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Forum Discussion

intofx's avatar
intofx
Guide
Apr 17, 2018
Solved

Pre April Nighthawk and band 14 and 46

Will the pre April 2018 - version 6112B - AT&T Nighthawk get bands 14 and 46 enabled via firmware? I see that hardware is the same as the newer 6420B version.  

 

I just bought a new hotspot but its the first release. Want to know if i should return it and try to get the newer version instead.

  • It seems like there is some confusion here about the models of AT&T M1 Nighthawk LTE Mobile Hotspot Router.  So I will try and explain the different SKU and the differences between them.

     

    Netgear has 4 SKUs for AT&T M1 and they are: MR1100-1A1NAS, MR1100ABS-1A1NAS, MR1100-2A1NAS and MR1100ABS-2A1NAS.

     

     

    Main Consumer SKU

    AT&T Business SKU

    Main Consumer SKU

    AT&T Business SKU

    Netgear SKU ID

    MR1100-1A1NAS

    MR1100ABS-1A1NAS

    MR1100-2A1NAS

    MR1100ABS-2A1NAS

    WPS

    Supported

    Not Supported

    Supported

    Not Supported

    USB tether

    Supported

    Not Supported

    Supported

    Not Supported

    Ethernet tether

    Supported

    Not Supported

    Supported

    Not Supported

    Ethernet Offloading

    Supported & Disabled

    Supported & Enabled

    Supported & Disabled

    Supported & Enabled

    USB thumb drive and SD Card

    Supported

    Not Supported

    Supported

    Not Supported

    1500/1430 byte MTU selection dropdown box

    Not Supported

    Supported & 1430

    Not Supported

    Supported & 1430

    Band 14

    Not Supported

    Not Supported

    Supported

    Supported

     

    Also the AT&T M1 does not support B46 only B14 was added to the 2A1NAS SKUs there will be no firmware updates available for 1A1NAS to support B14. The B14 needed hardware change to support FirstNet B14 properly that is why HW was changed. So I am pretty sure going forward the all the new units Netgear ships will be the 2A1NAS SKU units.

6 Replies

  • JasonN's avatar
    JasonN
    NETGEAR Employee Retired

    Hi intofx,

    The MR1100 (AT&T model) supports bands listed below:

     

    • LTE AT&T Bands: B2, B4, B5, B12, B29, and B30

    • LTE Roaming Bands: B1, B3 and B7

     

    Please let me know if you have any other questions. :]

     

     

    - Jason N

     

     

    • intofx's avatar
      intofx
      Guide

      Hey Jason

       

      Thanks for the reply, I'm still confused. You say the AT&T MR1100 but there are two different supplier code numbers. 6112B and the new 6420B

       

      AT&T updated their website with new specs that include band 14 and the different model number 6420B. You can view it on the AT&T page under specs > wireless technology.  https://www.att.com/devices/netgear/nighthawk-lte-mobile-hotspot-router.html#sku=sku8820339

       

       Are saying this is incorrect info?  or that model 6112B will not have band 14? even though it has the same hardware inside

       

       

       

      • JSchnee21's avatar
        JSchnee21
        Virtuoso

        Hi intofx,

         

        Great question.  I'm in a similar boat.  If you look up the publically available FCC info, it's clear that it is possible to enable at least band 14 via a firmware update.  I had seen a similar set of documents regarding band 46 as well -- though these seem to have mysteriously disappeared.  Since band 14 is in the  700MHz-800MHz the existing antenna's should cover it.  I'm less familiar with band 46 (LAA).  This seems to just be 5.8GHz Wifi carrying LTE packets instead of Ethernet packets -- so I guess the Wifi antennas would receive this?  No idea.

         

        BUT, whether AT&T/Netgear will choose to release a firmware update which grants Gen1 units one or both of these capabilities is anyone's guess.  

         

        Wish I could be more help, but I'm an end user like you.  You could try returning and replacing your unit -- but unless the inventory is clearly marked, this is liable to be error prone as vendors work through existing stock.

         

        -Jonathan