Considering getting online using Three 5G Broadband?
In this article, we’ve reviewed the Three 5G Hub, to see if it’s any good.
We’ve shown how to set up the router, then assessed its download and upload speeds, Wi-Fi signal, value for money, gaming performance, and more, to see if the 5G Hub is a good way to get online at home.
Before we begin, use the Three Home Broadband coverage checker to see if you can get their 5G Hub deals at your address at the moment, and to find out what these plans cost when you’re reading this.
Contents
- Three 5G Hub overview
- Three 5G Hub unboxing & setup
- Three 5G Hub speed tests
- Three 5G Hub Wi-Fi performance
- Three 5G Hub gaming test
- Three 5G Hub value for money
- Is Three 5G Broadband worth buying? Our verdict
- Three 5G Hub alternatives
- Conclusion
Three 5G Hub overview
| Brand | Three |
| Name | 5G Hub |
| Manufacturer brand | ZTE |
| Manufacturer name | MC888 |
| Dimensions | 87 x 225 x 154.5mm |
| Ethernet ports | 2 (1Gb) |
| External antenna sockets | 2 |
| Phone socket | RJ45 |
| WiFi | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax (WiFi 6), dual-band, 2x2 MIMO |
| Maximum connected devices | 64 |
| Colour | White |
| Rating | 4.7 (out of 5) |
| Price | Check on Three |
The Three 5G Hub works just like most other Wi-Fi routers, except rather than plugging into a broadband wall socket, it takes a SIM card, and connects to the Three mobile network to establish an internet connection.
Once you insert the included SIM card into the router and plug it in, the 5G Hub will connect to 5G. Then, it will create a Wi-Fi hotspot you can use to get online on multiple laptops, phones, tablets, smart TVs, and other devices at the same time.
Therefore, the only requirement to be able to buy the Three 5G Hub is that you have strong enough Three 5G signal at your address. You can view signal strength in your area using the Three coverage map – ideally, you want to see strong indoor 5G at your address.
This ZTE MC888 5G router supports WiFi 6, and allows up to 64 devices to connect to the hotspot at the same time. It also has two Ethernet ports, allowing you to plug devices into the router directly.
Because there’s no fibre connection or phone line to set up, you can begin getting online with the 5G Hub in about 10-15 minutes after receiving it in the mail, with no need for an engineer visit.
It’s also possible to take the router with you and use it at other addresses in the UK, such as when travelling for example. You’re not limited to using Three Broadband at a single location.
If you go somewhere with only 4G instead of 5G signal, the 5G Hub will connect to 4G instead.
Before you buy the 5G Hub, make sure to check that you have strong 5G signal at your address, to ensure you’ll get good speeds. You can do this using the Three 5G broadband coverage checker.
Buying the Three 5G Hub
When you buy the 5G Hub from Three on their website, you get everything you need to get started with their 5G Home Broadband service, including the router and a data SIM card.
The SIM plan comes with unlimited data, and the 5G Hub is available on your choice of a 24 month, 12 month, or 1 month contract. The shorter-term deals are a bit more expensive.
Three also includes a 30-day return policy when you buy. During this time, you can send the router back if you’re not happy with its performance, as long as it’s not damaged.
This allows you to set up the router and see what the speeds are like before committing to the length of the contract.
When you put in your postcode on their coverage checker, Three may also recommend their 5G Outdoor Hub router instead, if you don’t have perfect indoor 5G signal.
This is a very similar bit of kit, but requires setting up an external antenna before you can get online. Read our full review of the 5G Outdoor Hub to learn more about this device.
There is also a 4G Hub Three may recommend as well, in case you don’t get strong enough 5G signal in your area at the moment.
Three 5G Hub unboxing & setup
After placing an order online, our Three 5G Hub arrived in the mail in two business days.
Inside the box, you’ll find:
- The Three 5G Hub (ZTE MC888)
- An unlimited data Three SIM card
- The router power cable
- A LAN cable
- A quick start guide
- A router manual
- An ErP conformity notice
To begin getting online using your 5G Hub, here’s what you need to do.
1. Insert the SIM card in the router
First, remove the SIM card from its packaging.
You want the smallest size of SIM, also known as a nano SIM card.
Next, insert the SIM into the router.
The SIM slot is on the base of the 5G Hub, covered by a small plastic flap.
