out of the UK or are studying abroad, make sure you end your contract a month in advance. In my case, I needed my data for the last month but if I had to do it again, I would probably opt for a prepaid sim card from Virgin and end my contract early. Until they update their system, paying from abroad is a pain.
- Location
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- Location
- Essex
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2014-11-28
- Comments
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After spending hours on the phone trying to resolve disgusting behaviour, advice and as far as I'm concerned theft with (Three) competitor for my son. I realised just how lucky my experience with (Three) has been.
I as a total novice went to my local store 2yrs ago and asked for unlimited use. Groundbreaking idea! Bingo! I got just what I asked for. Never any issues and good connection the majority of the time.
I believe if a company does something right by me I should say thank you. So here goes. Thank you Three! My bill rarely goes over unless I phone abroad or 0845 numbers
This is a genuine review from a happy customer.
- Location
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- Location
- FELIXSTOWE
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2020-02-24
- Comments
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I brought 3 broadband 2 years ago when I lived in a caravan. I've never had a problem with speed. Continued streaming play . Nothing . I can only praise 3. I have a sim only contact also for my phone. . Never a problem. I was with ee before . Who were dreadful. So happy days. Keep up the good work guys .
- Location
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- Location
- Edinburgh
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2023-02-09
- Comments
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Not had experience of customer service yet but the 5G broadband is faster than full fibre here. Fastest speed I've had was at my parents' place 1020Mb down and 108Mb up. can't grumble with that for £20 a month
- Location
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- Location
- Welwyn Garden City
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2014-08-29
- Comments
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Excellent service! I purchased the mobile broadband device online to use whilst Virgin were down due to roadworks. It arrived the following day with too many bits of paperwork but I got it activated within a couple of hours. Every advisor I spoke to was very courteous and helpful. It was a pleasure to do business with 3 !!
- Location
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- Location
- Holmfirth
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2017-12-17
- Comments
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With Three Mobile, I am getting around 75 Mb/s download speed and 9 Mb/s upload speeds, in semi-rural West Yorkshire.
Reliability has generally been very good, and I now have an external (omni) antenna mounted on my roof (connect to my Huawei B593 router) so I expect reliability to be even better now.
Customer service is usually very good or excellent, with the odd exception. But I find they generally look after me very well.
Definitely recommended.
- Location
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- Location
- Bridport
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2020-06-06
- Comments
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I've switched to 3 from post office broadband and the difference is just huge.constant speeds between 40-75 Mbps. I am very satisfied with them, for now.
- Location
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- Location
- steyning
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2019-11-13
- Comments
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i live in very rural west sussex. My talk talk broadband -fibre, was peaking at about 27mb. Then my price went up out of contract so i switched. I had looked at mobile as i knew the mast was only about 1 mile away and was 4g+ enabled. I am an existing 3 customer so knew i had coverage. I bought the alexa enabled Huwawei AI cube and pay £20 a month. i am getting a connection of around 90mb now. There is a cap of 1TB per month so keep your eye on your usage, you can do all of this on your phone with the app. if you have doubts, simply tether your existing phone to your pc/laptop/firetv stick etc and see if it works before you order the hub. Its excellent, the hub, and has alexa and a nice bass speaker in there so you can pair your devices to it for sound as well.Much better and faster than wired broadband out here in very rural west sussex.
- Location
-
- Location
- Manchester
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2016-05-10
- Comments
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Unlike a lot of people here, I have always found 3 great. No problems with connections, minor problems with coverage when I'm out in the sticks, speeds OK. reliable connections, and I have always found customer service to be excellent. I've just negotiated a preferential deal on a new contract and they have given me a very good deal. Can't understand why there are so many bad reviews.....
- Location
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- Location
- Glasgow
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2018-12-29
- Comments
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I have been with Three for over a year now and have been very happy with them. I was previously with O2 and my bills varied from month to month - lots of small charges for things. But since moving to Three my bill each month has been exactly as promised.
The transfer was smooth and any support issues I have raised have been dealt with efficiently. And network coverage seems pretty good to me too. So, all in all I would recommend Three.
- Location
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- Location
- Gloucester
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2019-10-04
- Comments
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Gloucester is not a good area for broadband and BT does not provide a fibre service in my area so I can't use Sky which I would like to. I could have Virgin Media but they are expensive and unreliable..
