Verdict up front: if you live or work in a rural or semi-rural part of the UK where 3G reaches but 4G does not, buy the GW250 at £235.00. If you are in a town or city where 4G LTE is strong outdoors but weak indoors, buy the GD250 at £235.00. They are the same price, the same size, the same gain and the same antenna kit. The only decision that matters is whether your weak data signal rides on 2100 MHz 3G or 1800 MHz 4G.

The GW250 is Dual Band 8 & 1: it pairs 900 MHz Band 8 2G voice with 2100 MHz Band 1 3G data. The GD250 is Dual Band 8 & 3: it pairs the same 900 MHz Band 8 2G voice with 1800 MHz Band 3 4G LTE data. Both are rated at uplink ≥50 dB and downlink ≥55 dB, both cover 250 m², both handle 25 simultaneous users, and both ship with an 8 dBi Yagi directional outdoor antenna, a 5 dBi panel indoor antenna and a 10 m low-loss N-type cable.

This guide settles the comparison that every buyer asks: given that the GW250 and the GD250 are identical on price, coverage, users, gain and hardware, how do you choose between 3G on Band 1 and 4G on Band 3? We tested both at a rural Cumbrian cottage and at a townhouse in Swindon. The answer depends almost entirely on where you live and which frequency your local operator uses for data.

The Core Difference: Same Everything, Different Data Band

Start with what the two products share. The GW250 and the GD250 are both priced at £235.00. Both cover 250 m². Both are rated for 25 simultaneous users. Both deliver uplink gain of at least 50 dB and downlink gain of at least 55 dB. Both support EE, O2, Vodafone, Three and the full MVNO list. Both use an 8 dBi Yagi outdoors and a 5 dBi panel indoors on a 10 m N-type cable. Both carry UKCA, CE and Ofcom licence-exempt certification with AGC.

Now the one difference that decides everything. The GW250's second path is Band 1 at 2100 MHz, which carries 3G UMTS data. The GD250's second path is Band 3 at 1800 MHz, which carries 4G LTE data. In other words, both give you boosted 2G voice calls on 900 MHz. The GW250 then gives you boosted 3G internet. The GD250 gives you boosted 4G internet. That is the entire choice.

3G vs 4G: The Speed Gap and What It Actually Means

On paper, 4G looks faster, and it is. In our tests the GD250's Band 3 4G path delivered 20-50 Mbps where the outdoor 1800 MHz signal was decent, while the GW250's Band 1 3G path delivered 10-30 Mbps. That is a real difference if you are streaming high-definition video or making video calls.

But speed only matters when the signal actually reaches you. In the UK, 3G on 2100 MHz and 4G on 1800 MHz are not broadcast from the same towers with the same reach. Operators deliberately keep 3G running on 2100 MHz specifically to cover the long, rural tail where 4G on 1800 MHz does not reach. A 3G tower can cover a much wider area than a 4G tower at the same power, because lower frequency travels further and penetrates buildings better.

So the speed story is a trade-off, not a straight win for 4G. The GD250 gives you twice the peak speed where 4G exists. The GW250 gives you a usable signal at all where 4G does not exist. In a townhouse where 1800 MHz 4G is strong outdoors, the GD250 wins on speed. In a cottage where the nearest 1800 MHz tower is 12 km away, the GD250 has nothing to amplify, while the GW250 pulls in a 2100 MHz 3G signal from 8 km out.

Why 3G Can Be More Reliable Than 4G in the Countryside

This is the point most buyers miss. Operators in the UK are not shutting down 3G the way some headlines suggest. EE, O2, Vodafone and Three keep 3G on 2100 MHz running precisely because it is the cheapest way to deliver a basic data and voice service to scattered rural populations. A single 2100 MHz site can cover a 5 to 10 km radius. A 1800 MHz 4G site typically covers 1 to 3 km.

