Tag: Netgear 4G LTE Modem

TP-Link M7650 VS Netgear Nighthawk M1

More and more network providers are upgrading their LTE networks to LTE advanced or LTE-A pro. So many users are demand high-level LTE mobile hotspots to get as fast speeds as possible from the LTE-A or LTE-A pro networks. TP-Link M7650 and Netgear Nighthawk M1 are the most advanced 4G Portable WiFi routers from TP-link and Netgear. If you are in trouble to buy one from the two, you may check below details about the difference between Netgear Nighthawk M1 MR1100 and TP-link M7650.

 

Netgear Nighthawk M1 VS Huawei M7650 Appearance and Interfaces

As portable 4G routers, Netgear Nighthawk M1 and TP-link M7650 are both in small size, which could be easily taken in a hand or a pocket. The Netgear Nighthawk is a little bit thicker than that of M7650. Unlike its predecessor mobile hotspots from Netgear 4G LTE modem, the Nighthawk MR1100 doesn’t have a touchscreen. The round display will show the important information for the connection. A user can switch the information by pressing the power button on the top edge side. There is also a USB port and an Ethernet port available with two connectors for 4G LTE MIMO Antenna. The back cover could be opened to remove the battery and insert the SIM card.

 

Following the design of TP-link 4G LTE WiFi hotspot, the TP-link M7650 has a small display which is also not a touchscreen. It can show the connection status and other parameters. Users can switch the menu by pressing the two buttons(Power and Menu buttons) at the two side of the display. The back cover of TP-link M7650 could also be opened and the battery could be removed. The SIM card and SD card slots are located together. The

 

 

TP-Link M7650 VS Netgear Nighthawk M1 MR1100 Specs and Features

It’s disappointing that both the two LTE-A pro mobile hotspots don’t have touchscreen. And the top mobile hotspot TP-Link M7650 4G doesn’t have connectors for external LTE antennas. Then let’s have a comparison of the Netgear Nighthawk M1 Specs and TP-link M7650 Specs:

 

Model Netgear Nighthawk M1 TP-Link M7650
Product type 4G hotspot with Ethernet Port LTE Mobile Hotspot
Category LTE Cat.16 LTE Cat.11
Chipset Qualcomm MDM9x50 Qualcomm MDM9240
Data rates DL 1Gbps/UL 100Mbps DL 600Mbps/UL 50Mbps
Supported 4G LTE frequency bands — 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		 B1, B3, B7, B8, B20, B38, B40, B41
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 32 users
MIMO 4 X 4 MIMO 2 x 2 MIMO
Connector for external antenna Two, TS-9 jacks No
Buy Antenna Netgear Nighthawk M1 External Antenna No
App management Netgear Aircard APP tpMiFi APP
SIM type Micro SIM Micro SIM
Battery Removable, 5040 mAh Removable, 3000 mAh
Dimensions 105.5 x 105.5 x 20.35 mm 112.5 x 66.5 x 16mm
Ethernet Port On port for LAN port(RJ-45) No
Datasheet download Netgear Nighthawk M1 Datasheet TP-link M7650 Datasheet
User Manual Netgear Nighthawk M1 Manual TP-link M7650 User Manual
Other features 4 band CA, JumpBoost 3 band CA
Firmware download Nighthawk M1 Firmware TP-link M7650 Firmware
Drivers Nighthawk M1 Driver TP-link M7650 driver
Reviews Netgear Nighthawk M1 AT&T Review TP-link M7650 review
Price 459.00USD 469.00USD

 

 

Summary

It’s obvious that the Netgear Nighthawk M1 is better than TP-link M7650. Nighthawk M1 could support peak download speed up to 1Gigabit/s while TP-link M7650 supports peak download speed up to 600Mbps. Netgear Nighthawk M1 had presented three variant models to different countries. They support more LTE network frequency bands, so the Netgear Nighthawk M1 Unlocked could be used with more network carriers. With the larger capacity of the battery, Netgear Nighthawk M1 could not only support longer working time but also could charge other devices like a mobile power bank. In addition to the Ethernet port, Netgear MR1100 also has two connectors for external antenna, which would be very useful to improve network signal if it’s used in weak signal areas. The only advantage of TP-link M7650 is that it could support maximum users up to 32 devices, which is more than supported users from Netgear Nighthawk M1. And the TP-link M7650 price is higher than the Netgear M1 price. In our opinion, the Netgear Nighthawk M1 is highly recommended rather than TP-link M7650.