Lift up the flap, then push in the SIM until it clicks into place. It should be inserted with the cut corner facing the top left, oriented as shown in the image below.
Once the SIM is in, push the flap back into position.
If you ever need to remove the SIM card, push it down, into the slot, and it will pop back out.
2. Plug in and turn on the router
Grab the router’s power cable, and plug it into the circular port on the back of the device.
Plug in the other end of the power cord into a power socket, and wait for the 5G Hub to turn on.
At this point, the Three 5G Hub will set itself up for the first time. There is no power button you need to press to turn it on.
The router will connect to 5G, and create a Wi-Fi hotspot you can use to get online.
When it’s ready, all six status lights on the front of the router should illuminate white. The top three lights indicate your 5G signal strength on a scale from one to three.
If these top three lights are all illuminated, this means you are receiving full signal. If none are illuminated, this likely means that the SIM card is not inserted properly.
If the router came with the SIM already installed, it is possible that Three put it in the wrong way around. In this case, you’ll need to push it in to take it out, then insert it the correct way around as shown above.
Now you can connect to Wi-Fi using the login details printed on the base of the router.
3. Optimise router positioning
To get the best possible internet signal and speeds, it’s important to ensure your 5G Hub is placed somewhere with strong 5G signal.
If you are getting three bars of signal according to the status lights on the front of the router, this is a good start. However, it still might be possible to improve your router positioning, to get faster download speeds.
As a general rule of thumb, placing the router on an upstairs windowsill is often a good spot, because this will generally be an elevated location on the edge of the house, meaning it will be closer to the nearest 5G mast.
If you log into the router’s admin settings, ZTE also has a software utility that suggests the best place to put the router, which can be useful, but won’t necessarily help you find the single best location.
We recommend testing the router in at least three to five different spots, and performing speed tests, to see where you get the fastest download and upload speeds.
Once you’ve found a good spot, it’s also worth rotating the router 90 degrees and testing its speeds again, to see if this can further improve performance.
We found that by slightly repositioning the 5G Hub, for example just by rotating it slightly, we could get a 10% or so improvement in our download and upload speeds.
Three 5G Hub speed tests
We performed a number of speed tests using the Three 5G Hub to assess its real-world performance.
The following are typical results we received – not the fastest, but about average performance we experienced with this 5G router.
Ethernet speed test
- Download speed: 338.65 Mbps
- Upload speed: 17.93 Mbps
- Ping: 40ms
Wi-Fi speed test
This speed test was taken on the same level of the house as the 5G Hub, a few rooms away from the router – about a 10m distance, blocked by two internal walls.
- Download speed: 226.06 Mbps
- Upload speed: 18.70 Mbps
- Ping: 40ms
Is the Three 5G Hub fast enough for my needs?
We were quite happy with the speeds on offer from Three 5G Broadband.
Our download speeds never dropped below 200 Mbps, and offered plenty of bandwidth for our needs, even with four people online at the same time, and with lots of devices connected to the hotspot at once. When downloading data, we have no issues with dropouts, slowdowns, or buffering.
The upload speed is also quite good for 5G internet – Three have made some improvements to their network in this area in recent years – and this was plenty for uploading videos to YouTube for example.
For nearly all families, the speeds on offer from the 5G Hub are plenty, and we think that downloads of 300-400 Mbps or more are quite common in areas with stronger 5G signal than we have.
Plus, you may see even greater performance once the Three/Vodafone merger process is complete. Three customers are gradually beginning to access Vodafone network masts, which will give some home broadband customers a speed boost, but we haven’t noticed the benefit of this in our area just yet.
You can use the Three network coverage map to get a better idea of the speeds you’ll receive using the 5G Hub. Once you put in your postcode, look for good indoor and outdoor 5G signal at your address to check that you’ll get speeds of 200-300 Mbps or more.
Three 5G Hub Wi-Fi performance
To get the best 5G signal, we set up our 5G Hub on an upstairs windowsill at the front of the house, in a four-bedroom, two-storey property.
This meant that often, the devices we were getting online on were quite a long way away from the router.
Despite this, the 5G Hub’s WiFi 6 performed well, and we didn’t feel the need for a mesh Wi-Fi system with this router.
