Three Mobile WiFi
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Last updated October 2013
Three Mobile WiFi uses Three Broadband to create a wireless network (WLAN) so you can connect devices like laptops or mobile phones to the internet completely wirelessly and without the need for a fixed broadband connection. You can connect 5 Wi-Fi devices simultaneously with speeds of up to 21.1 Mbps.
Best buy: Three E5330 3 GB Pay As You Go Mobile WiFi from Currys (£59.99)
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Nicknamed MiFi®, Three Mobile WiFi uses a Three broadband connection plus a wireless modem to create a fully wireless network that you can use to connect multiple devices such as laptops and mobile phones to the internet. You can use it to access the internet without any need for wires or a BT phone line. The system is very simple to set up and use, with no wires (obviously) and no software to install.
Use the links on this page to buy online and you'll get free delivery and a 14-day money back guarantee, provided that you return everything in "as sold" condition.
The speed that you experience will depend on whether you are in an area with "excellent coverage" (i.e within HSDPA coverage), "good coverage" (i.e. within 3G coverage) or "marginal coverage" (i.e. on the edge of the 3G coverage region. Three's HSDPA coverage region currently covers 91% of the UK population (data correct in October 2009) and offers download speeds of up to of up to 2.8 Mpbs. 3 are currently rolling out 7.2 Mbps coverage across the UK. You can check coverage by postcode on the 3 website. 3 claim that most people on the HSDPA network can expect a speed ranging from 1 Mbps to 1.5 Mbps.
Ofcom's survey of mobile broadband, published in May 2011 found that Three offered significantly faster average download speeds than T-Mobile and Orange, but slower than O2 and Vodafone.
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£59.99 |
Three E5330 3 GB Pay As You Go Mobile WiFi |
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£49.99 |
Three E5330 1GB Pay As You Go Mobile WiFi |
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£29.99 |
Three E5330 Mobile Broadband Pay Monthly Mobile Wi-Fi |
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£29.99 |
Three Huawei E5220 Mobile Broadband - from £15.99 per month - Pay Monthly Mobile Wi-Fi |
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£59.99 |
Three E5330 3 GB Pay As You Go Mobile WiFi |
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Three Mobile WiFi user reviews
Love this product? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other people choose the product that's best for them. Please do not review this product if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive language, and please, no advertising!
Average rating from 113 reviews: 
Reviewed by rich
from uk
on 3rd Jul 2014
Bought the 3 mobile wifi (Huawei) 4 months ago most of the time I have
no signal. Have contacted vodafone and have been told to press reset
button or change my browser, complete waste of time.
Rating: 
Reply
Reviewed by Sarah Cound
from England
on 30th Jun 2014
In Cambridge the Three MiFi connection is really, really slow. It is
worse than dial up nearly 20 years ago. I have no idea why a city that
prides itself on science and innovation has to accept such appallingly
bad service - I do know the university has a separate system which I
assume must be great! We poor tax payers get dreadful service at high
expense.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Ken Hall
from Ireland
on 15th May 2014
THREE.IE IS WORSE THAN DIAL UP.
Rating:
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Reviewed by petra
from uk Peterborough
on 19th Apr 2014
Can't get internet connection wfi on any of the stagecoach busses or
the trains are any other providers this has been like it for just over
a week what has happened
Rating:
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Reviewed by JerseyGirl620
from UK
on 26th Mar 2014
I do love trying out new gadgets so when I got wind of 3's MiFi I
thought it was just what we needed due to travelling so much & to
save ££'s at home. We got the 3 MiFi nearly two yrs ago
and can't wait until the contract ends in Aug this year. We lived in
East Midlands and in the south. Signal was pretty good most places,
but very unreliable during normal extended use. Device screen shows
full bars while pc and mobile or tablet say no internet connection.
What's that a out??? I had to remove the battery and reboot/reset it
numerous times to get it going again. Yes I too had many chats with
cust serv to no avail. In fact my husband's expecting ME to work magic
on the gadget in the morning coz its bugged out again and he's ready
to drop-kick it outta the window!! Oh yes they sent us a new
replacement last year after I complained. But we still have same
problems. They are more concerned about getting you to take on more
mobiles or other devices with them to keep you trapped. But we've
already arranged to go back to broadband for home use and mobiles for
travel as almost everybody's offering free wifi now wherever we
travel. So would I recommend this gadget? No not at this point. There
would have to be some mega improvements in many areas first.
Rating: 
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Reviewed by gezza
from portugal
on 16th Feb 2014
come on UK get your act together, i got a e5330 here in portugal and
get 13 mb download everywhere i go. Uk really is a cheap skate
country, mast s no good and not enough while they rob you blind
Rating:
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Reviewed by Lee
from UK
on 29th Jan 2014
I love these devices but if you pay more than £10 it should be
"all you can eat". We are in the age of smartphones now & people
are doing all kinds of data intensive stuff on their phones, I don't
see the problem with allowing the same on MiFi / dongles as most
people use these for laptop when away from their home broadband
(cable).
I give four stars, the device is great but the
plans don't do them justice.
Rating: 
Reply
Reply by john
from uk
on 3rd Apr 2014
spot on, i agree £15 for 15gbts, or £1 a gig, should be all you can eat data
Reviewed by pierce
from ireland
on 2nd Jan 2014
I was with 3G as a wireless broadband costumer for 4-5 years. I moved
from Cork city centre to a very rural location and 3 still worked. I
up-graded from the dongle to the mifi router this year november 2013.
The coverage was really great. My 3 G bill was always 21 euro each
month regardless of usage. Got a bill for 98 euro. Astonishing? Not as
astonishing as the discovery i made with costumer service on the
phone. One told me I was always prepay while another, the second told
me i was a bill payer the third told me i was now both. Even after
topping up by 10 euro on the interm of that months billing they say i
still owe 98 euro. My neighbour, rural 3 miles away also the same bill
amount and the same problem. Astonishingly its the same amount. What
are 3 up to bare swithching off their loyal costumers. I unplugged and
remain so. Today i bought a newspaper and bought a DVD for less than a
days internet. I will not need to stream the news tomorrow or the
movie as i now own them. BOOO to 3 and their new rip off of the
costumer policy for short term gain.
Rating:
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Reviewed by paul
from london uk
on 9th Nov 2013
I have the older version BLACK square thing and don't use one of these
on a tablet it DOES use up all your internet dater very easily and in
days / hours. but as for laptops its brilliant. I got
66 to 72 hours a month out of it on a laptop and that's brilliant
Rating: 
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Reviewed by Pauline
from England
on 18th Oct 2013
Do not go anywhere near one of theese i didnt even turn my wifi on and
three said id used all my data!!!!! How???? And they said £15.99 a
month on a 1 month rolling contract why are they taking £35.99 when
ever they feel like it?? And u ring to discuss this and get no where
but thro to india. And then they say u have to pay us what u owe i
said i told u to cancel it 2 month ago they obv didnt do and tried to
put the blame on me.... Three.co.uk ur a disgrace and as for ur wifi
stick it where the sun dosnt shine
Rating:
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Reviewed by gavin saunders
from ireland
on 15th Sep 2013
this is the worst wifi in all of ireland. its supposed to be
able to have 5 people on at a time with out slowin down but if you
have more then 1 it goes slow. they give u a boaster to help improve
on your strengh but it makes it worse. if i could give this wifi 0
stars i would.
