Hi I just bought the Nighthawk M1 MR1100 and I tried to connect an external antenna but it seems not to pick up the antenna signal and just continues to use its internal antennas. Any suggestions what I can do? I tested the antenna with a huawei LTE dongle and it works perfectly. Thanks for your input

Your expeirence is very meaningful for me. Let me know I am not alone to face same problems. "Or maybe they couldn't fixe it with the firmware and they have changed the hardware so that the newer version would work correctly. " Did you confirm with the tech guy the upcoming forth device will not have the issue? I don't know about the US version. I have two MR1100 devices. One is AU version (Telstra) and the other is EU version (EE UK). Both are unlocked. Both had same issue. The AU version don't support 2300 MHz but external antenna doesn't improve the signal quality at 2600 MHz. The EU version support 2300 and 2600 MHz and external antenna doesn't improve signal quality at 2300 and 2600 MHz. Don't the reason. It's strange that 2300 is TDD and 2600 is FDD, but cann be enhanced by external antenna. So what are the external antenna ports for?

Ok I did some testing, when I boot the hotspot with the antennas connected it seems that it picks up the signal of the antennas and I have a strong signal (4 bars). But just seconds later (10-15s) it switches back to the internal antennas an I have only two bars left.

Sounds like you may be band hopping. Check the RSRQ value and band value with 4 bars vs when you have 2 bars. The nighthawk will typically jump to a band with a lower RSRQ(quality of signal) even if the RSRP is better(which is the value that reflects the bars). I get 3 to 4 bars on B12 and only 1 to 2 bars on B4, however, I stay on B4 more often becaus the RSRQ is slightly better. I get faster speeds on B4 too.

Thanks for your input but it has nothing todo with band hopping. When I am outside my building at the same spot where I placed the external antenna the internal antenna gets 1800Mhz and 2600 Mhz with 4 bars. So normally when I am in the building I should get the same signal via the external antenna as tested with a Huawei dongle. Instead it just shows me the signal from the interanl atennas and it doesn't change anything if the external atennas are connected or not. The signal and all the values are the same. Can anybody who is using the Nighthawk M1 tell me how it behaves when you connect an external antenna? Does it recognize it immedialtely ? Or do you have to re boot your device? Does it use the external antenna by default when connected or does it need some activation. My feeling says that something is wrong with the device. Also the 90 days Netgear Support is not available even though I registered my device which is just bad service. I guess I just send it back to amazon and will buy a Huawei B618s or does anybody have a different suggestion for a similar netgear product which works with an external antenna for 600 mbits?

Lens123 wrote: Can anybody who is using the Nighthawk M1 tell me how it behaves when you connect an external antenna? Does it recognize it immedialtely ? Or do you have to re boot your device? Does it use the external antenna by default when connected or does it need some activation. I have two antennas connected to mine. it recognizes the antennas within 30 seconds, no reboot required. If you are looking at the back of the nighthawk, the antenna port on the left is antenna port one which should be used for a single antenna. Also, what type of antenna do you have and what frequency(s) does it support?

MR1100 LTE antenna not recognized

19 Replies

Lens123
Aspirant
Jun 18, 2018
Ok I did some testing, when I boot the hotspot with the antennas connected it seems that it picks up the signal of the antennas and I have a strong signal (4 bars). But just seconds later (10-15s) it switches back to the internal antennas an I have only two bars left.
- jpr78
  Tutor
  Jun 19, 2018
  Sounds like you may be band hopping. Check the RSRQ value and band value with 4 bars vs when you have 2 bars. The nighthawk will typically jump to a band with a lower RSRQ(quality of signal) even if the RSRP is better(which is the value that reflects the bars). I get 3 to 4 bars on B12 and only 1 to 2 bars on B4, however, I stay on B4 more often becaus the RSRQ is slightly better. I get faster speeds on B4 too.
  - Lens123
    Aspirant
    Jun 19, 2018
    Thanks for your input but it has nothing todo with band hopping. When I am outside my building at the same spot where I placed the external antenna the internal antenna gets 1800Mhz and 2600 Mhz with 4 bars. So normally when I am in the building I should get the same signal via the external antenna as tested with a Huawei dongle. Instead it just shows me the signal from the interanl atennas and it doesn't change anything if the external atennas are connected or not. The signal and all the values are the same.
    
    Can anybody who is using the Nighthawk M1 tell me how it behaves when you connect an external antenna? Does it recognize it immedialtely ? Or do you have to re boot your device? Does it use the external antenna by default when connected or does it need some activation.
    
    My feeling says that something is wrong with the device. Also the 90 days Netgear Support is not available even though I registered my device which is just bad service. I guess I just send it back to amazon and will buy a Huawei B618s or does anybody have a different suggestion for a similar netgear product which works with an external antenna for 600 mbits?

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MR1100 LTE antenna not recognized