Re: Nighthawk MR5200 (M5) - We need your feedback!

JohnPeng · ‎2022-03-19

Netgear Mobile App on Android works fine with MR5200. But the app currently doesn't support latest iOs versions. So the APP can't be used on the latest Iphones.

Thanks

Oldguy99 · ‎2022-03-21

@ ChristineT

1. I am experiencing random wifi drop-outs.

2. I am experiencing random Cell drop-outs.

3. I might have reboot issue --- as I have tried running the device with and without the battery and have fumbled with the screen and power button several times. I am concerned about having to choose either a manual restart OR abusing my battery by leaving it installed to ride power bumps.

Knighthawk M5

Hardware V 1.0

GUI V MR5200-100EUS_04.02.196.00

Firmware V NTGX55_12.04.10.01

Modem V MPSS.HI.20.c3.5-00010-SDX55_CPEALL_PACK-1.403198.3

PRI V 02.02

I am trying to replace my DSL service with this.

Mac OS Monterey V 12.2.1

AT&T Elite Unlimited Service

Oldguy99 · ‎2022-03-23

It might be ATT. I found I am losing my DNS choices and some of my ‘net software just doesn’t get out there.

I also discovered that my unlimited data plan excludes this device —- 😤

I am returning the device to Amazon.

JohnPeng · ‎2022-03-23

@Oldguy99 wrote:

It might be ATT. I found I am losing my DNS choices and some of my ‘net software just doesn’t get out there.

I also discovered that my unlimited data plan excludes this device —- 😤

I am returning the device to Amazon.

Where did you get the AT&T SIM card? Was it for your phone plan?

Thanks

John

Oldguy99 · ‎2022-03-23

@JohnPeng

I went to my local ATT store so I could have it up and running later that evening, when the knighthawk was delivered.

JohnPeng · ‎2022-03-23

@Oldguy99 wrote:

@JohnPeng

I went to my local ATT store so I could have it up and running later that evening, when the knighthawk was delivered.

The M5 has been certified with AT&T and it was confirmed that AT&T BYOD Mobile Hotspot Plan will work with the device.

Thanks

BH-C · ‎2022-03-24

@Oldguy99 wrote:
It might be ATT. I found I am losing my DNS choices and some of my ‘net software just doesn’t get out there.
I also discovered that my unlimited data plan excludes this device —- 😤

I am returning the device to Amazon.

Hi, from what we learned from an AT&T store today, the Elite Unlimited plan can only be used on phone devices. Non-phone devices will not have Internet access with this plan.

steveXXX · ‎2022-03-24

You want something like this:

JohnPeng · ‎2022-03-24

Thanks, Steve.

It is good to know. Seems the special promotion plan is only for AT&T branded mobile hotspots.

BeresfordBear · ‎2022-03-29

Hi. Just saw your post. Having issues with M5 to my Orbi. Orbi only permits AP mode which is a waste of the $$$ investment because obviously I'd like to use its superior router capabilities over the M5. But in router mode there's one or more of Double NAT/conflict and the M5 switches its Wi-Fi radio back on which I definitely don't want for reasons of interference and power usage. Any suggested solutions? Bridge mode creates same issue. Thanks.

steveXXX · ‎2022-03-30

Hi,

Not sure I follow the details, but have you tried this:

steveXXX · ‎2022-04-06

@JohnPeng wrote:
Thanks, Steve.

It is good to know. Seems the special promotion plan is only for AT&T branded mobile hotspots.

Just noticed this reply. I am using a non AT&T branded mr5200 with the $55 plan. Bought it from Amazon,

then brought it into my local AT&T store for provisioning.

No issues.

steveXXX · ‎2022-04-06

I've written a program to read the model.json file from my mr5200.

It reads it once a minute then parse info of interest. I'm having a hard time understanding

some of the data. A sample output line:

10:40 > cell: 97602709 - 5GSUB6 Nr5gService,     rsrp:    -103 dBm  rsrq:    -14 dB  sinr:   12 dB  rssi:    -73 dBm
        nr5g: attached: true,  sigValid: true  - sigRsrp:  -79 dBm  sigRsrq: -12 dB  sigSnr:  5 dB
        lte:  attached: true,  sigValid: true  - sigRsrp: -103 dBm  sigRsrq: -14 dB  sigSnr: 12 dB  sigRssi: -73 dBm
1

Note that the diag info says that the nr5g signal is attached and valid. It claims an nr5g rsrp of -79dBm.

But the "generic" rsrp is listed as -103dBm, the value listed for the lte signal...

Note that it also claims to be using "currentPSserviceType" 5GSUB6 and "currentNWserviceType" Nr5gService

Am I missing something, or is this an issue. or ...

I ask because I am having an problem with the m5 switching from very good cells to poorer cells (as measured with Speed Test).

It seems to happen when the lte sigRsrp dips below -100dBm, as if it were tracking that instead of the nr5g signal.

