Huawei E5788 VS Netgear AC815s

AT&T Unite Explore was an old 4G LTE Pocket WiFi router coming from Netgear AC815S and it had been a popular pocket WiFi router when it’s available in the market with AT&T contract. Here it has a new competitor from Huawei – E5788u-96a. Huawei E5788u-96a was available around the end of 2017 and it becomes the hot model when it’s firstly presented to the public. Somebody may ask: what’s the difference between Huawei E5788u-96a and Netgear AC815S? Which one is better to buy in the two LTE hotspot 4G? We will compare the two portable 4G routers in this article to find the answers.

Huawei E5788 VS Netgear AC815S Appearance and Interfaces

The Netgear AC815S follows the design of the Netgear LTE mobile hotspot router, as it’s introduced to AT&T data plan, there is an AT&T logo on the front with the screen. The touchscreen could be used to check the data, network connection status, WiFi users, and battery status and do some simple setting by clicking home and back buttons at the side of the display. Like its brother model Netgear AC810S unlocked, the back cover of AT&T Unite Explore could be opened and the battery could be removed to insert the SIM card. There is a USB port with two connectors for external LTE antennas.

The Huawei E5788 LTE Router also has a display to show the connection status, WiFi status, battery status and other information about data usage, network provider, and signal etc… There is a button at the side of the display. The user could operate the touchscreen like doing on a smartphone. This feature is very user-friendly. There is an only power button on the top edge side while the opposite locate the SIM card slot. The back cover of Huawei E5788 could not be removed. And it doesn’t have the connector for high gain LTE antennas.

 

AT&T Unite Explore VS Huawei E5788u-96a Specs and Features

From the appearance, we can see the two mobile WiFi hotspots are different. Then let’s have a comparison of the Huawei E5788u-96a specs and Netgear Aircard 815s specs:

 

Model AT&T Unite Explore 815S Huawei E5788u-96a
Product type LTE Mobile Hotspot LTE Mobile Hotspot
Category LTE Cat.9 LTE Cat.16
Chipset Qualcomm MDM9240 Qualcomm MDM9250
Data rates DL 450Mbps/UL 100Mbps DL 1Gbps/UL 100Mbps
Supported 4G LTE frequency bands B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B7, B12, B17, B29, B30 * FDD-LTE: Band 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/19/20/28
* TDD-LTE: Band 38/40/41/42
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 15 users 32 users
MIMO 2 x 2 MIMO 4 X 4 MIMO
Connector for external antenna Two, TS-9 jacks No connector
Buy Antenna AT&T Unite Explore External Antenna N/A
App management Netgear Aircard APP Huawei Hilink APP
SIM type Micro SIM Micro SIM
Battery Removable, 4340 mAh Non-removable, 3000mAh
Dimensions 112 x 68.6 x 15.45mm 129 x 65 x 13.5mm
Ethernet Port No No
Datasheet download AT&T Unite Explore 815s Datasheet Huawei E5788 Datasheet
User Manual AT&T Unite Explore Manual Huawei E5788 Manual
Other features 3 band CA 4CC CA
Firmware download ATT Unite Explore Firmware Huawei E5788 Firmware
Drivers ATT Unite Explore drivers Huawei E5788 Driver
Reviews AT&T unite explore review Huawei E5788 Review
Price 349.00USD 499.00USD

 

Summary

From the specs table, we can see the Huawei E5788u-96a is more advanced than Netgear AC815S Unlocked. As an LTE-A pro mobile hotspot, Huawei E5788u-96a could support peak download speed up to 1Gigabit/s, which is more than double of the Netgear AC815S peak download speed. Netgear AC815S is more suitable to use in American areas because the supported LTE frequency bands are widely available in American areas. If you use the AT&T Unite Explore in the area out of AT&T service, you must make sure the ATT Unite Explore is SIM unlocked. The Huawei E5788u-96a is also powerful to support the network providers in American, Aisa, Europe and the Middle East. With the support of 4 x 4 MIMO and WiFi users to 32 devices, Huawei E5788u-96a is the best 4G mobile WiFi router in the market.

