Three 5G Home broadband + 3 months free then £20pm /21m (£13.35pm effective) + £100 Premium Quidco / £80 Topcashback

Don't do it...
I was sucked in by this deal. 1st week started well. Amazing I would say, then it slowed down to an unusable level for the second week. They website stated they were working on the masts, though my my payasyou three SIM was working fine. No idea what the issue was but I cancelled within the 14 days as I needed good consistent service, more than high speed. Received no confirmation of the cancellation. To login to your account you need a phone number, finding it was quite a mission as they don't tell you what it is and they also send messages to it for account verification - if doing anything online. Once logged in, I found that the account was still active. They promise to send you a return label, but they don't. And if you don't send it back within 4 or 5 days of cancellation they charge you for the router. Appx £450. This is a common issue and had taken me about 3 months, 15 calls, and about upteen chats to finally send back the router and close the account - without having to pay cancellation charges. Buyer beware. It's a common issue with three. (edited)

I got it and can not fail this(over 3 months). 300-400 mbps, never skip a bit. Running around 6 devices constantly. But it's all depends on your location. (edited)

Sounds like a lot of people having the same issues.
Worked well for me in the first 30 days, then just ground to a halt.
Called them up and they said there are mast repairs.
I need broadband for work so this has really made life difficult for me.
Was told I couldn't leave the contract (unless I pay the full 2 years charges around £400) either and even though the speeds aren't what I was promised (typically around 13mbps now, was at 130mbps-230mbps in the first 30 days) I understand this doesn't fall under home broadband so I can't cancel the contract due to slow connection.
If anyone knows a way out, please let me know!

My current speed sat at the opposite end of the house in deepest darkest Cornwall; for reference, our standard broadband line caps at 32mbps

Is there any way to test the local 5g signal without paying out a load of money? My 3 4g signal is strong but the download speed is dire, about 12MBPS. Not sure if 5g would be different?

I've got this and I'm telling you now it's the way forward for people like myself who cannot get more than 60mb broadband. I've had it for over 2 years now and have 12 devices connected and it has been great. Constantly get 300+ mb and it rarely goes down (touch wood).
I have it on daily auto reset every night which I think helps keep it running fine.

If it works for you, great. Best of luck trying to cancel with these absolute jokers if you aren't happy with it however.

I had a horrendous time with Three Broadband. Joined in February 2023. Called to cancel within 30 days as the upload speeds weren't good and the router needed a daily manual reboot. It took them ages to send me the returns label. Had to call three times over 7 days for them to send it. I was worried about not receiving the returns label as it was coming up to the end of their 30 day returns policy and I didn't want them coming back to me saying it was too late to return. Eventually it was sent, so I packed up the device, took a photo of the parcel and sent it back. Kept a copy of the DPD receipt. Constantly checked the DPD tracking and when I saw it was received by Three, I thought nothing of it at that point.

A month went by and had a text saying my bill was due. No payment was needed as I was originally on a three months free offer but called to query this anyway and was told it was 'nothing to worry about'. She took the reference number from my DPD receipt and said no further contact needed. I was skeptical. And for good reason.

As further months went by I kept on receiving warning texts and emails saying my account was falling into arrears. I kept calling them each time for them to later state they never received the router back despite me giving them the reference number from DPD proving it was received at their returns office on time. They even once had the cheek to ask me to contact DPD as it was lost with them despite it clearly showing as received and signed for at Three.

Early August, I had an alert from Credit Karma. June and July were updated as missed payments by Three and this caused my credit score to immediately drop dramatically. Also checked my Experian credit file to find the same score drop.

I immediately raised a complaint with Three via their website who took around ten days to call me back. When they called me back, I was horrified to hear them ask for the reference number from the tracking again and asked me to contact DPD. The tracking number was provided within the complaint webform! When I contacted DPD they said they had fulfilled their obligation and it had clearly been signed for at the receiving end so it had to be only Three to resolve the matter. I was stern but polite, but insisted that they must resolve the complaint. They said they'd further contact me within 7 days as they'd need to check with the backend team.

No contact was made by them so I went on their webchat a few days ago to firmly assure them that I will be taking this matter to the ombudsman should this not be resolved within a timely matter due to the detrimental effect on my credit file through no fault of my own. An hour passed, and the agent agreed to finally cancel the contract down fully but seemed to have a tone as if Three were doing me a favour on this occasion. I queried of course the credit file issue but he insisted he'd raise a report with the credit file team to get the derogatory markers removed within 30 days. No-one in the right mind would blame me at this point for being a little doubtful. Should the markers not be removed in that time I will contact the ombudsman and CK/Experian/Equifax to raise a notice of correction.

Over the years I have been a Three customer on and off ever since the brand launched on 3rd March 2003. Generally they've been great; but my experience in 2023 with them has been nothing short of horrifying. I won't actively consider them again. If I did want to go back, I'd only consider an MVNO of theirs like Smarty that doesn't affect your credit file and a plan you can easily cancel online.

What a bunch of cowboys. I now shudder whenever I see a TV ad of theirs.