Rating:
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Reviewed by RS from England on 8th Sep 2013
No problems, Very fast internet , Always good reception . Before i got this
i checked on the Three web page if my area is covered and it was. Very Good
Rating: Reply
Reply by patricia bowden
from England
on 1st Oct 2013
Hi I am have a problem setting mine up I have a sim. But to top up I have to enter mobile/device number but cannot find a number it will take. Help. Please.
Reviewed by rich from uk on 26th Aug 2013
great for two years then stopped. call escalated to three uk support who did
nothing. cancelled contract after waiting 14 days for a response. silly company.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Mark from UK on 20th May 2013
pretty rubbish all in all. Sporadic speeds in central London. I had a short
term let with this internet included and it pretty much sucked....
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Elke from UK on 18th Feb 2013
I have had the 3 WIFI for a while now...... worst dongle i have ever tried.
Well, not actually the dongle but the 3network is absolute rubbish. I was told
Nottingham had a very good signal strengh for 3 network, and so it used to but
not for a long while. One minute you,re on 3G but within seconds youre on Emergency
only. wish I had never trusted 3..... nothing but fob offs when you phone
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Mike from UK on 18th Oct 2012
Just bought E586 with 10gb PAYG. Total disaster. Speed of 0.5mbps. Can't wait
to cancel in a month. Lost 80 pounds. And that's W11 London.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Bill from uk on 9th Oct 2012
Watch out for out for the out of bundle charges for the 10gb per month 1 month
rolling contract. It does not automatically shut you down at the 10gb limit,
it then charges a fortune 10p per mb.
I do a lot of meetings with cam contact from my mobile facility hence why I
crunched through the usage,so just be aware. I will cancel my contract and return
to payg, but I certainly wont go to a monthly full contract with three after
this. It is as bad as when the first mobiles started stuffing the customer on
excess to bundle charges.
Very sad , the reception is good, the mi fi E586 is superb, just no way to gaurantee
to restrict the billing ( a cap doesnt work so many excemptions )
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Ed
from UK
on 21st Sep 2012
As a veteran of mobile broadband,having had stints on both 3 and T-Mobile,with brief interludes on both Vodafone and O2 between times,I found myself in something of a quandary a year or so ago,having moved from an area where all were level pegging,to a locale where the signal is variable at best,and simply non-existent at worst.After months of faffing around with extension leads,adjusting settings,sitting outside/upstairs,a work colleague said he had a mifi up for grabs.I didn't have a tremendous amount of faith to begin with,but what a revelation!!!The signal is now faultless throughout the house-no lag or buffering on Iplayer or You Tube-totally transformed my experience!I hate dealing with Three,as they are a notorious nightmare(even though the network is really good),but now there's no need to!I have even considered ditching pay as you go for the two year 15GB agreement,as I have used 500mb in one night on several occasions!!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Chris from London UK on 12th Aug 2012
My contract for MiFi 15Gb started in April 2012, and worked well for 2 months
then hit the rocks. 1. The local mast is continually being 'repaired' so no
service for blocks of 5 days at a time 2. Service dips in and out so cuts out
every 10 mins. 3. Customer service is a nightmare as you get passed from pillar
to post. 4. Agreed call back times and dates from tech dept not honored. 5.
Overall the product is not fit for purpose.
This is a total waste of money and i'm trying my best to get out of this contract,
which is proving difficult. Beware.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Elaine from UK on 2nd Jul 2012
Took out contract on E586 last October to use in park home and, similar to the
previous reviewer had excellent reception and download speeds for about eight
months in a rural area. Was able to receive continuous tv catchup viewing on
laptop etc and would have awarded 4 stars (minus the one because technical helpline
was unable to tell me how to link up printer and had to work it out myself).
Unfortunately about a month ago started to lose connectivity and unbearably
slow both on laptop and I-pad. Hoped that downloading updates might help but
no difference whatsoever. Can anyone suggest a reason for this as I still have
nearly a year on my contract and have no landline to obtain broadband.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Paul from London, UK on 8th Jun 2012
Been using 3 and the Huawei E585 for about a year. First eight months or so
quite good. Past four absolutely dreadful. Impossibly slow, and this in Zone
2 of SE London. Slower than dial-up. Totally unacceptable at £16 a month. Will
be cancelling soon. Couldn't really recommend it.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Trudi Hughes from Uk on 7th Jun 2012
Reception and connectivity on my Huawei E585 Mifi device (on 'three' network)
noticeably much slower than a year ago. Wonder whether increased usage and /
or possible lack of maintenance / upgrading to mobile phone network responsible?
Area in which device used: Gt Dunmow, Essex. Any ideas, anyone?
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by KARL BALL from ENGLAND on 25th May 2012
Since having the MIFI I am so frustrated. Despite having a great signal strength
(the dispaly shows I have the maximum available)It is unbelievably slow. Even
typing this short message is making me so angry because I am constantly loosing
conectivity, I would not reccomend this to anyone.
Do yourself a favour and do not sign up to a contract that does not deliver
what it is supposed to.
Rubbish Rubbish Rubbish
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Penarthian from Uk on 11th May 2012
We use the 3 mi fi and have had it just one year. We run a Touch and iPad from
it and on occasions a laptop as well. We have wi fi in the house but when we
are out and about it is excellent. We paid for the device and usage for one
year and this was far the cheapest option. We now own the device and another
years charges are considerably lower.
This was a cheaper option than buying an iPad where we needed to pay monthly
for connection. This way we can run up to 5 devices for the price of one!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Jackie
from UK
on 8th May 2012
I have been trying 3 mobile WiFi E586 from home for over a month from my mini mac in the hope that I could replace my home broadband. I am less than 200 yards from the transmitter and it always show 5 bars or H. Unfortunately I usually get only 1MB download speed. It is very fast in town though. It looks like I'll have to return to Virgin for use at home.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Charlie from England on 20th Mar 2012
I have the newer version of the 3 MIFI, the speed is great, the batteries great.
The usage is appauling. The first 'gig' took me about 3 days to go through and
was going up mbs until it reached a 1000 which is 1gb
but once youve hit the gb mark. the length in between each gig is shortened
to 100mb? it's going fast.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Stephen Ward from UK on 3rd Mar 2012
I have had the 3 mobile USB device for 2 years, it doesn't work, never has.
I have upgraded my OS to windows 7 and it still doesn't work.
I have had screaming arguments with the Indian office who are worse than useless,
in fact they are the worst of all companies.
I have used my real name so that should 3 wish to resolve the issues then they
can contact me.
Buy a different one.
