Difference Between Netgear Aircard AC790s and AC782S

Netgear Aircard 4G mobile hotspots are one series of most popular 4G pocket routers. From the gain of Sierra Wireless, Netgear followed the appearance of the aircards but improved much on the functions and performance. In the aircard family, there are Aircard AC754S, AC770S, AC771S, AC779S, AC778S, AC762S, AC760S, AC763S for LTE Category 3. Now the LTE Category 4 mobile hotspot includes Netgear AC781S, AC782S, AC785S.

Netgear AC790S VS Aircard AC782s hotspot

What amazing is that the Netgear had presented the LTE Category 6 mobile hotspots to public. Many customers are already using the new LTE Cat6 router. The model number is Netgear Aircard 790s. If you had used the Aircard 782S, you may found the two 4G mobile hotspot looks very similar. It’s the first impression at a glance. They are both introduced by Australian network provider Telstra. The Netgear AC782S is also named Telstra 4G WiFi Advanced while the Aircard 790s is named Telstra 4G WiFi Advanced II. As two generation mobile 4G Router for Telstra, we will have a look at what’s the difference between the two models.

Telstra 4G WiFi Advanced & II compasion

Appearance

 

Even though the Aircard 790s and 782s look similar, there are obvious model named printed on the device. The 4G Advanced is on the 782s and 4G Advanced II on the 790s. The Telstra logo is  at right top side. The body color of 782s is in grey. The body color of Netgear AC790s is darker than 782s, it’s in black color. The thickness of the two models are very similar to 15mm. On the front center, there are 2.4 inch QVGA capacitive LCD screen, where user can operate the settings and read information about the network status, providers, WiFi name and password, battery status etc.

The power buttons are at the top edge of the body. The USB port and two antenna connectors for external antenna are at the bottom edge. If one user is located at areas with poor signal, external antennas may be necessary to get better surfing experience. Both the AC782S and AC790s has removable battery. The AC782S has battery of 2500mAh while AC790S has battery of 2930mAh.

 

Technical Specifications

 

Based on Qualcomm Qualcomm MDM9225 & WTR1605L chipset, Aircard 782s could support 4G LTE Band 1/3/7/8 and the peak download speed up to 150mbps. The Aircard 790s is on Qualcomm MDM9230, it could support multiple LTE bands 1/3/7/8/28 with peak download speed to 300Mbps, which is double speed than Aircard 782s. They are both back compatible with qual-bands UMTS/WCDMA networks, and GSM/EDGE network is also supported.

 

 

As a 4G mobile router, Netgear 782s could support up to 10 wireless terminals simultaneously. The Aircard 790s is more powerful on this function, up to 15 wireless users could be connected at the same time. Aircard 790s supports WLAN 802.11 ac which is missed in 782S. But dual-band WiFi and 2 X 2 MIMO are both available on the two mobile routers. And they both use Micro SIM(3FF Format).

Telstra WiFi 4G Advanced II Aircard 790s battery

Operation

 

The two mobile hotspots could both be easily operated via the LCD screen. User could choose network mode, do the factory reset, update software by clicking the screen. If user want to do more settings, it can be done via web browser or via the Netgear management APP.

Telstra WiFi 4G Advanced II Aircard 790s

Price

 

There is no doubt that the Aircard 790s is in higher price than 782s because AC79S is in higher specifications and better performance. For most users, the Netgear Aircard 782s is enough for common use on daily life, but if you want to surf in amazing speed, Netgear Aircard 790s would be better. But first of all, user must make sure the LTE category 6 carrier aggregation is already available at your location.

 

Netgear AirCard AC790 LTE Cat6 Hotspot

The Netgear AirCard AC790 Hotspot with LTE Advanced Cat6 was presented last year to the MWC, now the LTE mobile Hotspot is available in many countries. The Aircard 790S has a large touch screen on the front and the operating time is up to 11 hours, which means a very good quality for competition.

Netgear AirCard AC790 LTE Cat6 Hotspot

What’s more, up to 15 devices can be supported simultaneously by Dual Band WLAN 802.11ac with an Internet connection. Unfortunately, the large range of functions is also reflected in the price. Here now you can get the unlocked Netgear AC790 LTE Advanced Cat6 mobile hotspot from www.4gltemall.com .

 

Netgear AirCard 790s LTE Hotspot has equipped with a cellular modem from Qualcomm, which can operate equivalent LTE category 6 (“LTE Advanced “) at speeds of up to 300 Mbit/s in the downlink and up to 50 Mbit/s in the uplink. So far, only a few other mobile routers offer this speed, such as Huawei E5786 and Alcatel Y900.

 

The AC790s supports the following LTE frequency bands: B1, B3, B7, B8, B20, B38, B40 (2100, 1800, 2600, 900, 800, 2600 and 2300 megahertz). Carrier aggregation, which is necessary for LTE Advanced bundling of frequency ranges, is supported for a total of seven combinations, both intra-band and inter-band, for example, 1800+ 2600 or 2600 + 2600 megahertz.

