With the development of LTE networks, LTE Advanced is now becoming the mainstream. So the LTE-A WiFi Routers are more and more popular, which would provide faster speed than that on LTE category 3 or LTE category 4. Huawei E5186 is the world’s first LTE-A router and was very popular in 2016 and 2017. Now the new upgraded Huawei B715 router is available. In this article, we will compare Huawei E5186 and B715 router to see what the difference between the two routers is and which one is better.
Appearance and Interfaces
Since Huawei LTE CPE E5186 was popular in Europe and Australia in past two years, many people may know it well. Like many other Huawei stationary routers, there are few indicators on the front, such as Power, Mode, WiFi, Voice, Signal. And Huawei logo is in the middle front face. On the back, there are 4 LAN ports (one for LAN/WAN), two RJ11 Telephone port, and USB 2.0 port available. The power switch on/off button is also lined with the interfaces. Huawei Router B715 also has 4 LAN ports (One for LAN/WAN), but it has only one telephone port with the USB 2.0 port. They both use Micro SIM card size. The difference is that the SIM card of Huawei E5186 is located at the edge side while Huawei B715 router has the SIM card slot at the bottom. And they both have two SMA connectors for an external antenna. If you would buy 4G LTE Antenna with two SMA connectors, you can switch the internal antenna to external antenna in the web interface.
Specs and variant models
The predecessor Huawei B593 LTE router has more than 10 variant models. Unlike Huawei 4G CPE B593, Huawei E5186 has two variant models: Huawei E5186s-61a and E5186s-22a, even though it’s available for two years. The Huawei B715 was presented to market since the end of 2017, so it has only one sub-model Huawei B715s-23c. In the table below, you will see the details specs and features of Huawei B715 and E5186:
| Model | Huawei B715s-23c | Huawei E5186s-22a/E5186s-61a |
| Product type | LTE WiFi Router | LTE WiFi Router |
| Category | LTE Cat.9 | LTE Cat.6 |
| Chipset | ? | HiSilicon LTE Cat6 Chipset |
| Data rates | DL 450Mbps/UL 50Mbps | DL 300Mbps/UL 50Mbps |
| Supported 4G LTE frequency bands | LTE B1, B3, B7, B8, B20, B28, B32, B38 | E5186s-22a: Band 1/3/7/8/20/38 E5186s-61a: Band 3/7/28/40 |
| WLAN | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band 2.4GHz & 5GHz | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band 2.4GHz & 5GHz |
| Max support users | 64 users | 64 users |
| MIMO | 4 X 4 MIMO | 2 x 2 MIMO |
| Connector for external antenna | Two, SMA-female jacks | Two, SMA-female jacks |
| App management | Huawei Hilink APP | Huawei Hilink APP |
| SIM type | Micro SIM | Micro SIM |
| Battery | NO | NO |
| Dimensions | 240mm × 448mm × 47mm | 190 mm × 200 mm × 32 mm |
| Interfaces | * 1 x power adapter port * 3 x LAN port(45) * 1 x LAN/WAN port (45) * 1 x telephone port(RJ11) * Two external LTE antenna ports (SMA-J1.5) * One micro-SIM card slot * 1 x USB 2.0 port | * 3 x LAN port(45) * 1 x LAN/WAN port (45) * 2 x telephone port(RJ11) * Two external LTE antenna ports (SMA-J1.5) * One micro-SIM card slot * 1 x USB 2.0 port |
| Datasheet | Huawei B715 Datasheet(PDF) | Huawei E5186 Datasheet(PDF) |
| User Manual | Huawei B715 User Manual(PDF) | Huawei E5186 User Manual(PDF) |
| Other features | VPN, VoLTE, IPv4 /IPv6 dual stack, DMZ, Port forwarding | Firewall, CS Voice, VoIP, TR069 Remote Management, HTTP Online Upgrade, QoS, USB Share, UPnP, IPV6, DLNA, Fax, Print, VPN |
| Price | 399.00USD | 259.00USD |
Conclusion
It’s obvious to see that the Huawei B715s-23c router is more advanced than Huawei E5186. The Huawei E5186 supports LTE category 6 technology which could achieve download speed up to 300Mbps, which is good for most people in daily life. However, the more advanced Huawei B715 would support peak download speed up to 450Mbps, which is 1.5 times faster than that of E5186. Although we didn’t know the chipset model of Huawei B715, the Huawei B715 seems powerful on the LTE technology, including carrier aggregation, 4 x 4 MIMO, TDD&FDD networks support.