Despite the distance involved, we could still get online downstairs, on the other side of the house from the router, and we also get good Wi-Fi speeds from the 5G Hub no matter where we are.
Our speeds only drop to around 100 Mbps at the furthest points from the router inside the house, and we have no issues when using devices such as the living room smart TV, or phones in the kitchen.
Three 5G Hub gaming test
From the speed tests we’ve shown earlier, you may have noticed that the latency (also known as ping) we’re recording with the 5G Hub is a bit higher than you would normally get with fibre broadband.
While you might see 8-12ms with a fixed internet connection, Three 5G Broadband normally offers about 35-45ms.
This isn’t an issue for most people, but having a low ping is important when playing competitive online games.
We therefore decided to test the 5G Hub when gaming, by playing Rocket League on a PC connected directly to the Hub with a LAN cable.
In-game, our ping was a bit high, at around 45ms most of the time.
However, our gaming experience was really good. We did not notice significant lag, or experience any lag spikes or packet loss.
We think that the 5G Hub is a good choice for gaming, especially for games like GTA V, CoD, EAS FC, or Battlefield. However, it may not be the best for extremely ping-sensitive online games, such as Counter-Strike.
We would recommend plugging your games console or PC into the Hub using a LAN cable if possible, in order to minimise your ping.
Three 5G Hub value for money
The Three 5G Hub is one of the best value for money broadband plans in the UK at the moment.
These 5G broadband deals are cheaper than basically any other internet plan on the market right now, and by a considerable margin. Plus, they have no upfront costs, unlike some other providers’ plans.
If you were to buy another broadband deal with similar download and upload speeds, this would likely cost you at least £10-£15 per month extra. And no other major provider offers the ability to test the connection for 30 days before you commit to the contract, like Three does.
Given how easy the 5G Hub is to get live with, the speeds on offer, and how flexible these deals are, we think Three Home Broadband offers really good value for money.
Is Three 5G Broadband worth buying? Our verdict
There is a lot to like about the Three 5G Hub, and it has a lot of advantages over most other broadband plans on the market.
- This is the cheapest home broadband deal in the UK right now.
- The 5G Hub is very easy to set up, with no engineer visit needed.
- Three 5G offers fast download and upload speeds from our testing.
- You get a 30 day return policy, allowing you to test the 5G Hub’s real-world speeds at your address before committing to the contract.
- You can buy the 5G Hub on a rolling 30 day plan if you don’t want to commit for 12 or 24 months.
The main downside to the 5G Hub is it doesn’t offer the 1,000 Mbps or higher speeds you can now get with fixed-line broadband in many parts of the UK. However, most families don’t really need these types of speeds, and the 5G Hub is much cheaper than getting ultrafast fibre broadband.
The latency of Three wireless broadband is a bit on the high side, but the 5G Hub still works well for online gaming from our testing.
Overall, we rate Three 5G Broadband 4.7 out of 5. The Three 5G Hub is a simple, cheap, fast way to get online at home, and we think it’s definitely worth trying if you have good Three 5G coverage in your area.
Remember, use the Three broadband coverage checker to see if you have strong enough 5G signal to use their 5G Hub router at your address at the moment.
Three 5G Hub alternatives
If you’re not set on the Three 5G Hub, here are some alternative ways to get online using 4G or 5G.
1. Three 5G MiFi
This device works in a very similar way to the 5G Hub, except it comes with a battery, rather than plugging into mains power.
The downside is, compared to the Three 5G Hub, this mobile Wi-Fi device doesn’t offer as fast download speeds, or as good Wi-Fi signal. However, it is very portable, and easy to use when travelling.
Three 5G MiFi still comes with unlimited data and the choice of a 24 month or 1 month contract, but doesn’t have the 5G Hub’s 30-day return policy.
2. Three 4G Hub
If you don’t have good 5G signal at your address, Three might recommend their 4G Hub when you use their broadband coverage checker.
Similar to the 5G Hub, this device also performs very well over Wi-Fi, and is easy to set up. It also comes with the same money-back guarantee and unlimited data SIM plan as Three’s 5G router.
The downside to the 4G Hub is it normally only offers speeds of about 40-50 Mbps, compared to 200-300 Mbps with the 5G version.
3. EE Smart 5G Hub
EE also sells their own 5G router and data bundle, just like Three.
