Vodafone mobile broadband
Vodafone is one the UK's four physical network providers, the others being EE, O2 and Three. It's available pretty much everywhere and like those other providers, it offers a wide range of ways to get online via its network. It's available pretty much everywhere, though you will need to check whether specific types of mobile broadband are available from Vodafone where you live.
Vodafone offers a full range of mobile broadband solutions, including dongles and MiFi devices (portable hotspots), a 4G/5G home router called the GigaCube, designed to replace your home broadband connection, and of course data-only tablet/laptop SIMs and regular mobile SIMs. Let's take a look at the details.
What is Vodafone mobile broadband?
Mobile broadband comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, and doesn't always necessarily mean broadband you can take anywhere with you. Rather, it's broadband that's delivered over a mobile network, and includes mobile hotspots, most commonly referred to as MiFi devices, which indeed you can take anywhere with you, as well as home broadband routers that connect to a mobile network, which generally speaking you can't.
Even then the definitions get rather blurry. Competitor network EE, for example, offers a home broadband router that connects to its mobile network that you can also pick up and take out with you and use as a mobile hotspot. Vodafone also allows mobile tethering, meaning you can use mobile broadband via your phone or data-only tablet SIM. It's a wide range of stuff, so let's take a closer look.
- Vodafone 4G/5G home broadband router – The Vodafone GigaCube (actually a cylinder - nope, we don’t know either) is designed to replace your home broadband router. It's currently more expensive than a typical home broadband deal, especially if you choose to have it with unlimited data. So we would recommend this as a solution for people who cannot get good internet speeds via traditional means, but can get a good 4G or 5G signal from Vodafone
- Vodafone MiFi devices – Vodafone offer two different MiFi personal hotspot devices – a 5G one which can also connect to 4G when necessary and can connect to 32 devices at once. The second option is a 4G only device, which can connect to 10 devices, so you can take it anywhere and connect up to 10 devices to it at once
- Vodafone dongles – Vodafone offers one dongle, the K5160. A dongle is a memory-stick-sized device that slots into the USB port of a laptop or other compatible device, and offers that device internet connectivity wherever you happen to be. It does not create a mobile hotspot, though, so you will only be able to have internet access on the device you have it plugged into
- Vodafone data-only SIMs – A data-only SIM is a SIM card designed to go in a tablet or compatible laptop. Unlike a phone SIM they come with no minutes or texts, just the data. Hence 'data-only SIM'. Vodafone offers a wide variety of data limits on its data-only SIMs, including unlimited data
- Vodafone SIMs for mobile hotspot tethering – You can of course use a regular mobile SIM to get mobile broadband via your smartphone, most smart phones will allow you to enable a personal hotspot, which other devices can connect to via their wifi. Or alternatively you can tether your phone to your laptop via a USB cable to use your mobile broadband connection. In most cases if you have a recent smartphone and unlimited data, it renders the other options listed here obsolete.
Do I need Vodafone mobile broadband?
All things being equal, we all benefit from having some form of mobile broadband device, and indeed almost all of do in the form of our mobile phones. But as data limits on mobile SIMs head increasingly towards offering just one option (unlimited), the number of locations where we have ready access is also on the rise. That means we're getting access to more data, but needing it less and less.
Situations, then, where you need something more than wifi, and more than your mobile phone are actually pretty few and far between. Here are some of those situations so you can see whether you fit into one of these categories.
- You have terrible fixed line broadband – If your home broadband deal is extremely slow and there is no sign of it getting better in the near future, you may live somewhere where 4G or even 5G home broadband from Vodafone would be a better option. A more expensive option to be sure, but it's probably worth paying a bit more to get usable speeds
- You travel for work – If you're up and down the country all week long and cannot leave connectivity to chance, a MiFi mobile hotspot or a dongle from Vodafone may be just what you need, perhaps as a backup more than a permanent fixture
- No other options – There are still places in the UK where you won't find a wifi signal for miles around. Perhaps you work outside, somewhere rural, or on a construction site, and need a reliable broadband solution. A personal MiFi hotspot or dongle from Vodafone could be a good fit
- You need a temporary solution – Most of Vodafone's mobile broadband options are available on 30-day rolling contracts. So if you're just filling in a bit of time as you prepare to move somewhere permanent for example, getting hold of a MiFi device or dongle from Vodafone may be a good fit
Vodafone mobile broadband coverage and data speeds
There are actually only four mobile network providers in the UK. These are sometimes referred to as 'MVNOs' and include Vodafone, O2, EE and Three. They own their own network infrastructure, meaning that, perhaps rather wastefully, there are four networks each overlapping and covering the entire country.
Other providers – of which there are many – are sometimes referred to as MVNOs, or mobile virtual network operators. They supply their mobile deals by leasing space on one of the four networks mentioned in the paragraph above. This is sometimes called 'piggybacking'.
When it comes to data speeds, there is quite a bit of variety across the four UK networks. In Opensignal’s recent speed study, conducted in 2021, Vodafone came in second fastest for 4G speeds, averaging 21Mbps. EE took the top spot with 39Mbps, Three was in third place with 19.3Mbps and O2 came in last with 17.3Mbps.
For 5G, Vodafone came last with an average download speed of 103.1Mbps. EE was fastest with 140Mbps, and O2 came in second place at 128.9Mbps. Three was the third fastest 5G network at the time of the study with a speed of 115.9Mbps.
