NETGEARNighthawk M6, 5G Router With Sim Slot Unlocked, Hotspot For Portable WiFi, Mobile Modem Router for Home/Business, AX3600 WiFi 6 up to 32 devices (MR6150)

Great range and works well. Keep it mostly in the boot of the car for WiFi on the go for my laptop and iPad. Easier than tethering to my phone.

This box is portable, lightweight and charges via a usb charging cable type C. You need to purchase separately a data SIM card. I have used Amazon and purchased an unlimited data card for 30 days which works on the O2 network. I had a mobile on O2 so I knew there was a signal. My wife’s mobile was Vodafone and again there was a signal. If there is no signal this box will not work. This box works only on the 4G band. There is a different box for 5G. This box is a mobile 4G Router and works very well indeed. So good it will easily cope with 4 people browsing the web. For me a massive plus is that you can stream Netflix and other TV services without it needing to pause and catch-up ie buffering. I have not needed to purchase an external Ariel as this is built in and omni directional so no need to point at the nearest 4G mast but it works best on a high shelf so I think height may give a better line of sight for the signal. Once you open the box and charge the unit fully you need to prize open the back to insert the SIM card. Remember copper contacts down so they engage the contacts in the box. You then switch the unit on and wait for it to go through its startup routine. The button on the front panel is a touch sensitive type so there is no movement or click. You have to complete a short form on the display. You input the name of the unit and the APN. One SIM supplier included this info with the SIM card. Another had to be emailed for it. This came back within the day so no problem. My APN was Mobile.O2.Co.uk and you have to message them to enable the sim and this only happens during the working day! Once it’s enabled the button glows blue when you touch it and the display shows O2 and up and down arrows. Not difficult to set up. My sim only lasts 30 days and up to 7 days before I can renew on online. I have missed this several times. Usually at the weekend! Happy streaming

Had high hopes for this, Have had good experiences with other Netgear stuff.Fitted SIM (Giffgaff - O2 network) charged up, connected my iPhone 12MP and it looked good, connected to internet OK. Next day tried to connect iPad and it reported no internet connection.Spent whole morning on this, used 2 known good SIM cards (Giffgaff) that had data bundles attached.The router randomly forgot the APN settings.On the home page it registered the Giffgaff network but in settings reported not connected to internet.2 phones in house, 2 iPads and an iMac didn’t report it as a visible WiFi network.40 mins on the phone to Netgear support didn’t solve the problem (yes I’m sure ive got correct APN details I’m sat looking at the relevant Giffgaff support page)Several reboots, factory resets & do overs to no effect.So it’s gone back for refund. Bad copy, incomparable SIM, daft mistake by me??? Who knows but I’ve been around the block with other network stuff over the years including some commercial network kit and went through the settings enough to rule out typo…Shame it’s got a good rep from established player in the network market. Disappointed, had high hopes.

Now I’m no techie so my expertise in this area is limited, and I rely a lot on others knowledge and experiences... Now I suppose the one thing that is most striking is the price. I had to think long and hard before shelling out, but fortunately it came up on a Amazon Prime Day deal which made it easier to swallow.... As for the technical side of things I only have my hotspot phone to compare it with. I’ve watched countless YouTube videos on various routers and overall this came in as the router that ticked my boxes... We regularly travel away in our camper and this makes things easier for a start. The connectivity to our other devices is easy as is the speed it runs at. We both tend to stream a lot more these days and connecting things like a fire stick or other devices is very useful. We both also like to check our emails and keep up to date with family and friends, or more than not simply scroll through FB. Some will say a much cheaper router could have done this, but I’m a better to have more eggs in the basket than 1 or 2 type of person so it’s all down to personal choices.... The one thing I’m still experimenting with at the moment is antennas. I’ve seen that many conflicting reports that it’s hard to know for certain which is the right one. I started off with the basic Bingfu twin Ariel. They are cheap an cheerful and do an okay job. I’m now experimenting with a Poynting Puck antenna which seems to be better but still not perfect. My next port of call will be the Poynting 4g and a more expensive antenna. So I think it will be just a case of experimentation ..... My one area of concern are the pins where you connect your SMA to TS9 adapters for the antenna. They seem very tiny and fragile, and after reading reports of others breaking them off when inserting the adapters it makes me nervous. Some of the adapters seem very tight to fit in and require a little more pushing, and also don’t seem to push in very far at all. So at the moment I’m being very careful when I do this.... You will also need a SIM card for the M2 to function. At the moment I’m using a Smarty unlimited data card which has worked well in all the areas we’ve travelled too. I’ve also googled areas that we will be traveling to in the future, so may well use a different provider depending on where we are. EE seems to be the most used one. I regularly do a Speed test so everything is down to what you want .... So overall what does a no tech person think of the M2 ? .... I like how it looks and the ease of use. I can connect up to 20 devices but at the moment 3 or 4 has been our limit, and up to now have not had any real technical issues. It has very good speed capabilities, but no doubt like everything will be superseded in the future. I can use it at home/office or on the move, either in my van/car or in my pocket. It probably requires some protection such as a case or holder. In settings I can see who is online and block others from using it. I can set security levels, and check how much data I’m using.... As a 4G router I think it’s very good and suits my own personal requirements. As for the cost of purchasing? I’m retired so income is limited, however past experiences tell me what is a better option, but this will always be something down to your personal choice and pocket.... For now I will give it 4 stars simply because of the cost.