The router comes with WiFi 7, meaning it offers really good signal and speeds, even in larger houses.
The other benefit of EE is their network can offer faster 5G speeds in certain areas, and they have better 4G coverage, meaning they can be a good choice if you often travel with your router.
However, EE’s Smart 5G Hub plans are very expensive, normally triple or quadruple the cost you’d pay for the Three 5G Hub.
Conclusion
You’ve reached the end of our Three 5G Hub review.
If you’re still not sure if Three 5G Broadband is right for you, leave us a comment below, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
And remember, use the Three Home Broadband coverage checker to see if you can get their 5G Hub plans at your address.
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About the author
Tyler is the co-founder of Broadband Savvy. He has been helping people improve their broadband connectivity since 2018 by writing about fibre broadband and mobile broadband providers, as well as creating tutorials to help people improve their broadband speeds and Wi-Fi signal.
Tyler is responsible for the majority of buyer’s guides and broadband reviews published on Broadband Savvy. He has a wealth of experience testing and reviewing different broadband tariffs, including fibre internet plans, as well as 4G and 5G broadband deals. He is responsible for testing and evaluating Wi-Fi routers, performing speed and latency tests, and comparing the value for money of different broadband providers on the market in the UK.
Before co-founding Broadband Savvy, Tyler had a long history of tinkering with computers. He built his first PC at the age of 12, and since then, he’s become obsessed with all things networking and internet-related. He’s a massive gamer, loves Rocket League, and also plays Sunday League football.
Great article, I am currently investigating moving away from VIRGIN and see the 5G Hub has a good alternative
You make no mention of performance when using streaming services such as NETFLIX or PRIME, what’s your experience with these ?
Hi,
These services only rely on you having a good download speed, which the 5G Hub provides, assuming you have good 5G signal. Therefore streaming services should work flawlessly.
I’m currently six months into three 5g,so have the older zte modem.
Do you know if three will upgrade me to newer router?
I think they have been quite good about doing this, from what we’ve heard in the past. We’d recommend ringing them and asking.
Morning, we have a garden office and are having difficulties with getting good connection, its no more than 20 meters away but wondering what coverage is like? We would like to avoid a second router.
Thanks
Hi,
Do you by any chance have a 5G-enabled mobile phone, ideally on the Three network? If so, do a speed test from the office, and see what your speeds are like. If you don’t, it’s not a problem to buy this router and test it, given Three has quite a good return policy.
Thanks
Hello, does the router have the option to go to 4G if signal strength is not good enough in 5G?
Best regards.
Yes it does.
Hi I know it’s a expensive way to try it out but could I run this along side my norm broadband for a month just to see how it is b4 leaving my other broadband provider
Absolutely, if it’s no good, you can always return it.
Hi Tyler
This might sound like a silly question.
If I connect to this router with my smartphone, which is on another mobile network and then make calls or send SMS, will it charge extra according to the tariff on the Three 5G sim in the router or just the tariff of the sim card in my smartphone?
Thanks
Hi, it will use the existing SIM card in your smartphone, no need to worry about any connection with the Three SIM.
Thanks
HI
i am wondering i have elderly family members who are looking to get internet in the home so that they can get streaming services on there Tv (netflix), does this box require a mobile phone to be connected to it for it to work or can it be set up on its own?
many thanks
Hi, the Hub can be set up on its own. Thanks
Right on the edge of 5G coverage, so the website only offers me the 4G.
Is there anyway 3 will supply the 5G router in the knowledge that it will revert to 4G until 5G arrives.
I’m located about 2 mile south of M/cr city centre so 5G is all around me, just not at my address.
Use this link to get directly to 5G Hub plans on the Three website.
Hi I currently have a Virgin Hub in my bungalow loft which I have to connect to a secondary router (Netgear) via patch cable to act as an extender for my garden alexa devices because the virgin signal doesnt reach far enough. Will the 3 hub operate the same way with a secondary router?
Also I use a VPN service on one of my laptops, do you know please if 3 tolerate this and if the hub works with VPN?
Hi, the extension should work, but we’d recommend trying the router and returning it if it doesn’t – Three support might have trouble answering this question before buying. We can confirm that this device works with a VPN. Thanks
Hello currently i use VM Broadband, I use their router as the base station and I have that connected to TP-Link/AX11000 MU-MIMO Tri-Band Gaming Router. can I use the 4/5G 3 Router in conjunction with this or does this router make it obsolete. ???
