Netgear Nighthawk M5 Archives

Netgear Nighthawk M5 Mobile 5G Router Test

Last year, Netgear offers one of the first mobile 5G routers: The Nighthawk M5. As the successor to the Nighthawk M2, the device with the model name MR5200 not only offers a fast cellular modem, but of course also a large battery, fast WiFi 6 and plenty of connections.

The Netgear Nighthawk M5 MR5200 is packed in a small cardboard box. In addition to the mobile 5G router, the package also includes a power supply unit with adapter for EU and UK plugs, a USB to USB-C cable and a battery with a capacity of 5,000 mAh. A quick start guide and a warranty card are also included.

At first glance, the Netgear Nighthawk M5 differs only slightly from the previous models Nightahwk M1 (MR1100) and Nighthawk M2 (MR2100). All devices have a cuboid design with a large display on the front, the connections are on the lower side.

The Nighthawk M5 looks high-quality thanks to the rubberized and structured frame, and the matt back also leaves a positive impression. The front with the touchscreen and buttons is less successful, it has a high-gloss finish and magically attracts fingerprints and scratches. That was solved even better with the Nighthawk M1.

The back of the Nighthawk M5 can also be easily removed. Underneath is the battery and the slot for the SIM card. A welcome innovation compared to the previous models is the slot for the nano SIM card. The M1 and M2 still required micro-SIM cards, so that nano-SIM cards could only be used with an adapter.

5G modem in the test

The main reason to buy the Netgear Nighthawk M5 is certainly the 5G modem. A Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 chip is installed. Theoretically, the 5G WiFi router can thus achieve speeds of more than one gigabit per second in the downlink and several hundred megabits per second in the uplink. In the practical test, the Nighthawk M5 was tested with a SIM card from Vodafone at several locations in the 5G network, both via LAN and WLAN.

Both the LAN connection and the WLAN represent a bottleneck for maximum Internet speed. The Nighthawk M5 allows a maximum of 1 GBit/s via RJ45 Ethernet, and up to 1.2 GBit/s (5 GHz band) is theoretically possible via WLAN. You should definitely be aware of this limitation.

In the 5G network of Vodafone using the frequency range around 3.6 GHz (band n78), around 900 Mbit/s was measured for downloading and around 140 Mbit/s for uploading via LAN. If the connection was made via WLAN, around 800 Mbit/s were possible in the download. In a direct comparison with a measurement on the 5G smartphone, the Nighthawk M5 was slightly slower – around 950 Mbit/s were possible on the iPhone 12 mini under the same test conditions.

The 5G connections are naturally much slower when using dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS, band n1). Vodafone relies widely on 5G n1 with DSS, the Netgear Nighthawk M5 can use the technology without any problems and achieved speeds of up to 300 Mbit/s in the downlink and up to 130 Mbit/s in the uplink in the test. Incidentally, LTE was always a little bit faster at the same location in the downlink, but the uplink speed over 5G was almost twice as high as over LTE. Depending on the server, the latency times were well below 20 milliseconds and thus at a normal level.

The Netgear Nighthawk M5 supports all 5G frequency ranges that are important for Europe. In detail, these are the bands n1, n3, n5, n7, n8, n20, n28, n38, n40, n77 and n78.

In addition to 5G, the Netgear Nighthawk M5 naturally also supports 4G / LTE and 3G / UMTS. The frequency ranges around 700/800/900/1800/2100/2600 MHz for FDD-LTE and 2300/2600 MHz for TDD LTE are supported here. In the 3G area, the bands around 850/900/1900/2100 MHz are supported. These are good prerequisites for use in Europe, but the Nighthawk M5 is not ideally suited for use in North and South America. It’s a shame – many current smartphones offer significantly better frequency band support!

If necessary, you can also connect two external antennas to the Netgear Nighthawk M5 to improve reception quality and increase speeds. For this purpose, Netgear has installed two TS-9 connections on the underside, which are protected from contamination by a rubber cover as standard. If you need the 5G external antenna for Nighthawk M5, we recommend this one: https://www.4gltemall.com/5g-external-antenna.html .

