Tag: Vodafone GigaCube

Vodafone GigaCube 5G – Vodafone First 5G Router

Two months ago, Vodafone released its first wireless router that is compatible with the new mobile communications standard 5G. The new 5G wireless router converts the mobile Internet access into a WLAN hotspot, so that several smartphones, tablets and notebooks can connect with an Internet access. Like the predecessors Vodafone GigaCube and Gigacube Cat19, the manufacturer of the 5G router is also Huawei. The model is officially called Huawei 5G CPE Pro but for Vodafone under the name Vodafone GigaCube 5G.

 

According to Vodafone official sayings, data transmission rates of up to 2Gbps could be achieved in the 5G mobile network. This concerns the LTE access, over which most customers will initially be predominantly online, especially as 5G availability is still severely limited. The network operator does not reveal how fast users can surf via 5G. A footnote simply states that you can “surf faster” in the first 5G radio cells. Within the home network scores the bolide by using the WiFi-6 technology. This achieves data transfer rates of up to 4.8 GBit/s.

 

At the heart of the Vodafone GigaCube 5G is the Balong 5000 chipset, which is also used in the Huawei Mate 20 X 5G as a multi-mode modem. If the 5G network is not available, customers can also use the LTE, UMTS and GSM network for Internet access with the Vodafone 5G router.

Vodafone offers the 5G router along with the well-known GigaCube tariffs. “With speeds reaching up to 1Gbps,” said Vodafone at launch, “customers are able to access super-fast speeds and reliable Wi-Fi quickly. GigaCube is ideal for those waiting for their home or business broadband, who need a connection for a second home or who have a home office.”

 

It added: “The GigaCube can connect up to 64 devices at any one time and has a wifi range of 90 meters. Thanks to the low latency of 5G, this solution is perfect for small businesses who have multiple employees streaming or downloading at the same time. It is also particularly useful for businesses that don’t have a fixed location, or students and house shares.”

 

Here you can see the general Vodafone 5G GigaCube Specs:

 

  • Network:5G/LTE
  • Chipset: HiSilicon Balong 5000
  • Wi-Fi:11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax; 802.11 n22*2 MIMO for 2.4GHz and 02.11ax4*4MIMO for 5GHz
  • Ethernet Ports:2 x GE LAN (inc. 1 LAN/WAN)
  • Memory:4GB NANDFlash/8GB DDR4
  • External antenna port:2 x Ext. antenna ports (TS-9)(Buy Vodafone GigaCube 5G External Antenna)
  • SIM port:1 x NANO USIM card slot
  • Device model:Huawei 5G CPE Pro (H112-370)
  • Dimensions:99mm x 107mm x 215mm

 

You can also check the Vodafone GigaCube 5G Router Review here: https://www.4gltemall.com/blog/vodafone-gigacube-5g-router-h112-370-review/

Huawei B612 VS Huawei B528

The Huawei B612 and B528 LTE routers are both available in European countries. But they both can work well in Asia. Since they are both Huawei latest routers, many people are not quite familiar with them. To help the end-consumers to know more about the two LTE modem routers, we will compare the Huawei B612 and B528 specs and features. If somebody would buy one router from the two, they may get some useful tips.

Huawei B612 VS Huawei B528 Specs

 

First, let’s have a check the Huawei B612 specs and Huawei B528 specs in the table:

 

Model Huawei B612 Huawei B528s-23a
Product type Huawei WiFi Router with Ethernet port LTE WiFi Cube
Category LTE Cat.6 LTE Cat.6
Chipset HiSilicon LTE Cat6 Chipset HiSilicon Balong 722
LTE Data rates DL 300Mbps/UL 50Mbps DL 300Mbps/UL 50Mbps
Supported 4G LTE frequency bands Huawei B612s-25d:  B1/B3/B7/B8/B20/B38/B40/B41/B42/B43
Huawei B612s-51d: B2/B4/B5/B7/B41		 LTE B1, B3, B7, B8, B20, B32, B38
WLAN 802.11 b/g/n/ac, single-band 2.4GHz 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band 2.4GHz & 5GHz
Max supported users 32 users 64 users
MIMO 4 x 4 MIMO 2 x 2 MIMO
Antenna Connectors Two, SMA-female jacks Two, TS-9 jacks
Buy Antenna Huawei B612 external antenna Huawei B528 External Antenna
App management Huawei Hilink APP Huawei Hilink APP
SIM Size Micro SIM Micro SIM
Battery NO NO
Dimensions 240 × 155 × 78 mm 105 mm x 90mm x 181 mm
Interfaces * 3 x LAN port(RJ45)
* 1 x LAN/WAN port (RJ45)
* 1 x telephone port(RJ11)
* Two external LTE antenna ports (SMA-female)
* One micro-SIM card slot
* 1 x USB 2.0 port		 * 1 x Gigabit LAN (RJ45)
* 1 x RJ11 (VoIP)
Datasheet Huawei B612 Datasheet(PDF) Huawei B528 Datasheet
User Manual Huawei B612 User Manual(PDF) Huawei B528 Manual
Other features  Firewall, CS Voice, VoIP, VoLTE, IPv6/IPv4 dual stack, NAT, DHCP, VPN, DMZ, UPnP, ALG, IPv4 /IPv6 dual stack
Firmware download Huawei B612 firmware Huawei B528 firmware
Driver Huawei B612 driver Huawei B528 Driver
Reviews Huawei B612 Review Huawei B528s-23a Review
Price/USD 199.00USD 229.00