Hi, we are under the impression that this is not possible because it’s a 5G router, however we’re not 100% sure. You can always try buy a 5G Hub and return it if this doesn’t work, and the Wi-Fi signal isn’t good enough with the router by itself for your house. Thanks
Is the 5g hub also 3 g and 4 g backwards compabitable if 5 g is not available in my area. The reason i ask is i have bought the Three 5g hub and have had a bit of buffering , however, I intend to add other devices to it which are ethernet ready not wifi compatibale. In particular the add on devices i have bought it for will be running an ethernet cable linked to the hub.
It will switch to 4G if 5G isn’t available. Three is in the process of switching off their 3G network, so we’d recommend checking to make sure you at least get good 4G.
Hi, Which of the 2 5G routers used by 3 do you prefer – the Zyxel NR5103E or ZTE MC801A?
I’m asking as the Zyxel NR5103E is offered on the 3 website & I visited a 3 Store yesterday which offered me the ZTE MC801A.
I checked direct with 3 sales & they said that the 5G hubs they are offering now are the ZTE MC801A and the Huawei 122373 (Think they meant H122-373) – also that the Zyxel NR5103E is not currently supplied by them.
Is the Huawei H122-373 one of these – HUAWEI 5G CPE Pro 2 or HUAWEI 5G CPE Pr?
Hi, we prefer the Zyxel (the one pictured in this review, for anyone else reading this) because we got faster speeds with it. I don’t believe they’re selling the Huawei device right now – just the Zyxel and ZTE. Thanks
Hello
I wonder if you can advice me, I’m currently with G-Network, although download speeds are great, the internet keeps dropping. I would like to try out the 3 5G router, however, I currently have have 4 wan ports on current router all of which are taken up by sky booster, garden office ubiquity booster and loft room booster, I notice that the 3 router only has 2 ports… is there a way round this… sorry a bit of a technophobe!
Hi, you can use an Ethernet switch to convert one of the ports into another four. Just remember, the total bandwidth of the four new ports will be limited to the bandwidth of the single port they originate from. Thanks
How does this work with smart home devices? I believe mobile broadband dongle devices don’t really work for this, due lack of ethernet and smart speakers may not be compatible.
But this looks more like a regular home router. I currently have several smart home hubs for heating, lighting, etc connected through ethernet to my router. Do you know if this would allow a similar setup? With a switch to expand on the number of ethernet ports?
Thanks
Hi, we believe that these smart home devices will work – nothing stopping them from being compatible.
I have this router and all my smart home things work on it.
I would like to know is does this router support Wi-Fi mesh
hi Tyler,
do you think this 5G hub will be good for going overall. I play mainly online games like call of duty and dayz do you think I will run into any trouble with lag.
Hi, it should be good, especially if you can plug it into your console. You can always try it out during the return window.
Hi,
What parnetal controls possible with 5G hub?
Hi, we’re not sure exactly, but we belive it does have parental controls in the admin portal like most other routers.
That’s a great review, thanks Tyler. I currently have the Sky Q system with three mini hubs and am going to test this 5g hub alongside it with a view to replacing my (slow) Sky broadband.. Any suggestions on how best to connect it to the Sky system? Thanks, David.
THanks David. How are the Sky modules connected to the router at the moment? The 5G Hub should be able to accept them the same way, but it might be worth checking with Three whether Sky Q is compatible, if you want to keep it.
Hi Tyler
Great review, just wondering if my ring doorbell and cameras will work okay and also I’ve heard they don’t do a static ip address, will this effect firesticks or anything else thanks
Hi Steve, I think you’re right in saying they don’t do a static IP, but this shouldn’t be a problem with ring doorbells or Fire TV Sticks.
HI Tyler,
I would like to go with 1 month contract so I can leave anytime.
If later (lets say 4 months later) I decide to end my contract, must I send back the router? or can I keep it to use it later with three or even another provider? Thanks
I believe you will have to send back the router.
Hi. I am leaving Virgin and have 2 smart tvs and firesticks, would the 5g hub be ok for both tvs to work and apps? Thanks
Hi, it should offer enough speed if you have good 5G signal. No harm in trying it out for 30 days and seeing if it works.