Retired_Member · ‎2022-04-09

I finally had enough of dropped connections with the MR5200 and decided to pull out an old
mofi 4500 V2 to find if the netgear was really the problem. I pulled my AT&T sim card out of
the netgear and installed it into the mofi. Booted up the mofi and based on the cell towers
in my area, I band locked the mofi onto 12/17, pointed my poynting antenna to one of the towers,
3 miles from my location, and for 2 weeks had no uninterrupted internet connection. I now have
consistent 3 bar connection, (not the greatest) but because of all the trees and my location,
I’ll take it all day long! Even though the 700 MHz frequency is not the fastest, it is the
strongest I can lock onto. After 2 weeks of a sound connection with the band locked mofi, I
returned the MR5200 back to amazon for a full refund.

Since the Mofi 4500 cell module is old and not capable of 5G when they roll it out in my area
and many other 4G LTE bands, I decided to purchase a Sierra Wireless pre-built EM9191 NR Sub-6
GHz (CAT20) modem module with adapter enclosure from the guys over at The Wireless Haven for
less than the MR5200. Granted it does not have router capability, but I have enough routers
laying around. I installed their recommended GoldenOrb (OpenWRT fork) firmware onto a
Linksys 1900acs V2 router for testing, which will then allow me to control the modem from it.
Their website has a list of compatible routers that the firmware supports and can be loaded onto.
Many Asus, Netgear and other routers

.

I will be installing either wireguard or the express vpn ovpn firmware on the router’s firmware
tonight so all my network traffic flows through the vpn, and wait until the new Sierra Wireless
modem arrives . The modem has all the current 5G NR sub-6 bands n1 on up to n79, along with 4G
LTE bands B1 on up to B71, so I should not have any problem staying connected since I will also
have the capability to band lock and enable carrier aggregation if required.

When I was troubleshooting the MR5200 and I would watch the signal become very low or when AT&T
would switch bands and/or towers on me, (tower ID visible from their GUI), the express vpn would
interpret that as a lost signal and kill the connection which would require a reboot. Band
locking has eliminated that issue for me using the old mofi 4500.

I will update this post once I receive and test out the Sierra Wireless modem module.

Update: I have been running the new cellular modem from The Wireless Haven now for 2 weeks with
NO disconnects!!! I had them build the modem using the latest sierra wireless 5G EM9191 module
and it is rock solid even when only using the 4 paddle antenna’s that come with their modem.
Running express vpn on the router slows my speed somewhat but I chose security over
speed any day. Looking forward to deploying this setup in a 5G location soon and adding 2 of
their 2 x 2 mimo antenna's to connect to the 4 sma ports on the modem for better reception.

steveXXX · ‎2022-04-09

@Retired_Member wrote:

Update: I have been running the new cellular modem from The Wireless Haven now for 2 weeks with
NO disconnects!!! I had them build the modem using the latest sierra wireless 5G EM9191 module
and it is rock solid even when only using the 4 paddle antenna’s that come with their modem.
Running express vpn on the router slows my speed somewhat but I chose security over
speed any day. Looking forward to deploying this setup in a 5G location soon and adding 2 of
their 2 x 2 mimo antenna's to connect to the 4 sma ports on the modem for better reception.

I too am becoming very frustrated with the performance of my M5. When it works, it works well.

But most of the time its continually switching from good cells to poor ones, requiring frequent reboots... 😡

What carrier are you using?

Did you have to update the IMEI of your sim to make the change?

Or did you need to get a new SIM?

Retired_Member · ‎2022-04-09

Steve,

I have been using the latest AT&T sim card I received in February of this year. It is 5G capable and I used it for testing in the MR5200, the mofi and now in the wireless haven's modem. When you flash Goldenorbs firmware onto a compatible router, it puts a modem module onto the interface. When you log in, you can configure your APN. Mine is broadband, with a name of AT&T broadband. That is it. When you connect the cellular modem to the router (through a USB 3.0 cable, not ethernet) the Goldenorb's firmware automatically detects the modem and the same SIM card I've been using since February, and configures itself to it. You can then see all the IMEI, phone, and ICCID numbers of your SIM card in the router interface firmware. You can also see what band the modem connected to and band lock it to any band it has found or you want to use. The wireless haven's modem has been running 24/7 for two weeks now without any disconnects!!! It is awesome. The sierra wireless EM9191 cellular module is great. The modem is small about the same size as the MR5200, but so much more powerful. I know you can purchase the newest mofi with this module installed, but it is huge because it also includes router capabilities. As I stated before, I don't need another router!!! I am running a linksys 1900acs V2 I had laying around and just purchased another linksys WRT32X to use for another location with this modem. The WRT32X has more ram and faster cpu for when I install the vpn onto the router. Vpn's installed on a router take up memory and need faster cpu's.

jraffel · ‎2022-04-12

Hi Christine,

i experience random connection drops quite frequently, For me it looks like it happens a little more on 4G and 4G+.

I have a Telekom D Sim card in the Router and frequently use it in D (Telekom), NL (T-Com NL) and P (MEO). Problems are the least in NL in D more frequent and sometimes Problematic in P, When working with a RDP connection i experience a drop in connection and then i have to reconnect to the server. I suspect that it is the mobile connection since the sidecar connection as a second Display still seams to work.