WLAN with repeater function

The Netgear Nighthawk M5 supplies up to 32 devices simultaneously with a WLAN connection. Thanks to the current WLAN 6 standard, speeds of up to 1200 Mbit/s gross in the 5 GHz frequency band and up to 600 Mbit/s in the 2.4 GHz frequency band can be used. However, the speed depends heavily on the device used and on other factors such as the distance. In the test, the speeds were usually significantly lower and fluctuated between 300 and 867 Mbit/s.

The WiFi range of the Netgear Nighthawk M5 turned out to be very decent in the test for a mobile router. An apartment with 80 to 100 m2 can easily be supplied with the small router, provided the walls are not super thick. If necessary, the range can also be reduced to save energy. Incidentally, there is no WLAN timer, but a guest network can be set up. The latest WPA3 encryption is also available on request.

Internet via Ethernet and USB

As an alternative to the wireless connection via WLAN, the Netgear Nighthawk M5 can also share the Internet connection via LAN (RJ45 Ethernet) or via USB interface (“USB tethering”). Both types of cable connection are activated automatically, all you have to do is connect the cable and you are connected to the Internet.

The Nighthawk M5 can be configured so that the WLAN is automatically switched off as soon as a device is connected to the Internet via USB. The USB tethering function can also be deactivated if necessary, then the USB connection can only be used for power supply.

The “data offloading” function allows the LAN port of the Netgear Nighthawk M5 to be configured as a WAN port, ie an existing Internet connection via LAN is also used as soon as the LAN cable is plugged in and an Internet connection is available. If the LAN connection is interrupted, the Nighthawk M5 automatically switches back to the cellular connection.

Display and operation

Most of the settings can be made directly via the touchscreen on the front of the Netgear Nighthawk M5. Here there is, for example, the possibility of changing the name and password of the WLAN, providing a WLAN guest network or changing the WLAN range. Further setting options concern, for example, the cellular connection (APN, preferred network technology, roaming, etc.). It is also possible to carry out a software update directly via the touchscreen.

The display itself is of poor quality compared to a current 5G smartphone, the resolution is low, the color representation is poor and the plastic cover is reflective. There is also not always a reaction to inputs.

A lock screen is shown on the display, showing the time and date. The network operator, the current network technology, the reception strength and the battery status (in percent) are also displayed. The actual start screen can be protected with a PIN if required; the WLAN data and the data volume used can be displayed here if required.

At the bottom of the start screen there are shortcuts for WiFi, SMS and settings. By the way, SMS can not only be received on the Netgear Nighthawk M5, but also sent.

Some information on the cellular connection can be viewed via the “Status” menu item. This includes, for example, the current network status, the technology used and the main frequency band, the reception strength (RSRP) and the IP addresses. Unfortunately, when the 5G (NSA) connection is active, there is no detailed information on the frequency bands; here, too, only the main radio cell (LTE anchor cell) is displayed, the network status signals “5GSUB6”.

Web interface and app

In addition to the touchscreen, the browser web interface can of course also be used for configuration. The visual appearance of the web interface has hardly changed compared to the previous models and offers more functionality than the app and the touchscreen. For example, the WLAN repeater function (WLAN as Internet access) or the WAN function (Internet access via LAN or failover) can also be activated via the web interface.

The web interface reacts quickly and is clearly structured. The range of functions is basically good, but there is still a lot of potential for improvement in the details. For example, 5G and/or LTE can be deactivated if necessary. However, manual selection of the frequency bands is not possible. Detailed information on the frequency bands used by the Nighthawk M5 is also nowhere available, although this information would certainly be very interesting for some users.

The “NETGEAR Mobile” app is available for both Android and iOS and enables the Nighthawk M5 to be configured easily and clearly using a smartphone. All functions from the web interface can also be used via the app, for example the “data offloading” feature. The app responded quickly and reliably in the test on an Apple iPhone.

