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Forum Discussion
Nighthawk M1 Drops Internet Overnight....why?!
I'm on week 2 of trying to get this device to work as advertised or expected. I finally have it working as a pure modem.....kinda. I have a TP Link Router that is my main home router. The M1 ha...
Well, my issue is only an issue when the router is set up to use WAN and IP Passthrough. Otherwise, the ethernet connection is solid.
Is there any harm in using my router without a battery? It is not used as a mobile router, so the battery would stay at 100% its whole life. The telestra manual says you can remove the battery and use it with a quickcharge 3.0 usb plug. I have an AT&T model, and my manual does not say that. Can I still do it safely? It seems to work pretty dang well without the battery and just using the USB cord. Is that safe to do on my model?
The Nighthawk M1 manual from the Netgear website states that the M1 can be run solely on the mains charger without the battery installed.
I'm based in the UK and my provider is EE. My boxed M1 was suplied with a Netgear 2A mains charger. (model: AD2037M20 type: B07LF). Since this is only 2A, I don't believe it supports either Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 or Quick Charge 3.0. When I attempted to run the M1 solely on this charger, it constantly rebooted. The reboots were often triggered by activity such as starting to download a file, where I guess more constant power would be required.
After doing some research it appears that the M1 includes a chip that supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 technology. So I purchased a good quality mains charger with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 technology, which is backwards compatible with Quick Charge 2.0. I also purchased a heavy-duty charge cable from the same manufacturer. When running on Quick Charge 2.0, the charger supplies 2.4A. When I check the M1's browser-based interface under Settings > Nighthawk M1 Status > Diuagnostics, I see that the "Battery Charge Status" is "QuickCharge", so the Qualcomm technology is clearly operating.
I've been running the M1 solely on this charger now for 7 days and the session has only been restarted once in this time - this may not have been a reboot - the session may even have been terminated by the provider.
By increasing the available amperage from 2A to 2.4A, the temperature of the M1 has inevitably risen. The browser interface indicated that the range was between 36degC and 41degC, rising to the latter with more networking activity. I don't know if this is within acceptable tolerances - I haven't been able to find any Netgear documentation to clarify this. Since the lifespan of electronic devices is generally improved by avoiding overly high temperatures, I removed the battery cover and raised the M1 a few centimeters off the surface to allow air flow around the battery compartment. I also carefully placed an old CPU heat sink on top of the M1 with some cling film between to avoid damage to the LCD screen. The use of the heat sink is probably "overkill" but I managed to drop the M1's temperature range by 5degC (31degC - 36degC), which I guess is well within acceptable tolerances.
Of course, replacing supplied equipment with non-standard equipment could impact your warranty. Also, there are many very poorly-designed mains chargers on the market that without doubt will damage equipment over time. So you do this at your own risk but if you choose a good-quality charger after doing some careful research, then my belief is that you will not harm the M1.
I’m waiting on my Nighthawk to deliver. If I decide to buy the charger you say is needed can you tell me exactly what it is and where you got it?
thanks,
George
After reading a few messages regarding the need for a more powerful mains charger than the 2A charger supplied by Netgear, in order to run the M1 reliably without its battery, it seems that any 2.4A charger would probably work. However, as I stated above, it appears that the M1 has a Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 chip in it, so I looked for a charger that implements this technology. As I also mentioned above, there are many very badly designed, cheap chargers on the market that could potentially damage the equipment they're connected to. Using a non-standard charger with the M1 could affect your warranty. So I decided to pay a bit more and buy a charger that looked well-made. I chose an American-designed unit from Anker called "PowerPort+ 1", which is an 18W, single port, Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 charger. I have no connection with this company and I'm sure there are many other reputable companies supplying good chargers. I bought mine on Amazon.
Anker have a range of different chargers most of which have multiple ports. One port was all I needed. Here's their website: https://www.anker.com/products/108/203/Wall-Chargers. I'm based in the UK, so the PowerPort+ 1 that I received looks slightly different from the photo on the site and obviously has a UK plug. This charger is backwards compatible with the Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 chip in the M1. Although these chargers are American-designed, they're built in China, as so many of our electronic devices are these days. While I haven't dismantled the charger, externally the build quality is excellent.
In order to maximise the power getting to the M1, I also decided to buy a low resistance charge cable from Anker. This might not be any better than the charge cable supplied by Netgear but the one I bought is very robust, being nylon braided, and is longer than the one supplied. You probably wouldn't need to buy a different cable - I'm just a geek :smileywink:.
Since installing the Anker charger and cable about 6 weeks ago, I've been running the M1 without a battery 24/7. It has rebooted about 3 times in that period. More accurately, the internet connection/session has been terminated about 3 times in that period - I guess this could just as easily be the mobile network terminating the connection rather than the M1 actually rebooting. Prior to installing the new charger, my M1 was definitely rebooting multiple times every day - I watched it reboot immediately as I started downloading large files. I'm using both the M1's WiFi and Ethernet port (which is connected to an unmanaged Gigabit Ethernet switch that feeds 2 dual-band WiFi access points and an Ethernet-wired PC and printer), so perhaps my M1 is being pushed harder than others. I'm now very happy with this set-up. The one remaining problem is the Ethernet port going to sleep after periods of inactivity, but this will hopefully be resolved by a firmware update that according to one of the Netgear moderators on this site will be made available in Feb.
If you find this info of use to you, I'd of course welcome your Kudos :smileyhappy:. Thanks.
I was planning on picking one of these up and using the LAN for a vonage box for phone calls. Until the firmware fixes the ethernet port for shutting down, are there any other options to use the port? Maybe connect the vonyage off a separate access point off the wireless instead?
Nighthawk came in today. It looks like it’s the same 2A charger that you have. Going to order the one you recommended to have if needed. Thanks again for your info!
Is this the one you purchased?
