Vodafone has announced it is treating its broadband customers to a free Wi-Fi upgrade just in time for Christmas, introducing new technology to its broadband routers that can tell who is at home as well as when family members leave or arrive.

Who’s Home is a new safety feature that Vodafone has built into its Ultra 7 broadband router that can alert the account holder of the family’s comings and goings by linking their smartphones to the technology.

“Alerting account holders when their loved ones arrive or leave home, the router technology is designed to give greater peace of mind and reassurance to customers,” Vodafone said in a press release.

“Available to new and existing Vodafone customers with the latest routers* at no extra cost, the introduction of Who’s Home makes Vodafone the only UK broadband provider to offer smart router technology that proactively alerts customers when their loved one’s smartphone connects or disconnects from their hub.”

Though currently only compatible with the Ultra Hub 7 router, Vodafone said more routers will soon be made compatible.

Rather than technology such as Apple’s Find My that can track where a smartphone is at all time, Who’s Home is a simpler and arguably less invasive way of knowing whose phone (and therefore who) is at home at any given time, presuming those phones are set to connect automatically to the family Wi-Fi router.

Vodafone says account holders can activate Who’s Home using the Vodafone Broadband app, creating profiles for each member of the family and linking their smartphones to those profiles. It should work on any device and it doesn’t matter which network provider they are using.

People will receive an SMS invite to opt in, and a reminder text every three months. They can opt out at any time, which puts privacy controls in the hands of the individual rather than the account holder, who can only see who has opted in or out.

Account holders can receive push notifications of their family’s comings and goings, or check in the Vodafone Broadband app where a dashboard will show who is at home or who is out.

“Whether it’s knowing a child has got home from school or checking in on loved ones, Who’s

Home brings smart, simple security to Vodafone broadband households,” Vodafone said.

Though Vodafone still currently operates as a singular brand, it is now owned by VodafoneThree since Vodafone successfully merged with fellow UK operator Three in May 2025. Vodafone owns 51 percent of the entity and CK Hutchison, Three’s owner, 49 percent.

Though mobile customers are already seeing signal sharing benefits, it remains to be seen if Vodafone and Three will be permanently run as separate businesses or if VodafoneThree will attempt to merge customer bases in the future.