Huawei E5186 LTE Advanced Router for Cat6 300Mbps with VoLTE

By the end of 2014, the LTE Advanced networks with 300 MBit/s available in many countries and carriers, and then all need urgently LTE CAT6 enabled routers. Huawei has already introduced its LTE Advanced Router Huawei E5186 to the public around the middle of 2015.

Huawei E5186 E5186S E5186S-22 Router

The Huawei E5186 router is the star for LTE cat6, therefore, the largest LTE mobile network provider Telekom and Vodafone both offeredidentical models to the E5186. It is the Vodafone B4000 router and the Telekom Speedbox LTE III.

As the leading new routers for wireless network, the technical specifications of the Huawei E5186 are absolutely outstanding. LTE support includes all LTE frequency bands used in Europe. The router is also downwards compatible with all common older mobile radio standards. Theoretically, the Huawei router can also be used in an EDGE mobile network. You get a router for all networks.

Huawei E5186 E5186S E5186S-22 Router

By the way, not only the LTE data transfer is super fast, but also the wireless data transmission to the WLAN, 802.11ac standard is currently second to none.

Here the exact technical specifications:

Huawei LTE Advanced router: Huawei E5186s-22 with HiSilicon Category 6 LTE modem

Support LTE:

4G FDD LTE: LTE800/LTE900/LTE1800/LTE2100/LTE2600 with FDD LTE.

4G TDD LTE: LTE 2600 MHz for TDD

These are the LTE bands 1/3/7/8/20/38

FDD speed up to 300 Mbit/s for download

FDD speed of up to 50 Mbit/s for upstream

TDD speed of up to 20 Mbit/s in the upload

Support UMTS/DC-HSPA+/EDGE:

3G: UMTS 900 MHz and UMTS 2100 MHz

DC-HSPA+ speed with up to 42 Mbit/s downstream and 5.7 Mbit/s upload speeds

HSPA+ speed with up to 21 Mbit/s downstream and 5.7 Mbit/s Upload

If even 11 MB/s are provided technically in upload with HSUPA possible

EDGE and GSM with 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

Huawei E5186 E5186S E5186S-22 Router (6)

WLAN support

There can be up to 64 wireless devices connected

WLAN 802.11b/g/n and Wi-Fi 802.11ac with 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz

WLAN encryption WEP, WPA and WPA2

Support WPS

Integrated VoLTE telephone system

Two analog telephone ports with RJ 11 sockets for VoIP SIP Client

Voice over LTE support (VoLTE)

Without DECT and voice mail

Safety

Firewall, encryption, ICMP support, DNS relay support, NAT, watchdog, ARP support

Huawei E5186 E5186S E5186S-22 Router (5)

Antennas

Support 2 x 2 MIMO antenna technology

Internal 2 × 2 MIMO LTE antenna

Connections for two external LTE antennas are the E5186 available

Buy Huawei E5186 External Antenna (two SMA connectors) here: http://www.4gltemall.com/4g-antenna-two-sma-connector.html

Network

LAN switch with 4 x 1 Gigabit Ethernet connections

Interfaces

USB 2.0 port for printers and mass storage

Connector for external antennas through two SMA connectors

2FF SIM slot | Router is no SIM Lock, completely free

Two RJ11 analog phone ports

Four RJ45 network LAN connections

Power supply connection

Huawei E5186 E5186S E5186S-22 Router

Other features

IPV6, CS Voice, http Online Upgrade, Print, VPN, DLNA, TR069 remote management, QoS, UPnP, USB Share

On/off switch on the rear

Dimensions: 194 x 177 x 64 mm

Weight: 450 g

Router Color: white

Software support

Windows 7, Windows 8, Mac OS

Why do you need LTE Advanced?

LTE Advanced is the latest LTE technology with which you can realize the fastest transmission speed with data rates of up to 300 MBit/s. Many carriers all over the world want to introduce LTE Advanced in order to offer their customers faster Internet access experience.

Integrated Huawei VoLTE telephone system

With the Huawei E5186 router, one can connect the telephone via Voice over IP (VOIP). On the router itself, two telephone lines with RJ11 jacks can connect two analogue phones for VoLTE telephone .

Advantages over traditional telephone:

Faster call setup, HD Voice call quality and telephone via the SIM card in the router. And the lucky thing is that many carriers already provide the VoLTE functions in their networks. Then if you want to have better surfing experience, Huawei E5186 is the best key and good partner!

Five LTE Cat6 Home/Office Routers to Recommend

More and more people are enjoying the life with 4G LTE networks, which changes our lives invisibly. Even LTE is more and more popular; many customers are demanding faster surfing speed for large data transmission or online games. And the network providers are not stopping at the current LTE cat3 and cat4 networks. Many carriers are trying to upgrade the current LTE to LTE –Advanced to meet the customers’ requirements for better experience. With the upgraded LTE networks with carrier aggregation, customers can get much faster speed on LTE cat6 than current LTE cat4. Today, we would like to recommend a few LTE Category 6 routers for home or SOHO office.

lte-cat6-max-download-speeds-and-upload-speeds

Huawei B525

Huawei B525 is the latest 4G Router Cat.6 supporting DL speed to 300mbps and upload speed to 50Mbps, please check the details specs below:

