Netgear has confirmed the distribution of Nighthawk M1 in Europe from mid 2017. It is obvious that many European operators will not be ready to deliver Gigabit on their networks, but as stated above, things are progressing.
Nevertheless, the Netgear M1 has many advantages and can, in the meantime, work on aggregated networks of carriers that deliver high speeds, pending the 1 Gbps.
The Netgear M1 implements several technologies, starting with the aggregation of 4 carriers, a 4X4 MIMO technology, and a QAM-256 modulation. Here now, this Nighthawk M1 router will only be used on the 4G LTE network of the Australian operator TELSTRA, which has an operational network for this technology. Moreover, the development and testing of the product were carried out by TELSTRA in association with ERICSSON and NETGEAR. Of course, this equipment will be distributed in other regions as soon as the operator networks are able to implement this type of transmission.
Technical features and specifications
The Netgear Nighthawk M1 is rather well equipped, notwithstanding these networks performance (not to mention that the Gigabit LTE remains a theoretical throughput), the device presents:
* 2 external antenna connectors (type TS-9, Buy Netgear Nighthawk M1 external antenna)
* A USB Type A port
* A USB Type C port
* An Ethernet port
If a fixed broadband brings an Internet connection in the houses, which can’t provide network support outdoor, The Netgear M1 Nighthawk will not make you disappointed because it’s equipped with a battery of 5000 mAh offering continuous working time up to 24 hours. You can take the Netgear M1 for outdoor activities or business travel. The battery can work like a mobile power bank as an emergency backup to a mobile device such as a smartphone if necessary. It should be noted that this battery is removable, which makes it possible to replace it and therefore to dispose of a charged one beforehand for the displacements.
It offers a WiFi 802.11ac standard on dual-Band 2.4GHz/5GHz. The Nighthawk M1 can support up to 20 simultaneously connected clients. It also has a Micro SD card slot, for storing and sharing media. Finally, its Ethernet port offers the possibility to connect it to equipment such as switches for example, to redistribute the link to peripherals with wired link. This features are very similar to the latest Huawei Mobile WiFi Pro 2 E5885.
As you can see, connectivity is important for this router, which can accommodate many devices such as NAS, printers, USB devices. A 2.4 “LCD display is present on the top and gives all the connectivity and bit rate information.
On the network side, therefore, the Netgear M1 proposes a LTE-A link of category 16 using an aggregation of 4 carriers (4X4 MIMO) for a theoretical maximum rate of 1Gbps in download and 150 Mbps in upload.
Below are the supported frequency bands (at least for this Australian Telstra version):
* 4G/LTE: 700/900/1800/2100/2600 MHz
* 3G UMTS/WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100 MHz
The covered frequency bands make it use in almost all the areas over the world. But user have to unlock the Netgear M1 and then travel to other countries or areas. The dimensions of the M1 Nighthawk are 105,5 × 105,5 x 20,35 mm with a weight of 240 grams.
Summary
This high performance 4G router is very well equipped, and offers the latest technology and has a really rich connectivity. With the functions of a fixed use for an underserved area in high flow rates, or for mobile use in any desired situation, the Netgear Nighthawk M1 seems to be the perfect 4G routers and we look forward to testing it fully.