In addition, the Netgear AirCard 790s LTE router supports UMTS including data accelerator DC-HSPA+ for speeds of up to 42.2 Mbit/s in the downlink in 3G network. Also GSM with EDGE is supported. To connect to the computer, WLAN is available on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, and up to 15 devices can be simultaneously connected to the Aircard AC790s.

 

 

The biggest feature of the Netgear AC790 is undoubtedly the 2.4-inch touchscreen with color display on the front. Thus, the router is the first LTE Cat6 mobile hotspot, which can be configured and operated completely without web interface. Although there were already many mobile router with the display feature, but the display acted far more likely to display important information such as battery status and network availability.

 

 

With dimensions of 110 x 68 x 15.44 mm and weighing around 136 grams with battery, Netgear AC790 is not particularly compact and light, yet the device should fit easily into your pocket or in a small backpack pocket. The 3,000 mAh strong battery not only allows an operating time of up to 11 hours, but also has a power bank function, ie you can recharge other devices such as smartphones as needed. The right charging cable is included. The Netgear Aircard 790s has two connectors for external antenna, the connector type is TS-9, you can use below the antenna to improve the signal strength if necessary:

You can buy the external antenna for netgear aircard 790s here: http://www.4gltemall.com/4g-antenna-two-ts-9-connector.html

 

The Netgear AirCard AC790s Hotspot is available now at online store www.4gltemall.com . The Aircard 790s is SIM card unlocked, which means you can use it the device worldwide without any limit. The user must get a valid sim card from local network provider to connect.

Netgear AirCard 790S 4G LTE Cat6 Mobile Hotspot

Netgear has introduced its newest member of the AirCard 790s to the router family. The Netgear AirCard 790S is the first mobile hotspot in Aircard 7X0s who supports the LTE Cat6 with up to 300 Mbit/s in the download. Actually, Netgear 790S is not the first LTE cat6 mobile hotspot because Huawei had presented the Huawei E5786, which is the first one.

Telstra WiFi 4G Advanced II screen

 

Technical Features

 

The AirCard 790s is equipped with a 2.4-inch, color LCD touch screen. The screen displays the network icon, signal strength, the network name, the wireless status, battery status or data usage. And the touch icons takes you to the Settings and other menu items. The router can also be configured on the PC or via an app on your smartphone or tablet and use. The AirCard app is available for iOS, Android and Kindle. Here you can retrieve all possible information.

Telstra WiFi 4G Advanced II antenna ports

LTE-Advanced with 300 Mbit/s

 

The AirCard 790S Netgear supports LTE Category 6, backward with both 2G and 3G networks, including DC-HSPA+. If you live in an area covered with LTE-A field and has a micro-SIM card with an appropriate data plan, using Carrier Aggregation, two 20 MHz bands are combined into a 40-MHz band in downlink, so as to allow download speeds of up to 300 Mbit/s. Carrier aggregation of 2 x LTE2600 is supported as well as the pooling of 2.600 and 1.800 MHz.

Telstra WiFi 4G Advanced II back logo

Additionally, the AirCard 790S also widespread in the US 700 MHz band used for LTE-A: The router is thus prepared. In upload, up to 50 Mbit/s are possible with the hotspot. If the wireless coverage at home or on the go too weak, user can connect two external antennas for 3G/4G to the router.

 

 

Features and characteristics of the AirCard 790S
Manufacturer and Model Number Netgear AirCard 790S
Chipset Qualcomm MDM9230
LTE Category CAT6
Download rate 300 Mbps
Upload rate 50 Mbps
Supported LTE Bands: 700 MHz / 1800 MHz / 2600 MHz
Backwards compatible with LTE CAT4 / DC-HSPA + / UMTS / GSM
Support from LTE-Advanced Yes
MIMO Support: 2×2
Connection for external antenna: Dual TS-9 for 4G / 3G
Telephone
With integrated telephone system No
Connection for ISDN phones: No
Connection for analogue phones: No
DECT: No
integrator answering machine: No
Network | LAN & WLAN
LAN ports: No
WLAN standards: WLAN 802.11 b/g/n/ac
5 GHz WLAN support: Yes
encryption: WPS, WEP, WPA, WPA2
WLAN hotspot function: yes, for up to 15 devices
Others
Battery pack: 2,930 mAh, changeable
Dimension: 110 x 68 x 15 mm
USB: Micro-USB 3.0
Memory card expansion: No
release: Nov-15
Price: about 229.00USD
available at: www.4gltemall.com
Documents download
Datasheet » Netgear AC790S Datasheet
Read review » Netgear Aircard 790s Review
Manual as PDF » Netgear Aircard 790s manual(PDF)

Supply 15 devices with fast Wi-Fi

The Netgear 790S supports the standard Wi-Fi ac on 2.4 and 5 GHz. As a hotspot, the router can support up to 15 devices with wireless Internet while other competing models supports maximum devices to 10 units. The network can be encrypted with WPA2, which is set by WPS. If you connect the router via USB 3.0 to a computer, it can be charged at the same time and provide the PC with high speed internet.