Model Huawei B525
Product type LTE WiFi Router with Ethernet port
Category LTE Cat.6
Chipset HiSilicon LTE Cat6 Chipset
Data rates DL 300Mbps/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
WLAN 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band 2.4GHz & 5GHz
Max supported users 64 users
MIMO 2 x 2 MIMO
Connector for external antenna Two, SMA-female jacks
Buy Antenna Huawei B525 external antenna
App management Huawei Hilink APP
SIM Size Micro SIM
Battery NO
Dimensions 163 x 52 x 226 mm
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
Datasheet Huawei B525 Datasheet(PDF)
User Manual Huawei B525 User Manual(PDF)
Other features  Firewall, CS Voice, VoIP, TR069 Remote Management, HTTP Online Upgrade, QoS, USB Share, UPnP, IPV6, DLNA, Fax, Print, VPN
Firmware download Huawei B525 firmware
Driver Huawei B525 driver
Reviews Huawei B525 Review
Price/USD 259.00USD

Huawei B525 is the best buy Cat6 WiFi router, if you want to buy it, click here: https://www.4gltemall.com/huawei-b525-4g-lte-cat6-wireless-router.html

Huawei E5186

Huawei E5186 is the world’s first 4G LTE Cat6 router for LTE advanced networks. With the carrier aggregation technology, users can access internet and surfing at 300mbps download speed and 50Mbps upload. The download speed is almost double faster than that from LTE CAT4, which could achieve download speed to 150mbps. To support various LTE frequency bands from different carriers, the Huawei E5186 CPE has two sub-models now as below:

* Huawei E5186s-22a: LTE Band 1/3/7/8/20/38 (FDD 800/900/1800/2100/2600MHz, TDD 2600MHz)

Huawei E5186s-61a: LTE Band 3/7/28/40 (FDD 700/1800/2600MHz TDD 2300MHz)

huawei_e5186_4g_router_lte_cat6

Of course, the 3G DC-HSPA+/UMTS and quad-band GSM networks are backward compatible. The WiFi standard is 802.11a/b/g/n/ac on dual bands (2.4GHz and 5GHz). What’s more, the Huawei E5186 could support up to 64 wireless devices to access the internet through WiFi. And there are four RJ45 ports for LAN, one of which is also for WAN. Two RJ11 ports are for a telephone. One USB port and one SIM card slot are available. There is also the possibility to connect an external antenna to the E1586 router, on the back, there are two connectors for external antennas.

 

Huawei E5186 is a typical 4G LTE Router and as we know, it’s the best seller of LTE Cat6 router. If you want to know more details about it, click here: http://www.4gltemall.com/huawei-e5186-4g-cat6-802-11ac-lte-cpe.html

 

 

Huawei E5175

Very few people know the Huawei E5175 LTE Router perhaps because it’s also not listed in Huawei official site. And we also don’t get any information about the router available for any network providers. Perhaps it’s just a test model? We can’t get the answer.

huawei-e5175-e5175s-22-lte-cat6-router

The appearance of Huawei E5175 is similar to Huawei E5186, especially the interface ports, almost copying from E5186. It’s said Huawei E5175 is presented earlier than E5186, but it’s about to end of life. The Huawei E5175 technical specifications are the same as that of E5186 router.

If you want to know more details about Huawei E5175 4G Router, welcome to click here: http://www.4gltemall.com/huawei-e5175-4g-lte-wireless-gateway.html

 

 

Vodafone B4000

If you are familiar with Huawei wireless gateways, you may know the Vodafone B4000 is the customized Huawei E5186. The predecessor model Vodafone B3000 comes from Huawei B593s-22. On the Vodafone router, the Huawei logo is changed to Vodafone. And the firmware is customized for Vodafone. Other features and functions are completely the same as Huawei E5186.

vodafone-b4000

So if you don’t like the Vodafone brand, Huawei E5186 could fully replace Vodafone B4000. If you want to know more details about Vodafone B4000, click here: http://www.4gltemall.com/vodafone-b4000-4g-lte-cat6-wifi-router.html

 

ZTE MF286

ZTE is always following the steps of Huawei and presents similar products to huawei. So the appearance of ZTE MF286 somewhat looks like Huawei E5186. The interfaces in MF286 are the same to E5186. The chipset of ZTE MF286 is Qualcomm WTR3925 and MDM9230. But Huawei E5186 is on its own chipset. The highlight of ZTE MF286 is that there is an inserted battery with 3000mAh, which means user can take MF286 outdoor or on the go. Other features are similar to E5186. We usually say ZTE is copying Huawei, but we also see the innovation in ZTE products.

zte-mf286-lte-cat6-4g-router

If you want to know more details about ZTE MF286, click here:

http://www.4gltemall.com/zte-mf286-4g-lte-cat6-router.html

 

 

ZyXEL LTE4506 

Unlike the three LTE routers above, the ZyXEL LTE4506 is in the shape of cube, which looks like Huawei E5180 LTE Cube. LTE4506 can support up to 32 wireless users. There is a micro-USB connector for charging and a Gigabit LAN port, for connecting wired devices. Frankly speaking, the design of the ZyXEL LTE4506 is cool, if you want to know more details about it, click here:

http://www.4gltemall.com/zyxel-lte4506-4g-lte-cat6-router.html

zyxel-lte4506-lte-homespot

 

We believe there will be more LTE Cat6 router available in near future, but currently the above the five LTE routers are the best for LTE advanced networks with CA. There is no doubt that Huawei is dominating this LTE advanced technology. In the above routers, Huawei E5186 is the most popular and mostly recommended. But before you get the right one, check the network compatibility first with your carriers.

