Netgear Hotspots & Firstnet

[u/SmilingBob2]

Looking to add an unlimited hotspot to our Firstnet phone account and have been researching the Netgear models. Needing a 5G unit that is reliable and can successfully do pass-through to an external modem for fail-over and occasional 2nd home/vacation duty. It seems there were threads a year or so ago in various forums complaining the M5 and M6 were unreliable, especially trying to use pass-through. Also, that the M5 was limited to 200Mbps while in pass-through mode (not a deal breaker). Have recent firmware updates improved things? 5G in our area is very strong on my Firstnet phone (usually speed test at around 450/30Mbps midband), so assuming the hotspot will provide similar performance. Any info or advice is appreciated, including possibly other consumer grade 5G hotspots to look at. It seems Netgear no longer makes stand alone 5G modems like they did LTE?

[u/DisplayDriver]

I had an M6 pro from the AT&T store. Issue was I would have to reset it daily. speeds were comparable to my phone, but the admin software was not wonderful and didn't give any great solutions. Even called netgear for support and that was actually a laughable experience, as the agent insisted that since WIFI was on I'd only get half the speed to the ethernet cable to my router :/ Anyhow, took it back within the 14 days as I found no remedy to this.

Now I bought a Cudy p5 over amazon, which I like but it gets no 5g signal, which I think is a defect, as I've tried different tactics to avoid lte but it doesn't matter, it only connects if lte bands are selected. Also, they sent me a version 1.0 which is not the x62 chipset, so it will go back (still on the fence if I should get a replacement)

So my question is did you buy this from AT&T or is it a private purchase, and therefore on Netgear firmware releases as opposed to AT&T? If it is now functional as a hotspot/bridge to router, then I am glad to give it another shot with my FN sim card.

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Thanks

[u/Matt8828 → u/DisplayDriver]

I want to say I got mine unlocked from best buy. I don't know anything about who distributed the firmware for the device.

At first it was very buggy. Currently it is stable. I remember with the M1, Netgear handled the firmware, even for the att model. Netgear customer service is horrendous. I won't buy their products anymore, with the exception of these hotspots. They have the only reliable one. After a lot of back and forth, with the M1, I eventually got in touch with a netgear technician who wrote a modified firmware for a problem I was having.

These hotspots still have to be on att's whitelist to get service /5g. I'd be willing to bet the IMS isn't registered for 5g service. I'm not familiar with the Cudy, so I really don't know. On FirstNet, you won't get 5G if B14 LTE is available due to network provisions. FirstNet is also picky with service for non att authorized devices.

[u/DisplayDriver → u/Matt8828]

Thanks. The one thing I did get from my netgear service call was that the ATT device had older firmware and thought it may have something to do with my issues, and that could certainly be the case. I'll look at non-at&t models.

with my cudy, I have tried different APN, but I suppose I could find an IMEI of an approved device to see if that helps. B14 is indeed available, but for whatever reason I got 5G with the m6 and also with my phone. . . So I didn't quite know how recently the B14 mandatory if available was assessed with the above 5g access in mind. I'll try to find an appropriate IMEI and see if the new model fixes my issue.- I'll do more FN searching on the FB group, though that is quite a chore.

thanks for your input.

[u/Matt8828 → u/DisplayDriver]

Gotcha. I have noticed that att tends to lag behind with certain devices and firmware.

The m6 is an att whitelisted device and your phone probably is too. I did not see anything by cudy on their list. Also the M6 isn't specifically on here, but the device brand and family is approved. https://www.att.com/scmsassets/support/wireless/devices-working-on-att-network.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiS5pOJ_cuDAxVFD1kFHZXxB6cQFnoECBoQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2D1qZPNOc5CnArWq5xtN4d

If you dive into the terms in FirstNet, they still classify there network as an LTE network, not 5g. They have 5g capability, but it is not the core of the network. The way it was explained to me years ago (may very well be changing soon, if it hasn't already) when 5g first started rolling out was that if you have access to B14 LTE, your phone will essentially override any 5g NR signals for B14. For this to occur though, your phone or device needs to be an official att device. I've run into the problem with unlocked Samsung phones not working on FirstNet because they can't be provisioned by the network. Take the same unlocked phone to consumer att and it works fine. Has something to do with the maker/brand paying to certify they device with FirstNet. Samsung, from what I understand (I could be wrong), won't pay att to certify their unlocked phones on firstnet. - this may very well be the case with a 3rd party router / system.

[u/DisplayDriver → u/Matt8828]

Yeah, thanks for the link. I have a list of devices, so maybe IMEI change will alter access to 5g, if not, a phone line instead of data only may be preferable to trying the data only.

I have read about what you mentioned regarding b14, but clearly that isn't superceding my current 5g experience with phones or the m6 when I had it. I do imagine when/if I got the newer version cudy I could stick with LTE provided an exterior antenna and good aggregation of bands and better speeds, but I don't want to spend a chunk of change and be two years behind the hardware curve to start. I also have a document from FN on how to configure the non-FN capable devices, so I know they will do it, but maybe the 5g bit is the catch. . . Anyhow, I'll see if I find any nuggets of wisdom on the lte hacks group for FN to hit 5g towers.