 

Summary

From the specs table, we can see the Huawei B528 and B612 router are both LTE Cat6 routers which could achieve download speed up to 300Mbps and upload speed to 50Mbps. The main difference between the Huawei B612 4G router and Huawei B528 includes:

 

  1. Appearance

If you had seen the two routers, you will know the Huawei B612 looks like a traditional Huawei router such as Huawei B593 or E5186. But Huawei B528 LTE router looks like a humidifier in cylinder shape, which looks cool and like a furniture.

 

  1. Variant model

Huawei B612 Router has two variant models supports different LTE frequency bands. The Huawei B528 has only one variant model name B528s-23a, perhaps because it’s only available for Vodafone GigaCube. We are not sure whether there will be new variant model in near future.

 

  1. WLAN feature

Huawei B612 can provide only WiFi on single band 2.4GHz for up to 32 wirless users to connect, but Huawei B528s-23 could provide WiFi one dual-bands and support maximum up to 64 wireless users. However, Huawei B612 adopts 4 x 4 MIMO technologies for wireless connection while Huawei B528 only supports 2 x 2 MIMO.

 

 

  1. Interface

Huawei B612 has more interfaces options for users, but Huawei B528 has less interfaces. If your home or office has many devices and have to connect via Ethernet cables, the Huawei B612 may be better. They both have the external antenna connectors: Huawei B612 connector type is SMA-female while Huawei B528 antenna connector type is TS-9, like the Huawei B618 LTE Router.

 

  1. Price

The prices of Huawei B612 and Huawei B528 are very close. So if you would buy one of the two routers, you may focus on the wireless functions and the interface functions.

See the difference list, you may have your conclusion about the two routers and will have trouble to buy the Huawei routers.

Huawei B528 VS Huawei B529 LTE Cube

Since more and more Huawei LTE cubes available in the market, more and more people accept the Huawei Cubes as consumer electronics. Actually, they are still the wireless routers essentially. Huawei assigns the 4G wireless gateway to a new design and combines the workmanship with router functions to make the Cube series product very special but attractive for home use. Huawei B528 and B529 cube are two latest LTE cube for Europe market. Since they are very newly released, many people may don’t know them or don’t know what’s the difference between the Huawei B528 and B529. We will have a review about the two LTE routers and give some buy recommendation for potential users.

Huawei B528 VS B529 Appearance and Interfaces

Frankly speaking, the Huawei B528 LTE Router and B529 Cube are both cool in the design. You may not think they are Huawei wireless 4G Router when you first look at them. The Huawei B528 is in black like a cake and the Huawei B529 looks like a humidifier in white. On the front of Huawei B528, there are indicators for Mode, LAN, WiFi, and Power while the Huawei B529 Cube changes the Mode to Signal. The power button is below the indicators. On the back of Huawei B528, only one Ethernet port is available for LAN. The Huawei B529 has one Gigabit Ethernet port for LAN with one VoIP port. The same feature is the power plug below the Ethernet port. And above the Ethernet port, there are two connectors for external antennas. The connector type is both TS-9. So if you have a Huawei B528 external antenna, you can use it with Huawei B529. What’s more, the two WiFi Cube both uses Micro SIM size and locate the SIM card slot at the bottom of the devices.

Huawei B529 VS B528 Specs and Variant model

Currently, the Huawei B529 is only available for T-mobile in Europe and get a new name as HomeNet Box. The specific model number is Huawei B529s-23a. Like the B529 Cube, the Huawei B528 is available for the network provider Vodafone and gets a new name Vodafone GigaCube with specific model number Huawei B528s-23a. Unlike the Huawei B618 Cube, they both have an only variant model now. But we are not sure whether there will be more variant models in near future.