Huawei Presents B5328 4 X 4 MIMO LTE Router

Around the end of 2016, Huawei offers the world’s first commercial LTE router B5328 with 4 × 4 MIMO antenna technology. The B5328 LTE Router offers significantly higher data rates in a correspondingly equipped network than devices with 2 × 2 MIMO antenna technology. The Huawei B5328 is the successor to the popular Huawei E5186 LTE Router. In the free trade, the Huawei B5328 is currently not available; however, interested network operators and service providers can order the device on request and thus make available to their customers.

Based on the GCT’s GDM7243Q, the only LTE-A chip commercially available that offers 4×4 MIMO capability, enables Huawei B5328 LTE CPE with higher data rates and throughput while using limited bandwidth (“double speed” with the same limited bandwidth), which is a scarce commodity for network operators.

huawei-b5328-b5328-155-1

By integrating the receiver with four antennas and equipping the base station with four transmitters, mobile operators can maximize the use of their spectrum. Huawei B5328 is the successor to Huawei E5186 4G LTE Router. With GDM7243Q chipset, Huawei B5328 cpedelivers LTE Category 5/6/7 throughputs with double speeds enabled by 4X4 MIMO technology, and supports Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and eMBMS (LTE broadcast) as well as other advanced features.

The Huawei B5328 was already introduced in December 2015, but so far only supplied to very few operators, as most LTE networks currently set to 2 × 2 MIMO antenna technology and the B5328 router has no appreciable advantage in such networks to the predecessor model Huawei E5186 Router. You can buy the B5328 for example in Tunisia with the provider mobilis.

Some European network operators have already carried out tests with the Huawei B5328, for example the Czech Vodafone. Vodafone has achieved test with 4 × 4 MIMO antenna technology and Carrier Aggregation around 300 Mbit/s in the downlink.

 

huawei-b5328-b5328-155-2

The Huawei B5328 has no telephone function in the currently available version B5328-155 and has only a single RJ45 Ethernet connection on the back. The WLAN module works only on 2.4 GHz (WiFi 802.11 b/g/n), the exact speed I could not find unfortunately. Basically, the B5328 appears not to be a high-end router in the face of quite meager facilities, while the previous Huawei E5186 LTE CPE had a much greater variety of functions (Wi-Fi 802.11ac and 4x Gigabit Ethernet).

The Huawei B5328 LTE router will also come to the market in Germany, Austria or Switzerland. As we know, the China Mobile will also use this device for the upgraded LTE-Advanced TD-LTE network. From today’s point of view, there is not much to be in favor, as network operators rely on 2 × 2 MIMO antenna technology, higher modulation (256QAM) and frequency bundling to increase the speeds in their LTE networks. Currently, the Huawei E5186 is still dominating the market for 2 X 2 MIMO LTE networks.

 

LTE Cat6 CPE ZTE MF286 VS Huawei E5186

With the evolution of the wireless network technology, more and more network providers are trying to upgrade their LTE network to LTE cat6 advanced, so more and more users demand LTE terminals to support the latest LTE advanced networks. Even though, very few user equipments can meet the demand.

huawei-e5186-front-and-side

We had introduced the world’s the fist LTE Category 6 router Huawei E5186, now we get the new LTE Cat6 gateway ZTE MF286. As ZTE’s first LTE Category 6 router, the MF286 has many functions, even the appearance/interfaces design similar to LTE CPE E5186, but it also many special features. Today, we will have a check the difference between the two 4G LTE Routers.

huawei-e5186-leds-vs-zte-mf286-indicators

Appearance

The ZTE MF286 and Huawei E5186 both looks like a common stationary wireless home router, front indicators to show wireless connection status (Power, Wifi, Phone, 3G/4G, Battery, Signal), side gridding design to heat radiating, and interfaces (4 x RJ45 ports for WAN/LAN, 2 x RJ11 ports for VoLTE and telephone, 1 x USB port for storage and power adapter plug). And there are two connectors for external antenna in the two routers but the connectors are covered by a small cap in case dust and water. And the WPS button and reset hole line together. Of course, there is one SIM card slot in the two routers.

 

 

Technical specifications

The two routers can work well with FDD & TDD LTE networks. As wireless gateways for LTE Cat6, they both could achieve download speed to 300mbps and upload speed to 50mbps on LTE FDD networks. And the download speed could reach 112Mbps on TD-LTE networks. If LTE network is not available, they can automatically switch to 3G UMTS/WCDMA network or 2G GSM networks. And the peak download speed on 3G network is 42Mbps.

huawei-e5186-vs-zte-mf286-interfaces

ZTE MF286 and Huawei E5186 4G Router both could support the IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac with dual bands (2.4GHz and 5GHz). Up to 64 devices could connect to the MF286 and E5186 LTE CPE respectively. And they both support VoLTE function, which is required and practical on the LTE Advanced network. The management of the two routers can be done via the web UI. Users can do personal settings for Ethernet, WLAN, VoIP, Security, Port Forwarding, MAC/LAN IP filter, DHCP, DMZ, SIP ALG, UPnP, NAT settings etc in web UI.