Netgear LB1110 4G LTE Modem Review

At IFA 2016, Netgear had presented the two LTE modems LB1110 and LB1111, and the LB1110 is finally arrived to the test around the end of December. The LB1110 is an external LTE modem with Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 connection, but other functions such as battery operation, WLAN or a telephone interface are deliberately omitted. The Netgear LB1110 requires an external power supply, the sister model LB1111 additionally has Power over Ethernet (PoE), ie the power can be supplied directly via the Ethernet cable. In this review, you can read more about the performance from Netgear LB1110 modem.

netgear_lb1110_lb1111-2

Appearance

The Netgear LB1110 modem is packed in a small cardboard box. Besides the device, there is also a short LAN cable as well as the power supply (with adapter for Europe and British plug format). Furthermore, there is a brief guide, which should help for operation.

 

The Netgear LB1110 is completely made of plastic and offers some green LEDs on the front for signal reception, network status and LAN connection. At first glance the modem looks solidly processed and it makes a good impression. With dimensions of 120 x 99 x 31 mm (W x D x H), it is quite compact and can also be attached to the wall if required.

netgear_lb1110_lb1111-3

Hardware & Speed

The Netgear LB1110 modem has a single RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet port on the back. Here, a single computer can be connected directly, or the connection to a router or switch can be established. Furthermore, you will find the connection for the power supply (DC, 12V, 1A), a reset button and a power button on the back.

 

The Netgear LB1110 modem allows speeds of up to 150 MBit/s in the downlink and up to 50 Mbps in the uplink via LTE Category 4. In addition to the FDD LTE frequency bands around 800, 1800 and 2600 MHz currently in use in Europe, FDD LTE is also supported on 900 MHz and TDD LTE on 2300 MHz. UMTS is supported with the data accelerator DC-HSPA+, the theoretically maximum possible speed is 42.2 Mbps in the downlink and 5.76 Mbps in the uplink. Here, the bands are supported by 900 and 2100 MHz. As a fallback, the LB1110 modem can also use Quadband GSM.

Netgear LB1111 LB1111-100EUS

In the test, the Netgear LB1110 modem with SIM cards from O2 and Telekom was used; the tariffs had no limitation of the speed. With a good UMTS reception in the network from the Telekom, about 26 MBit/s in the Downlink were possible, with O2 it reached up to 21 MBit/s. LTE was considerably slower at O2 despite a good reception with only around 7 MBit/s – here the network was certainly overloaded. The ping times were 25 milliseconds on the LTE network and 40 milliseconds on UMTS. In the Telecom LTE network at 1800 MHz, some 130 MBit/s were possible. Depending on the location, reception and network load, these values ​​vary widely, this is completely normal.

 

The reception via the internal antennas is good and is clearly superior to that of most smartphones. Nevertheless, it may be useful to connect an external mobile radio antenna at some locations. The LB1110 has two TS-9 connectors on the rear panel. Netgear itself provides as a passive antenna, which is also suitable for mobile use.

 

Software & Operation

The Netgear LB1110 can be operated from any browser. The web interface is encrypted with a password and the PIN code for the SIM card must be entered after switching on for the first time. On request, the router remembers the PIN, so you do not have to re-enter it every time. By the way, the SIM card is inserted in a small compartment on the back of the LB1110, a MicroSIM is required, but a Nano SIM with adapter is also OK.

Netgear LB1111 LB1111-100EUS

 

The web interface is available in several languages, looks modern, tidy and functional. The start screen displays the most important information, such as the reception strength and the data volume consumed. On request, a tariff can also be stored and thus the data volume can be limited, if necessary, the router even sends a warning SMS as soon as the volume has been used up. The settings can be used to configure various functions, for example, it is possible to set the router so that only the UMTS network or the LTE network is used. Also, it is possible in the settings to disable the LEDs on the router when they are not needed.

 

LB1111 Power over Ethernet

With LB1110, there is the sister model Netgear LB1111. Compared to the LB1110, it looks identical and offers the same functions, but it also has Power over Ethernet (PoE, ie power supply over Ethernet cable). With a PoE-capable router or switch, it is possible to operate the LB1111 modem completely without an external power supply. This is especially interesting in buildings, where there is no socket near the modem.  With an ideal placement of the modem and the power supply via PoE, one could dispense an external LTE antenna in many cases.

netgear_lb1110_lb1111-4

Conclusion: Netgear LB1110

The Netgear LB1110 modem is convincing by good reception, good speeds and easy operation thanks to modern software. The connection is stable and the status LEDs are very easy to read. If you are looking for a good LTE modem with RJ-45 LAN connection and do not want further technology such as telephone and WLAN, the LB1110 is in any case well advised.

 

The only fault: even if the maximum LTE speed of 150 MBit/s in the downlink and 50 MBit/s in the uplink would be absolutely enough, Netgear would have to face the competition from other similar faster modem such as Huawei E5771 and E5770, ZTE MF903. The similar models have inserted large battery and can work on the go. The only slightly more expensive models Netgear AirCard 790 and AirCard 810 hotspots are more powerful and support higher LTE networks.