Earlier this year, Netgear introduced the Nighthawk M2, a new mobile hotspot that transforms UMTS or LTE-based Internet access into a Wi-Fi hotspot to provide wireless network for multiple devices such as smartphones, tablets or laptops. The successor of the Nighthawk M1 supports LTE Cat. 20 and in theory allows data transfer rates of up to 2 Gbit/s downstream and 150 Mbit/s upstream.
In practice, there are hardly any 4G networks supporting such high data transfer rates. Is still worth the purchase of the mobile hotspot, which is not a bargain with a purchase? We had the opportunity to put the heavy square device to a thorough test.
The Netgear Nighthawk M2 mobile router comes in a convenient package. In addition to the router itself, there is the battery and a quick start guide with the power supply and connecting cable. The supplied battery has a capacity of 5040 mAh. The WLAN standards 802.11a, b and g are supported. The 4G mobile hotspot is working on 2.4 and 5 GHz. The Netgear M2 has a USB-A and USB-C as well as an Ethernet interface. There are also connection options for external antennas (Buy Netgear Nighthawk M2 External Antenna). The LAN port can be used to use a wired Internet access instead of the mobile modem and to redistribute it via WLAN.
The processing of the Netgear 4G mobile router is impeccable. You can argue about the shiny surface. Here you can see very clear fingerprints very quickly, especially since the Nighthawk M2 has a touch screen, so it regularly gets into the embarrassment of touching the display. The complete initial setup can also be made via the touch-sensitive screen. A separate app or the web-based access to the M2 pocket WiFi router menu is possible, but not mandatory.
We have set up the router right on the touchscreen made, which was not easy. For one thing, the virtual keyboard is quite small due to the display size. So you always catch the wrong letter when typing. In addition, the screen does not respond as well to inputs as used by higher quality smartphones. If the setup of a network identifier (SSID) and the associated password worked quite well, then setting a (somewhat complicated) administrator password was not possible on the second attempt, so we skipped this step and later have made on the configuration via the Netgear Mobile App.
After the initial setup, the Netgear Nighthawk M2 mobile hotspot was immediately ready for use. The configuration for SIM cards is made automatically. As soon as the MiFi was set up, the availability of a firmware update was already displayed. We have installed this over the existing LTE data connection. In the process, around 160 MB of data was transferred. What changes the update brings is unknown. The internet connection via the Netgear Nighthawk M2 was very stable in the test for several hours. It did not matter if we used an Apple iPhone XS Max, a Samsung Galaxy S10+ or an Apple MacBook Pro.
The display of the router shows the current data consumption, the ID of the SIM card provider and the network technology used. There is also a small S-meter, which provides information about the quality of mobile reception. The battery level is also displayed. By default, you can also find the names of the Wi-Fi hotspot and the password via the touchscreen. This display can be deactivated if desired. Numerous settings are possible via the touchscreen menu. First, there is a WPS function. Then the user can limit the hotspot to one of the two WLAN frequency ranges (2.4 or 5 GHz). The connected devices can be displayed and, for example, you can specify whether the hotspot is put into standby mode after a period of non-use to save battery capacity.
Other possibilities are the restriction of Wi-Fi hotspots to a smaller reception area in order to save battery capacity or the automatic WLAN detach when USB tethering is used. The brightness of the display can be adjusted and the user can decide whether he wants to use the Internet access only in the home network or in international roaming. SMS messages can be sent and received via the Netgear Nighthawk M2. As we have already mentioned regarding the initial setup: The touch screen does not always respond reliably to inputs and the virtual keyboard is quite small. Apart from that, the menu is functional and intuitive to use.
With a SIM card from Vodafone, we have achieved data transfer rates of up to 110 Mbps in the downstream and 61 Mbps in the upstream. This is far from the peak speeds that the Netgear Nighthawk M2 allows, but is more or less equivalent to what the mobile telecom Internet access does with the smartphone. Even in mobile mode, such as a Wi-Fi hotspot in the car, the router performed well in the test. At speed 120Mbps on the highway, the performance of Internet access was still fine. Compared to a WLAN adapter such as the Huawei E8377 CarFi, the Netgear device earns more scores by the possibility to connect an outdoor LTE antenna. In regions with bad LTE coverage, a magnetic base antenna on the car roof provides a significant improvement in reception, which also affects the performance of Internet access.
Although Netgear Nighthawk M2 is well-made and provides stable Internet access for up to 20 devices, flaws such as the only moderately good touchscreen provides bad experience for users. For almost half of the purchase price, the Netgear Nighthawk M1 is available, which supports data transfer rates of up to 1 GBit/s via LTE, more than what the nets usually give out, so this model offers the much better price/performance ratio.