So if you want to buy a better Huawei LTE-A router, it’s no doubt that Huawei B715 is the right model. However, as we said, the Huawei E5186 is enough for most cases in daily life or small office. With budget price, if you want to get a decent router without a high price, Huawei E5186 is highly recommended. It’s popular in the past two years and gains high praise from thousands of users worldwide.
As time goes, Huawei is always presenting new 4G WiFi routers to the public. Most of the end-users may know the old router model but may be unfamiliar with the new LTE router. Many people may know the Huawei Router B315, but may not know the latest Huawei B525 router, which is similar to the Huawei E5186 Specs. If they would buy a Huawei 4G WiFi router, you may ask what the difference between Huawei B525 and B315 LTE CPE is, and which one is better between the Huawei B315 and B525?
Appearance and Interfaces
Huawei Router B315 and B525 are both in the shape of a traditional home router. They look similar from the appearance. On the front, there are few LED indicators for power, mode, WiFi, LAN, and signal. The Huawei logo is in the middle of the front face. On the back, there are 4 LAN ports(One for LAN/WAN), One RJ11 for telephone, One USB 2.0 port for data sharing and Reset hole listed on a line. However, Huawei B315 has many variant models; the interfaces may vary on some variant models. There are two SMA-female connectors for external antenna, if you would buy Huawei B315s antenna, remember the connector should be SMA-male. The connectors are covered by a small cap.
The power and WPS buttons of the two routers are located at the top edge side. The SIM card slot of Huawei B525 router is located at the bottom of the device, where the label is also there with some important information such as model number, IMEI & S/N number, SSID, WiFi key, WPS pin, FCC ID, Manufacturer, and Made-in-China. The label of Huawei B315 is also at the bottom, however, the SIM card slot is on the side of the body. The Huawei B525 uses Micro-SIM size while the B315s uses standard SIM size.
Specs
From the appearance, you may not get the key point about the difference between the two router because they are very similar in the appearance. Then we have to check the specs of Huawei B525 router and B315 LTE CPE for reference:
| Model | Huawei B525 | Huawei B315s |
| Product type | LTE WiFi Router with Ethernet port | LTE WiFi Router with Ethernet port |
| Category | LTE Cat.6 | LTE Cat.4 |
| Chipset | HiSilicon LTE Cat6 Chipset | Hisilicon Balong |
| Data rates | DL 300Mbps/UL 50Mbps | DL 150Mbps/UL 50Mbps |
| Supported 4G LTE frequency bands | B525s-23a: Band 1/3/7/8/20/32/38 B525s-65a: Band 1/3/4/5/7/8/20/19/26/28/32/38/40/41 | * Huawei B315s-22: 4G LTE B1/B3/B7/B8/B20/B38 * Huawei B315s-607: 4G Band 1/3/7/8/28/40 * Huawei B315s-936: 4G Band 1/3/40/41 * Huawei B315s-608: 4G Band 1/3/5/7/28 |
| WLAN | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band 2.4GHz & 5GHz | 802.11b/g/n, 2.4GHz |
| Max supported users | 64 users | 32 users |
| MIMO | 2 x 2 MIMO | n/a |
| Connector for external antenna | Two, SMA-female jacks | Two, SMA-female jacks |
| Buy Antenna | Huawei B525 external antenna | Huawei B315 external antenna |
| App management | Huawei Hilink APP | Huawei Hilink APP |
| SIM Size | Micro SIM | Standard SIM |
| Battery | NO | No |
| Dimensions | 163 x 52 x 226 mm | 186.0mm x 139.0mm x 46.0mm |
| Interfaces | * 3 x LAN port(45) * 1 x LAN/WAN port (45) * 2 x telephone port(RJ11) * Two external LTE antenna ports (SMA-J1.5) * One micro-SIM card slot * 1 x USB 2.0 port | * 1 x power adapter port * 3 x LAN port(RJ45) * 1 x LAN/WAN port (45) * 1 x telephone port(RJ11)(depends) * Two external LTE antenna ports (SMA-J1.5) * One SIM card slot * 1 x USB 2.0 port(depends) |
