Netgear Nighthawk M1: LTE Cat 16 Router up to 1 Gbps
by Anton Shilov on February 2, 2017 12:01 PM EST
Netgear this week announced the Nighthawk M1 mobile router, which is the industry’s first 4G LTE device with download speed up to 1 Gbps. The Nighthawk M1 is powered by Qualcomm’s X16 LTE modem with 4x4 MIMO announced a year ago and will be available only on Telstra’s 4GX LTE network in Australia. As soon as similar networks are launched in different parts of the world, the same router or its derivatives may hit the market elsewhere as well.
The Netgear Nighthawk M1 mobile router is aimed at those who need to set up ultra-fast mobile broadband connection for multiple people and up to 20 devices in areas where cable broadband is unavailable (there are a lot of rural areas in Australia where there is no broadband). The Nighthawk M1 can be used like a normal portable router (it has a GbE port as well as two USB headers) or as a NAS/media streamer (it has a microSD slot). The router also has an inbuilt battery (5040 mAh) which is rated for up to 24 hours of standard use. The Nighthawk M1 does not require any special setup, but it is equipped with a 2.4” display to monitor its performance/data usage and there is also a special app for Android and iOS that allows a user to manage the router (network settings, parental controls, etc.).
At the heart of the Netgear Nighthawk M1 there is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X16 LTE modem (paired with Qualcomm’s WTR5975 RF transceiver). The modem supports 4x4 MIMO, four carrier aggregation (4xCA) and higher order modulation (256QAM) to download data at up to 1 Gbps (in select areas) as well as 64QAM and 2CA to upload data at up to 150 Mbps over Telstra’s 4GX LTE network (Telstra's network is only 3CA it is worth noting). We already know that the X16 modem will be integrated into Snapdragon 835 SoCs for smartphones, but right now it is available only as a standalone chip. The Nighthawk M1 router is also equipped with Qualcomm’s 2×2 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi solution that can connect up to 20 devices simultaneously using 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands concurrently.
| Netgear Nighthawk M1 MR1100 | |
| SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon X16 LTE modem MDM9x50 |
| Display | 2.4" |
| Network | 4G: 4GX LTE CAT 16, 4-band CA, 4x4 MIMO 700/900/1800/2100/2600 MHz 3G: 850/900/1900/2100 MHz |
| LTE | Down: 1000 Mb/s Up: 150 Mb/s |
| Dimensions | 105.5 × 105.5 × 20.35 mm |
| Weight | 240 grams |
| Battery | 5040 mAh (removable) |
| Connectivity | 2×2 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi for up to 20 devices |
| External Ports | Ethernet USB-A USB-C 2 × TS-9 connectors for external antennas |
| Storage | MicroSD card with media server/NAS capabilities |
| SIM Size | unknown |
| Colors | Grey |
| Launch Country | Australia |
| Price | $360 AUD ($276 USD) |
The Netgear Nighthawk M1 (MR1100) mobile router will be available from Telstra in Australia later this month for $360 AUD ($276 USD) standalone. Telstra also plans to offer the router with a range of broadband plans.
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Source: Netgear
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hlovatt - Thursday, February 2, 2017 - link
Throughput in Australia on Telstra is quite good, about 300 Mb/s on a modern phone in an area that has 4GX LTE (as Telstra call it). http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/i/1825007645I suspect that this Nighthawk modem will do better than the phones because it is less power and space constrained.
Telstra is expensive for data though AU$55 for 15 GB/month - ouch!.
Other carriers are much cheaper, but don't have a very extensive 4GX network at the moment and currently don't have the Nighthawk anyway, e.g. Optus AU$80 for 200 GB/month including a non-X 4G modem (http://eftm.com.au/2016/12/optus-home-wireless-bro...
peteroj - Friday, February 3, 2017 - link
That Optus 200GB package is limited to 21 or 5 Mbit/s speeds.Telstra's network is technically good (apart from the outages and other issues the company has, just like the fire couple of days ago that crippled network across the country and resulted SMS's being delivered to wrong numbers) but their service offerings are from last decade.
While you can get decent Telstra 4GX with 20GB/month and if you're lucky, a 100 Mbit/s VDSL in Australia -- it's still pretty far away from so many countries with uncapped mobile data and gigabit home Internet being widely available. And I'm not even talking about Asia here..
(Luckily Australia has been getting better the last few years as well)
Tylanner - Friday, February 3, 2017 - link
Mobile tethering lives almost exclusively in the realm of large business expenses.You are right it is expensive, but to dismiss it as unnecessary may be a bit closed minded.
stepz - Monday, February 6, 2017 - link
It makes perfect sense for me. In my forest house I only have the option of mobile broadband, and I can buy unlimited 4G broadband for 39€/mo. This product is pretty much exactly what I would need to work from there. The battery is a nice bonus for the times when a falling tree has severed power lines again. And I could easily grab it with me for road trips and what not.Azethoth - Friday, February 3, 2017 - link
What is Cat 16? You guys are burying the lead here. There has been some kind of insane wired speed breakthrough that doesn't cost as much as a small country.close - Friday, February 3, 2017 - link
You don't really make sense but... LTE user equipment category - LTE Category 16 (only for downlink). http://niviuk.free.fr/ue_category.phpfanofanand - Thursday, February 9, 2017 - link
I think he was confusing cat as used in ethernet cabling and cat as in mobile lte spectrum bands.Estyle - Wednesday, November 22, 2017 - link
Already using the Netgear Netgear M1, it can only reach 600mbps, not really 1Gbit/s for wireless. The latest Huawei E5788 would be the right one for 1Gbps data transmission: https://www.4gltemall.com/huawei-e5788-gigabit-lte...Estyle - Saturday, April 14, 2018 - link
I already bought unlocked Nighthawk M1 from https://www.4gltemall.com/netgear-nighthawk-m1-mr1... It's really great mobile hotspot for LTE advanced Pro networks.Estyle - Wednesday, May 16, 2018 - link
How to update the firmware of Nighthawk M1(https://www.4gltemall.com/netgear-nighthawk-m1-mr1...