 

But we can also see the difference between the two similar 4G Router:

  1. The chipset of the Huawei E5186 is Huawei own Hisilicon Kirin while ZTE MF286 is based on Qualcomm chipset Qualcomm WTR3925 (28nm process) and Qualcomm MDM9230 (20nm process)
  2. There is no battery in Huawei E5186, it can only work when connect to power adapter. However, the ZTE MF286 has built-in battery with 3000mAh capacity, which can support a conference call for up to 4 hours.

ZTE MF286

The two points should be the key difference between the two routers. Below are the details comparisons for the two routers on features and specifications for reference:

 

Model ZTE MF286 Huawei E5186
Type Stationary & Portable Router Stationary router
Category LTE Cat6 LTE Cat6
Network technology TD-LTE/FDD-LTE/DC-HSPA+/HSPA+/ UMTS/EDGE/GPRS/GSM TD-LTE/FDD-LTE/DC-HSPA+/HSPA+/ UMTS/EDGE/GPRS/GSM
4G Speed * LTE-FDD DL 300Mbps/UL 50Mbps

* TD-FDD DL 220Mbps/UL 10Mbps

* LTE-FDD DL 300Mbps/UL 50Mbps

* TD-FDD DL 220Mbps/UL 10Mbps

3G Speed DC-HSPA+ DL up to 43.2Mbps DC-HSPA+ DL up to 43.2Mbps
WiFi IEEE802.11a/b/g/n/ac(2.4GHz and 5GHz) IEEE802.11a/b/g/n/ac(2.4GHz and 5GHz)
MIMO Yes Yes
Max users 64 64
Interfaces 2 x RJ11 + 4 x RJ45 + 1 x USB + 1 x SIM slot + 1 x Power plug + 2 x connectors for antennas 2 x RJ11 + 4 x RJ45 + 1 x USB + 1 x SIM slot + 1 x Power plug + 2 x connectors for antennas
Battery Yes, 3000mAh No
VoLTE Yes Yes
Other features CSFB, HD Voice, Web UI, IPV6, WPS Firewall, CS Voice, VoIP, VoLTE, TR069 Remote Management, HTTP Online Upgrade, QoS, USB Share, UPnP, IPV6, DLNA, Fax, Print, VPN
Dimensions  180 × 170 × 30 mm 190 mm × 200 mm × 32 mm

 

If you like the two LTE Cat6 routers, welcome to check www.4gltemall.com .

 

ZTE MF286 4G LTE Cat6 Wireless Router Review

With the development of LTE network technology, more and more network providers are trying to upgrade the network to LTE advanced with carrier aggregation. Then more and more users are demanding for LTE Cat6 equipments so as to achieve possible fast downlink and uplink speed. Finally, ZTE presents its first LTE category 6 wireless router since Huawei had its LTE cat6 router E5186 and E5175 on sale for long time.

ZTE MF286

Built-in battery for Mobile Use

ZTE MF286 looks similar to the traditional wireless home router, but in this new router, ZTE had designed a built-in battery so that users can not only use the MF286 as a stationary router at home, but also take the MF286 router outdoor for mobile use. With the 3000 mAh battery, ZTE MF286 can support a conference call for up to 4 hours or share a 4G network for up to 3 hours. It can’t be taken in a pocket like ZTE MF970 LTE Cat6 MiFi, but it’s useful for multiple devices’ network support.

 

ZTE MF286

High-speed 4G Connection

Like the Huawei 4G LTE Cat6 routers, ZTE MF286 can achieve peak download speed to 300Mbps and upload speed to 50mbps on LTE networks. The speed is almost the double of the current speed on LTE Cat4. If user downloads a movie of 1GB, it may only take few seconds on this speed. ZTE MF286 Router can achieve this due to the Qualcomm WTR3925 RF transceiver chipset based on the 28 nm process with the Qualcomm MDM9230 modem based on the 20 nm process. The new chipsets perform better and consume less power than its predecessors.

 

Dual-band WiFi and support for 802.11ac

Compare with the current home routers, ZTE MF286 CPE has almost the highest level to support WiFi 802.11b/g/n/ac and 3 x 3 multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology with three spatial streams for maximum performance. It operates on both 2.4 GHz with great wall-penetration capabilities and 5 GHz with a lower chance of picking up interference. The powerful gadget also supports gigabit wired connections so that it is possible to copy files over a LAN at a speed higher than 80 MB/s.

 

In the test, ZTE MF286 proves to have good signal coverage; it can cover an office larger than 500 square meters. The signal attenuation is not obvious even at a point far from the device. Internet surfing is smooth, even in a meeting room separated by glass doors.

ZTE MF286

High-Definition VoLTE Call

Conference calls are an indispensible part of business interactions. As a standard feature for high-end wireless routers, ZTE MF286 supports advanced VoLTE voice calls. You can connect it to a telephone or a conference hands-free telephone system to get a much better call quality than regular telephone calls.