| Datasheet | Huawei B525 Datasheet(PDF) | Huawei B315 Datasheet(PDF) |
| User Manual | Huawei B525 User Manual(PDF) | Huawei B315 Manual(PDF) |
| Other features | Firewall, CS Voice, VoIP, TR069 Remote Management, HTTP Online Upgrade, QoS, USB Share, UPnP, IPV6, DLNA, Fax, Print, VPN | VoIP, DHCP, NAT, IPv6/IPv4 dual stack, Firewall, Port forwarding, DMZ, ALG, Remote management |
| Firmware download | Huawei B525 firmware | Huawei B315s Firmware |
| Driver | Huawei B525 driver | Huawei B315s driver |
| Reviews | Huawei B525 Review | Huawei B315 Review |
| Price | 259.00USD | 169.00USD |
Conclusion
From the specs of the two routers in the table, we can see the Huawei 4G Router B525 supports LTE Category 6 networks with carrier aggregation, so it could achieve download speed up to 300Mbps, which is almost the double of that of B315 Router. This should be the key difference between the two routers. As we can see, the Huawei B525 has only two variant models: Huawei B525s-23a and B525s-65a. Huawei B315 has more variant models such as B315s-936, B315s-22, B315s-607 and B315s-608 etc.. The variant models support different LTE frequency bands for various network carriers worldwide.
So if you will use the Huawei router with rare LTE frequency bands, you may not get support from Huawei B525 currently. However, if the Huawei B525 could support the LTE bands from your network providers, buy a Huawei B525 router would be right. Of course, the advanced Huawei B525 with CA would be with a higher price than B315, but not too much. And the LTE-A router Huawei B525 would definitely provide faster speed than B315 with same network conditions.
Sourcing from https://www.4gltemall.com/blog/huawei-b525-vs-huawei-b315/
For most unprofessional users, it would be a challenging thing to buy a Huawei WiFi router with Ethernet port. Especially, there are many Huawei LTE Routers available in the market, which would make the selection harder. Huawei B525 and Huawei B618 are two latest LTE advanced routers, somebody may be interested in the two routers. If you don’t know what’s the difference between the Huawei B618 and B525 router. In this article, you will find the answer. And if you want to buy Huawei B525 router or Huawei B618 router, you may get some reference.
Appearance Huawei B525 WiFi router was available earlier than B618 LTE CPE, and it’s technically similar to its predecessor Huawei E5186 WiFi router. The shape of Huawei B525 is in the shape of a traditional stationary wireless router, which could stand on the desktop, on the front, there are some LED indicators and there are 4 LAN ports on the back for an Ethernet connection to PC or other terminals. Two connectors are available on the top back of the router for connecting external 4G/LTE antennas. One RJ11 port for phone and one USB 2.0 port for data sharing are available.
The Huawei 4G Router B618 is not like the common router, it’s in a shape of the cube. However, the LED indicators and the Ethernet ports are still available but with different quantity. Huawei B618 Router has two LAN ports(One for LAN & WAN). The RJ11 port for telephone and USB 2.0 port are still available. The difference is that the Huawei B525 has two antenna connectors in the type of SMA while B618 LTE CPE has two TS-9 connectors, which is usually available for a Huawei LTE USB modem. What’s more, the two routers both use Micro SIM card and the SIM card slots are located at the bottom of the two routers.
