Compare 
.jpg)
EE isn’t content to stick with one 4G home broadband router, as it’s now on the third iteration of its 4G router, with the EE Smart 4G Hub, previously known as the 4GEE Home Router 3.
This white box offers a whole new look compared to the 4GEE Home Router 2, as we’ll get to below, but many of the core specs and features are much the same.
So is the EE Smart 4G Hub an upgrade worth having? Our article aims to answer that question.
Design
The EE Smart 4G Hub is a plain white box with an EE logo and indicator lights at the top, ports at the back and vents at the bottom.
It comes in at 128 x 100 x 55mm and 279g, so it’s wider than it is tall. For reference, the 4GEE Home Router 2 is both wider and taller than this, but it’s also a lot slimmer, at 240 x 155 x 29.5mm. That gives it a less boxy look than the new router, but not necessarily a better look – both are designed to be plain and inoffensive.
Setup
The EE Smart 4G Hub comes with a quick start guide, and ‘quick’ really is the key word, as you basically just pop the supplied SIM card in and plug the router in. As with any router there are settings to tweak, such as changing the network name or security settings, but to simply get up and running it’s little more than plug-and-play.
This is one of the great things about 4G and 5G home broadband devices – there’s no need for an engineer to set things up, and you don’t even need a landline, which both simplifies things and potentially reduces the cost, as you could always get rid of your landline entirely with this.
These perks are true of all 4G home broadband routers though, so none of this is a specific selling point of the EE Smart 4G Hub, but it’s good to know nonetheless.
Performance
Judging the speed of a 4G home broadband router is never easy, because it will be so dependent on the coverage in your home, and even on how building materials and other obstacles affect the signal.
That’s why any figures given by networks or quoted in reviews should be taken with a pinch of salt, and perhaps that’s why EE itself is being so cagey here, saying simply that you can get “uncapped speeds.”
Based on what EE’s said about its 4G network in the past, we’d assume that means peak speeds of around 90Mbps, but in reality you’re likely to get less than that.
It’s worth noting also that some plans used to cap your speeds at 30Mbps, and the small print still makes mention of this, but that cap doesn’t appear to be advertised on any of the current plans, so presumably speeds will be unrestricted if you buy the EE Smart 4G Hub at the time of writing.
Beyond speed, the EE Smart 4G Hub also has two Ethernet ports allowing for wired connections, offers a 30-metre Wi-Fi radius, and can get up to 64 gadgets online at once. Those are all solid specs, but they’re in line with the competition, as you’ll see below.
Alternatives
If you’re set on using EE, then your main alternative to the EE Smart 4G Hub is the EE Smart 5G Hub, however this is only really useful if you get a 5G signal in your home. If you do though then it’s a far better option, as you can get much higher speeds that are likely to average around 150Mbps.
Other specs here are similar though, including a 30-metre Wi-Fi range, two ethernet ports and 64 simultaneous connections.
Your options widen if you’re open to other networks, with the Three 4G Broadband Hub offering similar specs to the EE Smart 4G Hub, but with four Ethernet ports, and the Vodafone GigaCube 4G also being similarly capable. Both networks also offer 5G options in the form of the Vodafone GigaCube 5G and the Three 5G Broadband.
While specs vary a bit, in most cases coverage and plans will make a bigger difference, so choose a network with good coverage in your home, and plans and pricing that appeal – and go for 5G if it’s an option.
There’s also fibre broadband of course, and in short, fibre broadband is typically faster, and sometimes a lot faster, so if that’s available to you then it’s worth considering too, just be aware that the setup is more of a hassle, and that costs are sometimes higher.
Conclusion
The EE Smart 4G Hub is a capable and competitive 4G home broadband router that rivals devices from other networks.
However, while EE has been cagey on many of the specs, it doesn’t appear to be a significant upgrade on the 4GEE Home Router 2, and it’s in any case limited to a slightly dated technology (4G).
If you have 5G coverage in your home we’d always recommend spending a little more to get the extra speed offered by a 5G router (unless your internet needs are very minor), but if you don’t, then the EE Smart 4G Hub is the best option on EE, and one of the best you’ll find on any network. It’s just not very future-proofed.