Battery and power supply

The 5,000 mAh battery of the Netgear Nighthawk M5 is easily exchangeable by the user, so if necessary, a second or third battery can be bought to swap instead of recharging on the go. The battery life in the test was around 8 hours with continuous 5G use (Internet radio stream via WLAN).

For longer stationary use, it can be advisable to remove the battery from the router and only operate the device directly on the power supply unit via a USB cable. This has the advantage that the heat development is significantly lower. In the test it happened that the Nighthawk M5 got very warm after intensive use (2 WLAN devices, streaming) and simultaneous charging of the battery.

Conclusion: Netgear Nighthawk M5

The Netgear Nighthawk M5 made a good impression in the test. 5G modem and WLAN are very fast, there are many connections and operation are impressive. The Nighthawk M5 has to accept criticism, for example, for its weak LTE frequency band support. Even simple 5G smartphones allow better connections abroad than the Nighthawk M5, as they can use many more frequency ranges. There is also room for improvement in the software: some users will miss a timer function for the WLAN, others will miss more detailed information and setting options for the cellular connection.

If you really want to have 5G in your mobile router, you can hardly ignore the Nighthawk M5. If LTE is enough for you, you will find almost equivalent alternatives in the cheaper sister models Nighthawk M1 and Nighthawk M2.

Netgear Nighthawk M5 5G WiFi Router Test

Netgear Nighthawk M5 is a new 5G mobile WiFi hotspot which is already available in many countries. Regarding the performance for internet connection, we will take a test and you will read the detail in the following.

We have already shown what the Netgear 5G router looks like and which accessories are included in our picture unboxing linked above. In the first weeks of testing, the hardware of the Netgear Nighthawk M5 proved to be quite robust. Unfortunately, the touchscreen magically attracts fingerprints, so we had to clean it several times with a cleaning cloth.

However, you shouldn’t expect the Netgear Nighthawk M5 MR5200 to respond as quickly as a smartphone touchscreen. Sometimes the software took a small millisecond in our test before it responded to our input. We encountered a phenomenon with the Nighthawk M5 that owners of previous Netgear 4G routers reported. If the nano-SIM card is blocked with a PIN, a PIN query appears after the 5G WiFi router starts up. However, this screen is visually incorrectly designed. You can enter the PIN easily using the numeric keys, but the confirmation button is partly outside the visible area and must be aimed very precisely with your finger.

Otherwise, we did not notice any serious software errors when using the router.

Firmware: Latest version is required

At this point we still have to go into more detail about the software: If you buy the Netgear Nighthawk M5, you should make sure that you have the latest firmware in the “Settings – Software” menu immediately after booting up and connecting to the Internet the number 10.29.10.00 from November 17th and install it. With the old firmware, the router may only contact LTE networks, which is not the point of a 5G router.

We also observed with the Netgear Nighthawk M5 that WiFi modules from Android smartphones, which otherwise find any 5 GHz WiFi without any problems, have problems finding the 5 GHz WiFi set up by the Nighthawk M5 and connecting to it. Even manually entering the SSID and password failed in our test on at least three Android devices.

One device that the 5 GHz WiFi of the Nighthawk M5 could always find and connect to was an iPhone 11 Pro used in the test. The Android smartphones could connect to the 2.4 GHz network of the Nighthawk M5. Due to the regional overload of the 2.4 GHz band and the lower data rates, it is of course quite pointless to use a 5G router in this case if it cannot pass on the high 5G data rates via WLAN.

Features of the software

In terms of operation and functions, the software of the Netgear Nighthawk M5 is of course quite sophisticated, as always. On the start page, network information, time and battery charge status are displayed in the status area. This is followed by the SSID and password of the 2.4 and 5 GHz WiFi hotspots. With a mobile tariff with a data throttle, you can also see how much data volume is left on the home page. At the bottom you can see how many devices are connected via WLAN and whether new SMS messages have arrived.