Specifications From the appearance, you may not really make a decision which one is better to select. The Huawei B525 specs and Huawei B618 specs are the key difference, which may influence the daily usage. This time, we take Huawei B618s-22d as an example. In below the table, you will see the difference of the specs difference:
| Model | Huawei B618 | Huawei B525 |
| Product type | LTE WiFi Router | LTE WiFi Router |
| Category | LTE Cat.9/ Cat.11 | LTE Cat.6 |
| Chipset | HiSilicon Balong 750 | HiSilicon LTE Cat6 Chipset |
| Data rates | DL 600Mbps/UL 100Mbps | DL 300Mbps/UL 50Mbps |
| Supported 4G LTE frequency bands | B618s-22d: Band 1/3/7/8/20/38 B618s-65d: 1/3/5/7/8/28/40 | B525s-23a: Band 1/3/7/8/20/32/38 B525s-65a: Band 1/3/4/5/7/8/20/19/26/28/32/38/40/41 |
| WLAN | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band 2.4GHz & 5GHz | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band 2.4GHz & 5GHz |
| Max supported users | 64 users | 64 users |
| MIMO | 4 X 4 MIMO | 2 x 2 MIMO |
| Connector for external antenna | Two, TS-9 jacks | Two, SMA-female jacks |
| Buy Antenna | Huawei B618 Antenna | Huawei B525 external antenna |
| App management | Huawei Hilink APP | Huawei Hilink APP |
| SIM Size | Micro SIM | Micro SIM |
| Battery | NO | NO |
| Dimensions | 95 × 95 × 208mm | 163 x 52 x 226 mm |
| Interfaces | * 1 x LAN port(45) * 1 x LAN/WAN port (45) * 1 x telephone port(RJ11) * 1 x USB 2.0 port | * 3 x LAN port(45) * 1 x LAN/WAN port (45) * 2 x telephone port(RJ11) * Two external LTE antenna ports (SMA-J1.5) * One micro-SIM card slot * 1 x USB 2.0 port |
| Datasheet | Huawei B618 Datasheet | Huawei B525 Datasheet(PDF) |
| User Manual | Huawei B618 User Manual | Huawei B525 User Manual(PDF) |
| Other features | DHCP Server, DNS RELAY and NAT, VoLTE, IPv4 /IPv6 dual stack | Firewall, CS Voice, VoIP, TR069 Remote Management, HTTP Online Upgrade, QoS, USB Share, UPnP, IPV6, DLNA, Fax, Print, VPN |
| Firmware download | Huawei B618 firmware | Huawei B525 firmware |
| Driver | Huawei B618 driver | Huawei B525 driver |
| Reviews | Huawei B618s-22d Review | Huawei B525 Review |
| Price/USD | 449.00USD | 259.00USD |
Conclusion From the specs, we can see the Huawei B618 4G Router is more advanced for high-level LTE network. With more advanced technologies, Huawei B618 could support faster download speed and upload speed, which is almost double of that of Huawei B525. The Huawei B525 has more Ethernet port for connection. But the Huawei B618 and B525 both could support maximum up to 64 wireless users, which would be enough for most cases. Currently, most of the devices would connect via WiFi rather than Ethernet port. If you prefer to have more Ethernet ports, Huawei B525 may be good. Frankly speaking, Huawei B525 is good enough for our daily life internet demand at home for a family or in office for a small group.
As a top and latest new 4G LTE router, Huawei B618 is a future-proof home router. At least, before 5G router comes out, you will never worry about it’s out of date. However, the advanced feature makes it not in cheap price. If you want a budget router, Huawei B525 would be better.
Netgear Nighthawk M1 LTE router with the model number MR1100 was available first in Australia for Telstra, and then in USA for AT&T. Now it’s available for some carriers in Europe. The LTE advanced Pro mobile hotspot is equipped with a Gigabit LTE modem from Qualcomm and offers very good equipment with RJ45 LAN port, power bank function and large, removable battery. In this test, we will see whether the device will work as good in practice as the datasheet suggests and whether it is a worthy successor to the AirCard 810 hotspot.
