NETGEARNighthawk M6 Pro Mobile Hotspot 5G mmWave, 8Gbps, Unlocked, AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon International Roaming 125 Countries, WiFi 6E, Portable Device for Travel, Modem Wireless Router (MR6550)

I was expected that this Netgear Mobile Hotspot would be returned - due the fact that I live in a rural town with weak cell signal.In addition to that - I was buying a refurbished unit to save $$.It ended up working pretty well - and the signal was slightly better than the phone hotspot I had been using.I don’t see a big increase in signal “bars” but the data speed is better than I had on phone only.I was able to get all my phone calls and text messages which was not happening before using this hotspot.Once I bought the external Netgear antenna - the data was solid enough to hold video calls without dropping off.I would recommend this device - just keep in mind that the signal may not be the maximum strength.For comparison: on phone, at home, I average 1-2 mbps download speed and astronomically high latency.With this hotspot - I average 5-7 mbps /down. )After adding the external antenna i started getting 12-18 mbps down.

I have a Netgear LB1120 LTE modem as a backup for my home network; I thought this would be a good upgrade to 5G. I was wrong.For a whopping $700, I expected this to function, but it barely does. Half the time it would struggle to actually hand out an IP over the LAN port (inconsistent). If you enable IP Passthrough mode, you can't change the admin IP address -- specifically, you CAN (and you have to also change the DHCP range, even though that's irrelevant), and then it forces you to reboot, and the screen will show the new IP address, but the old one still works and the new one won't, but if you change it BEFORE enabling passthrough (then reboot), and then enable passthrough... it works. It doesn't help that the touchscreen is super laggy and frustrating to interact with.But remember the inconsistent IP assignment when working as a router (passthrough off)? Same issue with Passthrough... it was inconsistent.And the device takes 5 minutes to reboot.... which you have to do any time you change nearly any setting other than turning WiFi on/off. Even installing/removing the battery while plugged into the wall causes an error message on the screen saying it has to reboot to change the "Power Mode" setting... while it's still on and powered, but adding/removing the battery causes it to change some setting... that requires a reboot. If you start it out-of-the-box for the first time before installing the battery, it will also immediately boot to that error/warning... wait 5 minutes to make sure you see it, and THEN reboot.And, in the 3 short hours I was trying to get this to work at all, it somehow decided my APN setting was wrong and stated showing the network as 000-00 and just wouldn't connect. Manually selecting the correct APN for my carrier caused to to complain and throw errors about how this was OBVIOUSLY wrong. Reboot. Again.The real cherry on top here was that when it DID give out an IP address, it caused my router (an Ubiquiti UDM-SE) to lock up for 10-20 seconds every few minutes. I don't understand how or why, and it was the same in NAT/Router mode and in Passthrough/Bridge mode.If this was a $100 device, I'd probably debug it and poke at it with Wireshark and see what packets it is sending out the LAN port, but for $700? I expect some amount of QA and polish... and a functioning device out of the box. As such, I'm just returning it.I'm sure it's probably fine if you're using it as a hotspot, but as-is, this thing doesn't function as a 5G modem for your network and is incredibly frustrating and fiddly to even try.

Initially I had some weird "lock up" situations - but a firmware update got rid of those issues. I use this device on Verizon and had no problems activating and using it. I work in a building with terrible cell service overall, my phone spins and spins, and when I pop this out - BOOM - it connects to the cellular network sometimes 5G/4G and my phone can access internet like I was at home.The battery does quite well when I'm mobile. When I need it for backup purposes at home, you can plug it in and use a different mode that greatly expands Wi-Fi coverage.The onscreen display is great giving you all the information you'd need at a glance - including battery usage, number of connected devices and data usage.The price was high, but, I wanted a top notch hotspot and this fit the bill.

Great price for a portable 4G router. Can be used in bridge mode or router mode. I have it in bridge mode connected to my Ubiquiti DR7. Not sure what other people are complaining about the firmware not updating. I downloaded the correct firmware for it, make sure you pay attention to the model number, and it added the fail over feature. I didn't activate it because my DR7 can handle that. I was also able to run it from a battery bank without issues.The only negative I can think of is that I wish it could clone IMEI numbers so that it looks like I'm using the ISP provided hot spot. For the price though it's an excellent value, though I wish the external Netgear antenna were cheaper (it cost more than the router!!).

The Netgear Nighthawk Mobile Hotspot is a decent product that offers reliable performance as a portable hotspot. It has a sleek, compact design that makes it easy to take on the go, and it provides fast, stable internet connectivity for all of your devices. However, it does lack some advanced features that would make it a truly fully functional device.One of the biggest drawbacks of the Nighthawk Mobile Hotspot is its lack of support for bridge mode. This means you can't use the hotspot to pass a public IP address to a connected device, such as a firewall, which can be a major inconvenience for users who want to extend their home network to other locations. As a result, you will need to double NAT the device, which can cause issues with network performance and security.Overall, the Netgear Nighthawk Mobile Hotspot is a decent product that offers reliable performance as a portable hotspot. While it lacks some advanced features that would make it fully functional, it is still a good option for users who need a portable hotspot for occasional use.