 

With 4 RJ-45 Ethernet ports, there is a USB port which connects a USB disk to share pictures, files or videos among the users on the same WiFi network. As ZTE’s first 4G LTE Cat6 router, the MF286 Router has many selling points which are practical for users. But Huawei E5186 has been on the market almost one year ahead of ZTE MF286, we can’t tell whether the MF286 will gain the trust from customers even though Huawei E5186 CPE doesn’t have the battery.

 

Huawei E5175 E5175s-22 4G LTE Cat6 Wireless Router Overview

In the past year, Huawei E5186 4G LTE CPE becomes well-known because it’s the world’s first LTE Category 6 wireless router for LTE-Advanced network with carrier aggregation technology. And till now, there is no newer model to be released from the Chinese manufacturer Huawei. Actually, there was a model which was released even before Huawei E5186. The model number is Huawei E5175, which is also a LTE Cat6 wireless router for the latest LTE networks.

Huawei E5175 Front

However, the Huawei E5175 is not presented at Huawei official site. We don’t know why, and as we know, many Huawei mobile broadbands are not listed there. So we can’t find the official specifications for Huawei E5175. But we can find the technical specifications somewhere.

Huawei E5175 Back

Huawei E5175 4G Router specifications:

* LTE Category 6 wireless router

* LTE CAT6 download speed up to 300mbps, and upload speed to 50Mbps

* Support 4G LTE Band 1/3/7/8/20/38 (FDD DD800/900/1800/2100/2600MHz, TDD 2600MHz)

* Support 3G DC-HSPA+/HSPA+/UMTS 900/2100MHz

* Support 2G GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz

* WiFi 802.11b/g/n/ac, 2.4GHz/5GHz, support up to 64 wireless devices

* 4 RJ45(GE) interface + 2 RJ11 Interface + 1 USB host interface

* Two External antenna connectors(Recommend Huawei E5175 4G Antenna: http://www.4gltemall.com/4g-antenna-two-sma-connector.html )

4G LTE Indoor Antenna (2 x SMA Connectors) for Huawei/ZTE 4G LTE Routers/Gateway/LTE CPE

 

Like its predecessors, Huawei E5175 is in flat design, it can stand on desk. The top front are the LED indicators for Power, Network mode, WiFi, Voice, Signal. And the Huawei logo is at the right side. On the back of the CPE E5175, there is a label which show many information about the device such as the model number (Huawei E5175s-22), Power Rating (12V, 2A), IMEI number, S/N number, Web site (http://homerouter.cpe), Web user name and password, SSID and WiFi key.

Huawei E5175 back label

Above the label, there is a plastic cover which could be open and below it, there are two connections for external antennas. The connector type is SMA. At the below side of the label, the interfaces are listed in a line. There are 4 RJ45 LAN ports, 2 RJ22 telephone interface, 1 USB host interface, 1 power plug hole and 1 power button(on/off). And on the back of the E5175, the body has many vents for heat radiation. At the bottom of the router, there are also many vents for this.

 

Huawei E5175 Top side

The Huawei E5175 can work with SIM card directly. The SIM card slot is at the side body. Open the cap on the sim card slot, user can insert a valid SIM card. After power on, user can get connected with wireless network. Below the SIM card slot, the WPS and WiFi buttons are there. Between them is the hole to reset the Huawei E5175 to factory default.

Huawei E5175 bottom

From the appearance and interfaces, the Huawei E5175 is very similar to Huawei E5186 Router. We will take a test next time to see which one could provide faster wireless network. But from the specifications, Huawei E5175 is a good router which could work on 4G LTE/3G UMTS/2G GSM networks. Up to 64 wireless users could get connected with Huawei E5175. The most important is that it can achieve peak download speed to 300Mbps and upload speed to 50Mbps.

huawei E5175s-22 sim card slot and WPS button

Currenlty, there is few 4G routers which could support such high speed connection. If you are looking for a LTE Router with the latest technology supporting LTE-advanced network, Huawei E5175 is a trustful one to consider.

HUAWEI E5186 4G LTE CPE Overview

Huawei E5186 is the top model for 4G router with support for LTE Advanced Cat.6 and receiving data rates up to 300 Mbit/s. It’s well suited as a professional solution for enterprise or medium-sized office.  Today, we write a review of this new router. Comparing with the price when the E5186 router come out, the price is now more acceptable for common users.

Huawei E5186 Front Side

 

In most cases, you can get the E5186 router from local network provider, and the router is locked to the local provider’s networks, which means you cannot use other operators’ sim cards. What we get is the unlocked one, so we can use the Huawei E5186 with any compatible networks. The stationary router E5186 is powered from 220V (adapter), no built-in battery is provided. E5186 LTE Router supports complete set of frequencies and technologies, including LTE Advanced Cat.6 and everything below 4G/3G/2G. Wi-Fi support 2.4 GHz and 5GHz simultaneously. Connect up to 32 users over Wi-Fi, plus a four-port Ethernet and 1 Gbit/s for the wired connection.

Huawei E5186 Interfaces

 

Packaging & Design

With the original Huawei package, Huawei E5186 has only few accessories, including an Ethernet cable for connecting, a user manual and AC adapter for 12 V and 2 A. If the router was purchased with the tariff, you may also get a SIM card(Micro SIM). Without the tariff, the price may be better.

