National Broadband home broadband deals

What is National Broadband home broadband?

National Broadband home broadband is a home broadband service supplied by National Broadband.

Their broadband is powered by mobile networks, so the router in your home receives a 4G or 5G signal from a nearby mast and uses that to beam out a Wi-Fi network to your devices.

That’s different to fibre broadband, which relies on cables to bring the broadband signal into your home.

However, where National Broadband differs from the likes of Three home broadband or Vodafone home broadband is that it isn’t limited to one network. Rather, it has partnered with all of the UK’s major networks (meaning Three, Vodafone, EE, and O2) and will provide you with home broadband using the network that has the best signal in your area.

Why would I need it?

4G and 5G home broadband have a lot of advantages over fibre broadband, but the most obvious reason you might want or need it is that you can’t get fibre or can only get slow speed fibre where you live.

Assuming you have a mobile signal in your home, you should be able to get 4G or 5G broadband, and if you have a 5G signal it can be extremely fast. Even if you don’t get a signal on your phone though, there’s a chance 4G or 5G home broadband will work for you, as the hardware can often pick up more distant signals than smartphones can.

Since National Broadband works with all four proper UK mobile networks it also has the best possible chance of being able to get you online.

4G and 5G home broadband is also a lot quicker to get up and running than fibre broadband tends to be, as you don’t typically need an engineer visit. Just sign up, wait for the router to arrive, and plug it in.

That also means you can easily bring your broadband with you if you move home – just plug it in at your new property to get online again.

Plus, there’s no need for a landline, so your costs are potentially a lot lower than with fibre broadband (assuming you’re happy to stick with mobile calls).

What devices are available on National Broadband home broadband?

You’ll get a different router from National Broadband depending on whether you order a 5G plan or a 4G one.

The company’s flagship device is its 5G WiFi Router, which supports up to 64 simultaneous connections, and has a top download speed of 1.65Gbps – though as with all such devices the real-world speeds will typically be a lot lower, with National Broadband claiming average download speeds are “well over 100Mbps”. That’s still very fast though, and has many fibre plans beat.

For 4G home broadband there’s the 4G WiFi Router, which also supports 64 simultaneous connections but has top download speeds of 300Mbps, and average speeds of around 25Mbps.

This won’t be as fast as most fibre broadband plans, but it’s still enough for streaming HD video and most other online activities.

Both of these routers also have Ethernet ports and antenna ports – the latter being to help boost the signal with an external antenna if needed.

National Broadband mobile coverage

As National Broadband works with Three, EE, Vodafone, and O2, it has better coverage for its service than any individual network. If any of those networks have coverage in your home, then National Broadband will too.

Who else offers home broadband?

As well as National Broadband, you can also get 4G or 5G home broadband from Three, Vodafone, or EE.