Since Huawei LTE router WiFi is very popular in the global market, if you want to buy a 4G SIM router for home or office, you may consider Huawei LTE routers such as Huawei B618 or predecessor model Huawei E5186. But what’s the difference between the Huawei E5186 router and B618 CPE? And which one is better to buy? The questions would be answered in this article.
Huawei E5186 VS B618 CPE Appearance and Interfaces
If you had used a Huawei 4G router, you may know the Huawei E5186 router, which is the best seller of 4G LTE-A router from Huawei. It’s in white color and in a traditional router design. On the front, there are five indicators on the front for Power, Mode, WiFi, Voice, and Signal. On the back, there are 4 Ethernet Ports for LAN (One is for LAN & WAN), two Telephone ports and one USB 2.0 port. The Huawei B618 4G LTE router is the latest new LTE advanced Pro router, which is in a new design of a Cube in white color. It also has some indicators on the front vertically for Signal, Power, Status, LAN, WiFi, Mode, among which the WPS buttons are available.
The Huawei B618 Router also has the Ethernet ports on the back, but there are only two LAN port, one of which is for both LAN and WAN. Only one telephone port is available below the Ethernet port. The USB 2.0 port is above the Ethernet port. The power button and connectors for external 4G Antennas are available on the Ethernet and USB ports. The connector type is TS-9. If you need Huawei B618 antenna, you must buy an LTE Antenna with two TS-9 connectors. The Huawei E5186 also has two connectors for an external antenna on the back covering a long cap. The connector type is SMA-Female. If you need Huawei E5186 external antenna, you must buy an LTE antenna with two SMA connectors.
Huawei B618 VS E5186 Specs and Variant models
If you had some blogs about 4G LTE devices, you may know that the many LTE devices have variant models to support various LTE frequency bands over the world. To support these LTE bands, Huawei E5186 router has two variant models E5186s-22a and E5186s-61a. The Huawei B618 also has two sub-models: B628s-22d and B618s-65d. From the appearance, we can only see the difference is in the design and Ethernet ports. Regarding the data transmission performance and other features, you may check the table for Huawei E5186 specs and Huawei B618 specs:
| Model | Huawei B618 | Huawei E5186 |
| Product type | LTE WiFi Router | LTE WiFi Router |
| Category | LTE Cat.9/ Cat.11 | LTE Cat.6 |
| Chipset | HiSilicon Balong 750 | HiSilicon LTE Cat6 Chipset |
| Data rates | DL 600Mbps/UL 100Mbps | DL 300Mbps/UL 50Mbps |
| Supported 4G LTE frequency bands | Huawei B618s-22d: Band 1/3/7/8/20/38 Huawei B618s-65d: 1/3/5/7/8/28/40 |
Huawei E5186s-22a: Band 1/3/7/8/20/38 Huawei E5186s-61a: Band 3/7/28/40 |
| WLAN | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band 2.4GHz & 5GHz | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band 2.4GHz & 5GHz |
| Max supported users | 64 users | 64 users |
| MIMO | 4 X 4 MIMO | 2 x 2 MIMO |
| Connector for external antenna | Two, TS-9 jacks | Two, SMA-female jacks |
| Buy Antenna | Huawei B618 Antenna | Huawei E5186 external antenna |
| App management | Huawei Hilink APP | Huawei Hilink APP |
| SIM type | Micro SIM | Micro SIM |
| Battery | NO | NO |
| Dimensions | 95mm × 95mm × 208mm | 190 mm × 200 mm × 32 mm |
| Interfaces | * 1 x LAN port(45) * 1 x LAN/WAN port (45) * 1 x telephone port(RJ11) * 1 x USB 2.0 port |
* 3 x LAN port(45) * 1 x LAN/WAN port (45) * 2 x telephone port(RJ11) * Two external LTE antenna ports (SMA-J1.5) * One micro-SIM card slot * 1 x USB 2.0 port |
| Datasheet | Huawei B618 Datasheet | Huawei E5186 Datasheet(PDF) |
| User Manual | Huawei B618 User Manual | Huawei E5186 User Manual(PDF) |
| Other features | DHCP Server, DNS RELAY and NAT, VoLTE, IPv4 /IPv6 dual stack | Firewall, CS Voice, VoIP, TR069 Remote Management, HTTP Online Upgrade, QoS, USB Share, UPnP, IPV6, DLNA, Fax, Print, VPN |
| Reviews | Huawei B618s-22d Review | Huawei E5186 Review |
| Price/USD | 449.00USD | 259.00USD |
Summary
From the specs table, we can see the Huawei B618 router is more advanced than unlocked Huawei E5186 router. LTE CPE B618 could support downlink speed up to 600Mbps with 4 x 4 MIMO technology, which is almost double faster than that of Huawei E5186. The two variant models of the two routers cover similar LTE frequency bands, which mean they are designed for same areas. However, the advanced Huawei B618 has fewer Ethernet interfaces than Huawei E5186. If you would use the router with more than 2 devices through Ethernet port, you’d better select the Huawei E5186 as a home or office router. However, if you use the router mainly through WiFi, the Huawei B618 router would be very good. Since the two Huawei Routers would provide wireless internet for up to 64 users, Huawei B618 provider fast internet speeds.
Of course, the Huawei B618 provide faster speeds with advanced technologies, the price would be more expensive than Huawei E5186 router. So if you don’t have enough budget for B618 CPE, the Huawei 5186 is recommended, in our test, it’s good enough for most cases in our daily life.