Nighthawk M1 MR1100 Download Speeds

[baileyrhood90]

Hi all. I am trying to figure out how much room for improvement I have on my download speeds with my Nighthawk M1 running on AT&T network with unlimited data plan. I routinely get 70 to 80mbps, but I know it's possible to get much faster. Can I please ask what the fastest speeds you all get is? I am thinking about getting a directional antenna to boost signal in hopes of getting over 100mbps. So. What do you guys get? Thanks.

Bailey

[TeeJay74]

Fastest live network peak DL speeds with MR1100 EU I have seen is about 720 - 740 Mbps.

[baileyrhood90]

WoW. That is incredible. I am just trying to get to 100mbps and I'll be happy.

[JSchnee21]

Hi @baileyrhood90,

Yeah, TeeJay always posts some amazing speeds but he has the European version and gets those speeds in Finland/Sweden? (I forget).

Here in the USA, using my US branded MR1100 from AT&T, I have never gotten above 110Mbit and have never seen a post here or on HowardForums from anyone who has done better.  This is on my AT&T Unlimited plan (Plus / Premier / Platinum -- whatever they call it).  

In contrast my new iPhone XS Max -- which has the worlds worse reception -- routinely gets 130-240 Mbit when I'm near upgraded towers in PA.

To be fair, I don't use the Ethernet connection (nor USB) on my MR1100 very often.  All of my speed testing has been over 5.8GHz Wifi @ 40Mhz bandwidth.  I've tried 80MHz as well -- but it was usually worse -- probably due to interfering bands.

I strongly suspect something is amis with the US version of the MR1100.  Looking at the FCC filing information I suspect its using some really old QAM protocols.  Or the CA or MIMO are screewed up.  not sure.

Of course no one from Netgear ever responds to this forum -- unlike their Router forums.

[baileyrhood90]

@JSchnee21 I greatly appreciate you taking the time to respond to my post. The information that you have given me is very helpful and is EXACTLY what I was looking for.

Like you, I suspect something is wrong with our version of the MR1100. I suspect that it does not seem to do carrier aggregation properly. This model is supposed to be 4CA capable. When I bought this box, I did thorough research, and unless I am seriously mistaken, it's supposed to support 256-QAM, 4CA, & 4x4 MIMO compatible. This should enable us to get amazing speeds, right? I do realize, however, that there are limitations depending on what our providers and their towers support. Like you, I am on the AT&T Unlimited Plus Business Plan.

I live in an area where fiber optic and and cable internet are not available, so my only options are 20mbps DSL, satellite internet, or 4G LTE. So for my next question, have any of you seen or heard of any type of hotspot or 4G LTE modem that surpasses the 100mbps mark consistently? Since 4G LTE is my only option for good internet, I am willing to spend whatever to get an improved device if it will significantly improve my download speeds. I want to be able to stream 4K remuxes and I can't do this with the 80mbps I am getting now. 

I thank you ahead of time for any advice or input you may offer.

[JSchnee21]

Well, good luck getting consistently above 80Mbps with any cellular connection.  But, unfortunately, to answer your question, no, I haven't seen anything which often (I won't say routinely, let alone reliably) gets speeds over 100Mbit save for:

1) Samsung phones -- Samsung Galaxy or Note 9 or newer

2) iPhone XS or XS Max

3) There are probably other recent Android phones which might as well, but I'm less familiar with these.

Obviously a phone is not a great hotspot due to it's limited wifi range.  Alternatively you'd have to try and tether it (Samsung VIA USB3) to a PC/Mac/Linux and then setup the PC as a router and connect it's ethernet card to a proper wireless access point.

Which MR1100 do you have?  Gen1 (pre Band14) or Gen2?  I have the Gen1.  I haven't gotten a good comparison between generations.  Maybe the new Gen3 ("5G") will have better LTE-A.  