In the settings menu the user can configure things like the APN. The brightness of the screen can be regulated or an unlock password can be assigned. The Netgear Nighthawk M5 also supports USB tethering; the function can either be activated at the same time as the WLAN or as an alternative to the WLAN hotspot. The Netgear Nighthawk M5 can also be integrated into an existing WLAN or Ethernet network via the data-saving mode and then only serves as a network bridge for the connected devices.

Data rates in the test

For our test of the Nighthawk M5, we received 5G-capable SIM cards from CSL and PCCW. After the firmware update, the hotspot immediately logged into the available 5G networks.

The measured data rates come close to the values that we measured with the 5G router from HTC: HTC 5G Hub. In CSL’s 5G network, we determined maximum data rates of up to 781 Mbit/s in the downstream and 134 Mbit/s in the upstream. In the PCCW network, the data rates we measured in the downstream were a maximum of 187 Mbit/s in the downstream and 82 Mbit/s in the upstream. The CSL data rates at the locations we measured actually corresponded to a typical LTE value rather than a 5G value.

Of course, we also took measurements with a laptop that was connected to the Nighthawk M5 via the Ethernet interface rather than WLAN. Here we could observe that the measured values were always around 12 to 15 percent above the values measured via WLAN.

Netgear has not received any further error messages about the problem with the 5 GHz WLAN under Android.

Battery life in the test

The Netgear Nighthawk M5’s 5040 mAh battery is strong, but it doesn’t work miracles either. Even if the router’s display switches off in the meantime, the maximum battery life is around 6 hours. That is a decent value, but not a top performance either. If you really have to work with the Nighthawk M5 all day long, you should have access to a socket again in between – or take a mobile power bank with you.

Conclusion

With the current firmware, the Netgear Nighthawk M5 did its job properly and without any real errors. In the 5G network, the router achieved peak values of just below 800 Mbit/s at the locations we tested. We are in contact with Netgear about the 5 GHz WiFi problem. The battery lasted around 6 hours in the test. There was little to criticize about the intuitive operation of the router.

NETGEAR Nighthawk M5 5G Mobile Hotspot Review

The manufacturer NETGEAR has launched the first MiFi 5G with Wi-Fi 6 technology to achieve the best possible wireless performance in all circumstances. The new model is the NETGEAR Nighthawk M5 Mobile Hotspot, and it is designed to offer the best possible experience in the mobile broadband network, and also so that we obtain the maximum speed when we connect devices via Wi-Fi. Do you want to know all the details of this new model?

Thanks to this 5G portable router we have the latest mobile and WiFi technologies, with which we can stay connected at home or away from home, while enjoying a connection with fast speed, low latency and improved bandwidth.

This year we have seen an increase in teleworking, due to the fact that more and more work is done remotely, and the coronavirus pandemic has also contributed to accelerating the process. Since many work or study from home right now, they need to have a fast and secure Internet connection with WiFi connectivity that meets their needs.

The Nighthawk M5 Mobile Hotspot Pro will allow us to bring a quality Internet connection to our home with 5G. In small and medium-sized towns especially, we find that cable, DSL or other service is not good enough.

However, thanks to the 5G connectivity offered by this Netgear 5G mobile Hotspot, we will be able to obtain fast speed connections. That’s not all, thanks to WiFi 6 technology it will allow us to deliver those speeds to your connected devices without affecting bandwidth or connectivity when we have many wireless clients. That means we will not have delays or interruptions when working or studying at home. That extra bandwidth that WiFi 6 provides us compared to the previous WiFi 5 technology will allow us to do videoconferences or other activities in a more fluid way.

The Nighthawk M5 Mobile Hotspot Pro comes equipped with the chipset of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 mobile platform to offer us next- generation 5G connectivity . Thanks to this 5G modem, we can achieve high download speeds of up to 7 Gbps and upload speeds of up to 3 Gbps.

In addition, it has WiFi 6 technology that allows us to have more devices connected and transmitting simultaneously without penalizing performance. With a greater capacity compared to WiFi 5, we can rest assured that our smartphones, tablets and computers will have the necessary bandwidth to carry out any task.