 

Huawei E5186 External Antenna connector

The E5186 design is nothing special just like the predecessor model Huawei B890 and B593 LTE CPE. But it’s structurally made ​​interesting, front and rear panels are symmetrically curved in opposite directions. The color of Huawei E5186 is white with light gray sides. The power button is with the Ethernet ports. The WPS and WiFi control button is at the body side, above is the SIM card slot which is covered by a small cap. The E5186 dimension is 191x197x62 mm, which will not take much space on the table or windows.

 

On the front panel, only the indicators are listed, including the Power, Network mode, WiFi, Voice and Signal indicators. All switching part are at the back. On the top back, there are two connectors are covered, user can open the plastic flap to use MIMO antenna when necessary. Actually, there is built-in antenna in the Huawei E5186 router, few people will need the external antenna. But if you do need antenna to enhance the signal, you can refer to the antenna below:

Huawei E5186 Ethernet and Telephone Port

 

 

The separate power switch for on and off is with four Gigabit LAN Ethernet-ports, one of them part-WAN port for cable connecting the router to your ISP. USB-connector is used for wireless sharing, such as an external drive or printer. Two telephone RJ11 connectors for the organization of an IP-telephone.

 

 

 

At full load the E5186 router is properly heated. There are many vents in the body, we can see from outside, on top and bottom of the router, the small vents would help the heat radiation quickly.

Huawei E5186 Bottom

When the LTE CPE E5186 is working, the panel display in operating mode, for each color mode. Green when operating in 2G networks, blue for 3G and 4G when connected to an external provider of broadband internet. Perhaps there is not enough space for indicator of connected users, and traffic volume, but this would not hurt. Fortunately, enough free space on the panel. Apparently, the manufacturer assumed that the buyer of serious professional devices, they do not care such trifles, and if concerned, user can check through the Web-based interface.

 

 

We are very pleased with the automatic backup with a priority of the external connection mode. When disconnecting a wired broadband router, the E5186 would switch to its own modem to connect an external source and it will automatically switch to the Internet to distribute it. Moreover, the entire switching procedure takes less than 15 seconds.

 

Huawei E5186 Top

 

Specifications

 

A set of technologies and bands are supported through the Huawei E5186 router, there is even support for LTE TDD. Here now, the Huawei E5186 has two variants, E5186s-61a and E5186s-22a, they could support different LTE frequency bands, but both TD-LTE and FDD-LTE networks are supported:

 

Huawei E5186s-22a: LTE Band 1/3/7/8/20/38 (FDD 800/900/1800/2100/2600MHz, TDD 2600MHz)

Huawei E5186s-61a: LTE Band 3/7/28/40 (FDD 700/1800/2600MHz TDD 2300MHz)

 

The main selling point for the E5186 router is to support LTE Advanced Cat.6 and receiving data rates up to 300 Mbit/s. Theoretically, this connections speed is almost double of current LTE Cat4 speed (150Mbps). Ironically, most network providers haven’t upgraded their networks to LTE advanced, current mainstream is LTE cat4 network. So for many users, the Huawei E5186 router is future proof.

Huawei E5186 SIDE

 

Another important advantage of Huawei E5186 router is simultaneous operation of Wi-Fi router in standard 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. “High” and not noisy Wi-Fi 5GHz is now ubiquitous even in low-cost routers. It’s better than only 2.4 GHz with no options, but it is useless for a large number of connected users. All the same, we have to choose 2.4 GHz for compatibility with all devices.

 

Huawei E5186 can default create two independent Wi-Fi networks, and the user chooses the module based on the capabilities of your device, or the distance to the router. By the way, here we can for the first time face the Wi-Fi-transport as a “bottleneck”: in a good reception, LTE Advanced router will not be able to deliver on the best speed for your computer, which is able to take from the Ethernet.

 

Control

Like many other Huawei 4G LTE Routers, the operation of the Huawei E5186 router could be done via web-based interface or mobile phone application named Huawei Mobile WiFi, which now becomes even better and more convenient after a few updates.

 

Operational and impressions

In a typical LTE network (LTE Advanced), the Huawei E5186 shows speed performance twice than what I had seen on other devices. Of course, we are talking about a specific place, and the SIM-card is rearranged in different devices. In our test, the Huawei E5186 consistently gave 30-50% speed more than other routers and modems.

 

The Huawei E5186 router can achieve 30 Mbit/s easily on measurements at almost any time of day, and the rate of “around” 40-45 Mbit/s is nothing special. Data transfer rate in the network for upload was always higher than 10 Mbit/s, which was also a pleasant surprise to me. From the point of view, the ordinary use of the Internet is very convenience, and I did not see the difference from wired connection.

 

Summary

The price of the Huawei E5186 is a little bit expensive now. It is of course a progressive and avant-garde. But with the latest technology and good performance with fast & stable connection, the E5186 router is worthy this price.

 

If you already read our reviews months ago, you may also get to know another model from huawei for the LTE advanced Category 6. The model number is Huawei E5786, which is pocket router with a large capacity battery; user can take it for outdoor activities or business trips. If you are not interested in the stationary router E5186, E5786 may be the right one.

ZyXEL LTE4506 LTE Cat6 Router

ZyXEL has introduced a new LTE Advanced Cat6 router LTE4506 for stationary use. Upgraded from LTE Cat4 technology, the LTE4506 router allows speeds of up to 300 Mbit/s in the downlink and up to 50 Mbit/s in the uplink via the LTE network and uses its Carrier Aggregation technology, which has been specified in 3GPP Release 10 and in LTE category. 6. The high data rates could also be achieved at the terminals, because the ZyXEL LTE4506 has WLAN ac and Gigabit Ethernet.

