Three Mobile broadband in Brighton

Is anyone using Three 4G mobile broadband in Brighton - for example using their Huawei B535 router?

I am currently using Virgin's 100/10 Mbps service in Kemptown, but over Christmas the service failed. Being away much of the time we couldn't arrange an engineer (it's now fixed) and used tethering to a 3 phone (unlimited) and it worked surprisingly well - getting around 30 Mbps on an iPhone 8.

Given it's likely we'll stop using that flat in the coming months / moving home, I'm thinking of getting a 4G router to fill the gap,as well as reduce costs/extend cable contract, and was wondering what speeds people were getting.

For those technically inclined (I am), the B535 and iPhone 8 have 2x2 MIMO - the new three 5G router, as well as devices like the iPhone 11 pro or iPhone XS Max have 4x4 MIMO and should easily beat this speed by 1.5-2 times. (I'm also using Virgin 1 Gbps at another property so I rather like my speed!) - so bonus points if you have 4x4 MIMO in Brighton.

Of course I know speeds vary, I'm trying to verify it's viable, and whether it's worth paying the premium to borrow(!) their 5G router- even for a 4G service. Additionally since I don't yet know if we'll move to Reading, Guildford, Worthing etc it's a bit of a punt!

Their 4G is 17 pcm/24m and 22pcm/12m for the B535 (both have current customer discounts of 5/month included in those prices), with the Huawei 5G CPE Pro coming in at 30pcm/12m - no sign of customer discount. need to ask.... So it's a def. premium but I'd pay it for 10 Mbps more !

When i did use three for tethering i've seen close to 100Mbps on my P20 pro in some places

that was nearly a year ago though.

In reply to a post by epyon:

When i did use three for tethering i've seen close to 100Mbps on my P20 pro in some places

Getting 100 Mbps on Three is close to their limit on spectrum. If you have Vodafone or EE signal in your area, you can get faster. O2 is slower.

Speeds depend on lots of factors, including number of users on the mast, in an area.

In another twist I called three to check for any discounts on the 5G hub. After being passed around a little I had to call 'three broadband' directly.

I had assumed their 5G hub would drop down to regular three 4G when out of 5G coverage - making it a top end 5G option as well as punt on 5G availability

It seems this isn't the case. Three broadband tell me that that the current setup is that the 5G network is seperate and the sim provided in the router will NOT connect to three's usual 4G service

Whether that means it's a different MCC id, or another form of restruction I don't know. I did realise 5G in london was using the relish sites, but I assumed they'd be integrated with the three network

Can anyone elaborate further?

Well I am not sure if Three have misinformed you or what.

I can only tell you that I have had a Huawei 5G CPE Pro for the past three months; it replaced a 618. I simply exchanged the Three Data Sim from the 618 to the CPE Pro, and it worked perfectly on 4G. There is no 5G available here yet, so yes, it does drop to the 4G mode if there is no 5G present. What it does not have is a 3G mode. Maybe that is what they were telling you?

As to speed received (comparing the 618 with the CPE Pro), about the same. However the 618 did work better with an external aerial, the CPE Pro seems to work better with no external aerial.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I'm pretty sure there's no issue with the CPE 5G itself (unless locked to three broadband's network), but rather the full package, including airtime - since the SIM itself does not work on threeuk.

That changes the price equation, and makes it pointless opting for the contract (which only has the 5G hub on loan)

I'm now thinking most likely I'll buy the B535 outright, use a smarty unlimited SIM and use it to handle the flat/house move (could be 6-9 months). then revisit after move - with knowledge of the new location's network. 5G then more desirable if to replace cable etc, otherwise still with hardwired and cancel the mobile contract

Well three in my area has full 4G+ so maybe thats why

and i've only seen my friends EE speedtests and they are constantly faster.

4G+ on your display means you are receiving at least two signals and combining. For more have a read of this page I wrote over the Christmas period.
https://www.redsplace.co.uk/mobile/

In reply to a post by epyon:

and i've only seen my friends EE speedtests and they are constantly faster.

EE can be pretty fast on 4G - they have a lot of spectrum. Unfortunately their tariffs tend to be rather expensive, and unlimited (needed [by me] for broadband) is fairly rare.

Network variabilty (and my upcoming moves to places unknown) means mobile broadband is a good bet, but with short-notice data sims. Smarty is good for that. next up it's vodafone.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

4G+ on your display means you are receiving at least two signals and combining. For more have a read of this page I wrote over the Christmas period.
https://www.redsplace.co.uk/mobile/

it's a constantly evolving space... spectrum refarming, upgrades to more MIMO, more carrier aggregation. 5G coming up...

It's also sometimes a little difficult to figure out what a router supports - and even harder (without signal testing) to really see what a network might offer in a particular location. (I'm thinking MIMO and CA, let alone sometimes what bands are used)

In reply to a post by planetf1:

EE can be pretty fast on 4G - they have a lot of spectrum. Unfortunately their tariffs tend to be rather expensive, and unlimited (needed [by me] for broadband) is fairly rare.

EE unlimited is £34
https://shop.ee.co.uk/mobile-phone-deals/sim-only-deals

For some reason I could never find that. Thanks for clarifying.

It's mostly going to be a consideration AFTER any house move, maybe 6-9 months time when thinking about wired vs wireless BB - we'll see. But price won't be such a key factor then (heck I pay 55pcm for virgin currently)

I�m renovating my new house (had it for 2 years now and getting close to moving in). I had my Virgin contract end in property I currently live in last March. I managed to get Virgin to extend the discount as a monthly credit to my account for 3 months. After this I purchased a B525 and have been using Smarty for last 7 months. It�s been in the main it�s been good enough as a put me on.

What you might find is by using Quidco it�s cheaper to get the device on Three on either a 12 month contract (or even one month) than it will be paying Smarty and buying outright.

I maybe worded this a bit strange

i mean EE is faster than three in my area while not having 4G+

4G+ just means aggregation of channels. You might find EE has 4G+ but their devices don�t show it.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

4G+ just means aggregation of channels. You might find EE has 4G+ but their devices don�t show it.

Same with an iPhone XS Max on Vodafone -- no difference in the symbol.

In reply to a post by planetf1:

Same with an iPhone XS Max on Vodafone -- no difference in the symbol.

iPhones don�t show the sub modes. On 3G you didn�t get H or H+ either. On 4G you don�t see +.

Apple didn�t see the point.

The cellular mode is NOT an indicator of speed. It�s an idea of what the maximum speed could be theoretically.

I know?

its just easier to type.