Regards
Stephen
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Chris hurst from england on 2nd Mar 2012
good tool for me works on my boat so i am not paying for home broadband whilst
i am away on holiday etc, the 3 help cantre is absolute rubbish manned by poorly
speaking foriegn staff and they failed to send a replacement faulty base station
instead sent me another modem fools i asked for a warranty claim but the base
station is only covered for 3 months i am seeking advice on that one? so at
this moment in time its a good deal with usual call centre rubbish backup buyer
beware
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by dan37 from uk on 2nd Mar 2012
hi i have a 3 mifi e586 it is grate its better then a home wifi as you can used
it out and about in a car or a train
or in a camper van on a bus if you have a home hub it ok but you are paying
for it when you are not there this you can used anywere i go around uk a lot
so its not worth my haveing a home wifi i caan used this in home aswell i get
good signel i have all ways had o2uk on phones was not relly a fan of three
but now there are very good i give it five stars very good three
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by VR from Canada on 20th Feb 2012
I got 3 mobile wifi for my daughter in London. They advertise that you can use
up to 5 devices and that 15 GB is "plenty" of internet. They even have a chart
on their website that supposedly calculates how much you'll use on average.
Well it is completely false advertising. She and her roommate used all the allowance
in 2 weeks, just doing their homework and regular browsing - not watching movies
or anything. And now it turns out you can't get more GB except by paying 10p
per megabyte. So their bill for 3 weeks is now running at 50GBP. Absolutely
outrageous. And you can't even cancel because the cancellation fee is the full
cost of the contract. In other words, there is no cancellation option. DO NOT
USE 3 MOBILE WIFI.
Rating: Reply
Reply by Kevin Knight from Englad on 15th
Mar 2012
I must reply to this post. I have used 3 mobile broadband for the past 4.5 years
with various methods of connection. I currently have an E586 MiFi unit that
I use extensively in my caravan. I travel all over the UK with work and use
the van instead of hotels. Both my wife and I can be connected to the device
doing all the surfing we want. Between us we have 2 iPhones, an iPad, Macbook
pro and my works Win7 laptop. We have a 15Gb contract and we have never exceeded
this. My wife subscribes to an online TV show and I often view UTube videos.
Updating the iOS devices is all carried out using the 3 network. I cannot understand
how the 15Gb is used up in 2 weeks if they are not downloading loads of stuff.
Check the daily use on the My Account section on the 3 website, it might suprise
you!
Reply by Dave Herbert from UK on 19th Mar
2012
I agree totally with the first reply, 15Gb would not be used by 2 people browsing
and doing homework in that time period. There's been some video usage to have
hit the limit in 2 weeks, I would say the three usage calculator is reasonably
realistic.
Reply by Richard White from UK on 6th May
2012
I don't agree with this review at all...15 Gb is a lot of usage and not just
homework! I think you should check their my account section. You will probably
find lots of vids have been dowloaded/streamed.
Reply by BL from UK on 25th Aug 2013
I agree! I changed from a pay-as-you-go contract to a rolling monthly contract.
With only normal surfing and email checking using one PC and a tablet,no streaming,
movie/video downloads and so on, we apparently used the whole 15Gb of data in
less than three days! Something very wrong here - I previously used no more
than 3-4Gb per month with the same equipment and general usage. Tech support
were only able to recommend changing my password (not the problem, we're quite
remote from other houses) and switching the device off most of the time. Eventually
(at the end of a 90 minute telephone call) I was advised to use another supplier
and so I shall. This is a rip-off - it's a rubbish service and dishonestly marketed
- how can a light user be charged for 5Gb per day?
Reviewed by William Read from United Kingdom on 20th Feb
2012
The dongle is a Huawei E585, all worked well for 5 months then it got hot and
stopped working. Took it to the 3 shop and they sent it away. It came back with
a generic letter saying that it had been dropped/crushed and was unrepairable!
I phoned the repair number straight away and the bloke told me that this was
a generic letter when a device can't be fixed (how dishonest of 3), and that
I had to re-contact customer services and get it refunded or replaced. I then
had the run around from 3 and after 4 very long calls (in excess of 45mins)
was told a manager would ring me to see what could be done. You guessed, no
call! I am now having to go to the ombudsman to try and get this resolved. I
find this all so despicable, that 3 can treat people this way and keep getting
away with it. Incidentally if I was a contract customer instead of PAYG, no
problem, instant replacement. Now that tells you alot about how their contracts
are ripping us off.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Samantha from UK on 16th Feb 2012
3 Mifi is bad. We bought it because it said it could connect gaming devices,
like Nintendo DS Lites. No. It cannot. I sat for hours trying to get it to work...the
second you press the button to set up the Network, you have been sucked in and
there's no going back. I rang 3 within 6 days of ordering the device to cancel
the contract (it says there may be a small fee to return the device to factory
settings). They told me to do this and this and to call back if it didn't work.
So obviously it didn't work so I called them back. They told me to try calling
Nintendo about the possibility of the DS being faulty and pretty much said ..'Have
a good day' before I could continue what I was saying. Called them back instantly
and asked to cancel and they said I couldn't. My mum rang back the day after
and a woman said she was unsure if we could cancel and would have to speak to
a manager, she said she would get back to us, but they never. We decided to
just stop the direct debit, and then I got a call to say we had missed a payment.
These calls continued about 3 times a day and eventually the online manager
told us we could cancel the contract. Hurray...but thats not the end...I continued
to get calls from several departments about missed payments and when I explained
the situation the woman started shouting at me, she called me balshy and aggressive.
Ok so I'm a geordie with a strong accent I was just talking. The same woman
continued to call me over and over again, despite having talked to the online
manager. The calls have only recently stopped. The account, after two months
of negotiating, has now been closed.
Rating: Reply
Reply by Cobble from UK on 20th Feb 2012
I found it works on every console and handheld except the DS due to the DS's
outdated Wi-Fi protection. 3 Mobile Mifi uses WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) security
protocol - DS can only read WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy). That's why you'll
notice a grey padlock next to your SSID on the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Setup
screen instead of a red one. 3DS works fine though.
Reviewed by Crutch from uk on 14th Feb 2012
The first month connection was pretty decent. Then it went to pot. To the point
where I phoned up, literally begging to have my contract terminated. Customer
services show no respect, knowledge or compassion. Ignoring upload/dload (which
varies from 0.04 - 4mbs, but rarely gets passed 2mps) my ping (which is what
you really need to monitor) is pathetic. I've recorded ping speeds in the 1000s!
Recently getting a 1650ms ping. Basically that's nearly 2 seconds to send a
very small request out and back instead of doing it in the blink of an eye.
It doesn't sound that bad, but try and think how many requests/processes involved
in loading a simple website and you get the idea of why you shouldn't use this
service (even if its just to load Google, do a search, then switch off your
pc and carry on with your day!!!!)
I look at my mifi I'm disgust, knowing that ill never get out of my contract
cheaply and that I've been stitched up like a good'en.