In Australia, the Netgear Nighthawk M1 has been available since about March 2017, but the European version with the model number MR1100-100EUS is designed specifically for the European market and supports the LTE frequency bands used in these countries. In addition to the Nighthawk M1 router itself, you will also find a quick start guide, a USB Type C cable, and a power supply. The first impression after unpacking the Nighthawk M1: the router is really big, significantly larger than other Netgear 4G mobile Wi-Fi hotspots. After switching on, then immediately falls on the round display, which is a nice design element. The workmanship works well; everything is tight, so as the battery cover.
There is a power button at the top of the device. This provides a good pressure point but must be pressed for an exceptionally long time to turn the Nighthawk router on or off. On the bottom, there is a USB Type C port for charging the hotspot and for connecting to the PC, a USB Type A port for charging other devices, an RJ45 LAN port and two TS-9 ports for an external antenna. The battery has a capacity of a proud 5,040 mAh and is easily changeable by the user. Underneath the battery is the slot for the SIM card (3FF Micro SIM form factor) and a slot for a Micro SD memory card.
Since the Nighthawk M1 has a different body form and a different USB connection than the predecessors of the Netgear AirCard series, the router is also not compatible with the docking station DC112A AirCard Smart Cradle. This is, of course, annoying if you already own the expensive docking station and now wants to change to the Nighthawk M1.
The Netgear Nighthawk M1 integrated mobile modem can use LTE Cat16 with up to 1 Gbit/s in the downlink and up to 150 Mbit/s in the uplink. This is made possible by support for various 4.5G technologies such as 4 × 4 MIMO antenna technology, 4CC CA (Carrier Aggregation ) and 256QAM modulation. In addition, 3G/UMTS is supported with up to 42.2 Mbps in the downlink and 5.76 Mbps in the uplink (DC-HSPA+). However, the Nighthawk M1 doesn’t support 2G GSM networks, which may not be bad news, because the device does not fall back into a slow network in automatic mode, in which surfing is not fun anyway.
In real use, the speed of up to 1 Gbit/s in the downlink is only very rarely achieved. This must be based on perfect network conditions given accordingly, which is the case only in a few places. The various 4.5G technologies help the router to provide higher speeds even with slower LTE radio cells, for example, provides the 256QAM support for up to 33% higher data rate in the downlink.
In testing with a Telekom SIM card, the Netgear Nighthawk M1 scored in many cases with very good data rates. In an LTE Band 3 radio cell, up to 135 MBit/s in the downlink, up to 64 MBit/s in the uplink and well under 30 milliseconds ping could be measured. In particular, the downlink was higher in various tests than in comparison devices. In the UMTS network, the Netgear Nighthawk M1 also showed an outstanding performance: about 33 MBit/s in the downlink and 4.6 MBit/s in the uplink are technologically almost the maximum performance.
However, the test of the Nighthawk M1 also showed weak spots in regions with activated carrier aggregation, which probably has to be related to the modem firmware. So the Nighthawk router had not used channel bundling in some locations. In particular, it was repeatedly observed that the Nighthawk M1 was booked in the LTE band 8, while the iPhone at the same location LTE Band 3 as a "baseband" and also used band 7 via CA. The data rates were also correspondingly poor: the iPhone reached well over 200 MBit/s, the Netgear M1 only slightly above 20 MBit/s. Only after several reboots changed the Nighthawk M1 on LTE band 3, but seemed to continue to dispense with Carrier Aggregation.
The reception was very good both in the UMTS network and in the LTE network (band 3, band 8 and band 20 tested). If necessary, it is also possible to connect an external antenna. In the test, a 4G LTE Outdoor antenna with two TS-9 pigtails worked very well.
Although the Netgear Nighthawk M1 offers a nice display on the front, this is not a touchscreen and therefore not suitable for operating the device from the screen. The entire configuration is therefore via a web interface or the "Netgear Mobile" app, which is available for Android and iOS. The app is very successful. The design of the web interface and the app is also impressive, you can find your way around quickly and a good compromise between functionality and design.
