Earlier this year, Netgear introduced the Nighthawk M2, a new mobile hotspot that transforms UMTS or LTE-based Internet access into a Wi-Fi hotspot to provide wireless network for multiple devices such as smartphones, tablets or laptops. The successor of the Nighthawk M1 supports LTE Cat. 20 and in theory allows data transfer rates of up to 2 Gbit/s downstream and 150 Mbit/s upstream.
In practice, there are hardly any 4G networks supporting such high data transfer rates. Is still worth the purchase of the mobile hotspot, which is not a bargain with a purchase? We had the opportunity to put the heavy square device to a thorough test.
The Netgear Nighthawk M2 mobile router comes in a convenient package. In addition to the router itself, there is the battery and a quick start guide with the power supply and connecting cable. The supplied battery has a capacity of 5040 mAh. The WLAN standards 802.11a, b and g are supported. The 4G mobile hotspot is working on 2.4 and 5 GHz. The Netgear M2 has a USB-A and USB-C as well as an Ethernet interface. There are also connection options for external antennas (Buy Netgear Nighthawk M2 External Antenna). The LAN port can be used to use a wired Internet access instead of the mobile modem and to redistribute it via WLAN.
The processing of the Netgear 4G mobile router is impeccable. You can argue about the shiny surface. Here you can see very clear fingerprints very quickly, especially since the Nighthawk M2 has a touch screen, so it regularly gets into the embarrassment of touching the display. The complete initial setup can also be made via the touch-sensitive screen. A separate app or the web-based access to the M2 pocket WiFi router menu is possible, but not mandatory.
We have set up the router right on the touchscreen made, which was not easy. For one thing, the virtual keyboard is quite small due to the display size. So you always catch the wrong letter when typing. In addition, the screen does not respond as well to inputs as used by higher quality smartphones. If the setup of a network identifier (SSID) and the associated password worked quite well, then setting a (somewhat complicated) administrator password was not possible on the second attempt, so we skipped this step and later have made on the configuration via the Netgear Mobile App.
After the initial setup, the Netgear Nighthawk M2 mobile hotspot was immediately ready for use. The configuration for SIM cards is made automatically. As soon as the MiFi was set up, the availability of a firmware update was already displayed. We have installed this over the existing LTE data connection. In the process, around 160 MB of data was transferred. What changes the update brings is unknown. The internet connection via the Netgear Nighthawk M2 was very stable in the test for several hours. It did not matter if we used an Apple iPhone XS Max, a Samsung Galaxy S10+ or an Apple MacBook Pro.
The display of the router shows the current data consumption, the ID of the SIM card provider and the network technology used. There is also a small S-meter, which provides information about the quality of mobile reception. The battery level is also displayed. By default, you can also find the names of the Wi-Fi hotspot and the password via the touchscreen. This display can be deactivated if desired. Numerous settings are possible via the touchscreen menu. First, there is a WPS function. Then the user can limit the hotspot to one of the two WLAN frequency ranges (2.4 or 5 GHz). The connected devices can be displayed and, for example, you can specify whether the hotspot is put into standby mode after a period of non-use to save battery capacity.
Other possibilities are the restriction of Wi-Fi hotspots to a smaller reception area in order to save battery capacity or the automatic WLAN detach when USB tethering is used. The brightness of the display can be adjusted and the user can decide whether he wants to use the Internet access only in the home network or in international roaming. SMS messages can be sent and received via the Netgear Nighthawk M2. As we have already mentioned regarding the initial setup: The touch screen does not always respond reliably to inputs and the virtual keyboard is quite small. Apart from that, the menu is functional and intuitive to use.
With a SIM card from Vodafone, we have achieved data transfer rates of up to 110 Mbps in the downstream and 61 Mbps in the upstream. This is far from the peak speeds that the Netgear Nighthawk M2 allows, but is more or less equivalent to what the mobile telecom Internet access does with the smartphone. Even in mobile mode, such as a Wi-Fi hotspot in the car, the router performed well in the test. At speed 120Mbps on the highway, the performance of Internet access was still fine. Compared to a WLAN adapter such as the Huawei E8377 CarFi, the Netgear device earns more scores by the possibility to connect an outdoor LTE antenna. In regions with bad LTE coverage, a magnetic base antenna on the car roof provides a significant improvement in reception, which also affects the performance of Internet access.
Although Netgear Nighthawk M2 is well-made and provides stable Internet access for up to 20 devices, flaws such as the only moderately good touchscreen provides bad experience for users. For almost half of the purchase price, the Netgear Nighthawk M1 is available, which supports data transfer rates of up to 1 GBit/s via LTE, more than what the nets usually give out, so this model offers the much better price/performance ratio.
The Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi, bring his new 5G smartphones to the customer: Mi 9 Pro 5G. Comparing with the predecessor Xiaomi Mi 9, the new smartphone supports the new 5G mobile communications standard and also brings some interesting functions with it.
New 5G smartphone
The Xiaomi Mi 9 Pro 5G is not the first 5G cell phone from Xiaomi. The first 5G cell phone is Xiaomi Mix 3 5G. Of course, the device also works in older mobile standards such as LTE and 3G. As introduced, Xiaomi Mi 9 Pro 5G is to sport 30W Super Fast Wireless Charging technology. The device has already received TENAA certification which revealed some key specifications. The Mi Pro 5G cell phone will have a 6.39-inch display while running on Snapdragon 855 Plus SoC. The phone will feature up to 12GB RAM with up to 512GB internal storage along with a 4,000mAh battery.
Super Charge 30W Wireless Technology
Especially interesting is the charging function. The new Xiaomi 5G phone is the first smartphone that can be charged with 30 watts. The highlight of this event was Xiaomi’s Mi Charge Turbo technology, of course. Xiaomi claims that Mi Charge Turbo is the world’s first 30W wireless charging solution. With this, users can wirelessly charge a 4,000mAh battery phone from 0% to 50% in just 25 minutes, and up to 100% in just 70 minutes. This pitches the wireless charging solution to be higher than a lot of current generation wired charging solutions. The specifics of the working of this technology are not very clear at this stage since the presentation and source are in Chinese. Thus, the device is expected to be one of the fastest charged smartphones in the market despite large 4,000 mAh battery. In addition to wirelessly charging the smartphone, it can also charge other devices.
So far, it was only possible to buy the smartphones and other devices of the bustling manufacturer on gray imports or Chinese online shops. But the company wants to change that soon. Because it has announced that it intends to distribute its smartphones on many other markets officially.
Mi 9 Pro 5G Availability and Price
Xiaomi has not shared any launch and available details about the Mi Pro 5G. But a recent leak indicates that the company is pretty close to launching the smartphone. And the Xiaomi Mi 9 pro 5G price is not yet known, but considering Xiaomi style, it’s expected to be better than Huawei 5G smartphone Mate 20 X 5G and ZTE Axon 10 Pro 5G.
To meet the requirements from 5G network, Netgear presented a new mobile WiFi hotspot Nighthawk M2 for the Australian network provider Telstra and carriers in Europe. Netgear Nighthawk M2 is an ultra-fast portable WiFi router with next-generation Gigabit 4G LTE connectivity with a download speed of up to 2 Gbps. The Netgear Nighthawk M2 5G router is upgraded from the predecessor Nighthawk M1, so you may ask what’s the difference between Netgear Nighthawk M2 and M1?
In the table below, you will see the details specs of Netgear Nighthawk M2 unlocked and Nighthawk M1 unlocked for your reference:
| Model | Netgear Nighthawk M2 | Netgear Nighthawk M1 |
| Product type | 5G Mobile Hotspot | 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot |
| Category | LTE Cat.20 | LTE Cat.16 |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon X24 | Qualcomm MDM9x50 |
| Data rates | DL 2Gbps/UL 150Mbps | DL 1Gbps/UL 100Mbps |
| Supported 4G LTE frequency bands | -- Telstra Nighthawk M2 MR2100-1TLAUS: Band 1/3/7/8/28 -- Nighthawk M2 MR2100-100EUS: Band 1/3/7/8/20/28/38/40/41 -- Hong Kong Nighthawk M2: LTE Band 1/3/8/20/29/30/38/40/41 | -- Telstra Nighthawk M1: Band 1/3/7/8/28 -- AT&T Nighthawk M1: Band 1/2/3/4/5/7/12/29/30/66 -- Hong Kong Nighthawk M1: LTE Band 1/3/8/20/29/30/38/40/41 |
| WLAN | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band 2.4GHz & 5GHz | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band 2.4GHz & 5GHz |