 

Even though the Huawei E5788 is best 4G MiFi, Netgear AC815 still has some highlighted features that we have to mention. Firstly, it’s in rugged design which is water and dust proof. This feature makes it perfect to the user in outdoor activities. The two connectors for external LTE antennas is also useful if you use it in areas of weak signal. What’s more, the large battery pack of Netgear 815S could work like a power bank to charge other devices if necessary. So if you would buy one from the two routers. You may consider your demand. The Netgear AC815S is more practical for daily use but Huawei E5788u-96a is future-proof with a higher price.

Huawei E5788u-96a Gigabit LTE Mobile Hotspot Review and Unboxing

Last weekend, we get the latest new Huawei New LTE Mobile Router – Huawei E5788u-96a Gigabit LTE hotspot(Huawei names it “Huawei Mobile WiFi 2 Prime”). After around two month waiting, the Huawei E5788u-96a is finally available on the market.

Huawei E5788 E5788u-96a Gigabit LTE Hotspot

We get the Huawei E5788 in blue & black color(see below the images). The package box is in white, which shows the highlights & selling points of the Huawei E5788: LTE up to 1Gbps speed with 2.4inch touch screen. Unlike the competitor Nighthawk M1 from Netgear in squre shape, the Huawei E5788u-96a is in rectangle shape. And the screen is in left part on the front, where the Netgear Nighthawk M1 has round screen in the middle of the front.

Huawei E5788 E5788u-96a Gigabit LTE Hotspot

The body of Huawei E5788 is made of plastic like the predecessor Huawei E5786 and E5787. The top side is the power button and the USB port is on the opposite side. Beside the USB 3.0 port, it’s the place for inserting the SIM card. Huawei E5788u-96a uses Micro SIM card. The slot is covered by a small cap. However, we didn’t find the connector for external antenna. Usually, the Huawei LTE mobile hotspots have the interface for external antennas, we don’t know why Huawei didn’t offer the external antenna connector. At the other side of the USB port, it’s a small hole for reset the router. The size of Huawei E5788 is not big, one hand operation is possible.

Huawei E5788 E5788u-96a Gigabit LTE Hotspot

The battery of Huawei E5788u-96a is non-removable like the Huawei E5786, but the Huawei E5788 is very slimmer than E5786 and feels good. Press the power button, the screen would be bright and Huawei logo in red will appear, and few seconds, it showed “Welcome”. Then the screen shows some information. If you had already put a valid SIM card in, the Huawei E5788 would automatically detect the SIM card and setup the profile. In seconds, you can see the SIM card’s network provider’s name on the screen. And the signal strength, WiFi band, WiFi connected users, battery status are shown on the screen. The screen also indicates “Slide to unlock”. The touch screen is very similar to the Huawei E5787s-33a mobile hotspot, which also had a touch screen. On the screen, user can check the connection status, SMS, about the device. The most important is that users can do settings through the screen like operating a smarpthone.

Huawei E5788 E5788u-96a Gigabit LTE Hotspot

In the setting menu, there are settings for Connected Users, Bluetooth, Profile Mangement, WiFi Extender, WPN, WiFi, Data usage, Data roaming, Network Settings, Pin Management, Password lock, Language, Remote Wake, Update and Restore Defaults. It includes almost all the settings for the Huawei E5788 mobile WiFi hotspot. Of course, user can also do the settings through the web interface 192.168.8.1 or download the Huawei Hilink APP from Google Play or Apple Store to setup the router.

Huawei E5788 E5788u-96a Gigabit LTE Hotspot

With the Huawei E5788u-96a 4G hotspot, Huawei provides a USB cable and power adapter in EN standard, which may not be good for users who are located at American or Europe. The warranty card and user manual are also included in the package box.

Huawei E5788 E5788u-96a Gigabit LTE Hotspot

We would take full test of this new LTE advanced Pro mobile hotspot E5788. So the potential user would see the performance of the Huawei E5788 and whether it’s better than other competitors.

Huawei E5788 E5788u-96a Gigabit LTE Hotspot