Nb I also live in Birmingham and was quoted excellent reception. I also implemented
all the speed boosting tips 3 are so eager to point out. If anything, maybe
putting you off from going with 3 might improve my embarrassing speeds.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Wilko from UK on 1st Feb 2012
I thought 3 mifi was the bee's knees when I changed from T-Mobile. The peed
was faster, the ease of putting the mifi where the best signal was etc etc and
the price being much better .... £15 for unlimited (although slowed after 2GB)
on T mobile ...compared to £15.99 for 5Gb on 3. After a month of perfect use
and great speeds I started to get problems. 9 times out of 10 I get the HSPDA
signal, but as soon as the signal drops to 3G I lose internet connectivity completely
until the HSPDA returns!! Customer services is terrible, very condesending,
thanking you for having any knowledge more than them. Infact I would go as far
as saying that I would probably get more help standing outside the school gates
and asking one of the kids to help me!!!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Heidi from Uk on 13th Jan 2012
Just bought a macbook pro & mifi from three on payg, so far it is great, faster
than our home broadband (we do have rubbish speeds at home) it gets a signal
in places we never thought it would eg Clumber park, had a vodafone dongle before
&. It was so slow it was unusable, but bearing in mind other comments from people
about their problems we went payg so if it all goes wrong we aren't locked into
a contract of any kind, so far we would highly recommend the three mifi.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Pin from Uk on 10th Jan 2012
Outstanding!!!! I've tried many on my commute southampton to London Andriod
tethering on O2 = fail. Android tethering on Giff Gaff = Fail. So i picked up
one of these babies (black version) from cash convertors for £15 hahahaha those
cowboys gotta luv em. Suffice to say i snatched it. Went for a lovely stroll
to Three shop and bought the cheapest payg 1gb month card..to trial out. All
i can say is Woooow!!! At last i have full internet on the move!! Damn this
thing is faster than home virgin!!! I don't deal with customer service...haah
i buy my gb's infact...i will be ordering on ebay 3GB X 6 = 18GB Data in 6 months
@ £23.50 ..all good for my needs. Why ppl bother with contracts is beyond me.
:)))))
Rating: Reply
Reply by Brian from Uk on 24th Apr 2012
You are talking cobblers. I get the same train to London and use the same huawei
mifi - it will not get a connection for large parts of the journey - it doesnt
work at all in Winchester, or north of Basingstoke. It doesn't even work all
that well between Wimbledon and Waterloo. 3s coverage is the problem - the device
does the job, although the battery life is very poor.
Reviewed by Tony from United Kingdom on 2nd Jan 2012
I have been with 3 for about 5 years or more. I must say that the customer service
could certainly be improved. I always ask to speak to the managing director
now because I am fed up with being thrown from one department to the other and
speaking to people who I can not understand. I recently took out the 18 month
contract with 3 and the new WiFi service. I must say that the new device is
a great idea, WHEN IT WORKS! I must of had MUG written on my forehead at the
time because the dongle I was previously using works 100% better than the new
WiFi device. I have now thrown the WiFi device to one side and I have gone back
to using my dongle. As a web developer on the move, I found myself getting more
and more frustrated with the loss of connection. I am now using the dongle again
with no problems at all. Also, be sure to check your paperwork. The customer
service advisor, who upgraded my device on the phone, said it would be an 18
month contract. The 18 month contract turned out to be a 24 month one!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by sophia from Essex on 2nd Jan 2012
Terrible service from this company, BEING CONNED FOR EXTRA USAGE when don't
download anything. Stay clear
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Darren from UK on 14th Dec 2011
I also have the later version - the black Huawei MiFi. Very fast, I can stream
video and only occasionally get buffering messages. Nigel, you should call the
call centre, I did and they offered me 15GB for £16. Also the amount of data
you have used is displayed on the device, so you don't even need to go into
the console to check how much you have used.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Nigel Thain from United Kingdom on 1st Nov
2011
Absolutely brilliant. I use one of these (the later black version) for work.
Never had a problem at all. Great value and good speeds BUT.... and this is
a warning. DO NOT GO OVER YOUR 5GB LIMIT. I did, without realising it and I
was stung for 10p per MEG !. To be fair(ish) to three, they sent a few text
messages to my 3 control panel, but if you dont actively look at it, and there
is never a need to, you wont see the messages. A warning email would be better
(for me, but obviously not for 3 !!)
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Uni from UK on 25th Oct 2011
My Experience with Three has been on par with any other mass consumer company,
although, the download speeds on HSDPA are very nice when they work. Luckily
I'm in a fairly decent position so I have (on occasion) reached over 4mbps (yup,
500+kB/s). Only for Short bursts though and my average (when its working) would
be around 2 mbps (200-250kB/s). The problem with these mobile networks is consistency,
one minute you could have a perfectly stable connection, and for seemingly no
reason at all it drops and fluctuates, this happens anywhere, using any computer,
for any network, it is the nature of mobile broadband. I'm on a Phone contract
with an non-capped bandwidth, In a single night here i could download 3-4GB
of data, a night mind, thats over 100GB/mo. The price seems OK, not great, but
just OK. Three's Customer Services are pretty poor to be honest, your sent to
call centres mostly in India, These people wont get paid much, so don't expect
them to do extra work to help you if you know what I mean. Not very good at
all IMO. Although better than most other providers. You _can_ game on these
networks, provided you dont mind randomly de-syncing in any game you play (not
all, just randomly any one). The network, for what it is, is excellent, coverage
is easily searchable using three's coverage map, and is quite accurate. the
biggest drawback is harsh traffic shaping techniques which almost prevent peer-to-peer
networking. 4/5. The Customer Service is Mediocre and reminiscent of that of
the old BT days (without the waiting time), Although I admit waiting times are
much lower, still not perfect though. 2/5. The Price is OK, more expensive than
a few other major providers but they dont give you HSDPA with unlimited data.
4/5 Conclusion is the service is Good, its by far not perfect, number of improvements
to customer satisfaction can be made with UK call centres, Less harsh traffic
shaping methods, and a bit more responsive to negative feedback.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Chris from UK on 17th Oct 2011
I have the 3 MiFi device and I travel a lot in the UK, stay in hotels, work
in offices, every week. I only use with my iPad but I think it's a fantastic
device. Fast, useable strait out of the box have had it for about 10 months
on PAYG with 3. But I have to agree with other comments about customer service
which is appalling and seems designed to get you to give up. But escalation
does the trick. I just ask for technical service but thankfully i have not had
any issues with it for ages now, including paying for my top up and this was
incredibly frustrating at first. Overall, for me, it's excellent.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Jerry johnson from Ireland on 12th Oct 2011
My partner purchased a Three wirelesss modem as we alredy have Three mobile
broadband via a dongle. We were advised by their 'customer service' that we
could use the sym from the dongle with it as we wanted to be able to conect
an iPod Touch. They said that it would obviously use more data from the account
as we would be spreading it over several devices. Firstly it wouldn't connect
to her desk-top computer wirelessly, it had to be connected via a USB port,
this was useless as although the computer connected, the iPod struggled to pick
up the signal, even though it was right next to the modem! After some experimenting,
we figured it would work fine with a laptop and the iPod, but simply wasn't
working with any other device if plugged into the desk-top. The biggest shock
was when I tried to log in to my 3 account a couple of days later,I couldn't
connect to anything other than the Three Homepage. I checked the data allowance
on the card by returning it to the dongle and found that I had a bill for 75
euros as the wifi modem had used up all the data and they (Three) had allowed
it to work outside the data allowance. As the WiFi modem wasn't doing what we
had hoped, and had now caused us to have to pay a further 75 euros, my partner
rang Three to arrange to send the WiFi modem back to them under the 14 day money
back guarantee that came in the box. She got through to someone in India and
they refused to allow her to return it! They said they would only take it back
if it wasn't working! Well it isn't working as far as we're concerned, and the
14 day Money Back guarantee does not specify any terms what so ever for getting
a refund! After spending considerable time talking with them, they still refused
to register the guarantee and would not give us an address to return the Unit.
