Three UK Offer Unlimited 4G Data and Alexa AI Router for £13 Monthly
Mobile operator Three UK has discounted their 4G “unlimited data” and Huawei AICubeB900 router based mobile broadband plan, which is now being offered at just £13 per month for the first 6 months of service (rising to £26 thereafter) when taken on a 24 month contract term.
The Huawei AICubeB900, which features an integrated Amazon Alexa AI voice controlled assistant, is an LTE Category 6 speed device (i.e. a theoretical peak speed of 300Mbps download and 50Mbps upload), although Three UK states that on their network customers should only expect average peak time speeds of around 14Mbps.
On the WiFi side this router supports up to 64 simultaneous users via dual-band 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) and that can deliver up to a theoretical peak wireless LAN speed of 1200Mbps. The router also features a Micro SIM slot on the bottom and a Gigabit Ethernet port, although sadly there’s no port for an external antenna like on Three UK’s cheaper and lower spec Huawei B311 router (£22 per month).
The new package is very attractive but it’s worth remembering that they’re also about to launch a new 5G service, although admittedly this will take a few years to fully rollout.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and Linkedin.
« Peterborough Locals Warn Cityfibre – DON’T BLOCK Our Driveways
Latest UK ISP News
- FTTP (5532)
- BT (3518)
- Politics (2542)
- Openreach (2298)
- Business (2266)
- Building Digital UK (2247)
- FTTC (2045)
- Mobile Broadband (1977)
- Statistics (1790)
- 4G (1668)
- Virgin Media (1621)
- Ofcom Regulation (1465)
- Fibre Optic (1396)
- Wireless Internet (1391)
- FTTH (1382)
Better off buying a 4G router separately and getting one of their SIM only unlimited plans, much cheaper.
Is it? £22 a month for unlimited without the router vs. £26 with the router?
Is it though? £20 a month for unlimited data sim. I managed to get this deal for £24, so i’m spending £4 a month on the device. £4.00×24=£96. The AI Cube is going for £100 on eBay. Pretty good deal if you ask me. With speeds over 60mbps down and 30mbps up. Its a damn good deal..
Vast majority of Three customers won’t get 4G+ so a router that expensive is unnecessary.
Yes. I agree. But the vast majority of people purchasing this device are probably doing it for the Alexa/echo capabilities. Cost of a standalone Alexa/echo + the cost of a cheap 4 router. It still pretty much adds up to £90-100.
I’d agree with you most of the time, carrier equipment is usually off the rails expensive. But i disagree with you on this one.
I’d rather pay not to have Alexa etc.
You are not everyone else. Glad we cleared that up.
You are also not everyone else. Glad we cleared that up.
Then everything is cleared up! Great!
14Mbps down, but what about up? And what’s their definition of “unlimited”?
I’ve been with Three for many years. Unlimited means unlimited without throttling. I’ve also tried Virgin and Giffgaff Unlimited and they both restrict the speed to the point YouTube won’t work but Three doesn’t limit you.
I had three about 10 years ago and I would never trust their “unlimited” deals again after the experience I had with them… if it wasn’t for the fact it was only a cheap PAYG sim and not a contract I would have taken it up with trading standards – I don’t know whether Three have changed over the years but when they first launched they were an alright company, although they did kill the Motorola A920 by restricting it too much on their network – the A920 was like an iPhone before the iPhone was even thought of but Three were worried to much it might put viruses on their network so they restricted what it could do by unbelievable amounts which meant it was more just a massive brick with a touch screen and so many restrictions (it even came with GPS and an app store which was disabled). But then they changed and I had a really bad experience with them, despite being with them for years since they first launched I then left Three and with the experience I had with them have never gone back – maybe they’ve improved themselves over the years but I don’t really fancy getting stuck with a 24 month contract to find out.
To Carlos:
As GiffGaff does not offer unlimited internet, your “try” and your comment is…ahem…
The best from GiffGaff is the “Always on”
“Speed restrictions apply to our Always On data. After 40 GB of data used you’ll experience a reduced data speed of 384kbps from 8am to Midnight.”