The drops happen also while playing Brawl Stars. It looks it happens in random time intervals but then resulting in frequent drops, waiting for a reconnect mostly is then followed by a drop and i switch to mollie iPad connection (same Provider).

Yesterday at FNC airport i had a wild behaviour while downloading medium sized files from my Nextcloud the connection dropped every 1-2min resulting in a closed connection on the NC client for 20min while that was happening i found your post. I was not able to download 4GB (125 files) switching to iPad resulted in a smooth DL.

LG Jörn

rylos · ‎2022-04-15

Thank you Netgear for the great support (NOT!) and this **bleep**ty and expensive product. Just waiting 1 year for some firmware upgrade to fix it is enough!

I'm a software architect in real life, I will fire all of your dev team. Unacceptable!

steveXXX · ‎2022-04-15

Hi,

I found a new way to hang the M5. Have been using direct Ethernet to the main switch. Decided to tether a Beryl router

to the M5 USB port to get a few Ethernet ports at the hot spot station. Seemed ok until I ran speedtest.com. Total hang
of the M5, no front-panel, no pings, the app couldn't even see it. Tried several different cables, always the same.

Restored to original direct Ethernet connection and no more hangs. Anyone else seeing hangs when tethered?

BH-C · ‎2022-04-15

@steveXXX wrote:
Hi,
I found a new way to hang the M5. Have been using direct Ethernet to the main switch. Decided to tether a Beryl router
to the M5 USB port to get a few Ethernet ports at the hot spot station. Seemed ok until I ran speedtest.com. Total hang
of the M5, no front-panel, no pings, the app couldn't even see it. Tried several different cables, always the same.
Restored to original direct Ethernet connection and no more hangs. Anyone else seeing hangs when tethered?

Did you mean you tether the M5 to the Beryl router's USB port and then run speed test from a computer connected to the Beryl router's Ethernet LAN port? This usually requires the USB host to support each brand/model of modem specifically... Looks the router mainly supports Android phones or iPhones.

steveXXX · ‎2022-04-15

@BH-C wrote:
@steveXXX wrote:
Hi,
I found a new way to hang the M5. Have been using direct Ethernet to the main switch. Decided to tether a Beryl router
to the M5 USB port to get a few Ethernet ports at the hot spot station. Seemed ok until I ran speedtest.com. Total hang
of the M5, no front-panel, no pings, the app couldn't even see it. Tried several different cables, always the same.
Restored to original direct Ethernet connection and no more hangs. Anyone else seeing hangs when tethered?

Did you mean you tether the M5 to the Beryl router's USB port and then run speed test from a computer connected to the Beryl router's Ethernet LAN port? This usually requires the USB host to support each brand/model of modem specifically... Looks the router mainly supports Android phones or iPhones.

Yes, indirectly thru yet another managed switch.

SO I guess it may be a case of "doctor, it hurts when ... | doctor: then don't do it"

Expected that sort of thing to be a standard. 😡

steveXXX · ‎2022-04-21

Found that the issue with my M5 hang was that the Beryl didn't have enough amperage on the USB port to power

the M5 in tether mode. When the M5 got to cooking during a speedtest it didn't have the juice and hung.

For now using a battery solves the problem. Gonna try a different router long term.

As to the Beryl handling the M5 in tether mode, it works just fine since I loaded the GoldenOrb flavor of OpenWrt

firmware on it.

dpcheng · ‎2022-04-29

I have been using the Nighthawk M5 for two months and experiencing a frequent 4G LTE fallback to 3G H+ this month.
Sometimes it will revert back to 4G LTE but most of the time it needed a reboot.
Setting the band to 4G and 5G will result in network searching and unable to connect.
Is there a way around this?

steveXXX · ‎2022-04-29

I've had this issue since I bought my M5 several months back. I wrote a program to monitor

it once per minute. Summarized output from lat 24 hours:

$ grep considered log
##### cell 97602709 is considered good
##### cell 97602568 is considered good
##### cell 97602709 is considered good
##### cell 97602568 is considered good
##### cell 97602709 is considered good
##### cell 97602568 is considered good
##### cell 97602709 is considered good
##### cell 97602568 is considered good
##### cell 97602709 is considered good
##### cell 97602568 is considered good
##### cell 97602709 is considered good
##### cell 97602568 is considered good
##### cell 97602577 is considered bad

It will stay on this bad cell indefinitely, until I reboot:

07:22 > cell changed from 97602577 to 97602568
##### cell 97602568 is considered good
##### reboot detected @ April 29 2022,  7:23:04am MDT

Speedtest, before reboot:

After reboot (ie good cell again):

dpcheng · ‎2022-04-30

Although the login and password for the APN are blank, setting the APN authentication to PAP or CHAP seemed to have solved the problem of frequent disconnection and unable to reconnect.
The M5 automatically showed asterisks for the password which was blank when the setting was NONE.

Re: Nighthawk MR5200 (M5) - We need your feedback!