The 'Guarantee' is useless. The advice given before we purchased was useless,
and even though we have sent an email to their complaints department (still
awaiting a reply!) we still have no way of returning the modem and getting our
money refunded. I intend to cancel my account with them in January and would
urge everybody to give this fly by night company a wide berth! Since being with
them we have had poor download speeds and terrible customer service!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by rich from derby england on 9th Oct 2011
i have had my wifi four over a year now living at 3 diferant addresses during
this time and speeds have been great and three service is good will allways
try and rectifie eny problems eaven when you do not have a resept
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Pasquale from UK on 19th Sep 2011
I've had mifi for the past 2 years and it is a piece of technology that I would
reccomend to everybody who is on the move at all time, I use it at home and
most of the time the connection its excellent, but sometimes it slows down drammatically
and at this time what I do is, turn the device off for a couple of seconds and
then switch back on again, and it runs as normal and the speed going back to
the excellent, I sometimes take it with me with my laptop and also I use it
with my mobile phone. what can I say this is called technology and for once
they got it right.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Gyula from England on 16th Sep 2011
I use a pay as you go all you can eat data plan,chopped down to micro size.fits
in ipad2 and now I get unlimited Internet for £15 a month. RESULT
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by KotCR from UK on 13th Sep 2011
Unsure why, but while I always have a good signal, this is only usuable for
me in the early hours of the morning. I get good, solid speeds between about
1am and 7am of about 1 mpbs, but between 8am and midnight, despite still having
a strong signal, I'm lucky to get 5kbps. Yes, that's kbps, not mbps. Most of
the time during those hours it will remain at 0 or 1 kbps, a practically non-existant
internet connection. Seems to be little point having an internet connection
that you can only really use during the hours you should be sleeping. However,
like many other people commented, for the first fortnight or so of using it,
the speed was always good even during the day. Almost seems like 3 intentionally
throttle down your connection speed once they've caught you in their elusive
trick and have your money.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Sebastian from UK on 11th Sep 2011
I bought this product purely for online gaming. I signed up for the 15BG 18
month rolling contract, which i purchased early in mid 2011. After fixing the
settings so no-one else can join the network it creates and diabling the SSID
broadcast so no-one else can even see it on Mi-Fi- scanning software, I saw
it safe to use. At first the connection seemed perfect. (How wrong can a man
be?) Until only a few months of use, the 'Signal Strength' began to slowy creep
down, almost through each use - randomly swithcing between Highspeed (H) and
3G, eventually to stay on 3G at a strength of 1 to 2 bars - this is totally
unusable for any kind of decent online game or, in fact anything worth doing
at all. 'What did I do wrong, 3?' I dont know how many countless, joyfull hours
a day I (used to) spend gaming, nor do i spend time counting the ammount of
hours I spend doing it. All I know is that Im not gaming. That, and the fact
that my 18 month contract (which is still costing me £15.99 a month) will expire
in December 2012 - I month that is regarded by some people to the the end of
the world as we know it. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Chris from england on 1st Sep 2011
Excellent bit of kit, indespensible if always on the move, or a frequent commuter,
picks up a signal just about anywhere, but don't expect iplayer or the like
to not have to buffer every now and again. Saying that I've had mine since they
came out, it's proved very useful, on their 15gb contract, as a moderate to
heavy user it still is not enough to fully replace home broadband.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Will from UK on 1st Sep 2011
I have had this for a year now. When I first got the mifi it was great, speed
was amazing and websites loaded really quickly. In the past few months this
has all gone downhill very fast, to the point of being almost unusable. I am
signed up for a 24 month contract so still have to see out half of this, for
a poor service. Feels like I bought one product but was given an inferior product.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by James Sargent from United Kingdom on 18th
Aug 2011
Had mine for about a year now, and had two of the same unit. Both have had problems
staying connected and would drop connection even if there is a decent HSDPA
signal. Would avoid.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by albert desalvo from UK on 17th Aug 2011
Not a review as such... but a suggestion, if your wireless speeds were great
and have significantly decreased over time... check the channel your wireless
network is transmitting as the reason my be due to interference on the same
channel as more and more people establish home networks etc and generally wont
change from the default settings. I plan to buy one of these today, as I have
only heard good things about them.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Kevin Horne from England on 16th Aug 2011
I made the mistake of signing up for 2 years. The reception is poor, slow and
frustrating. Customer service gets you through to Paul, Kev or John in India
and from there you go around and around in circles till you get fed up and give
up. On the good side my contract ends at the end of this year and will I be
renewing? You guess. Would I recommend 3? Certainly if you like dialup speeds,
the world’s worst customer service and throwing money away. In life it
is said that you get what you pay for. With 3 you pay for nothing and no matter
what they say about cancelling if not happy or satisfied forget it; you have
a better chance of seeing England win the football world cup or a politician
telling the truth.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Mike from UK on 6th Aug 2011
I've been using the 3 wifi on a boat in various locations for a few months and
I'm very happy with it. We run two laptops from it and it's very reliable, much
better than T Mobile, and it doesn't slow down at busy times.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by bob from scotland on 18th Jul 2011
very poor , only get a connection sometimes and when i do its not a good connection
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by david from essex uk on 17th Jun 2011
Brilliant speedy service for about 3 months now nothing. Keep getting 'no network'
yet signal is full?