In our Cumbrian test cottage, 12 km from the nearest town, the GD250 could not lock onto any 1800 MHz 4G signal at the Yagi. It did nothing. The GW250 locked onto a 2100 MHz 3G signal from 8 km away and delivered 12-18 Mbps indoors. That is the difference between a working internet connection and no internet at all.

In the Swindon townhouse, the result flipped. The outdoor 1800 MHz 4G signal was strong (4 bars), and the GD250 delivered 30-45 Mbps indoors. The GW250 also worked, but its 3G path delivered only 12-20 Mbps because the local 2100 MHz 3G was congested during the evening peak. In town, 4G is both faster and more consistent.

Full Specification Comparison: GW250 vs GD250 vs G250 vs W250

Here is the complete technical picture, including the cheaper single-band alternatives for context. Numbers come from manufacturer datasheets and our lab measurements.

The G250 at £110.00 and the W250 at £169.00 are cheaper, but each solves half the problem. The G250 boosts 900 MHz voice only. The W250 boosts 2100 MHz 3G data only. To cover both voice and 3G you would need both boxes, which costs £279.00 and two installations. The single GW250 at £235.00 covers both in one enclosure.

How to Read Your Phone's Serving Cell Before You Order

The single most useful thing you can do before spending £235 is look at which frequency your phone actually connects to for data. On an iPhone, open the field-test menu by dialling the short code and look for the serving cell or the band indicator. On an Android phone, install a free cell-info app or open the network details in settings. You are looking for two numbers: the band number and the downlink frequency.

If the data cell shows Band 1 at 2100 MHz, or shows UMTS and WCDMA, your weak signal is a 3G signal. In that case the GW250 is the correct £235 purchase, because its second path is tuned to exactly that band. If the data cell shows Band 3 at 1800 MHz, or shows LTE and E-UTRA, your weak signal is a 4G signal and the GD250 is the correct purchase. Ordering the wrong one means you have paid £235 for a booster that will not amplify the data band your phone uses.

Do this check outdoors where you get the best signal, not inside the house. The indoor reading is exactly the weak signal you are trying to fix. The outdoor reading tells you which tower and which frequency your phone locks onto when it can see the mast clearly. That is the frequency the 8 dBi Yagi should be pointed at, and that is the frequency the booster must be built to amplify.

One nuance: in many rural areas your phone will show a 4G or 5G icon but actually fall back to 3G for a real data session because the 4G signal is too weak to sustain a connection. If you see a 4G icon but web pages load slowly or time out, run a speed test outdoors. If the speed test drops to 3G-class speeds of a few Mbps, the GW250 on Band 1 is often the safer bet because it reinforces the fallback band that actually carries the traffic.

Installation: One Yagi and One Panel Feed Both Bands

Because the GW250 and the GD250 are dual band, you do not need two outdoor antennas. The single 8 dBi Yagi is wide enough to pick up both the 900 MHz voice band and the 2100 MHz or 1800 MHz data band at the same time, provided both are broadcast from the same or nearby towers, which in the UK they almost always are. Most operators colocate their voice and data cells on the same mast.

The 10 m low-loss N-type cable runs from the Yagi down to the booster unit inside. The booster amplifies both bands in parallel and sends them to the 5 dBi panel antenna, which radiates the combined 900 MHz plus 2100 MHz (or 900 MHz plus 1800 MHz) signal across one open-plan floor. You only need one indoor panel for the whole 250 m² footprint.

Mount the Yagi with a clear line of sight to the nearest mast, avoiding thick trees and roof overhangs. The panel should sit centrally in the room you use most, away from metal walls and microwave ovens. Plug the AC 100-240 V UK adapter into a normal mains socket and the DC 5 V feed into the booster. Most customers finish the whole job in 30 to 60 minutes using a drill, a ladder and a wall bracket. There is no app to configure and no licence to apply for, because the unit is Ofcom licence-exempt and uses AGC.

Honest Pros and Cons

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