Three home broadband special offer: Free for THREE months
Dan Howdle | August 3rd, 2023
Three has been offering broadband delivered via its mobile network for a few years now and, depending on where you live – and the quality of your signal reception – does provide a realistic alternative to traditional fixed-line home broadband deals, especially if you live somewhere you can take advantage of 5G. And right now, Three Broadband is offering its contracted packages with the first three months completely free of charge. Let's take a look at what's available.
Three months free on Three 4G and 5G home broadband packages
You'll get three months free on both of Three Broadband's home broadband deals. There are two flavours – 4G and 5G – and since they're the same price, your choice is really going to come down to which you can get rather than opting for the minimum you need in order to save money. They do offer differing routers, which we'll talk about in a bit more detail further down, which is why Three will check your postcode and let you know which service is available to you before you sign up. You can't get a 5G hub if you can only get a 4G reception, and Three will know what you can and can't get.
Here's an overview of those deals:
- Half price for six months
- Next day delivery
-
4G average speed
- Unlimited monthly downloads
- Zero one-off cost
- 24 month contract
- No phone line
- Half price for six months
- Next day delivery
-
5G average speed
- Unlimited monthly downloads
- Zero one-off cost
- 24 month contract
- No phone line
Availability – where you live matters
With both the 4G and 5G versions of Three Broadband's home broadband packages – with data delivered via the Three mobile network – costing exactly the same each month, which package you can have will depend entirely where you live and the quality of the Three mobile signal you receive there.
There's some irony there too, since many who might want to opt for broadband delivered via a mobile network as opposed to a traditional fixed line will likely be doing so because where they live fixed-line broadband speeds are inadequate. Since slow broadband is predominantly associated with rural or remote living, it's unlikely 5G will reach these locations either.
Whatever your reason for considering it, Three will check your postcode and offer you the fastest deal, and the appropriate router.
Three offers next-day broadband
Three Broadband's home broadband packages are unique in the sense that you can order one day and be online the next. Your router will be posted overnight, plug it in, a quick setup, and your household is online. This differs markedly from traditional fixed-line options where you're typically going to be waiting two weeks or more to get up and running.
Offer only available on 24-month contracts
You can get Three Broadband either on a 24-month contract, or on a one-month rolling contract. The latter obviously allowing you to exit whenever you please, with the former tying you in for two years and hitting you with early exit fees if you need to get out. However, the contracted option is cheaper on month to month basis, and of course you'll get your first three months free. Not so with the one-month option. However, a one month contract may suit many and will therefore be worth the extra cost to some.
You won't get a phone line
Unlike traditional fixed-line broadband, do bear in mind that you won't get a phone line. Most households will already have one or not need one, but it's worth bearing in mind that if you're switching away from a normal household broadband connection with a phone line, most broadband providers will not let you keep the phone line on its own.
There are a couple of ways to deal with this. You can get a basic phone line solo from BT or one or two other providers, or you can give the landline the old heave-ho and rely instead on your mobile. You can use your Three Broadband router to make wifi calls, meaning audio quality should be pretty good even in areas with poor mobile signal via your (non-Three) network. Obviously if you get poor mobile signal on Three, you won't be able to have Three Broadband in the first place.
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£90 Gift CardUltrafast Plus- 500Mb average speed +
- Unlimited usage +
- PAYG calls
- £90 Gift Card
£33.00 per month(prices may change during contract)£90 Gift Card£5 one-off cost18 month contract -
M125 Fibre Broadband- 132Mb average speed +
- Unlimited usage +
- No phone line
£26.00 per month(prices may change during contract)£0 one-off cost18 month contract -
£50 Reward CardFull Fibre 100- 150Mb average speed +
- Unlimited usage +
- No phone line
- £50 Virtual Reward Card
£30.99 per month(increases on the 31st March 2025 by CPI +3.9%)£50 Reward Card£31.99 one-off cost24 month contract
Three Broadband router specs
There are two routers available from Three Broadband, and which one you get will depend on whether you can get 4G or 5G where you live. Here are the specs:
5G Hub
- Cellular Connectivity: Mediatek T750
- Wifi Connectivity: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax (WiFi 6), dual-band, 2x2 MIMO
- Ports: 2X2.5GB Ethernet, 1x USB
- SIM Type: Micro SIM
- Indicator Lights: Power, SMS, Signal Strength, Internet, Wifi/WPS
- Buttons: WPS, Power, Reset
- Mobile App: Three Broadband 5G
- Speed Info: Device Theoretical Max – 4.7Gbps Download (Three UK Network – Up to 1Gbps)
4G Hub
- Ethernet ports: 4x
- Maximum connected devices: 64
- Supports Wi-Fi bands: 5GHz and 2.5GHz
- SIM type: Standard size (mini) SIM
- Wi-Fi certification: Wi-Fi 5 for greater performance on modern devices
- LTE band support: 1, 3, 7, 80, 20, 32
About Three
Three has been around since the birth of 3G, going all the way back to the early 2000s. However, its home broadband offering, under the not entirely distinct secondary brand name 'Three Broadband' has only existed for a few short years, providing a realistic alternative to traditional fixed-line broadband, if you can get a high-quality reception.
Three Broadband is cheap. With 5G speeds of up to 150Mbps for around £20 per month, it may, in actual fact, be THE cheapest way to get high speed broadband in the entire UK. However, the value slides downhill somewhat if you can only get the equally priced 4G version where you live.
-
63Mb average speed
- Unlimited monthly downloads
- £10 one-off cost
- 12 month contract
- Pay as you go calls
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