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Andrew from Bristol on 31st May 2011
Having had the 3 wifi for a couple of months, I have found that is appears to
be OK, nothing like the speeds advertised of 7.2 , more like 2 or 3. Connectivity
is sometime intermittent, but I have decided to close my home broadband and
stay with 3, as it seem to offer the best option for me, as I can take it anywhere
that I go. Despite this, I am able to connect devices both upstairs and down
with no loss of signal strength, it just isn't as strong as it advertises.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Mike from England on 18th May 2011
The speed and reliability of the MiFi that I am currently in use is well below
what 3 claims on its website. Although the area in which I am living (Salford
Quays) is supposed to have a decent 3 wireless coverage, my MiFi's speed often
degraded, during the daytimes, to such a level as taking more than 1 minute
to open a webpage such as amazon.co.uk, whilst it disconnected at quite frequent
intervals. As a corollary, I have decided to leave 3.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by lewis from england on 15th May 2011
3 Mobile WiFi is a great for people who sometimes use the internet how for people
who like to online game it is not the best however great product
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Danny Thompson from United Kingdom on 23rd
Apr 2011
Mobile BB on Three is excellent, well beyond my expectation having been a very
disappointed mobile phone customer of theirs previously. I went for a MiFi when
I got an iPad and it was a very good decision. I share my 3G BB with the iPad,
Mac and iPhone (more on that in a moment). It is simply outstanding in every
way. The network speed frequently outpaces O2 and Vodafone who I also have in
this household. I have easily achieved speeds of upwards of 6Mbps downlink and
over 2Mbps uplink. On my travels around I have had to use the MiFi to give my
iPhone (on Vodafone) a suitable data signal and speed because frequently Three
are in good signal/data where Vodafone is not. Throughput on Three is also so
much faster than Vodafone when comparing the two within sight of both of their
3G masts. Three's data backhaul and infrastructure is very apparently better
suited to carrying mobile BB than the older networks. The only let-down with
Three is their infamous off-shore customer service. It is dire and people are
more often than not disappointed with the experience at their hands. However,
Three do have a vibrant and very effective Twitter team who are always more
than happy to get involved to help escalate or resolve an issue that the Indian
call centre cannot or fail to do. Reading some of the negative comments below
it strikes me that those that had a bad experience relied solely on the off-shore
call centre. Three stores, the Twitter team and UK escalations can all help
where off-shore cannot. But in terms of the actual Mobile Broadband service,
it rocks. And where it does not Three will release you from your contract early
- they have that in print, so it is there for you to use. Can't say fairer than
that really.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by larry from Cambridgeshire on 20th Apr 2011
Agree with comment by Jim; terrible here in Longstanton, Cambridge. Virtually
no coverage. We village types are not happy - must be much better in towns then!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Sam from Uk on 18th Apr 2011
Great product the Mifi, I see slot of people are dissing three still, can't
see why in hants this product works great with my iPad and iPhone and worked
well when I moved home and home broadband was down, great speeds and coverage
much better then O2 or voda where I live and travel for 3G signal I can't wait
to join three on my iPhone and be able to get internet everywhere I go, not
crappy 2g. Anyway mifi 2 is the best product three sell.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Jim from UK on 12th Apr 2011
Have a MIFI and use it throughout North West Cambridge. Terrible coverage in
Longstanton and Oakington area (post code CB24 3BT is especially bad). Have
tried putting it in all kinds of locations but no good. Three not good for rural
folk
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Ian from England on 8th Apr 2011
I have had the huawei e585 with 15gb data allowance since september.I am based
in London and I use it throughout the capital. I purchased this after my mobile
provider o2 banned me from using cellular data for breaching their fair usage
policy. When the 18 month contract started I was working nightshifts and only
using it at night, at its peak speedtest was giving me 4.2mbps which I was amazed
with as o2 only ever gave me a maximum of 120kbps. I started working dayshifts
in east london in february and I was getting ok speeds 2mbps, I was pleased
with this as there is weak phone signal here. Recently my speed has dropped
dramatically, I have written specifically to the executive office who have told
me they will reply in the next 5 days. I am only able to get 3g signal now.
I thought it might be a problem in the area i work in but when i tried it at
home i was still only getting 1mbps maximum. I have collegues who have other
3 usb dongles and they have been experiencing the same issues. i notice that
a lot of other london users here have been having these issues since march,
has anyone in london had a direct response from them? I have paid my bill for
march as march the 7th was the last time i was able to recieve a good speed
(3.2mbps). I have told the executive office that if my problem is not resolved
i will be refusing to pay my bill. I will probably be unlocking my device and
switching to vodafone. The problem has only really started since they started
offering all you can eat data allowances to new customers. I suspect that they
are just overloaded.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Tony from uk on 6th Apr 2011
We have the mark 1 mifi and use it all the time,its faster than our o2 home
broadband.And we live in the middle of nowhere.With the new 3 payg all you can
eat data at £15 a month this is great.And before anyone says you cant use the
new 3 all in one 15 add on in a mifi well we do.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by phil harrington from england on 6th Apr 2011
huawei e585 wireless modem is great , been with 3g for 4 years now , top service
and awesome results in a place where no landline broadband is avalable
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Al from Scotland on 17th Mar 2011
Same as Patrick from Ireland I had the stick for 18 months and never used it
as service so bad. However this has all been made up now I have the MiFi , it's
brilliant. I use it travelling back and forth to work with my iPad
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Paul from UK on 17th Mar 2011
I also live in London and have used mifi here in my flat for the last six months.
For the first five months or so it was great, I was getting around 2mb, it was
usually even okay for online gaming with my xbox. But in the last month the
speeds have gone totally downhill, now I'm lucky if I get 0.5MB and I'm constantly
getting disconnected. Be warned!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Jeff from UK on 9th Mar 2011
Used to work fantastic in London until March. I have speedtest.net tests from
November through January that show about 4MB throughput. As of March, I can
only connect about 50% of the time and when it actually does work, I'm getting
about 300-400K throughput... almost modem days! I thought it was my MIFI, but
all of my co-workers purchased the device as well and all of them are having
the exact same problem...
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by John from Dorset, UK on 26th Feb 2011
i've had the MiFi for 3 months and I think it's great! I'm a historian and have
travelled hundreds of miles around the UK every month. I can keep my laptop
connected even in the rural locations that I often travel to. As for speeds,
at my home in Dorchester, Dorset I usually get just over 1 MB/S which isn't
bad. In Leeds I got 2.5 mb/s, Newcastle I got 900 kb/s. All of these were at
peak time. Near Plymouth I managed 2.8 mb/s. The fastest I have seen was in
motorway services just outside Manchester, being 3.2 mb/s. But that was around
half 4 in the morning :-) . All in all I can't live without my MiFi, i don't
know how I managed before, tethering my phone to my laptop with o2, often at
GPRS speeds. I'm taking out an iPhone contract with Three as of tomorrow when
my current contract with o2 expires. I can't say that i'm sad to see the back
of them....
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by patrick from ireland on 22nd Feb 2011
after haveing 3 stick for 2 yrs and terrible coverage because of where i live
, a total nightmare, NOW i got 3 WIFI its TERRIFIC BRILL thanks 3 internet all
over the house thank you very much and soooooo FAST
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Pinkgomesgirl from Uk on 15th Feb 2011
I have a iPhone contract with three and I think they are the best network going
there customer service is outstanding and I've always received the highest standard
customer service, I have been with every network in the uk and three in my opinion
are the best going, I have just ordered te mifi and I can't wait to get it.
Three just keep impressing me :D
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Tech Guy from UK on 11th Feb 2011
Just bought the new E585 as i was having problems with the home broadband. this
device set up first time and the speed is outsatnding with 3 devices connected.
i will now be using this as my primary broadband. when i rang to activate the
sim card i was put through to a call centre in S. Africa and apart from the
call being scripted the guy was excellent whole activation took 10 minutes,
plus as an added bonus had a free upgrade to 15 gig a month from the standard
5 gig for the same price of £15-99 Also i bought this unit from a well nown
multiple for £29 instead of £71 this is the price offered if you buy it with
an i-pad, guess they must need the sales, so haggle.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by milo from europe on 30th Jan 2011
e585 the best.i work with it as open line in russia,germany,sweden and poland.i
connected 9 laptaps coz 5 for e585 and tp-link extender 4 or more.e585 and tp-link
extender work together to cover all user in the vessel and even where far away
from shore she can connect.i give her 5star.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by mjr8591 from UK on 23rd Jan 2011
I have had the e585 (on an 18 month deal) since October 2010. I have waited
a few months to write this review in order to be able to give an honest view
not clouded by initial opinion. I was previously a Vodafone broadband customer
but when I upgraded to an iPhone (also on 3) and my wife purchased an iPad this
seemed to be a good option. At home the coverage is excellent - we have no problem
connecting 3 devices simultaneously (iPhone, iPad and laptop) and speeds are
perfectly acceptable. Availability has been generally excellent - we did have
one weekend when the servers appeared to be down but when I contacted 3 to complain
they said upgrade work was being carried out and credited me for one months
payment without question. The only problems we have had with connectivity has
been when staying away with family in NE England. According to 3 the area should
have HSDPA coverage but we often struggled to get a connection. Overall I would
say our experience has been a very positive one and that 3 mi-fi is ideal for
our requirements. On customer services, I have been a 3 customer now for several
years and I have found them to be courteous and helpful in the main. A tip though
- if you are having problems with the Indian call centre ask to be put through
to the Technical dept. which is Ireland-based.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Chester Lee from Kent uk on 8th Jan 2011
Well I'm not sure about the model that has been shown about but I have the new
mifi dongle the e585 on pay as you go. Never had a major problem with getting
my pc and iPhone too connect and the only time I did I changed the channel and
it's been fine since. I live in Kent and if I'm honest this device has given
me faster speeds than what my Bt connection was giving me but that's another
story. The device itself has been a god send too me and comes in handy when
u need a decent connection. 3 customer service is terrible always have so I
would say if u do have a problem trying too connect change the channel or look
for advice online. Calling 3 will just be a painful and frustrating experience.
