Is Three Home Broadband any Good?

The age old question when looking for a new broadband provider. Is it decent? Does the low price reflect good value of money or is it all a ruse?

Three’s 4G and 5G broadband is obviously quite a bit different than a “normal’ broadband setup, in the sense that while your 4G or 5G hub will still need to be plugged in to a power source, the broadband connection itself is completely wireless. It is essentially a SIM card in the back of a router that searches for a signal from a tower.

You may have noticed the giant cotton bud style monopole masts that have been popping up in streets around the UK. These types of masts deliver your speedy 4G and 5G connections.

There are some obvious differences between wireless broadband and traditional cable or fibre broadband packages.

Download Speeds

Wireless broadband holds its own when it comes to download speeds. Some packages offer download speeds of 150Mbps downloads which is more than double what you could get with a standard FTTC service.

Upload speeds

Upload speed is one of the areas where wireless broadband misses the mark. A package with a download speed of 150Mbps would only have an upload speed of 1-2 Mbps. This is 27 times less than a Full Fibre package with the same download speeds. This means that if you have a lot of content to upload or stream, wireless broadband isn’t for you.

Latency (aka Ping)

While latency isn’t usually discussed on comparison sites, it’s really important for completing day to day tasks when online. Latency is the amount of time it takes to move ‘packets’ of information across a network. Low latency is therefore better than a high latency. 4G broadband has a higher latency. 5G broadband can achieve low latencies but it’s often affected by such things as the weather or high traffic on a network.

Price

The price of Three’s home broadband is always really competitive. In our many years working in the broadband industry we’ve seen a 150Mbps package being sold for around £18. The 24 month contract does however mean that you may experience 2 price hikes during your time with Three.

Value

A product’s value is obviously subjective. If you’re happy with a connection that’s more suited to smaller households then we think Three’s home broadband does represent good value for money. A sub £25 price point, free next day delivery and no set up fees does make 4G and 5G broadband from Three, really attractive.

Summary

It’s probably a little unfair to list Three’s home broadband deals alongside the likes of Sky, Now, BT and the like. It’s also perhaps a little confusing for customers who will expect to get the same type of  connection as with one of the traditional suppliers. We’re of the opinion that Three’s home broadband is great if you’re in a small household or there’s only one or 2 people using the internet at a time, for smaller tasks.

If you have a busier household with lots of internet connected devices and lots of people uploading and downloading at the same time, Three might not be for you.