 

From the appearance and interface, you may not get the core difference between the two routers. Let’s have a looks at the Vodafone B528 specs and Huawei B529s-23a specs in the tables below:

 

Model Huawei B528s-23a Huawei B529s-23a
Product type LTE WiFi Cube LTE WiFi Cube
Category LTE Cat.6 LTE Cat.6
Chipset HiSilicon Balong 722 HiSilicon LTE Cat6 Chipset
Data rates DL 300Mbps/UL 50Mbps DL 300Mbps/UL 50Mbps
Supported 4G LTE frequency bands LTE B1, B3, B7, B8, B20, B32, B38 Band 1/3/7/8/20/32/38
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 64 users 64 users
MIMO 2 x 2 MIMO 2 x 2 MIMO
Connector for external antenna Two, TS-9 jacks Two, TS-9 jacks
Buy Antenna Huawei B528 External Antenna Huawei B529 External antenna
App management Huawei Hilink APP Huawei Hilink APP
SIM type Micro SIM Micro SIM
Battery NO Yes, non-removable 3000mAh battery
Dimensions 105 mm x 90mm x 181 mm 120 x 120 x 125mm
Interfaces * 1 x power adapter port
* 1 x LAN port(RJ 45)* 1 x RJ11 (VoIP)* Two external LTE antenna ports (TS-9)
* One micro-SIM card slot		 * 1 x power adapter port
* 1 x LAN port(RJ 45)
* Two external LTE antenna ports (TS-9)
* One micro-SIM card slot
Datasheet Huawei B528 Datasheet Huawei B529 Datasheet
User Manual Huawei B528 Manual Huawei B529 Manual
Other features IPv4 /IPv6 dual stack  DHCP Server, DNS RELAY and NAT
Reviews Huawei B528s-23a Review Huawei B529 Review
Price/USD 399.00USD 299.00

 

Conclusion

The Huawei B528s-23a and HomeNet Box B529s-23a are both LTE Category 6 router, which could support peak download speed to 300mbps and upload speed. They could both support maximum users up to 64 devices. They support even same LTE frequency bands. The only difference is on the Huawei B529 has one more VoIP port than B528. So if you would buy one home router between the two, you would consider the interface first. If you don’t use the VoIP, just take the preferred appearance and make the decision. Per our test, the two routers could support fast internet connection in the real network.

Vodafone GigaCube (Huawei B528) LTE Router Review

At the end of April 2017, Vodafone launched a new LTE CPE called “GigaCube”. Like Vodafone other 4G router, the new router GigaCube also comes from Huawei and the factory model number is B528. The Huawei B528 has a modern LTE modem with CAT6 with support of WLAN hotspot and Gigabit LAN. Today we will show what the router can do and its specifications.

Features and characteristics of Vodafone GigaCube
Manufacturer and type: Huawei B528s-23a
Chipset: HiSilicon Balong 722
LTE category: LTE CAT6 (300 MBit/s)
Download rate up to: 300 MBit
Upload rate up to: 50 MBit
Supported LTE bands 800, 900, 1500, 1800, 2100, 2600 (FDD),
and 2600 MHz(TDD)
Downwards compatible with: GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, DC-HSPA+
Support for LTE-Advanced: Yes
MIMO Support: Yes, 2×2 MIMO
Connection for external antenna: Yes
Network | LAN & WLAN
LAN Ports: 1 x GBit port
WLAN Standards: 802.11 b/g/n/ac (2.4 and 5 GHz)
5 GHz WLAN Support: Yes
Encryption: WPS/WPA/WPA2
WLAN Hotspot Function: Yes, up to 64 users
Others
Telephony VOIP via RJ11 port (eg SIP)
Others
WAN port Yes
IPv6 Dual Stack Yes
Battery pack: No
Dimension: 105 x 90 x 181 mm at 366 g
USB: No
Memory Card Expansion: No
Release: April 2017
Price: From 1 € with Vodafone Cube tariff
available at: »Vodafone and www.4gltemall.com
Information
Quick start guide: » Download (PDF)
Detailed manual: not yet available

 

 

LTE CAT 6 modem

 

The Vodafone GigaCube router, also named Huawei B528s-23a, internally has a modern HiSilicon modem (Balong 722) which supports LTE category 6. In principle, the wireless connection can reach up to 300 MBit/s fast. In the upload, a maximum of 50 MBit/s can be achieved. The chip also supports the most important LTE bands for use in Europe. In detail, the LTE Bands includes band 1, 3, 7, 8, 20 and 32. If the LTE reception is not given, the GigaCube router can also switch to GMS or UMTS/HSDPA. Abroad, Vodafone excludes the use anyway! So you must get the unlocked Vodafone GigaCube if you want to use it abroad.