LTE router with latest modem
Following the Huawei E5186 router, which is available as Telekom Speedbox LTE III , the ZyXEL LTE4506 is the only LTE Cat6 router that has been officially announced for the German market. While there are now a number of mobile wireless routers supporting the LTE Cat6 battery and for stationary use, they are very similar in specifications and features. The ZyXEL LTE4506 router supports FDD-LTE bands at 1,3,7,8 and 20 and TDD LTE band 38 and band 40. The relevant frequency ranges 800, 1800 and 2600 MHz for Germany, Austria and Switzerland are thus supported and may also are bundled via carrier aggregation, so that up to 40 MHz frequency spectrum can be used in the downstream.

WLAN and Gigabit Ethernet
The body of ZyXEL LTE4506 looks like Huawei E5180 LTE Cube, but it’s a LTE wireless router. The LTE4506 LTE Router can be powered wirelessly via Dual Band WLAN 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac of up to 300 Mbit/s are supported in parallel, according to ZyXEL. Up to two wireless networks can be built at the same time, if there is also a guest-Fi function, however, is still unclear. Up to 32 devices can be simultaneously connected to the router. If necessary, you can also connect a terminal such as a desktop computer or a switch via the network cable to the RJ45 Gigabit LAN port of the ZyXEL LTE4506.

The ZyXEL LTE4506 router is powered by a classic MicroUSB connector, there is no built-in battery available in the LTE router. ZyXEL offers the WAH7706 to a similarly equipped mobile WiFi hotspot with LTE Cat6.

 

Someone may want to change their 3G Routers to 4G LTE router such as ZyXEL LTE4506, however, the main problem is that ZyXEL supply the 4G Routers mainly for European network providers. If you are located in Asia, you may have trouble to get one. Thus, the Huawei E5186 is easier to get.

Huawei E5186 4G LTE Router Test

Huawei E5186s is the name of the Chinese producer’s latest mobile broadband router on the Danish market, and the telecommunications company “3” has introduced the E5186 router into their range as the router perfectly fits 3s network. The router can support Carrier Aggregation, which the phone company uses to achieve speeds of about 140 to 150 Mbit/s.

Huawei E5186 E5186S E5186S-22 Router

The features on Huawei E5186 router:

  • 3G/4G LTE router with carrier aggregation
  • 4G LTE Category 6 router option to download up to 300 Mbit/s
  • Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac both on the 2.4GHz and 5 GHz
  • 4 Ethernet ports
  • USB port for sharing files
  • Antenna connector for external antenna.

 

 

Mobile broadband routers usually include not only the most basic set, and is by no means at the forefront compared to normal home routers, so this must be kept in mind to have a little quick look at the router’s functions.

The start-up of the Huawei E5186 router is very easy. You put the Sim card in, turn on the router and the name of the wireless network and the password are behind the router. So you can access the internet in two minutes.

The router is kept in white color, fit perfectly into most homes. Somebody may not exactly love the router’s blue twinkling lights. It should be mentioned that the included black power adapter is just as ugly as all other black power supplies that are currently provided in electronic products.

Huawei E5186 E5186S E5186S-22 Router

How Huawei E5186 router works

 

The first thing you notice is that the E5186 router’s configuration to be accessed via the address 192.168.8.1, which is slightly different than most other routers in the consumer market. Next, you will be presented with a login window where you see the router’s current status without having to login to.

On the statistics, you can see the statistics of one’s consumption of data. The statistics are not just useful for much, but it gives an opportunity to follow one’s consumption, although it is somewhat unclear how the statistics are generated.

It is possible to update the router software on page “update”. The software update can be performed locally via USB or downloaded online.

 

Huawei E5186 E5186S E5186S-22 Router

Many advanced options

The real fun options are listed in the settings where all the huawei E5186 router important settings hiding. Here you can change the name of the Wi-Fi network individually on both the 2.4 and 5 GHz. Unfortunately no possibility to make a guest network.

On the other hand, there are plenty of other very advanced features such as to setup a SIP server, which you use to certain types of IP telephone. The router is equipped with two phone ports, so it is possible to use the Huawei E5186 router to the IP phone. But this part, we have not tested.

It is also possible to block access to certain websites directly in the router – eg. block access to Facebook or YouTube. You simply enter the address of the web sites you do not want users to be able to access via the browser, and so prevents the router access to the site, which is quite useful if teenage daughter spend too much time on Facebook.

Finally, it is also possible to share the contents of a hard drive or a printer respectively via DLNA and Samba over the LAN. DLNA function serving as expected, and it is possible to stream video, view photos or play music. The setup of samba function caused not so many problems.

 

 

LED light shines like a beacon

The most important thing about the Huawei E5186 router is enough for daily use where you do not have to play with the functions in the menu, the router would be running rock-stable. Even with sometimes up to 14 Wi-Fi devices connected, Huawei E5186 LTE router drove stable, and there was absolutely no trouble keeping Wi-Fi connection itself far from the router. It is really convenient to be able to choose Wi-Fi at 5 GHz, when many residential areas have too many Wi-Fi network at 2.4 GHz, which creates noise and resulting low throughput of Wi-Fi.