I've often thought about buying the EU model that TeeJay has to see how well it works in the states.  But I don't know if the bands, CA, MIMO, QAM, etc. will be full compatible or not.

My AT&T (ZTE) Velocity 2 which I bought in April before the ban still works well.  But it peaks at ~90Mbit as well.  It does get much better upload speeds than the MR1100 for some reason.  Usually 2x as fast.  I've seen 20-40Mbit up on the ZTE, but only usually get 5-15, sometimes 20, on the MR1100.

I'll post the question over on HowardForums to see what they say.  But, lots of folks jumped on the MR1100 when it came out because nothing else was as fast.

I've also thought about buying a Verzion Jetpack to try on the AT&T network.

I've not seen any speed test information for the MOFI hotspots.  They are supposedly much more reliable and much more configurable.  but tend to use older chipsets.

http://mofinetwork.com

-Jonathan

[baileyrhood90]

@JSchnee21 

Hey bud. Good to hear from you again. And again, lots of good info in your post.

I have heard that some of the newer phones offer great speeds, well above 100mbps. Someone told me in a different post I made that their iPhone 6s gets well above 100 on a regular basis. I have thought about trying to get one and do as you suggested, tethering the phone to a desktop, and then connecting via ethernet to my router in access point mode. I am starting to think this would be my best option at this time.

I have also been doing some research on the new 5G Netgear hotspot. I believe they are calling it the Netgear Nighthawk M5 Fusion. I imagine that it will have some significant improvements. 4G LTE Mall has it listed for $699 right now. Do you have any idea when it is actually going to be released through ATT though? I think I will see what people say about it when it comes out and if it gets better speeds, I will definitely upgrade.

I have the 2nd Gen MR100, band 14 enabled. I do not see any advantage of having this version, though, as I have never connected to band 14 when using this model. I initially had the 1st gen MR1100, but switched thinking surely the 2nd gen would have some improvements. There are none that I see. I don't know what's up with your upload speeds on the MR100 though, as I routinely get 30 and 40mbps up.

I have heard a lot about the MoFi hotspots and have also done lots of research on them. Same as you though, I can't find much information on their speeds. The only speed test results I've seen was showing the 80mbps range for down speed. 

I'm not an active member on HowardForums anymore, but if you do post over there, please let me know when you get any kind of new information that I might find useful. Your input on this subject has been very informative for me, and I appreciate you taking the time to fill me in on what you know. 

Thanks and have a nice day.

Bailey

[JSchnee21]

Thanks Bailey,

NuclearTx on HowardForums has gotten 175Mbit/s on his MR1100 (First Gen).  Of course, he's also gotten 336 Mbit/s on his XS Max (according to his signature) -- but that's not to imply that these measurements where taken at the same time / same tower.

I have no idea when the M5 Fusion will be released, but I would have thought it would be by the end of the year (2018) to coincide with AT&T's 5G launch.  But, it could be that AT&T is dragging their feet.

Regrettably, I'm concerned the M5 will have very poor firmware when it launches.  The MR1100 sure did, and it was launched a year before the US release in AUS.  So while Netgear should have had time to make improvements clearly there was a lot to fix or two completely different teams were working on.

I'll have to see if I can make time to take my MR1100 to the store and complain and see if I can get a swap.

[baileyrhood90]

@JSchnee21 Have you found out anything new from HowardForums? I really hope the M5 Fusion does better than the MR1100. I am seriously disappointed in it. I'm also disappointed that no one from Netgear will provide any information about these issues or a firmware update that might resolve it. 

[JSchnee21]

Hi Bailey,

Unfortunately not.  The MR1100 was still recommended as the best.  Honestly these hotspot forums are largely ignored by Netgear.  Unlike their wireless router forums which are much more active and at least have some moderators.

But honestly, I had Netgear wifi routers for several years, and while the hardware was usually pretty good, their software/firmware development left a lot to be desired.  I feel like hotspots are even worse.

-Jonathan