Three UK Upgrade HomeFi 4G Broadband Router with Huawei B535
Mobile operator Three UK informs us that new customers of their 4G based HomeFi service, which originally bundled unlimited mobile broadband data with a Huawei B311 router, are now optionally able to receive a more advanced Huawei B535 device instead.
The B311 wasn’t a particularly impressive device, not least because it was limited to 802.11n spec WiFi (max of 32 connected devices) and could only handle slower 4G speeds (LTE Cat 4). In fairness it was separately possible to take HomeFi with the more capable Huawei AICubeB900 router but crucially that one lacked a port for connecting external antennas, which is something that the B311 did have.
By comparison the new Huawei B535 router supports external antennas and can handle LTE Category 7 speeds (theoretical max of 300Mbps download and 100Mbps upload), although the UK average speeds on their network are closer to 14Mbps but this varies radically from place to place.
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Huawei B535 Specs
FDD-LTE Cat7: 300Mbps(DL), 100Mbps(UL) @ 20MBW
TDD-LTE Cat7: 220Mbps(DL),20Mbps(UL) @ 20MBW
Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2.4GHz 2*2 & 5G 2*2 (Up to 64 simultaneous users)
4 x RJ-45 for Gigabit Ethernet (1 WAN)
2 x SMA external antenna interface for LTE
1 x SIM card slot (3FF)
1 x power interface
1*Hi(WPS) KEY / 1*Reset KEY / 1*Power KEY
Parental Controls
Dimensions 219mm (W) x 138mm (H)
At the time of writing the package costs £23 per month on a 24 month contract or £28 per month (plus £29 one-off) on a 12 month term. The plan also includes Three’s Go Binge (now with Snapchat) add-on, although we’re not sure why they mention that on an unlimited data package.
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, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Worst WiFi I’ve ever had, hightly do not recommend it. You will be waisting your money, I’ve struggled to connect to the internet via phone and PlayStation 4 for the past 2 hours, will be taking into shop as soon as possible and declare a direct debit stoppage!! Not only that but three got us to become a existing customer by buying the one month SIM card for £16 which they said they’ll only take one payment and ended up taking 4! 02 all the way never had an issue with them, only three and vodaphone you’ll always have problems with, they don’t care about their customers!!