It also allows us the 5G connection in our home or office through the use of its Gigabit Ethernet port. To do this, we can connect the 5G mobile router to our home or work router and thus we can enjoy 5G speeds in our local network from which all devices can also be used.

With a secure and reliable network we can avoid the risks of public WiFi networks thanks to the compatibility with VPN Pass-through and password protection. Regarding the capacity of this model, it allows us to connect up to 32 WiFi devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops regardless of where you are.

This model has a 5,040 mAh rechargeable battery that will provide us with a long duration to use it all day. We can also use it without a battery since it can be connected to a power outlet at home so that it works throughout the day. In that sense, we could keep it connected 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by removing the battery.

As for the Nighthawk M5 Mobile Hotspot Pro, it has a 2.4-inch color LCD touch screen that is intuitively operated. Thanks to it, we can easily control the use of data, see the name and password of WiFi, as well as the strength of the mobile signal. We can also manage device and network settings. On your lock screen it shows important information such as the time, date and the use of data that we have consumed. On the other hand, we have the NETGEAR Mobile app to manage and configure our device.

Netgear Nighthawk M5 MR5200 5G Mobile Hotspot Review

Netgear Nighthawk M5 MR5200 is a new 5G flagship mobile pocket WiFi router which was announced at the January 2020 CES trade show. As the successor to the 4G mobile router Netgear Nighthawk MR1100, Netgear Nighthawk MR5200 looks similar to the Nighthawk M1, but it has much difference and the specs configuration has much improvement. The Nighthawk MR5200 is likely destined to be AT&T’s 5G mobile hotspot, but it’s not the first one. The first one is the Netgear Nighthawk M5 Fusion MR5000.

Netgear Nighthawk M5 MR5200 Appearance

Like the Nighthawk MR5000, the Netgear 5G Router features a touch screen interface, gigabit ethernet port, USB-C for charging and tethering, and it appears to have antenna ports as well. From the 2.4″ color LCD touch screen, users can conveniently monitor data usage, see WiFi name/password, mobile signal strength, and manage device and network settings. Time, date, data usage and important status information are displayed on the lock screen.

Netgear Nighthawk M5 MR5200 Specifications

Netgear Nighthawk M5 MR5200 is based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon X55, a second generation 5G modem chipset, supporting all versions of 5G, including both millimeter-wave and sub-6 networks, it also supports Wi-Fi 6 for devices that are connected to it.

Simply connect your Nighthawk M5 Mobile Router to your existing home router to deliver 5G speeds throughout your home. The router supports the latest 5G Technology: 5GNR Sub 6 GHz (NSA). It also supports LTE CAT.22, LTE Advanced, 4×4 MIMO, 256QAM.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 will also support dynamic spectrum sharing – allowing 4G and 5G technologies to co-exists on the same frequency bands, allowing for a faster rollout of 5G coverage nationwide. And when there is no 5G coverage to be found – the M5 will support the latest Cat-22 LTE technology, theoretically capable of well over gigabit speeds in fully developed LTE areas. The M5 also has other benefits of 5G, including up to 10x lower latency compared with 4G, and much better spectrum efficiency.

Netgear is claiming the 5G mobile router will have enough horsepower to enable peak theoretical 5G downlink speeds of “Close to 4Gbps” – though it will undoubtedly take a long time for cellular networks to evolve to support this level of performance.

Netgear Nighthawk MR5200 WiFi 6 Technology

The other exciting new feature included in the Nighthawk M5 is support for Wi-Fi 6, the next evolution of the Wi-Fi standard more technically known as 802.11ax. Wi-Fi 6 hotspots and routers will remain backwards compatible with Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 4 clients too – and the Nighthawk M5 supports simultaneous use of both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi spectrum with as many as 32 client devices connected at once. With increased capacity, you get faster speeds for high-end video streaming on your smartphones, tablets, and computers.

Netgear Nighthawk MR5200 Battery

For the power source, the M5 uses a USB-C port for charging and a removable rechargeable battery. Netgear says the mobile router has a long battery life, but can also work when plugged in, with the battery removed. The Netgear Nighthawk M5 mobile router features a long lasting battery for all day usage. You also have the option of plugging into a power outlet at home for a 24/7 operation with battery removed.