Since writing this, I've also posted it on Trustpilot. I've now discovered that I'm far from alone in having an experience like this. (edited)

I live in Beswick Manchester near the Man City Etihad stadium and currently get between 200 and 500mbps from my 3 mobile contract on my Samsung S20 phone which is now due an upgrade and would be happy to stay with 3 if offered a good deal. Picture taken is of my speed test while typing this response if it helps anyone (edited)

Do we have to return the router at the end of 24 months?

So if I do a speed check on my wife’s phone (she’s with three) I can see what speed she gets.

if I’m not a 5g area will this router work 4g or lower? And do you need a Ariel outside like some do for Wi-Fi routers off Amazon?

Can you cancel after three months? I'm simply asking just in case I try it and it's not as effective as I'd hoped

I would 1000% recommend giving this a shot. I’ve been well impressed with the speeds and reliability

Wasn’t available at my address so ordered it to another address and took it over to mine

Getting 300mb+ downloads

Is there any speed difference between this and tethering from my old S21 using Smarty Social Tariff Unlimited interent?

A word of caution if you want to set up the 3-Mobile app on your mobile for this. You would need to remove the SIM card from the 5G router and put it in a phone where you want to set up the 3-mobile App as setting up this app requires you to be verified via SMS.

Also worth saving this mobile number as a contact on your phone as you need this to get through the 3-mobile customer service IVR. Worst user experience, I know..!!

There is a way to read the messages received by the SIM card by logging into the Admin console of the router at 192.168.1.1 > Network Settings > Broadband > Cellular SMS but most people struggle with this.

Only downside is the ping if you're into twitch based games. But in terms of download speed, 5G Internet is far faster than anything in the same price range for my area. (edited)

Shame I can’t get Three broadband at the house I’m getting this Friday - otherwise this is way better than the 63Mbps at £25/month I’m looking at from other providers.

Does the 5g fall back to 4g if it cant get signal the same way a mobile would? I assume not as the site pushes the 4g modem if it thinks you arent in a good 5g signal area, but want to be sure.

Also, I know this is branded as home broadband but could I take this on holiday in the UK? Granted I dont know what the signals like before I get there but would likely be worth a shot given it wouldnt take up much space in the car.

How far are you guys from the mast?

I'm about 200m from a 3 dipole, but the patchy service puts me off. Currently on a solid VM 250meg service.

Speed might be great but if you're browsing the net latency is important. I can get 100mb+ but latency is over 100ms Vs my broadband which is 11ms so it actually saves me a lot of time waiting overall

Words can’t describe how farcical this has been for me!

Ahead of moving into a new home, I called three and they confirmed I would have a 5g signal.

Ordered the hub and took with me today (moving day).

Upon setup I exited 3mb so called the customer service (got to be one of the worst automated systems I’ve come across - constantly asking for my ‘mobile number’ that’s connected to my hub sim?!?) and eventually reaching an Indian call centre.

Eventually after an hour of trying various options I got thorough to tech support who confirmed I have no signal in my area and that I should cancel.

However, the only way to cancel is through a one time email code but it turns out the original guy who processed the order (and said I would have signal) setup my account in the wrong email address (despite me confirming 3 times).

So now they’re refusing to cancel my contract until I confirm the pin (impossible as it’s going to a different email address) and they have no way of changing my email.

My only option they said is to drive to my nearest three store and change my email on my account there before then calling back the customer service and cancelling.

To add insult to injury they sent me first bill whilst I was 2 hrs into the call.

Granted not everyone will have the same experience as me but it appears their staff competency is extremely poor.

Anyone used an external antenna with these? Wondering if an external antenna reduces any latency but I am unable to find much details on which type of external antenna is suitable.

I recommend Three but not on a 24mth contract.
Learn from my experience and take a rolling month contract. £24 is still very good value and includes the hub

After five and a half months, this almost feel like it needs framing.

I got this but it kept dropping out Wi-Fi  signal so canceled in the 30 day money back guarantee. They canceled the plan right away and can’t seem to send me a returns bag out to return it.I’ve contacted the ceo office and the  team are great at contacting me back every 2 days but even they can’t seem to get a bag sent out.today I’ve had another bill produced and still no bag to return it in. Apparently there is a problem with there new system that went live in January processing return requests. 

Three has the worst signal in the UK. Cold

I have had this for about two months now (on the £24 a month 30 day contract) and I must say I am really impressed.

I was only getting 40 meg on broadband and no VM or FTTP yet. Decided to give this a go when Now increased their costs and I always get over 100 meg up to 500.

Ran a speed test every hour for 48 hours and always good speeds.

I have only had one drop out in 2 months, but I do set the router to restart every night (easily done in the settings).

My worry was latency as I do play some online games (mainly DOTA 2) and the pinghad been as good as I was getting before. Also played several multiplayer games with friends to test it out and no problems at all.

I am considering signing up for longer but will trial a little longer first.

Not sure how this is a good deal. I bought this router on eBay brand new for ~£180 and then signed up for Three unlimited data for £12 a month via fonehouse.

I'm hitting ~600mbps down and 74 up in Fife, where I could previously only get 72mbps DSL and no cable or fibre. I'm now paying a fifth the price for almost ten times the speed.

Just get monthly SIM until u are really really sure it's for u

My mate has this and he gets
1400 Mbps download. He does have a large array of antennas on a water tower at the bottom of his road mind you.