| Max support users | 20 users | 20 users |
| MIMO | 4 X 4 MIMO | 4 X 4 MIMO |
| Connector for external antenna | Two, TS-9 jacks | Two, TS-9 jacks |
| Buy Antenna | Netgear Nighthawk M2 Antenna | Netgear Nighthawk M1 Antenna |
| App management | Netgear Aircard APP | Netgear Aircard APP |
| SIM type | Micro SIM | Micro SIM |
| Battery | Removable, 5040 mAh | Removable, 5040 mAh |
| Dimensions | 105.5 x 105.5 x 20.35 mm | 105.5 x 105.5 x 20.35 mm |
| Ethernet Port | * One port for LAN port(RJ-45) * One port of USB-A * One port of USB-C | * One port for LAN port(RJ-45) * One port for USB 2.0 |
| Datasheet download | Netgear Nighthawk M2 Datasheet | Netgear Nighthawk M1 Datasheet |
| User Manual | Netgear Nighthawk M2 Manual | Netgear Nighthawk M1 Manual |
| Other features | 3GPP, Rel. 14, 5 band CA, 256QAM DL / 64QAM UL, JumpBoost | 3GPP, Rel. 12, 4 band CA, 256QAM DL / 64QAM UL, JumpBoost |
| Firmware download | Nighthawk M2 Firmware | Nighthawk M1 Firmware |
| Drivers | Nighthawk M2 Driver | Nighthawk M1 Driver |
| Reviews | Netgear Nighthawk M2 Review | Netgear Nighthawk M1 Review |
| Price | 999.00USD | 459.00USD |
Here you can check the general comparison of Nighthawk M2 and M1:
Nighthawk M2 Mobile Router (MR2100):
- LTE CAT 20, DL support up to 2Gbps speeds - 3GPP, Rel. 14
- 5CA with 20 simultaneous Downlink layers
- 4x4 MIMO
- 256QAM DL / 64QAM UL CA 3C, 7C
- 11ac Dual band dual concurrent
Nighthawk M1 Mobile Router (MR1100):
- LTE CAT 16, DL support up to 1Gbps speeds - 3GPP, Rel. 12
- 4CA with 10 simultaneous Downlink layers
- 4x4 MIMO
- 256QAM DL / 64QAM UL CA 3C, 7C
- 11ac Dual band dual concurrent
We can see that, based on the technology improvement, Netgear Nighthawk M2 is more advanced than M1, M2 can achieve download speed up to 2Gbps while M1 only half of it. And the Nighthawk M2 has larger touch screen to 2.4 inches. Other features are very similar.
| Model | Huawei B612 | Huawei B310 |
| Product type | Huawei WiFi Router with Ethernet port | LTE WiFi Router |
| Category | LTE Cat.6 | LTE Cat.4 |
| Chipset | HiSilicon LTE Cat6 Chipset | Hisilicon Balong |
| LTE Data rates | DL 300Mbps/UL 50Mbps | DL 150Mbps/UL 50Mbps |
| Supported 4G LTE frequency bands | Huawei B612s-25d: B1/B3/B7/B8/B20/B38/B40/B41/B42/B43 Huawei B612s-51d: B2/B4/B5/B7/B41 | * Huawei B310s-927: B1/B3/B8/B40 * Huawei B310As-852: B3/B7/B8/B38/B39/B40/B41 * Huawei B310s-22: B1/B3/B7/B8/B20 * Huawei B310s-518: B1/B2/B4/B5/B7/B28 |
| WLAN | 802.11 b/g/n/ac, single-band 2.4GHz | 802.11b/g/n, single-band 2.4GHz |
| Max supported users | 32 users | 32 users |
| MIMO | 4 x 4 MIMO | n/a |
| Antenna | Two, SMA-female jacks | Two, SMA-female jacks |
| Buy Antenna | Huawei B612 external antenna | Huawei B310 external antenna |
| App management | Huawei Hilink APP | Huawei Hilink APP |
| SIM Size | Micro SIM | Standard SIM |
| Battery | NO | No |
| Dimensions | 240 × 155 × 78 mm | 181.0mm x 126.0mm x 70.0mm |
| Interfaces | * 3 x LAN port(RJ45) * 1 x LAN/WAN port (RJ45) * 1 x telephone port(RJ11) * Two external LTE antenna ports (SMA-female) * One micro-SIM card slot * 1 x USB 2.0 port | * 1 x power adapter port * 3 x LAN port(RJ45)(Depends) * 1 x LAN/WAN port (RJ45) * 1 x telephone port(RJ11)(depends) * Two external LTE antenna ports (SMA-J1.5) * One SIM card slot * 1 x USB 2.0 port(depends) |
| Datasheet | Huawei B612 Datasheet(PDF) | Huawei B310 Datasheet(PDF) |
| User Manual | Huawei B612 User Manual(PDF) | Huawei B310 Manual(PDF) |
| Other features | Firewall, CS Voice, VoIP, VoLTE, IPv6/IPv4 dual stack, NAT, DHCP, VPN, DMZ, UPnP, ALG, | Voice, DHCP, NAT, ARP, ICMP, DNS Relay, IPv6/IPv4 dual stack, VPN passthrough, Firewall, URL filter, LAN IP filter, DMZ, UPnP, ALG, Port forwarding |
| Firmware download | Huawei B612 firmware | Huawei B310 firmware |
| Driver | Huawei B612 driver | Huawei B310 driver |
| Reviews | Huawei B612 Review | Huawei B310 Review |
| Price/USD | 199.00USD | 139.00USD |