I currently have Sky BB which I am about to end to move to Three 5G.
Although Sky has been the fastest ‘fixed’ to a landline router we have ever had in our current home (of 12 years) we did have to resort to Tapo Deco M4 Mesh devices to guarantee a solid connection throughout our home.
If this is still the case once we change over to the Three 5G is it possible to pair their hub with the M4 Mesh (I am not certain that the 5G signal will be degraded if it is then hardwired to the Deco and then beamed throughout the house ??)
TY in advance.
Hi, the Wi-Fi side of things works just like any other router – setting up mesh won’t intefere with the 5G. Therefore you should be able to do this.
Hi, would you be able to take this and use it in a static caravan when you go on holiday?
Hi, yes you would as long as you have at least 4G signal (and ideally 5G) from Three.
Hi you tell how many devices I can connect to the 3 5g
You can connect up to 64 devices to the router at once.
Thanks, that was very informative.
I was wondering, it is a 12v dc power supply. Now if I had a lead plugged into my car cigarette socket to the router could I use this while I’m driving. For example if my kids don’t have a lot of data could they connect to this while I’m driving? I know the 5G will come and go but equally I know while the car is running it produces 14v. Would this be ok?
Theoretically that should work. Just note it’s not only your 5G that will drop out, your 4G will as well, leaving you with zero signal sometimes.
Can I use any sim in this router as long as its 5g
Not if you buy on a contract from Three – it will be locked.
Good review, and on the strength of it, I went to the three.co.uk web site and ordered (as it happened, their web site didn’t work at that moment on Sunday, and I completed the order with an agent over their chat facility).
Today (Wednesday) the router arrived and it’s not the reviewed router but a ZTE MC888. I’ve checked back on their web site, and now it indeed shows the ZTE, whereas I’m convinced at the time I ordered it showed and described the Zyxel NR5103E router.
I’ll try it anyway, but it seems a lower spec, and I wonder if it’s the ‘much slower’ old model you described in your review?
This is quite interesting, we still see the Zyxel on their website. If the MC888’s speeds aren’t great, I’d ask for a swap, or return it within the 30 day window. Do you still see the ZTE on Three.co.uk?
yes, as of today (10 Oct), https://www.three.co.uk/business/broadband shows (for me at least!) the ZTE MC888.
ah, maybe it’s because I went to the business pages?
That might be it. I believe the previous one we tested was the MC801A, not the MC888. But either way the Zyxel is quite good if you’re not a business customer.
Hi.
We are with Sky for everything at the moment. Our speed is about 37mbps (on copper).
We have Sky landline which we could manage without. We have Sky Q, Netflix and Amazon Prime. I also have several cameras, internal and external plus umpteen Alexa’s. We both have Sky mobile phones. We are both in our 80’s but I’m quite capable of setting things up, I set up everything we use at the moment.
Do you think this 5g hub would be good for our use? Our 5g signal is ok.
Hi,
If you’re doing OK with those speeds on Sky, you should be fine to upgrade – your experience should be a lot better because you should get more than 300 Mbps. If your 5G signal isn’t as good as expected you can always return the Hub.
Thanks
Hi Tyler,
One more question please…… I am thinking of placing the router in the loft as I have an access point there and will use that to connect to my MESH network. However, if I attach external antennas, does this work with the internal ones in the 3 router or simply replace them?
Hi,
The external antennas will replace the internal ones for the purposes of picking up 5G. This model doesn’t have external antenna ports though.
Thanks
I live in Central London, where we aren’t able to get full fibre and are currently stuck with a copper connection. I have two questions, probably daft but what the hell
– will it work with my desktop PC?
– will it be OK for podcasting?
Thanks in advance
Yes, you can run an Ethernet cable from it if your PC doesn’t have WiFi. It should be good for podcasting too.
Hi. We are with Virgin at the moment, thinking about leaving. We live in a 2 bedroom flat ( all on 1 level) with 2 brick walls and 1 plasterboard one, these are internal. Would this router be suitable for our use. We are not gamers. We use wifi just for general use. We also have a wifi extender in the hallway would it work on this router? There is just the 2 of us living here. Both of us have phones and tablets.
Hi, this should be a good choice, especially as you’re not gaming – WiFi should be plenty for that space.