Telstra WiFi 4G Advanced II Aircard 790s battery

Strong and Replaceable Battery

Netgear has his latest AirCard model a strong power source: The battery has capacity of 2,930 mAh, which should be enough for up to 10 hours in operation and 350 hours in standby according to the manufacturer. The router can be charged via the included Micro-USB cable, the 790S also can be used as a charging station for a smartphone itself. The battery is fortunately interchangeable; Netgear offers optional at an even stronger battery with up to 16 hours of run time.

 

Availability

The AirCard 790S Netgear is available on www.4gltemall.com . And it’s the unlocked version, which means it can work well in North American, Asia and European countries.

 

Conclusion

The AirCard 790S Mobile Hotspot Netgear has a high-speed router at the start, which is not only fast, but also future-proof. LTE Cat6 and WLAN ac plus support for the 700 MHz band and supply of 15 devices with Wi-Fi, users do not have to provide a lot of competitors. What’s more, the 790S is quite handy and provides an informative color touch display. It’s a real practical and cool 4G pocket router!

 

Netgear AC790S 4G LTE Cat6 Mobile Hotspot Review

Netgear AC790s LTE hotspot was presented in September 2014 and has since been introduced by Telstra to its product range in Australia. Comparing with other mobile LTE routers, the main difference is the large battery with touchscreen display and support for LTE-Advanced Cat6. In Europe area, the Netgear AC790s is not yet available, and it is doubtful that we will get the device in near future because the successor with LTE CAT9 is already waiting in the wings. Actually, the predecessor of AC790s model is the Netgear AC785s, which was very good. Luckily, we have seen the Netgear AC790s closely at MWC.


Netgear AC790s, which was exhibited at the exhibition booth of Netgear, was provided with a small branding by Australian operators Telstra. Till now, Telstra is the only provider with whom the Netgear AC790s is available. But the rest of the devices are no branding and with original Netgear, for example the software. The unit is operated by a large colorful touch screen, although a web interface is still available, but not required for operation. The touch screen is not as fast as you would expect from a smartphone, but for a mobile hotspot, it is sufficient in any case completely.


Much more important than the touch screen is the integrated modem in AC790s. This could support LTE (Cat6) with peak download speed up to 300 Mbit/s for the downlink and 50 Mbit/s for uplink. Of course the device is also backward compatible with 3G and 2G along with various data accelerator. The connection to the computer is via WiFi 802.11 ac, ie to 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. It is possible to enhance the speed and the signal strength with an external antenna(Buy Netgear AC790S antenna from here: http://www.4gltemall.com/4g-antenna-two-ts-9-connector.html ). There are two connectors for the external antenna and they are protected with a sliding mechanism from dust and dirt. On the other side, it’s the power button.


A very interesting accessories for the Netgear AC790s hotspot is available, the DC112A SmartCradle. It is a docking station that not only strengthen the router signal through USB  and thus charging the battery, but also has other functions. Thus, the wireless signal is amplified and there is a Gigabit LAN port on the back of DC112A. In addition, the mobile radio is improved signal over the external antenna connections.

Netgear Aircard AC790S 4G LTE Cat6 Mobile Hotspot

It seems the LTE category 4 UEs are now the mainstream in the market. More and more wireless routers, mobile hotspots or USB dongles are available to better support the upgraded networks from the operators. But we also see some new devices with new technology which is available for some providers. We had introduced two LTE Category 6 mobile hotspots last year: Huawei E5786 and ZTE flare. Today, we will intoduce a new LTE pocket WiFi router Netgear 790s.

 

The Netgear 790s also named aircard AC790s. It’s now available for Australian network provide Telstra. And it’s named Telstra 4G WiFi Advanced II which is upgraded from its predecessor Netgear AC782s. The Aircard 782s is a LTE Cat4 mobile WiFi which supports peak download speed to 150Mbps and upload speed to 50Mbps. The upgraded Aicard 790s could achieve double speed than AC782s, i.e 300Mbps for downstream. It’s amazing!

 

The appearance of AC790s looks similar to Aircard 782s but seems cooler. With more powerful battery, AC790s could work much longer time than its predecessor. Aircard 790s is decently sized, fitting into your palm. On the bottom, you can find two external antenna ports, a microUSB 3 port (though only a microUSB 2 cable is included in the box) – presumably to make the most out of tethering over USB. On top, there is a power button.

 

The front of Netgear AC790S is a touchscreen, with home and back capacitive buttons on the right side. User can operate the major features and the settings here and don’t need to open up the Aircard APP or the web based UE. User can see the connected devices quantity and change WiFi settings(enable dual band WiFi, block/unblock devices by MAC, turn on guest wifi, easily connect devices that support WPS). User can also enable the airplane mode, change network settings such as lock to 3G, 4G or Auto mode, view the network status, and see the data usage at a glance.

 

The back of Aircard 790s is equipped with a removable battery, with the micro-SIM slot hidden underneath. So before power on, you’ll need to pull the battery out to swap cards around. The “Telstra” logo is on the top left, with ‘WiFi Advanced’ also stamped on the front. The battery cover on the back has a subtle ‘Netgear’ logo included.

The Telstra Wi-Fi 4G Advanced II is a excellent mobile hotspot for anyone who needs the internet while on the go; with support for to get the best out of 4G today, and ready for more 4G into the future.