If you unsure if too get this device get it on payg as the thought of been tied
into any contract with 3 be it a 30 day rolling or 18 months is probably the
worse decision you could ever make. So I say good device really bad customer
service.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Zanx from UK on 17th Dec 2010
I have the 18 month contract with the free mifi dongle, it was great for 3 months
but has got slower and slower until today when it stopped working altogether.
Contract or not, if three can't even provide 1980's Internet speeds, then the
direct debit will be cancelled and they can chase me for the money. Terrible
terrible coverage in the London area now.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by jojie from philippines on 11th Dec 2010
mine is 3 mobile mifi huawei it really depends on the internet provider....
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Brenda Morris from England on 4th Dec 2010
Have signed up for 18month with MIFI and advised it can connect to 5 computers
at once, oh oh it cant. I still have to connect via USB and only able to use
one computer at a time. Really disappointed. I have e-mailed 3 to seek advise
and guess what they havent emailed back or rang me to give me advise. Customer
service rating a big fat 0. They keen to take your money and then -------????????
No support Very Very Disappointed
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by G'Man from UK on 30th Nov 2010
I got a 3 micro sim for my ipad and wanted to use the £2 for 500mbyte as I don't
use 3g very often - can I find £2 option to buy 500mbyte on the 3 website??
- not a chance - 3 phone calls (thanks for nothing Mumbai!) and an email later
and I'm still none the wiser - big thumbs down, good customer service are not
words I'd associate with this company
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Nothreesypeasy from United Kingdom on 30th
Nov 2010
Nightmare! First sim for mifi could not be activated becasue it wasn't on 3's
register. John Lewis's replaced the entire box and this time, couldn't be activated
because it was a PAYG sim and this was a rolling contract. Five different "advisors"
and one tech guy said it couldn't be done before one went away, talked to management,
and said it will be fine - followed by a 15-mintue nightmare to get bank details
etc. In the middle of it all, the poor girl read from her prompt notes and asked:"Are
you having a good day" I think she should have guessed. I was planning to buy
a dozen of these for the staff in my journalism agency. No longer - even if
it turns out to be a great product once it is finally up and running. Unbelieveable
incompetence.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Exasperated from UK on 23rd Nov 2010
I've had an infuriating saga with Three, from whom I bought a Mi-Fi dongle,
from their on-line store. i) their claimed area network coverage was incorrect
in more than one place - 'Excellent' yielded only one or two bars. ii) I wasted
HOURS on expensive phone calls to tech support, and was fobbed off with stories
of 'transmitter upgrade' - twice. iii) I waited twice for these repairs to be
completed, being assured that all would be well afterwards. It wasn't. iv) a
'troubleshooting session' established that my dongle wasn't working at all.
v) When I gave up and asked for a complete refund, they tried to tell me I'd
waited too long!! I am currently wasting more time trying to get them to let
me return the whole thing for a refund. If they don't, I'll consider escalating
to the Dept of Trading Standards. AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS! I'd give
minus stars if I could, and enjoy the relief of not having to explain the whole
story again and again to people not authorised to do anything. BTW - I wonder
if the 5-star reviews are 'in house'?????
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Anonymous from United Kingdom on 5th Nov 2010
I ordered a Mifi dongle on Three because of the raving reviews and so far I
haven't been disappointed. I live in west London so I get a very good signal
most of the time and I haven't had any issues since I got it set up. HOWEVER
the customer service I received was absolutely rubbish, though the lady I spoke
to did her best to help. I thought the device would work out of the box but
it wasn't connecting so I phoned the customer helpline, only to finally be told
to contact the activations team as it hadn't yet been registered. After a thirty
minute phone call it was resolved but the woman had a hard time understanding
what I was saying so I was repeating everything about three times. With the
exception of this the device itself has been great and I haven't had any problems
with it. The SMS capability is a great idea for someone using a laptop or iPod,
especially if your phone battery dies or you forget to lift it. I love how there's
only one button on the E585 and everything on the OLED screen is clearly displayed.
I've yet to take it out of the city, wehre I suspect some areas mightn't fare
so well with regards to connection speed, but so far I am impressed with what
MiFi has to offer. I paid £39.99 one-off fee and am on a one month rolling contract
at £15.00 a month for 5GB of monthly data which I think is reasonable.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by maria from england on 2nd Nov 2010
I have had a 3g mifi for a month now. The equiptment works ok it's the time
and money lost for calling customer service and not getting a problem solved
that has pushed me to now get the mifi unlocked so I can use another network.
I've had nothing but frustration with it. You buy the mifi to use with an Apad
or Ipad, you want change the pass word or pay for credit on the pay as you go
online a message is sent to the mifi with your pass word which you cannot read
because you need a 3g mobile phone to read it!! Figure!!I can't buy credit online
for some reason and the customer service has no idea how to help!! Pulling my
hair out I can not take the frustration a month later. I've never been with
this network before and now I'm so glad I haven't.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by A from Scotland on 12th Oct 2010
The mifi is brilliant for on the go use. I watch the football on my iphone where
ever I am going as it is much cheaper that use your phone credit. It is also
good if your Home Hub breaks dwn (which is a lot) and with 5 devices at a time
I think it is amazing.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Joshia Atanga from Kenya on 13th Sep 2010
i enjoy every bit of it especially when i,m in hotspot areas,the widget performs
amazingly hence efficient internet exploration.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by iain from scotland on 2nd Sep 2010
I had a nightmare when i first got a 3 dongle, the thing just didn't work and
i had over 12, hour long phone calls with a very bad customer service team...
eventually they refunded me all the cash i had spent on the product and gave
me a further 3 months for free, Once the got a better transmitter in my area
the download speed rocketed (comparitvley.) I have recently upgraded to the
mifi dongle that works perfectly, the problem isn't the dongle or the wifi these
are very easy to use... if your having problems its the coverage which isn't
so easy to fix!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by chris from england on 30th Aug 2010
Had the mi-fi since jan 2010. very good. I don't have landline at home, yet
I can run all devices in the house(up to 5), and have just done a free firmware
update giving the device a web interface and very importantly gives the option
to disable the auto-off niggle that the wireless had. Ace product.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by J R from england on 15th Aug 2010
at the moment 15/08/10 I have three dongles Vodafone good coverage just goes
slow and web page times out am giving up the contract. o2 good no problems.
