Netgear announced this week the release of its Nighthawk M1 mobile router, which claims to be the first device to provide a gigabyte's worth of download speed.
Australian users will be one of the first to try this out for themselves, as the launch of the Nighthawk M1 enables them to utilize the country's Gigabit LTE network. The Australian network was established in partnership with Qualcomm, Telstra, Ericsson and Netgear.
The Netgear Nighthawk M1, powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X16 LTE modem, was announced over a year before its release.
Aside from being a 4G LTE mobile hotspot with a 1Gbps download speed, the Nighthawk M1 allows multiple connections of up to 20 devices. It also has a gigabit ethernet port and two USB ports. It can even be used as a NAS/media streamer via its microSD slot. This makes it extremely useful in rural parts of the country where there is no cable broadband services available.
This portable router has a non-removable 5040mAh battery which provides up to 24 hours of standard usage time. It also comes with a 2.4-inch display which allows users to monitor the device's performance and data usage.
A special app can be downloaded by both Android and iOS users to manage other router settings such as parental controls and network set-up.
AnandTech has a table showing the rest of the mobile router's specifications.
According to Mobile & Apps, once similar Gigabit 4G LTE network services become available in other parts of the world, Netgear's Nighthawk M1 mobile router or its derivatives may hit those markets as well.
The new service saw consistent 900+Mbps average speeds, which peaked at around 930Mbps, according to the same report.
"The Nighthawk M1-powered network is now operational in central business districts of Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne," its report further said. Other areas will have access to the faster network by the middle of February.
It added that Qualcomm is in the process of testing the Gigabit LTE service in 11 countries with the cooperation of 15 different carriers.
