- VERDICT
The Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro – which runs on the powerful Telstra network – is the ultimate mobile hotspot that can keep connected at the fastest available speeds and that will be useful well into the future.
Tom Cruise summed it up best in Top Gun – I feel the need, the need for speed! And that’s exactly what you get with the new Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro portable 5G hotspot.
Available exclusively through Telstra for use on its impressive 5G network, the Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro can connect to both the regular Sub6 5G band and the faster mmWave as well with theoretical speeds of up to 8Gbps.
We didn’t get anywhere near that but it’s nice to know there’s that amount of headroom in the future.
mmWave is already being deployed by Telstra in Australian CBDs and other busy places like airports, train stations and stadiums and, while offering shorter range than Sub6, it has greater capacity to handle more users and can give customers much faster speeds.
The unit itself can fit in the palm of your hand and has a 2.8 colour touchscreen so you can monitor data used, connected devices and the battery level.
The battery has a capacity of 5040mAh which is enough to get you through most of the day.
On the rear is a USB-C port to charge the battery and a 2.5G Ethernet port so you can link the M6 Pro to a device with a cable or to an Ethernet switch so you can connect multiple devices.
And it can also handle connecting up to 32 devices wirelessly at the same time.
The Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro offers Wi-Fi 6E compatibility so the latest compatible smartphones, tablets and laptops can connect at up to 2.9Gbps on 5Ghz and up to 700Mbps on 2.4Ghz.
The ideal customer for the Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro is a mobile professional who needs a fast and reliable connection anywhere or someone who wants a backup or replace their current fixed broadband at their home or office.
Naturally you need to have good Telstra 5G reception where you’re using the M6 Pro and thankfully the network’s footprint is growing.
At last count, the Telstra 5G network was within reach of 80 per cent of Australia’s population with a projected 95 per cent coverage by 2025.
It’s also possible to connect an external MIMO SMA antenna to improve your reception in fringe network areas. It can be used in buildings and even in vehicles.
For our testing we tried the M6 Pro in the Sydney CBD (near Telstra’s office) and in the suburbs.
Near the Telstra building we achieved 986Mbps and 1.1Gbps (on mmWave) but other parts of the city (on Sub6) we had 247Mbps and 197Mbps.
Out in the eastern suburbs on Sub6 it was common to exceed 140Mbps and sometimes greater than 200Mbps.
All these results are more than adequate to get things done – and get them done fast.
And with mmWave expanding and being available in more places it’s good to know the M6 Pro is also future proof as well.
We did notice on the odd occasion it took a couple of attempts to connect to the hotspot from our MacBook Air and smartphone.
But the old “turn it off and on again” method seemed to correct the situation.
Now let’s talk price.
The Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro is $749 which isn’t cheap and is far more expensive than other options from other networks.
But it also has many more features and capabilities than these other options so it’s basically like comparing a Porsche with a Toyota.
The Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro is available now.
VERDICT
The Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro – which runs on the powerful Telstra network – is the ultimate mobile hotspot that can keep connected at the fastest available speeds and that will be useful well into the future.