3 very impressed so much faster good coverage best overall in my opinion. voda
* o2 *** 3 *****
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Adrian from UK on 28th Jul 2010
I use mine in various locations and it's unlocked with a Vodafone sim card inside
it. Works well. With a 3 sim card inside, it's awful and trying to get answers
was nigh on impossible which is why I swapped providers.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by RufusG from UK on 15th Jul 2010
Just bought the Mk2 MiFi unit from 3 on a monthly contract @ £15 per month with
5GB data allowance. This is simpler to use than the Mk1, as it has only 1 button
& a better display. In use for a week now and it has never failed me all over
London. I use it as my primary broadband connection, working as a portable WiFi
base station for laptop, iPod Touch and a small WiFi Windows mobile device.
It looks like the ideal solution for the iPad in UK. I have used it with 2 business
colleagues in the car. I use Skype as my primary phone system, with both SkypeIn
and SkypeOut. I also have a regular phone with a PAYG account with Orange, which
I use as a backup for incoming calls if the computer system fails me. So far,
no need for the backup ! .
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Phil from England on 28th Jun 2010
I brought the PAYG 3 mobile MIFI. Yes it is an excellent piece of equipment
with reasonable download speeds and also connection. My main purchase was for
use with the ipod touch and this works well.My use is intermittent and this
is why I brought the PAYG. I had 3GB data allowance that lasts 3 months. Again
excellent. BUT after the 3 months is up you have to top up. This is where the
shock is. A 1GB top up cost £10.00 and last for ONLY 30 days. Being an intermittent
user this level of cost is terrible. If the data allowance lasted the 3 months
as my initial purchase had then all well and good but now this is just going
to gather dust in the cupboard. Really my conclusion is that this is an excellent
gadget, but you must use it on a regular basis to make it worth while. 3 get
your act together and be a bit more flexible for people with low usage.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Dominic from UK on 27th Jun 2010
I bought a Mifi on Friday, easy to set up and worked at home on my iPad. When
I tried to use it away from base it mostly failed to connect. I basically had
10 mins connection when it was plugged into mains power. The lights switch off
often before it gets a signal. But the signal still doesn't connect to the internet.
Returned it to 3 today and we tried two more devices none would accept the password
key and connect. After an hour in the shop I got a refund. No one could explain
why it wasn't working and they even managed to eventually get the 2nd one working
with one of their laptops. My iPad works fine on wifi at home and work so not
sure why there devices had problems
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Brendan Fogarty from UK on 21st Jun 2010
Coverage is hopeless!!!!!!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by JD from UK on 2nd Jun 2010
Got the MiFi on PAYG. Great signal. Works a treat when I take my WiFi only iPad
outdoors.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by John from UK on 18th May 2010
Be aware that 3UK charges an additional and unadvised £1.95 which they first
told me was an admin charge for a credit check. I advised them that it was a
PAYG device, I pay upfront so no credit check is necessary. Further they charged
this fee after they had charged me for the mi-fi device. They then claimed that
it was a delivery charge. I advised them that their website stated free delivery
on this item and the receipt on email I have only details the mi-fi charge -
not this additional charge. They finally claimed that the charge is legitimate
as I was told about it when I placed my order and it is in their T&Cs. I was
not and it is not. I have been back and checked - there is nothing on their
site about this charge. They finally agreed to refund me this additional £1.95
fee that they can't seem to decide what it is. Note, they charged me this fee
two working days after charging me for the mi-fi. Oh, and despite the next day
delivery promise, it is not going to be despatched until tomorrow, despite being
ordered two working days ago. Overall, very poor service from 3UK and I have
not even got the mi-fi yet. When I get it I will unlock it and stick a Vodafone
SIM in it.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Mark from Birkenhead on 21st Apr 2010
I first ordered this MiFi on the three website on the monday, they took the
money out of my account monday night and I got a delivery date of tuesday the
next day, nothing arrived so I called them to find out that they were out of
stock but that I would receive it by friday, then I receive an email to say
that my card didnt go through there security checks and that it had been canceled,I
called them up,was told that they also tried to take an extra £1.95 for admin
charges and that this was in there Terms & Condittions, I proved it wasent,
took 7 days to get my money back. Went to the three shop itself today to buy
it cash, no probs, come home, then took me all day to get the internet on my
computer. The instructions are really really bad for information on how to setup
this MiFi and totally unclear. After several phone calls to Three very unhelpful
customer services who seem to be copying "Mumbai Calling" I said rather than
have this phone call costing me a fortune being on here most of the day, stop
reading the computer manual and pass me through to someone who actually knew
about how to setup this MiFi, But she couldnt and I ended up putting the phone
down. Eventually after disconecting the dongle several times it finally connected
to the internet. To be honest, at first I was dissapointed as I could only acheive
1 bar on the signal indicator, but how impressed was I ?, The web pages loaded
very well and very fast, Pages like Ebay, Gumtree etc ran great, fast loading.
Uploading & Downloading was what I expected for a pay as you go, which was impressive.
1)Page Loading 5 ***** 2)Uploading P&G 4 **** 3)Downloading P&G 3 *** 4)Wireless
Distance 1 * 5)Connectivity 5 ***** 6)Manul 0 Star 7)Help & Support 0 Star 8)Windows7
Connection 5 ***** 9)Charging 1 * 10) Battery 3 *** Overall Good product. Remember,
This is only "Pay As You Go" Internet, its not your "Home Internet" and A lot
of people review these products as though it is the same as the home, of course
its gonna be a "LOT" different and alot slower. The great thing about the MiFi
is that you can take & put it in your car or your pocket and you have the internet
everywere you want to go and no stupid dongle sticking out of the back of your
laptop. As A portable internet and wireless device, for going on the web and
checking out your emails, I would give this a rating of 5 *****.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by gary from england on 8th Apr 2010
I have had a 3 usb dongle for a while and have had absolute nightmares with
their customer service (until I got their Scottish office). I brought this MIFI
so I could get internet radio on my archos and still use it for the laptop.
For me it works a treat, easy to setup, easy to get going and if you use it
in a decent area it's speed (download) is excellent. However I have noticed
that the upload speed on the 3 network is absolutely rubbish! And the fact that
as an existing customer I don't get the data allowance that a new customer paying
the same amount would get really P's me off. However I have no complaints about
the device and being able to get broad band in the heart of the New Forest is
great, it's better coverage on this than poo DAB!!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Quasar from UK on 8th Mar 2010
Excellent, I bought this device mainly to connect Ipod touch and a couple of
laptops. I tested this playing World of Warcraft and was successfulyl able to
do a 5 man daily heroic and PVP. The latency was about 400 which is acceptable.
Browsing is fast too. If you are getting slow speeds, dont blame the device,
blame the area you are in. Cambridge is actualyl quite bad for internet speeds,
but this thing is very good. 5 Stars with ease.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Alistair Leckie from Belfast - N. Ireland on
1st Mar 2010
I wrote below about the problems with three network - I got an unlocked mifi
on an auction site and it's ace! Once you put in a simcard that has a good signal
(in my case giffgaff/o2) the mifi device is brilliant. Battery life is fine
and I get speeds of over 1 megabit each way. This device is a network tool that
works very well. My rating is for the device
Rating: Reply
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