Read next time….
3 have another mobile provider called Smarty
It it’s run and owned by 3
For £25 month on a none contract rolling you get totally unlimited calls texts and even better completely unlimited 4g data..
It also allows you to hot spot or tether to other devices.. I use it for my phone and I use my phone to hot-spot my data to my set top box turning my TV into a smart I never lose any downloads speeds and I can use my hot-spot whilst using internet and apps on my phone and it never gets slow or laggy.
This is not £18.75 with 25% off
Do Smarty allow the SIM to be used in a router/modem directly? Three used to stop this until recently.
Yes, you can indeed. There is no restrictions.
Smarty also allows carrier aggregation I tested their unlimited sim for one month with a Netgear M1 and I got the 4G+ icon appearing and managed 60/40 during daytime and 110/45 at night. I’m in London and my local mast is pretty congested nevertheless I was impressed by the speed despite being an MVNO
I take it Smarty then is kind of like Three’s version of O2’s GiffGaff? Ever noticed that a number of phone/internet networks have their main in high street brand, but then they also have an internet version (or budget version) of the same brand which is usually kept hidden and only found out by certain people – O2/GiffGaff, 3/Smarty, Vodafone/TalkMobile/VOXI BT/PlusNet etc…
Sorry “This is now £18.75 with 25% off”
I’m so tempted by that offer as it popped on my Facebook speed don’t know if they would allow me it as I have three smarty sim ( two of which inactive ) and it seems to be for new customers only. But I must resist as I really want 5G with Three and the HTC 5G hub. Must be patient lol
Be careful with Smarty as I’ve heard many customers aren’t happy with their “non existent” customer service. Here’s one of their customers’ bad experience with the mvno.
I signed up with them 3 weeks ago and had some issues, I tried to check for the number you can dial free from your sim – there isn’t one. I then looked for a contact number. There isn’t one. I tried the web chat – it isn’t a chat function! It’s a series of very slow messages !
“I messaged them on the “chat” about a refund they were supposed to have processed and didn’t hear back in 5 days!! I contacted their complaints department – the same thing, it all goes through the ridiculously slow chat. Took over a day and then the told me there had been “a glitch” and that they’d process it.
Took over a week to be able to access my account online – no mobile app either”.
Oh dear… best avoided then.
so you’ve heard that smartys customer service is rubbish , I’m with smarty and every email I’ve sent has been quickly replied.
Three’s coverage still the worst in UK, probably in Europe as well….Tunbridge Wells, Kent:10 mins away from towncenter=0-1 bar in 4g, 1-2 in 3g..O2 at the same place= 3-4 bar 4g, full 5 3g….
No wonder they have offers like these..they probably lost countless customers….
@Darren “I take it Smarty then is kind of like Three’s version of O2’s GiffGaff? Ever noticed that a number of phone/internet networks have their main in high street brand, but then they also have an internet version (or budget version) of the same brand which is usually kept hidden and only found out by certain people – O2/GiffGaff, 3/Smarty, Vodafone/TalkMobile/VOXI BT/PlusNet etc…”
I have Giffgaff and Plusnet, so not wholly hidden. I pay Plusnet £5pm for 500MB, 250 minutes and 500 texts on a rolling 30-day contract. There is zero need for any big data allowance as any substantial data usage is done mainly at home on WiFi.
Alot of people now uses more then 1-2gb of data within a month. I for example use atleast 8-9gb of it and if tethering, will use way above 100gb and I tether to my TV, Laptop, consoles quite often. I use it for alot of things, from browsing, gaming, and so on.
What’s this thing of putting Amazon Alexa into everything these days?
Unlimited SIM from Three is now just 11pm!
only for the first 6 months, and it’s a 2 years contract..
2 years is a long time for a SIM only contract. I hope this doesn’t become the norm…
For June I used 197 GB with them and experienced no issues.