Three broadband is steady, I have unlimited and it is reasonably priced at £27 pm. Signal strength varies a lot so I use the personal hotspot on my iPhone which is also with Three. Strength is around 18mbps.
Any information you may have about BT providing a local fibre service would be great.
- Location
-
- Location
- Plymouth
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2010-06-18
- Comments
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Very happy with service, speeds around 3.0 mb. Not had the joy of customer services yet, and hopfully never will
- Location
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- Location
- Gpsport
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2023-09-28
- Comments
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Three 5g broadband really is something I was a bit iffy at first but wow. If your close to a 5g mast your laughing place the modem in the window and you have full fast reliable connection u download a lot some big files and they come down faster than that of normal fiber broadband I can download a 70 gb file in mins it's so impressive I don't know why anyone would pay for a fixed connection it's much faster than any fixed broadband I can't recommend it enough
- Location
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- Location
- Middlesbrough
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2019-09-27
- Comments
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Overall my experience with Three has so far been positive. The only problem is the broadband speed during the day in my area which can drop down to 1.5 Mbs/s while at night it is usually between 20 - 30 Mbs/s.
The customer service has much improved over the years in my opinion. Well done Three.
- Location
-
- Location
- Caterham
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2019-11-08
- Comments
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Our Three signal is good (looking at other reviews not everyone checks first). We are in a semi rural area so congestion should not be much of a problem. So far internet speeds have averaged 40-50 MBS, fine for 4k streaming. There is a bit of a lag as you start up, most of our speed tests point out this would not be good for gaming. Our previous fibre was not half of this due to distance from the centre. Reliability has not been 100% with a few days of poor service but compared to BT its about the same. Data transfers, especially uploads, have been extremely quick.
Customer service has been challenging at times, you get get the "we want to help you" type of approach but few will understand exactly what you are saying.
We have the Huawei AI cube (more of a cylinder really) which supplies the whole house fairly well. I use an Ethernet cable for the TV which seems much better for stability than wifi. I had a go at range extending but there seems to be an incompatibility with my tp-link plug in system. I have simply moved the antennas on my remote computer.
All in all very happy so far.
- Location
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- Location
- LONDON
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2021-03-18
- Comments
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Moved in a studio flat on the 19 of February 2021, after searching on the net for a quick easy to handle broadband provider I decided to go for Three 3 mifi mobile broadband. Down load speed between 6.9 Mbps up to 18 Mbpps (late night) 2 devices connected, I am pretty satisfied with the service. And it is the best cost effective solution on the market for an unlimited download mobile broadband 2 years contract.
- Location
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- Location
- hackney
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2020-11-22
- Comments
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I know a lot of people are down on 3, but it really has felt like they were putting in some serious infrastructure round here. I'm in an 'outside' reception area, on the fringe of coverage, so I got an external aerial for my 5G hub. It was pretty good at the beginning (4 months ago), averaging 200Mbps, but it broke every couple of weeks. Now things are better: seems steady, and am routinely getting 500Mbps at my computer. That's 4 times faster than most fibre. And it doesn't go slower in the evenings. Am quite impressed: for 29 quid a month it's impressive. I hope it stays like this! Well done three...
- Location
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- Location
- London
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2021-02-26
- Comments
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7 days after purchase Download speed 11.4 MBPS upload 4.9, handling a laptop and 2 mobiles connecting at the same time with no issues at all. Pretty happy very easy set up you are online in no time after unboxing. No hassle, It is a small portable device highly recommended.
- Location
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- Location
- Southampton
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2020-01-30
- Comments
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Got this mid Jan 2029 as land broad band very poor ,so far im getting 18 -25 most of the time which after .2 - 10 on wire system im please but it is early days.Very easy to set up.
- Location
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- Location
- S.Wales
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2020-04-11
- Comments
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To follow up from my previous review, I found that changing my routers settings from Auto 3g+4g, to 3g only, made a huge difference to my usage speed. No longer is the router box scratching its head whether to use the sketchy 4g signal that I have in my area or the strong 3g one thats there. Still need xbox compatibility tho before im truly happy with the service and Im still waiting to hear from them.. (if at all, as rumours suggest theyre huawei boxes just arent powerful enough to deliver) So come on Three.. Prove us wrong, pls!