Netgear Nighthawk MR5200 Price and Availability

The Nighthawk M5 5G WiFi 6 Mobile Router is available in the second half of this year. The price of M5 MR5200 is not yet known but once it’s available, we will update it.

Telstra Presents Netgear Nighthawk M2 5G Mobile WiFi Router

As the successor to the Nighthawk M1, Netgear presented a new 5G mobile router Nighthawk M2 for the Australian network carrier Telstra at CES 2019. The new mobile hotspot supports 4G LTE Category 20 and could provide faster speeds for surfing. The appearance of the new 5G mobile hotspot is very similar to the first 5G mobile router Netgear Nighthawk M5, which is available for the AT&T 5G networks in the USA.

The Nighthawk M2 is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X24 modem, and the theoretical data rates are 2Gbps for download and 316Mbps for upload. It’s possible to achieve 7 carrier aggregations for download and triple carrier aggregation for upload. The 4 × 4 MIMO antenna technology is supported on up to 5 carriers simultaneously. The 256QAM modulation is supported not only in the downlink but also in the uplink. Combining the mentioned technologies, the device reaches the mentioned 2 gigabits per second – but only if the mobile networks support these technologies as well.

Like the predecessor M1, Netgear M2 could also support maximum up to 20 wireless devices to access the internet. What’s more, the Nighthawk M2 has one RJ45 Ethernet port, one USB-C Port and one Type-A USB port. And two connectors for external antennas are available, but what’s the connector type is unknown yet. More details of the Netgear Nighthawk M2 is waiting for the official specs from Netgear or Telstra.

According to the Telstra news, the Nighthawk M2 is the world’s fastest 4G device on Australia’s fastest mobile network, and it’s said the M2 was already under test and it would be available in the market in early 2019. However, the price of Netgear Nighthawk M2 is not yet known, but we will keep updating the news.

Netgear Nighthawk M5 – World’s First 5G Mobile Hotspot Released

Recently, the US mobile operator AT&T launched the first mobile 5G hotspot which comes from the Netgear. The 5G device is named Netgear Nighthawk M5 Fusion, which receives and transmits data via an integrated 5G modem and then forwards the Internet connection via LAN and WLAN to other devices. The new hotspot includes a Qualcomm X50 modem, the first consumer 5G modem. 5G is supported in the millimeter-wave range by 26 GHz, in this frequency range, the provider AT&T launches the 5G expansion in the US. Whether the range between 3.5 and 3.7 GHz is supported by the modem, which is used in many other regions of the world for the launch of 5G, is currently not known.

AT&T didn’t confirm other specs for the Nighthawk M5 Fusion (we got the name from an image title on AT&T’s press site), but we think it also has a Qualcomm X20 modem for gigabit-plus speeds on LTE.

The announcement by Netgear and AT&T was made in late October 2018 as part of a 5G test in Waco, Texas. The 5G network technology gets from Ericsson. AT&T plans to launch the 5G network in at least 12 US cities by the end of 2018, and by early 2019, 5G will be available in 19 US cities.

The Nighthawk M5 Fusion looks like Netgear existing Nighthawk M1, and the revealed product image of the new Netgear Nighthawk M5 5G hotspot shows the Nighthawk M5 in cuboid design and with a large display on the front. There are no other technical details yet, so it is unclear how long the battery life will be in 5G operation and what connections the device offers. Neither AT&T nor Netgear have provided information on the maximum speed.

The M5 Fusion model from the Nighthawk series will probably be among the world’s first commercially available 5G router and it’s also should be the first Netgear 5G Router & ATT 5G Router. It’s said it would be available in 2018 for the launch of the AT&T 5G network in the US. Details of the technical equipment were not released yet, but the Nighthawk M5 should be the successor of the Netgear Nighthawk M1. We will keep updating the news and detail specifications about Nighthawk M5.