As the most important network carrier in the USA, AT&T has a large range of wireless devices for 4G LTE networks, including the wireless mobile hotspot. AT&T had presented a series of 4G mobile WiFi hotspots in the name of Unite. The AT&T Unite Pro and Unite Explore are the two popular 4G LTE WiFi routers. For those people who are unfamiliar with AT&T Unite series product, they may ask: What’s the difference between AT&T Unite Pro and Unite Explore? Which one is more advanced and better? Read this blog and you may find the answers.
AT&T Unite Pro VS Unite Explore Appearance
The AT&T Unite Pro comes from the Netgear Aircard 781s and is customized to be AT&T Unite Pro. On the front of the screen, the AT&T Logo is available. Like other Netgear 4G mobile hotspot, the Unite Pro has a touchscreen with data usage meter, and the Home and back buttons are at the side of the screen. The power buttons are on the top edge side while the opposite side located the USB 3.0 port and two connectors for external antennas. The back cover can be opened to insert the SIM card and the battery is removable for batter exchange.
Following the Netgear AC781S design, the AT&T Unite Explore also has the same screen feature, the buttons, antenna connectors and USB ports are almost the same as that in Unite Pro 781s. The AT&T Unite Explore comes from Netgear Aircard 815s. The main difference from the appearance is the Unite Explore AC815S is in the rugged design, which is water and dust proof for outdoor activities.
AT&T Unite Pro VS Unite Explore Specifications
The appearance of the AT&T Unite Pro and Unite Explore are very similar except the Aircard 815s rugged design. Then let’s compare the AT&T Unite Pro Specs and Unite Explore Specs. The table below shows the two AT&T mobile hotspots specs and features:
| Model | AT&T Unite Explore 815S | AT&T Unite Pro 781S |
| Product type | LTE Mobile Hotspot | LTE Mobile Hotspot |
| Category | LTE Cat.9 | LTE Cat.4 |
| Chipset | Qualcomm MDM9240 | Qualcomm MDM9225 |
| Data rates | DL 450Mbps/UL 100Mbps | DL 150Mbps/UL 50Mbps |
| Supported 4G LTE frequency bands | B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B7, B12, B17, B29, B30 | B2, B4, B5, B17 |
| WLAN | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band 2.4GHz & 5GHz | 802.11 b/g/n, dual-band 2.4GHz & 5GHz |
| Max support users | 15 users | 10 users |
| MIMO | 2 x 2 MIMO | 2 x 2 MIMO |
| Connector for external antenna | Two, TS-9 jacks | Two, TS-9 jacks |
| Buy Antenna | AT&T Unite Explore Antenna | AT&T Unite Pro Antenna |
| App management | Netgear Aircard APP | Netgear Aircard APP |
| SIM type | Micro SIM | Micro SIM |
| Battery | Removable, 4340 mAh | Removable, 4020 mAh |
| Dimensions | 112 x 68.6 x 15.45mm | 112 x 68 x 19mm |
| Ethernet Port | No | No |
| Datasheet download | AT&T Unite Explore 815s Datasheet | AT&T Unite Pro Datasheet |
| User Manual | AT&T Unite Explore Manual | AT&T Unite Pro User manual |
| Other features | 3 band CA | |
| Firmware download | ATT Unite Explore Firmware | ATT Unite Pro Firmware |
| Drivers | ATT Unite Explore drivers | ATT Unite Pro drivers |
| Reviews | AT&T unite explore review | AT&T Unite Pro review |
| Price | 349.00USD | 269.00USD |
Summary
From the spec table above, we can see the AT&T Unite Explore (Netgear AC815S) is more advanced than AT&T Unite Pro (Netgear AC781S). With LTE advanced technologies on LTE Cat.9, Unite Explore could achieve download speed up to 450Mbps, which is almost three times faster than that of Unite Pro. The ATT Unite Explore covers more LTE frequency bands than that of Unite Pro. The WiFi 802.11ac is available in Unite Explore but Unite Pro doesn’t have this feature. Both ATT Unite Explore and Unite Pro support up to 15 wireless users and has two TS-9 connectors for an external antenna. Except that, the AT&T Unite explore is better than Unite Pro in almost all the aspects. If you would buy one mobile hotspot from the two, it’s no doubt that AT&T Unite Explore is better to buy.
However, with the advanced features, the AT&T Unite Explore price is a little bit higher than Unite Pro price. So if you are sensitive to the price, the budget one Unite Pro may also be good for daily life.