Many people know Alcatel 4G WiFi Hotspot, but few Alcatel 4G wireless router with Ethernet ports are well-known. Now Alcatel presented a new LinkHub series of wireless router for home use. The Alcatel LinkHub HH70 and HH40 are the two models for the home station. If you want to know the difference between LinkHub HH40 and HH70, you can check the specification table below for the comparison of the two 4G wireless wifi routers.
| Model | Alcatel LinkHub HH70 | Alcatel LinkHub HH40 |
| Product type | 4G WiFi Router with Ethernet port | 4G WiFi Router with Ethernet port |
| Category | LTE Cat.7 | LTE Cat.4 |
| Chipset | Qualcomm MDM9240-1 | Qualcomm MDM9207 |
| LTE Data rates | DL 300Mbps/UL 100Mbps | DL 150Mbps/UL 50Mbps |
| Supported 4G LTE frequency bands | Band 1/3/7/8/20/38/B40 | - EU Version(Alcatel HH40V): Band 1/3/7/8/20 - APAC/MEA Version(Alcatel HH40CM): Band 1/3/5(26)/7/8/20/28/38/40/41 |
| WLAN | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band 2.4GHz & 5GHz | 802.11b/g/n, 2.4GHz |
| Max supported users | 64 users | 32 users |
| MIMO | 2 x 2 MIMO | 2 x 2 MIMO |
| Antenna | Two, SMA-female jacks | Two, SMA-female jacks |
| Buy Antenna | Alcatel LinkHub HH70 external antenna | Alcatel LinkHub HH40 external antenna |
| App management | Alcatel WiFi Link App | Alcatel WiFi Link App |
| SIM Size | Micro SIM | Micro SIM |
| Battery | NO | NO |
| Dimensions | 146 x 146 x 32 mm | 134 x 134 x 31.5mm |
| Interfaces | * 2x 1000Mbps RJ45 port (WAN/LAN) * 1x RJ11 telephone port * Two external LTE antenna ports (SMA) * One Micro-SIM card slot * 1 x USB 2.0 port | * 1 x LAN port(RJ45) * 1 x LAN/WAN port (RJ45) * Two external LTE antenna ports (SMA) * One micro-SIM card slot * 1 x Micro USB for power supply |
| Datasheet | LinkHub HH70 Datasheet(PDF) | LinkHub HH40 Datasheet(PDF) |
| User Manual | LinkHub HH70 User Manual(PDF) | LinkHub HH40 User Manual(PDF) |
| Other features | ||
| Firmware download | Linkhub HH70 firmware | Linkhub HH40 firmware |
| Driver | Linkhub HH70 driver | Linkhub HH40 driver |
| Reviews | LinkHub HH70 Review | LinkHub HH40 Review |
| Price/USD | 279.00USD | 169.00USD |
Summary
From the specs table, we can see the main difference focus on below point:
Speed:
Variant models:
LinkHub HH70 has only one variant model now, but Alcatel Linkhub HH40 has two models for different markets: Alcatel HH40V for EU and Alcatel HH40CM for APAC/MEA areas.
Interfaces: Comparing with Linkhub HH40, Alcatel LinkHub HH70 has an extra USB 2.0 port for external disk connection and printer, but it doesn’t has the Micro USB port which is available in LinkHub HH40.
Dimensions: Alcatel LinkHub HH70 is a little bit larger than Linkhub HH40 The Alcatel Linkhub HH70 is advanced than HH40, so the Linkhub HH70 price is higher than HH40. If you would like to buy one home router from the two routers, we recommend the LinkHub HH70.
| Features and Specs of the Vodafone R218 | |
| Manufacturer and model | Vodafone R218 from ZTE |
| Chipset | Qualcomm MDM9207 |
| LTE Category | Cat.4 |
| Download rate | Up to 150 Mbps |
| Upload rate | Up to 50 Mbps |
| Supported LTE bands | 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2600 MHz |
| Backward compatible with | HSDPA (42.2 Mbps), EDGE, GPRS |
| Support for LTE-Advanced | No |
| MIMO Support | No |
| Connection for external antenna | No |
| Integrated telephone system | No |
| Network | LAN & WLAN | |
| LAN ports | no |
| WLAN standards | 802.11 n (2.4 GHz) |
| 5 GHz WLAN support | No |
| Encryption | WEP, WPA, WPA2 |
| WLAN hotspot function: | Yes |
| Others | |
| Battery pack | 2,300 mAh |
| Dimension | 105 x 64 x 14 mm at 102 g |
| USB | 1x micro USB |
| Memory card expansion | No |
| Release time | 07/01/2018 |
| Price | 129.00USD |
| available at: | » www.4gltemall.com |
| Document download | |
| Datasheet | » Download Vodafone R218 datasheet |
| User manual | » Download Vodafone R218 manual |