- Location
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- Location
- Sheffield
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2021-12-25
- Comments
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Had it for 8 months, generally reliable with around 30 to 45 average mbs download, and I am on the edge of the city in semi rural area. Has lost Internet twice in 8 months for about 12 hours each time, but 98% of the time it's fine. Plug and play, better than slow old phone broadband that only gave 2mbs here.
- Location
-
- Location
- West Yorkshire
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2021-07-28
- Comments
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It does the job for watching YouTube, Netflix etc. Can struggle with online games like GTA, I've had speeds between 5.5 & 35 mbps it doesn't have a reliable average speed. All in all it's OK.
- Location
-
- Location
- Chesham
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2019-05-10
- Comments
-
This review is for the 3 HomeFi package on the Unlimited Data 24 month contract.
Been having ongoing issues with landline broadband for months. Despite trying 3 different providers, 4 different routers, both copper and FTTC connections (unfortuantly FTTP or Virgin lines aren't an option) I was only getting speeds of <1mb/s and constant connection droptouts yet my providers saying I was getting speeds of >40mb/s on their system. After Openreach engineers couldn't find any faults I decided to cut the landline and go 4g. Been with 3 HomeFi for about 2 weeks now and so far it's been the best decision I've made.
With this package you get a Huawei B311 router with a 3 SIM card inserted that when up and running works like any landline router. There are however some pros and cons to this packagage so I'll break my review down and highlight some of the pros/cons:
Hardware: As said the router is a Huawei B311. It's quite small so doesn't stand out like the monstrosities my previous 2 landline providers supplied. However it is quite lightweight and feels a little flimsy so I'm not sure about the lifespan of the hardware. That said though it looks pretty simple to buy a 4g router and just insert the SIM into that one if this ever breaks down. This is definetly a plus as although anyone on landline broadband can use a third party router it isn't always a simple task. With 4g broadband though it is a simple plug and play. Infact some might prefer to buy a router and data SIM seperatly (3 are currently offering a 12 month SIM only contract with unlimited data for £20 pm). The router is pretty basic compared to the ones supplied by landline providers though. It has a power and WPS switch and lights that show the stuatus of power, mobile network, ethernet, WiFi and mobile signal. However it only has one Ethernet port which was a bit of a let down intitially. Also 3 seem to have stripped down a couple of other features. It has a phone socket port so you should be able to connect a landline phone and make/recive calls via the SIM, but although the socket is present it has been disabled and I can't find a function in the router UI to activate it. There's a removable panel on the back of the router that reveals a SMA socket to attach an external antenna which can possibly boost mobile reception (and potentially download speeds too). However I get the impression by the size and shape of the removable panel and the fact that many 4g antenna are sold in pairs that there should be 2 SMA sockets and one seems to have been removed. But one absolute bonus to this router over a fixed landline is portability. All you need to get broadband up and running is electricity and a 3 signal so this router can be placed anywhere in a home (it may take a while to find the position with strongest signal though) and can even be taken on holiday (looking forward to not having to use hotel WiFi any more). Even though this router is a little basic there hasn't been a function it can't do that a landline router can't as you'll read below.
Software: As with any router you access the UI by typing the IP address into a web browser and it is very straight forward to navigate unlike some of the landline routers. It shows you the usual router settings that can be changed but also shows your current up/download speeds, number of devices connected, mobile signal and some other statuses. It also allows you to set data thresholds so you don't exceed any download limits. Additionaly you can download a UI app so you don't have to access it through the IP address and you can also set up a my3 account to keep track of data usage/spending and can download a my3 app too.