The Netgear Nighthawk M1 router offers various settings. In addition to the "usual" things such as settings for Wi-Fi name and Wi-Fi password, there are also "exotic" things like the display brightness and the illumination duration, which can be adjusted manually. In the area "MyMedia" you can access the data of the MicroSD memory card, provided you have inserted a suitable storage medium. The data can be shared in the network for all participants.
Praiseworthy is also the detail view of the device as well as to the network connection. The "Status" tab shows, for example, the network technology used, the frequency band used, RSRQ and RSRP, and other data. Even the temperature of the device and the battery can be viewed. Of course, the Netgear Nighthawk M1 MR1100 router also provides the ability to update the firmware online directly via the web interface. In the test device came such a firmware update directly after the first set up, the installation went quickly and easily. There is the possibility to make a backup of the settings before installing the update.
If you want to use the full Gigabit LTE performance, you should definitely use the RJ45 Gigabit LAN connection. The WLAN is gross at a maximum of 768 MBit/s fast, at about 1-2 meters distance between router and laptop, the bandwidth dropped in the test to about 500 to 600 MBit/s. These are very good values for a mobile WLAN router. WLAN range and speed are better than most other mobile hotspots, but a stationary LTE router such as the Huawei B715 router is, of course, a bit better. On request, the WLAN via the web interface can also be completely deactivated or operated only in the 2.4 GHz/only in the 5 GHz range.
The Nighthawk M1 can simultaneously provide up to 20 devices with fast Internet, the device will operate both on 2.4 GHz and in the 5 GHz frequency range (802.11b/g/n/ac). The WLAN SSID and the password can be assigned separately for both frequency ranges. The transmission power can be set in the web interface in three stages. In the app or in the web interface, there is also the option to enable or disable the password display in plain text on the display of the Nighthawk M1. Also a nice feature: the device deactivates the WLAN on request, as soon as USB tethering is active.
Via the menu item "Data Offloading" you can use an existing LAN or WLAN network as Internet access, for example in the hotel or on the campsite. The integrated mobile modem is then deactivated. This feature is also known as "WLAN Extender".
The Netgear Nighthawk M1 MR1100 has an RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet LAN port. You can use this port to connect a computer or a switch to the Internet via cable, but there is also the option of using an existing Internet connection as an alternative to the integrated mobile modem (the LAN port then becomes a WAN -Port). In the test, the LAN interface worked perfectly.
The battery of the Netgear Nighthawk M1 MR1100 offers a comparatively high capacity with 5,040 mAh. The manufacturer promises a useful life of up to 24 hours with "normal" use. In the test, this could be approximately confirmed. Under full load, ie with continuous streaming and when using the road with many radio cell and technology changes, the runtime should be lower. A replacement battery of the type W-10a cannot be found yet. Through the full-size USB port, you can use the Nighthawk M1 as a power bank and charge other devices such as a smartphone. The test worked smoothly in the test.
It was already foreseeable, but after the test, it is definitely clear: the Netgear Nighthawk M1 MR1100 is by far the best mobile LTE router that you can buy at the moment. The technical equipment is outstanding, the modem does a very good job and not only offers huge maximum data rates but also gets often significantly more out of the cell than most other devices in worse conditions. The successful software and a top battery life are also highlights. So the powerful functions, unfortunately, mean it will have a proud price: around 459USD (unlocked version).
In the test, unfortunately, some disadvantages were found. We have to mention the partially incomprehensible behavior in LTE radio cells with activated carrier aggregation. Other devices use channel bundling more timely and much more effectively than the Nighthawk M1. Here, Netgear should release a firmware update to fix the issues. You could also criticize the lack of touchscreen as well as the quite high weight and the large dimensions. Both, however, can be tolerated in view of the otherwise outstanding performance. All in all, the Netgear Nighthawk M1 is the best mobile router for buy recommendation!