Pre April Nighthawk and band 14 and 46

[intofx]

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.

[ErnestTheGreat · Accepted solution]

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.

[JasonN]

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]

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]

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

[ErnestTheGreat · Accepted solution]

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.

[JSchnee21]

Well, that's just bonkers.  What a great way to piss off customers.  Why is there no information about different submodels when you try and order the device.  I'll have to check my box/unit when I get home to see which one I ended up with.

FYI, this is completely contrary to the FCC filing documents for the MR1100 with regard to Band 14 which clearly indicates that it CAN be enabled with a firmware update.

So later this year when AT&T releases the "5G" version of the Nighthawk with band 46 (which the Samsung S9 already gets in Chicago for exmaple). Are they really going to release a Rev3 of the product?  That's completely asinine 

If you go to this thread

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Mobile-Routers-Hotspots-Modems/MR1100-FCC-Filings-and-Hardware-Info...

Go to the FCC

https://fcc.io/PY3/17200378

And read the permissive change documents (see attached).

I smell a class action lawsuit (-:  Not that I'm the litigious sort.  But seriously, I just bought it, it was over priced at $200, and the firmware is still very buggy and unstable.  And my product has likely already been obsoleted.  

-Jonathan

[JSchnee21]

Yup, my "new" MR1100 from 02/21/2018 is:  MR1100-1A1NAS (SKU 6112B) H/W: 1.0

So this device may never get Band 14 nor 46. Of course, that's unlikely to present any real issue as AT&T rarely parks hotspots on 700MHz, it will be at least a year or two (or more) until Band 14 comes to my area (NJ), and who knows when or if band 46 will ever get here.  By the time these bands are actually available there will be some shiny new hotspot on the market.

That said, my new AT&T ZTE Velocity 2 already does Band 14 for what its worth.  This device is much smaller, more stable, and only slightly slower at present.  A bit less battery life but at least it doesn't crash/hang/reboot at least once per day while running on battery.

Given that the FCC only approved the new version of the MR1100 in March, I wonder how long it will take AT&T to clear its legacy inventory?  Awefully suspicious that AT&T discontinued the legacy unlimited plan and is phasing out new hotspots on unlimited service plans at the same time.

I still like my MR1100, hopefully Netgear continues to make firmware improvements to make the unit more stable, run cooler, have better battery life, better Wifi range, and user band selection.  My new Velocity 2 can only do one Wifi band at a time (2.4 or 5.8) but it has about twice the range of the MR1100 on 5.8GHz.