WLAN function with the GigaCube router

 

The GigaCube also provide the WLAN module supporting up to WLAN ac, so that wireless LAN with gigabit speed is also possible. The hotspot can bring up to 64 devices on the Internet simultaneously. On this point, the B528 is really powerful than its predecessor Huawei E5180 and E5170.

 

Other characteristics

Fortunately, there are two antenna ports on the back of the GigaCube router. According to Vodafone, the focus is on use in the stationary and in remote areas. This means you can use the router both at home as a DSL replacement or just traveling as a mobile Internet connection. Mobile use is officially excluded. Thanks to the antenna connections, the reception strength ​​can also be improved in remote areas via external LTE antenna.  The B528 also does not have an information display, but only 4 Info-LEDs on the front. These give the user the most important back-ups, such as signal strength.

The only annoyance with the GigaCube router is that it was dispensed with even a battery. Thus, a permanent, stationary power supply is required. Also the GigaCube missed an SD card slot or USB port. Telephone is not possible by the way.

 

 

Conclusion

Based on the Huawei B528, Vodafone offers a powerful, modern router for its GigaCube. The model is practical and comes without much fault. Only the missing battery is annoying. We would do the performance test once we get the GigaCube in hand, keep close eye on www.4gltemall.com if you are interested in Vodafone GigaCube or Huawei B528 LTE Cube.

 

Vodafone GigaCube – Huawei B528 LTE Router Released

A few days ago, Vodafone has officially presented the GigaCube to public with data tariff plan. The Vodafone GigaCube comes from the Chinese manufacturer huawei and the original model is Huawei B528. As the successor to Huawei E5180 Router, the Huawei B528 LTE router follows the design of E5180 cube but different in details. Of course, the technical features are upgraded as the technology develops. Technically, the Huawei B528 can reach speeds of up to 300 Mbps in the downlink (LTE Cat6), but Vodafone limits the GigaCube data rate to 150 MBit/s.

Huawei B528 Specifications

The Huawei B528 has not been sold in Germany; Vodafone is the first network operator to offer the router here. The focus is clearly on the case design in smart white plastic. But technically, the router is quite up-to-date thanks to the LTE Cat6 modem, Gigabit Ethernet and WLAN ac as the following data sheet shows.

Huawei B528s-23a LTE Router
Dimensions  105 x 105 x 181 mm
Chipset  HiSilicon Balong 722
Mobile communications LTE Cat6 (300/50 Mbit / s), UMTS with DC-HSPA +, GSM / EDGE
Frequency bands  LTE FDD: B1, B3, B7, B8, B20, B32. LTE TDD: B38
Connection Interfaces 1x Gigabit LAN (RJ45), 1x RJ11 (VoIP), 2x external antenna, MicroSIM slot
WLAN standard  IEEE 802.11b / g / n / ac (2.4 GHz + 5 GHz, 2 x 2 MIMO), up to 867 Mbps
Package Content  Huawei B528, power supply, RJ45 LAN cable, quick start guide

What interesting is that the Web Interface is probably not from Vodafone, but in the original Huawei design. The Voice over IP telephone function with the RJ11 connection should function basically, that user could use the Huawei B528 to call over the LTE network with the Vodafone GigaCube data tariff. For more practical performance, here you should wait for first user reports.

First router for LTE Band 32 (1500MHz)

Very interesting in the data sheet is also the indication that the Huawei B528 supports the LTE band 32. This is the frequency range around 1500 Megaherz. Vodafone had bought the radio spectrum in 2015 in this area and could use the tape in the future as a “supplementary downlink” to increase the capacity in the LTE network. Currently, Band 32 has not been used in Germany and there are also hardly any end-user devices supporting LTE 1500 or Band 32. The same is true for LTE Band 38, also this is so far not used in Vodafone, but is supported by the Huawei B528.

Even if the Huawei B528 router can theoretically achieve download speed up to 300 MBit/s and the Vodafone network offers even up to 500 MBit/s in the downlink in some places: the GigaCube, as customized Huawei B528 LTE router,  allows a maximum of 150 MBit/s in the downlink. Actually, Huawei had provided another LTE Cat6 router named Huawei E5186 or Vodafone B4000, which can also reach peak download speed to 300mbps. If you can’t wait the availability of GigaCube B528, you may consider Huawei E5186 OR Vodafone B4000.