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You can connect multiple devices: Some MiFi devices let you connect 10 or more devices to a single hotspot, which will work out a lot cheaper than paying for a mobile data plan for each of those devices but youll want a generous data allowance.
You can connect Wi-Fi-only devices to a mobile data connection: Tablets are great to use at home, but what about on the train, on the beach or by the pool? Wherever you can get a signal, you can use MiFi to create a wireless network and get online from any Wi-Fi device.
You can save money on your next tablet: Buying a tablet with a 4G or 5G data connection adds around £100 to the price, and thats before you consider the monthly fee for your data. Use some of that money to buy a MiFi router instead and youll never need to buy a cellular tablet again.
You can reduce roaming charges: Most mobile operators offer free roaming in the EU (for now, anyway!), but fixed-fee roaming elsewhere, allowing you to take your home tariff with you for a set cost. Rather than paying this extra charge on all your devices, turn off data roaming on them and connect them all to a mobile hotspot. Youll pay this charge only once, but get all your devices online. Note that 5G roaming is not widespread, but it is currently offered by Vodafone and VOXI.
You can avoid using slow hotel Wi-Fi: When visiting hotels that still charge for Wi-Fi, you can get the kids online all day and at a lower cost than what the hotel would charge. Better still, you can avoid using the same network as all the other guests, which is usually slow and often has poor signal in your hotel room. Sometimes these networks can also be unsecured, so using MiFi will be preferable.
You can add 5G connectivity to a 4G device: Many of us have yet to jump on the 5G bandwagon, but where available it is seriously fast. Although your may be limited to 4G, your data plan almost certainly includes 5G. A 5G mobile router will allow you to connect your 4G to the internet at 5G speeds.
You can get faster download speeds: Even if your device already supports 5G, you could potentially get faster download and upload speeds by switching to a MiFi that supports a faster connection. Just remember that 5G is not yet available everywhere, and purchasing a 5G hotspot will push up the price.
You can share storage across your own mobile network: If your MiFi supports a microSD card, you can share that storage across all your devices, which is especially handy if they dont support expandable storage themselves.
Considering using EE MiFi to get online?
In this article, weve tested and reviewed EEs 4G WiFi device, to see if its worth buying.
Overall, we rate this MiFi device 3.5 out of 5. While it does offer good speeds and Wi-Fi signal, there are better value 4G mobile broadband options on the market right now, which weve discussed at the end of this article.
Check on EE
EE currently sells a 4G mobile Wi-Fi (MiFi) device, which they call 4G WiFi.
This is a small, white gadget that has a battery, and comes with a SIM card. Once you insert the SIM and the battery into the device, and turn it on, it will create a Wi-Fi hotspot you can use to get online.
Using a MiFi device like this is a very easy, portable way of connecting to the internet. You can get online anywhere with 4G signal and since EE has the best 4G coverage of any of the major networks, this device can help you get online even in rural areas.
Note: the device weve used in this review is EEs previous 4GEE WiFi Mini device. However, it performs essentially the exact same as their newer 4G WiFi device.
You can buy this device, paired with a data plan, on the EE website.
Youll need to choose how much monthly data you need, and whether you want to join on a 1 month or a 24 month contract.
Once we placed our order, the MiFi device and SIM card came in the mail in one business day.
When you receive your package in the mail and open the box, youll find:
To get online, heres what you need to do.
First, get the SIM card holder, and punch out the SIM. You want the nano SIM, which is the smallest of the three sizes you can choose from.
Now, youll need to remove the back cover from the device.
It is attached with small plastic clips, located around the edge. You need to slide a fingernail under the gap in one of the corners on the cover, and lift it off as shown.
Next, slide the SIM into its slot.
Put the SIM on the white tab, with the EE logo facing up, and the cut corner facing the bottom left. Then, push down slightly, and slide the SIM card to the left, into its slot.
Now that the SIM card is installed, you can put the battery into the mobile broadband device.
This is quite easy to do simply line up the four gold squares on the battery with the four gold prongs inside the device.
Slide the battery into the device from right to left, pushing it in the direction of the gold connectors.
At this stage, you can clip the cover back into place.
Line up the cover, ensuring it is the right way around, and push it down around the edges until its all clipped into place.
At this stage, you should be able to turn on the device.
Sometimes, you might need to charge the battery for a bit before doing this, but our battery came charged up out of the box.
To turn on the mobile broadband device, simply hold down the power button for about three seconds until the routers status lights come on. Then, wait a few minutes for it to connect to the mobile network.
Once the device is on, and connected to 4G, you can join its Wi-Fi hotspot, and get online.
You can log in using the details printed on the included keepsake card. If youve lost your card, the Wi-Fi login details are also printed on a sticker inside the 4G WiFi device, under the battery.
EE advertises that you can get a maximum download speed of 100 Mbps with this MiFi device.
In our experience, we typically received a download speed of about 30-40 Mbps, with an upload speed of 5-8 Mbps.
EE has the best 4G coverage of any of the big four mobile networks, meaning these speeds are available in almost all of the UK, which is great if you often travel with this device.