Connectivity: According to the manual you can connect up to 32 devices at a time and here's how I've found the different connection types. WiFi - The Wifi works like any other router by searcing for the connection on your device and entering the password. The range of the WiFi is brilliant, I can get a better connection 2 rooms away than I could from my landline router (back when I had working broadband that is). But this router only offers a 2.4ghz WiFi connection which can be very congeseted (not just by users connecting through your router but by other nearby routers) and doesn't have a 5ghz WiFi connection which pretty much comes as standard with fibre routers these days. Ethernet - As said this router only has 1 Ethernet port which initially was a bit of a disapointment. However it's ended up being something of a bonus. I repurposed an old landline router to work as a network switch and placed it behind my TV so I have the Ethernet cable from the router going to this switch. I then have 3 cables going from the switch to 2 games consoles and a Roku box so with the switch being conveniently hidden the 1 cable leading from the router doesn't look as untidy. WPS - This is the only connection type tht has been a headache. According to the manual to set up a WPS connection you just hold down the WPS button for 2secs until the WiFi light on the router starts to flash. However no ammount of pushing could get this light to flash. So setting up my WiFi printer was a bit of a mission. The printer was unable to find the network by pushing the WPS button or enabling WPS in the router UI. I was able to find the printer using the network settings on a laptop but it was unable to connect. In the end I had to delete the printer drivers from the laptop, reinstall and set up a WiFi connection by connecting the printer to the laptop using a USB cable and then enabling WPS through the router UI. But now it's set up it's working fine. SMA - As said there's a SMA connection that can be used to connect an external antenna to boost mobile reception. I haven't used this yet but do plan on buying an antenna to see if it boosts signal/speeds. You could also by an SMA cable so the antenna can be installed in the place of the strongest signal yet the router placed near the devices it needs to conenct to. Phone - It is somehting of a let down that the phone socket on the router has been disabled as although I rarely use a landline it was always nice to know it's there as a back up.
Speeds/Signal: One downside to mobile broadband is you don't get the minimum guaranteed download speeds that many landline providers offer. Although the router can in theory provide download speeds of upto 150mb/s you are never going to get anywhere near this and you will find that the speeds fluctuate rapidly. I have had download speeds in the range of 2mb/s with only 1 device connected via Ethernet but have also had speeds >20mb/s on a device connected by WiFi 2 rooms away with multiple devices connected at the same time. The reason the speeds can be so inconsistent is there are more variables to consider than through a landline connection. Signal strength and proximity to mast, router location, network congestion and even the weather play their part as well as the usual variables such as router channel and other other interferances you get with a landline router. It's for this reason that I've only scored 3 for speeds. However the upload speeds and ping rates always seem pretty stable. The uploads are consistently in their teens and the ping rates are usually holding in the 50's which is very respectable. Despite the varying download speeds it hasn't been an issue with using the data and I've had only one dropout in connection in the 2 weeks which is why I've scored 5 for reliability. With the router fresh out of the box I wanted to see how far I could push the connection so I had a Roku box streaming a film 2 rooms away, another streaming live TV 2 rooms away, a tablet streaming YouTube 2 rooms away and a mobile and a laptop browsing the net all while my son played Fortnite on the Xbox in the same room as the router. There was absolutly no buffering and crystal clear picture quality on the devices that were straeming and only a very slight lag on the Xbox which was fine because I'm never going to be transferring this much data on this many devices normally. The only time the inconsistent speeds have been an issue was when my son was downloading a 12gb game on the Xbox, it took hours and the display on the screen showing live download speeds showed you just how varied they can be with them jumping between 15mb/s and <1mb/s quite rapidly. This is the only time I've had a connection dropout as I tried to stream on a Roku box at the same time as this download and the router just couldn't handle it. So downloading large amounts of data is an issue but the speeds are fine for streaming and online gaming. The mobile signal the router recives will play a big part in the speeds you're getting as throetically the stronger the signal the higher the speeds. So the location of the router is imperative and ideally close to a window to pick up the signal easier from a mast. I checked the 3 signal for my address both on their website and the Ofcom website before purchasing and this is something I strongly advise as like I've said there are no guarantees for speed. You can also download apps that can show where the signal is strongest around you and like I've said there's also the option of installing an antenna (even outside and connecting to the router via cable) to get the optimal mobile signal. I'd also recomend keeping an eye on the signal strength in UI as the light on the router shows the strength by 3 bars and my signal has never dropped below 3. However the strength is shown using 5 bars on the UI and this was showing between 3-4 bars when I first set the router up despite the light showing full signal. I've now got the router in a positon where it's showing full signal on both the UI and the router.
