Unlimited mobile broadband

Unlimited mobile broadband is highly desirable as it allows you to share internet with all of your devices at home or on the move, offering an alternative to home broadband.

However, finding an unlimited mobile broadband plan isn't as easy as you might think. But fear not as we'll run you through all the options to find the right deal for you.

✔ Unlimited mobile broadband plans

Three

Three offer mobile broadband and home broadband plans with unlimited data on 24, 12 or 1 month plans.

**Three Unlimited Mobile Broadband**
Huawei Mobile WiFi Portable Mobile WiFi Speeds up to 150Mbps Connect up to 10 devices	Unlimited data 24 Month Plan	£22 No upfront cost View Deal
	Unlimited data 12 Month Plan	£27 £29 upfront View Deal
Huawei B535 4G Home Broadband Speeds up to 300Mbps Connect up to 64 devices	Unlimited data 24 Month Plan	£22 No upfront cost View Deal
	Unlimited data 12 Month Plan	£27 £29 upfront cost View Deal
Huawei AI Cube 4G Home Broadband with Alexa speaker Speeds up to 300Mbps Connect up to 64 devices	Unlimited data 24 Month Plan	£25 No upfront cost View Deal
	Unlimited data 12 Month Plan	£32 £49 upfront View Deal

There are a few options on the network. Firstly there’s the Huawei E5573bs-322 4G Mobile Wi-Fi, which is a portable, battery-powered device that allows you to get up to 10 devices online simultaneously wherever you are (as long as you have signal on Three).

The latest addition is the Huawei B535, which is a Home Broadband router that requires a mains supply. It supports 300Mbps speeds, you can connect up to 64 devices at the same time and supports dual-band WiFi.

Then there’s also the Huawei AI Cube, which is also designed to replace conventional home broadband, so it needs to be plugged in, but it can get up to 64 devices online at once, offers the 300Mbps speeds and also works as a smart speaker, as it has Amazon Alexa built in.

Previously, the HomeFi was available but this has been discontinued and replaced by the newer Huawei B535.

Vodafone

Vodafone have now introduced unlimited mobile broadband plans and are the only network currently offering 5G data.

Vodafone Unlimited Mobile Broadband
Vodofone Gigacube 5G Home Broadband Router	Unlimited data 18 Month Contract	£50 £50 upfront View Deal
Vodofone Gigacube 5G Home Broadband Router	Unlimited data 1 Month Contract	£50 £325 upfront View Deal

Unlimited 18 month and 1 month plans for £50 a month and come with a Vodafone Gigacube, which is a 5G home broadband router that plugs into a power socket and shares internet with up to 60 devices at the same time.

Mobile Broadband Allowances By Network
Network	Maximum data
Three	Unlimited
Vodafone	Unlimited
EE	100GB
O2	50GB
BT Mobile	30GB
Virgin Mobile	10GB
Lycamobile	6GB
The People’s Operator	6GB
Compare data only SIM deals

iD Mobile, Asda Mobile, GiffGaff, Tesco Mobile, Sky Mobile, Smarty, VOXI, Plusnet Mobile, Ctrl Mobile, Lebara Mobile and FreedomPop don't offer any mobile broadband plans.

X Data only SIM

Currently, none of the UK networks offer a data only SIM for use in mobile broadband devices and tablets with unlimited data.

✔ Use an unlimited voice SIM in a tablet or dongle

One way to get unlimited mobile broadband is to buy an unlimited voice SIM on Three and use it in a Mobile WiFi device or dongle to tether data to other devices. Three now allows the use of voice SIMs in mobile broadband devices and has no tethering restrictions.

The only thing to consider is you'll need to acquire a dongle or Mobile Wi-Fi dongle seperately and order one of the SIM plans listed in the table below.

GiffGaff, Lycamobile and Virgin Mobile also offer unlimited voice SIMs, but either don't allow you to use them in a tablet or dongle or have restrictions to how much data you can use. Smarty Mobile also has an unlimited data plan but hasn’t published whether it works with tablets and dongles.

Pay Monthly Unlimited Data Plans
	12 Month Contract Unlimited data Unlimited mins Unlimited texts	£18 a month View Deal
	24 Month Contract Unlimited data Unlimited mins Unlimited texts	£10 a month Half price for first 6 months View Deal
	1 Month Contract Unlimited data Unlimited mins Unlimited texts	£24 a month View Deal
Both plans include 5G Ready at no extra cost, Tethering, Go Binge and Worldwide Roaming

Pay As You Go Unlimited Data Add-on
	Pay As You Go Unlimited data Unlimited mins Unlimited texts	£25 View Deal
Includes Tethering and Worldwide Roaming

GiffGaff, Smarty, Vodafone and Virgin are the only other networks to offer unlimited voice SIMs, but don't allow you to use them in a tablet or dongle.

✔ Tether (personal hotspot) your phone to share unlimited data

Another option that effectively delivers unlimited broadband is to use your phone to share data to other devices over a personal Wi-Fi hotspot. Three's unlimited plans, listed above, are suitable as they don't have any tethering restrictions.

This is a great option, but the downside is tethering quickly drains a smartphones battery, so you'll need to keep it plugged in or charge it frequently.

Of the other networks with unlimited data plans, Virgin Mobile and Smarty Mobile also let you tether without restrictions, though note that you have to be a Virgin Media customer to even get unlimited data on that network.

Do you really need unlimited data?

If none of the other solutions are suitable then you might consider if you actually need unlimited data.

If you’re using mobile broadband instead of Wi-Fi at all times then you may eat through 30GB+ of data every month, and if you’re also heavily using it for streaming video and the like then in that case unlimited data might be helpful.

But if you’re using mobile broadband as it’s designed – which is for when you’re out and about, travelling, or having short-term Wi-Fi issues, then even if you use mobile broadband heavily with multiple devices connected you should be fine with a high but not unlimited amount of data.