Our ping (latency) was normally about 35-45ms, which is quite typical when using a 4G internet connection.
If you want faster speeds, EE also sells a 5G MiFi device, and Vodafone has one as well. However, theyre both very expensive to buy.
Potentially the biggest strength of EE 4G WiFi is its Wi-Fi signal strength.
EE advertises that it reaches up to 30 metres, which is fairly accurate. We were still able to get online from the other side of the house with this device, using the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi band.
You can connect up to 32 devices at once to the hotspot, which is plenty for most MiFi use cases. However, your speeds will begin to slow down if lots of people get online at the same time.
We typically saw about 5-6 hours of battery life from this mobile broadband device, in terms of active usage. On standby (with Wi-Fi on but not connected), its battery lasted for about 7 days.
This is fairly typical for a device of this size. It recharges fairly quickly, normally in about 45-60 minutes from empty. EEs newest MiFi devices come with a USB-C port, allowing for even faster charging.
You can also choose to keep the device plugged in and charging at all times, although this will degrade its battery life over time.
You can use the 4G WiFi device when travelling overseas. However, it may cost more, depending on the destination youre travelling to.
Inside the EU, you can use your regular data allowance, just like in the UK, up to 50GB per month of usage. Outside of the EU, you will have to buy a roaming add-on.
The cost of the roaming add-on will depend on the countries youre visiting. EE offers a few different roaming passes, offering different prices and different data limits depending on where youre travelling.
Whether youre leaving the EU or not, you will need to enable EE roaming before you can get online. To do this, connect to your device, type 192.168.1.1 into your web browser, log in, go to settings, and choose Data Roaming.
Its important to remember, some countries have different 4G infrastructure and use different frequencies, meaning this device may not offer perfect performance in certain locations. However, it works well in nearly all first-world countries.
EE MIFI
For more information, please visit 4g Mifi Device.
EE
4G WiFi
Data
5GB Unlimited
Price
Check on EE
You can choose to buy this MiFi device from EE with a monthly data limit of either 5GB, 25GB, 125GB, or unlimited monthly data.
There is also the choice of a pay as you go 1 month contract, or a 24 month pay monthly agreement. Also, if youre already an EE mobile customer on a pay monthly plan, youll get an extra 5GB of monthly data on your contract when you buy this device, free of charge.
In terms of value for money, EE mobile broadband is quite expensive, especially given that it only comes with 4G speeds, limited to 100 Mbps.
Youll pay up to £50 per month for unlimited data, even on a 24 month contract. Plus, there are quite high upfront fees on their 1 month deals.
If you want 4G MiFi for a better price, Threes mobile broadband offers are definitely worth checking out.
There are quite a few things to like about EEs MiFi deals:
However, EE 4G mobile broadband has some serious downsides:
The price of this MiFi package is our biggest issue with it. Other providers offer more data and a similar router for a much cheaper price.
Overall, we rate EE 4G WiFi 3.5 out of 5. If you dont mind paying more, and want the best 4G coverage, this device is worth considering. There are better value options on the market though.
If you can get Three 4G signal, their device is generally a much better choice. Its significantly cheaper, while offering the same download speeds and battery life.
If youre not sure about EEs mobile broadband device, here are some alternatives you might like to consider.
CHEAPER ALTERNATIVE
Three
TCL Linkzone MW63
Value rating
Price
Check on Three
Although Three doesnt quite have as good national 4G coverage, in most cases, we recommend using their mobile broadband device instead of EEs.
Its a similar bit of kit, which performs about the same, except Three is much cheaper than EE normally about half the price.
This allows you to either get a lot more data for the same monthly cost, or save a lot of money on your plan compared to using EE.
Use the Three network coverage map to see if they have 4G signal at your address.
5G MIFI
EE
5G WiFi
Value rating
Price
Check on EE
EEs other MiFi device that they sell offers 5G connectivity.
This means that your average speeds will generally be much faster with this device, assuming you have good 5G signal where you live. However, EE still limits your maximum download speed to 100 Mbps, preventing you from getting the 300-500 megabit top speeds offered with 5G.
Also, this device is very expensive to buy. Its data plans are not cheap, and there are also very high upfront fees associated with the device itself.
5G ROUTER
Three
5G Hub
Value rating
Price
Check on Three
If you want fast mobile broadband, Threes 5G Hub is definitely worth considering.
This device is a router, rather than a dongle or MiFi device. Meaning, it plugs into the wall, rather than having a battery its bigger and less portable, but offers better Wi-Fi signal.
It offers speeds of 500 Mbps or more from our testing, and comes with unlimited data from Three. Despite this, its very reasonably priced.
This is the end of our EE mobile Wi-Fi review.
Still not sure which mobile broadband device to buy? Leave a comment below, and well get back to you.
Tyler is the co-founder of Broadband Savvy. He has been helping people improve their broadband connectivity since 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 buyers 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, hes become obsessed with all things networking and internet-related. Hes a massive gamer, loves Rocket League, and also plays Sunday League football.
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