Customer Service: I've scored quite low in this area as I have concerns about the customer service 3 provide if I ever needed it. Being mobile broadband this type of contract doesn't come with the guarantees that an equivilant fibre broadband contract comes with. As said there are no guaranteed minimum speeds. Also my last two providers offered 60 and 30 day guarantees that allowed me to leave the contract within this time without any early exit fees if I wasn't happy with the connection and both these guarantees were worth their weight in gold with the issues I'd been having. With HomeFi though there is no such guarantee. However you can return the equipment within 14 days providing it's unused and the small print even goes on to say that they will still consider the device unused if you've switched it on to make sure it works but haven't yet started using it fully. However it's important to note that this returns period is only granted for online/phone sales and if you were to buy the device/contract in a 3 shop you wouldn't get this guarantee. The contract with 3 also states that you only enter the contract once you insert the SIM into the device and it activates. So with this in mind I ordered a free PAYG SIM and loaded it with 2gb data @£10 so that I could check the router worked, could pick up signal and connect to my devices. I figured that doing this would be considered turning it on and checking it worked but if 3 disagreed and I wanted to exit the contract I would be able to as I hadn't actually gone live with my contract yet so would only liable for the cost of the router. I did need to contact customer services whilst setting up the router and it's because of this they've scored low in this area at the moment. When I put the PAYG SIM in it activated and picked up signal wihtin 5mins. But when I put the contract SIM in there was still no signal after an hour so I called 3 customer services. This ended up being a bit of an issue as the number that was printed on the SIM packaging was not recognised and finding a number for 3 customer services online was a bit of a mission. Once I did find a number that worked I was on hold for ages, when the call was finally answered the operator told me that as it's a broadband device she'd need to transfer me to the broadband team as she's in the mobile phone team, fair enough but I was then on hold for ages again. When I was finally put through I was told I'd need to speak to the faults team and yep you guessed it... back on hold. Whilst I was waiting for this call to be answered though the router finally picked up signal so I just hung up. It was obviously just the case that it took a bit longer for the contract SIM to activate than the PAYG one. So although it wasn't a major issue on this occasion I can see myself being given the runaround if I ever need to contact customer services in the future.
Summary: This router and contract has been a lifesaver after the issues with landline broadband that I've been having and at £22 pm it's comparable to a basic fibre broadband cost. However if you can get a decent fibre connection this isn't likely to be a viable alternative as the cost for fibre broadband also includes line rental so you can use a homephone which like I've said has been disabled on this router. There's also the fact that if you can get a decent fibre conection you'll likely have far higher and more stable speeds. But for someone in my position the speeds I'm now getting are a lot better and more stable than on my shoddy Openreach line. And the portability of this router is a massive bonus that makes up for some of the downsides this router has compared to a landline one. There are a lot of variables you might want to consider before entering into a contract of this length, not least the strength of the 3 signal in your area. If you don't want to enter into a lengthy contract though there are other options with shorter contracts. However these come with data caps, can be more expensive p/m and may also require a partial or full payment of the router. With this contract being £22 pm including the router yet a SIM only plan being £20 pm this does seem to be one of the few mobile plans that include the device for free rather than adding the cost onto the contract price. This is considering that although you'll be paying £2 pm less on the SIM only plan you'll need to buy a router yourself and the starting price of a 4g router on Amazon at present is £69.99 (TP-Link - reduced from £99.99 so it could go up again). That said the 4g routers on Amazon come with more features than this one such as extra Ethernet ports, a working phone socket and 5ghz WiFi signal as well as the 2.4ghz. So it could be worth the extra cost in buying the SIM and the router seperatly just due to the added features. For me though despite the basicness of this router I have been very impressed with how well it compares to a fibre router.
- Location
-
- Location
- Hackney
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2010-01-30
- Comments
-
I have rigged up a homemade antenna on the roof to get the most signal - 4/5 bars - and this mobile internet is still SLOW. During the weekend and after 5ish on weekdays, it gets noticeably worse, which means pretty awful. It is certainly better than having no internet at all, but I don't see this as being an alternative to proper BB. The CS is fine, but they obviously can't do anything about this. They say that they are doing a signal upgrade sometime next year, but who knows?
- Location
-
- Location
- London
- Reviewing
- Three Mobile
- Date
- 2010-12-13
- Comments
-
When it works, it's fine. Strong connection and steady.
Occasional irritant is the struggle to get the wifi connection working.
And why THREE different buttons to switch it on?! When do you only want this partly on?
- Location
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