 

Huawei E5186 4G router is also equipped with two connectors for external antennas. The router’s antennas are quite sensitive, and during the test, no trouble keeping the connection to the 3’s 4G LTE network. If you live far from the nearest cell tower or in an unfortunate area, so it is possible to connect an external antenna. You can use below the external antenna with two connectors to improve the signal strength. You may refer to below the link to buy the external antenna for Huawei E5186 Router: http://www.4gltemall.com/4g-antenna-two-ts-9-connector.html

Huawei E5186 antenna

The only really big complaint about Huawei E5186 router is the exceptionally bright LED lights on the router’s front – LED light shines just like a lighthouse. User should not put the router in the bedroom if you are planning to get some sleep during the night, and there should be a configuration option to turn down the strong light.

 

Huawei E5186 E5186S E5186S-22 Router

Overall, Huawei E5186s router is a quite fine and sensible 4G router. It was no connection problems under the little mini-test, and the router did its good job for 12 terminals. If you are planning to buy a future proof router with good stable performance, Huawei E5186 4G LTE wireless router is recommended.

Huawei E5186 – First LTE Cat6 Router for A1

The first LTE Cat6 router Huawei E5186 arrived available for A1. Thanks to the introduction of LTE Carrier Aggregation  at the end of June 2015, so that bandwidth of up to 300 Mbit/s can be achieved. Thus, the Huawei E5186 router with appropriate tariff is ideal for work/surfing/games at home. The model number is huawei E5186s-22a, as we know, there is brother model Huawei E5186s-61a, which is for Australian market. If you are interested in the performance of this router, it’s necessary to see this test below.

 

 

 

In an unspectacular packaging, we find the E5186 router, a power cable, a LAN cable and a Quick Start Guide. In the brief instructions, we will discuss on the importance of the lamp, the connections and the installation of the SIM card. The Huawei E5186 router size is not smalle, dimensions are 194 x 177 x 64mm and lack of battery for stationary use.

On the front, we find LEDs that indicate the current operating status. The air vents are designed on the top and bottom. When working, the router is not hot, thanks to passive cooling, there is also no noise.

huawei E5186 LEDs

 

On the back we find a whole range of connections. In addition to the power connector, there is a USB port (for a network printer and USB Storage), 2 telephone lines and 4x Gigabit LAN ports. Behind the white panel, there is also the possibility to connect an antenna for better reception. If you want external antenna for Huawei E5186, we will recommend two antennas for your consideration. The micro-SIM card is inserted on the right side of body.

 

 

It’s simple to operate the E5186 LTE CPE: After insertion of SIM card and activation of the Power switch in the router, it would be connected with the mobile network after about 30 seconds. The Huawei E5186 router itself, brings the configuration of the connection automatically, manual input is unnecessary. And then other terminals can connect the WiFi and surf after the router connected with network. Those who then want to change the wireless network password or other settings, can do that on the router interface. The makes a very neat impression and you find yourself good at it rightly.

 

 

Huawei E5186 router offers the classic configuration via browser while there is another way to do the settings: The Huawei Mobile WiFi app. The app can be installed to the mobile phones or tablets by means of a clear user interface and wireless network settings.

 

 

Here, you can see the Huawei E5186 router technical features: It offers all common standards with WiFi 802.11b/g/n/ac at 2.4GHz / 5GHz Dual Band and supports up to 64 devices. The range of the wireless network is about 250 meters (without obstacles), the possible bandwidth is up to 1.1 Gbit/s. This is the WiFi standard 802.11ac including simultaneous use of 5 and 2.4 GHz bands. In order to exploit the full speed, you need a corresponding network environment.

 

The Huawei E5186 4G/LTE router supports mentioned LTE Cat6, and thus enabling download speed of up to 300Mbit/s. Of course, it also supports all other standards, so LTE Cat4, HSDPA (Dual Cell) and EDGE or GRPS. The range was great in the practical test: I have measured 80 Mbit/s with LTE Carrier Aggregation without that latency. Surfing speed was particularly impressive. Since LTE provides really good value!

 

The reception of Huawei E5186 can also be improved with an external antenna if necessary. The antenna connector is SMA socket, here we have two external antenna for Huawei E5816. They both work well in real test:

 

Antenna one for Huawei E5186:

You can buy the antenna from here:

http://www.4gltemall.com/huawei-b593-4g-antenna.html

 

Antenna two for Huawei E5186:

 

 

You can buy this antenna from here:

http://www.4gltemall.com/4g-antenna-two-sma-connector.html

 

 

Conclusion

For those who need fast Internet at home or a more remote region, we can recommend the Huawei E5186 router: it is ready to go, offers a number of setting options and a very stable and fast wireless internet. As a result, the E5186 LTE router is not only suitable for working or surfing, but also to play. But this also depends on the network coverage. The LTE Cat6 are already covered in more and more cities over the world and LTE latencies are generally low. We suppose the Huawei E5186 is a future proof LTE Wireless router, it’s worthy to buy!

 

If you ask whether there is similar LTE Cat6 router, there is still Huawei router to recommend. The model number is Huawei E5175. It’s a brother model like E5786, but not well-known.