Huawei Mifi with two aerial connections??

[Richard10002]

I'm going to give my father my current Huawei Mifi, which has one aerial connection and, because I have an aerial with 2 connections, it seems to make sense to buy a new Mifi with 2 aerial inputs.

The latest Huawei Mifis with twin aerial inputs seem to be the E5786 at about £130, E5787 at about £180, and the E5788 at over £200.

Are there any older models which will do the job, which have twin aerial inputs, and which I'll probably be able to buy 2nd hand on ebay or similar? I'm sure I've seen some mention of them by people here over the years?

 

[zikzik]

I have an older 3g only version (not used for years) lying around somewhere. No idea if one or two signal inputs. And a newer one (used in our holiday home) that is 4g with two inputs. I don't know the model numbers off hand.
my guess is the 4g capable units have two inputs. You need google more than this place to find out.
I can say they are a brilliant way to feed 4g sim data to up to five devices.

 

[Richard10002]

I have an older 3g only version (not used for years) lying around somewhere. No idea if one or two signal inputs. And a newer one (used in our holiday home) that is 4g with two inputs. I don't know the model numbers off hand.
my guess is the 4g capable units have two inputs. You need google more than this place to find out.
I can say they are a brilliant way to feed 4g sim data to up to five devices.

I already have the Huawei 5776s, which is a 4G Mifi, but which only has one aerial input, hence the question.

I'm sure I've read here that those with 2 aerials connected get a better signal than with only one. Given that I will be buying a new one, I'd like to try a 2 aerial job.

 

[laika]

I already have the Huawei 5776s, which is a 4G Mifi, but which only has one aerial input, hence the question.

I would never buy another Huawei product. Q: How many firmware updates have there been for your E5776s during the..what..3 years..that you've had it? And how many security flaws have been discovered during that period which will almost certainly affect it?

My E5776s is my main Internet connection and mostly appears to work fine. It locks up solid every so often. It's rubbish on trains because it seems to work very badly when it switches from 4G to 3G. But not a single security update ever and they don't even appear to have the manual on the Huawei web site any more. That's not about product quality it's about the ethos of the company. What's the alternative? Dunno, Huawei seem to be the market leaders in this sector but I'll be looking for a different brand.

 

[Heckler]

I would never buy another Huawei product. Q: How many firmware updates have there been for your E5776s during the..what..3 years..that you've had it? And how many security flaws have been discovered during that period which will almost certainly affect it?

My E5776s is my main Internet connection and mostly appears to work fine. It locks up solid every so often. It's rubbish on trains because it seems to work very badly when it switches from 4G to 3G. But not a single security update ever and they don't even appear to have the manual on the Huawei web site any more. That's not about product quality it's about the ethos of the company. What's the alternative? Dunno, Huawei seem to be the market leaders in this sector but I'll be looking for a different brand.

Is the lock up caused when it reports back to Momma San?
Stu

 

[Richard10002]

I would never buy another Huawei product. Q: How many firmware updates have there been for your E5776s during the..what..3 years..that you've had it? And how many security flaws have been discovered during that period which will almost certainly affect it?

My E5776s is my main Internet connection and mostly appears to work fine. It locks up solid every so often. It's rubbish on trains because it seems to work very badly when it switches from 4G to 3G. But not a single security update ever and they don't even appear to have the manual on the Huawei web site any more. That's not about product quality it's about the ethos of the company. What's the alternative? Dunno, Huawei seem to be the market leaders in this sector but I'll be looking for a different brand.

I dont recall ever having had a firmware update for any router of any kind I've ever owned. My own perception is that security takes place in my laptos etc., rather than at the router, (but I'm no expert).

 

[RobbieW]

I dont recall ever having had a firmware update for any router of any kind I've ever owned. My own perception is that security takes place in my laptos etc., rather than at the router, (but I'm no expert).

To some extent yes, much of the security happens in the device. A recent example of a latent defect in routers is the appearance of the Krack attack which undermines the security of WPA wireless encryption. Even there fixing up the device side helps mitigate the effect considerably but the attitude of many device manufacturers to rolling out a fix, certainly for Android, leaves much to be deisred.

The underlying OS in many routers is a Linux variant which is subject to continual change, as are Microsoft and Apple OSs. Some of those changes plug security loopholes a proprtion of which could affect the integrity of the router. The routers I generally run use software built by the open source community which is continually being updated.

 

[RobbieW]

I'm going to give my father my current Huawei Mifi, which has one aerial connection and, because I have an aerial with 2 connections, it seems to make sense to buy a new Mifi with 2 aerial inputs.

The latest Huawei Mifis with twin aerial inputs seem to be the E5786 at about £130, E5787 at about £180, and the E5788 at over £200.

Are there any older models which will do the job, which have twin aerial inputs, and which I'll probably be able to buy 2nd hand on ebay or similar? I'm sure I've seen some mention of them by people here over the years?

Going back to your question, I dont know of one but if I were looking to get a new Mifi I think I'd be looking for one that supports carrier aggregation ( having recently learned a little about it) for future proofing - but only if I had a dependence on high volumes of data

 

[Richard10002]

Going back to your question, I dont know of one but if I were looking to get a new Mifi I think I'd be looking for one that supports carrier aggregation ( having recently learned a little about it) for future proofing - but only if I had a dependence on high volumes of data

Not depending on high data volumes, (bit of Netflix and iPlayer etc., but they work fine on my existing Mifi).

 

[RobbieW]

Out of idle curiosity I did a Google search and came up with this site, https://uk.hardware.info/reviews/71...sted-portable-network-netgear-aircard-ac790sn, for some possibly older (but not too old) MiFis.

The AC790 has both antenna sockets and supports carrier aggregation, it seems available at reasonable prices on ebay.

I dont know if this is your experience but read that having the dual antenna supporting a MIMO configuration should significantly improve the conitnuous data rate experience, ie signal stability, if not the peak data rate.

 

[Steve_N]

I'm going to give my father my current Huawei Mifi, which has one aerial connection and, because I have an aerial with 2 connections, it seems to make sense to buy a new Mifi with 2 aerial inputs.

The latest Huawei Mifis with twin aerial inputs seem to be the E5786 at about £130, E5787 at about £180, and the E5788 at over £200.

Are there any older models which will do the job, which have twin aerial inputs, and which I'll probably be able to buy 2nd hand on ebay or similar? I'm sure I've seen some mention of them by people here over the years?

E5577 has twin antenna connectors and is available second hand or new for under £80ish.

 

[Forty_Two]

E5577 has twin antenna connectors and is available second hand or new for under £80ish.

Been using the E5577 for a couple of summers, works well with dual connector external aerial.

 

[wallacebob]

E5377 has been very good for me: £80 well spent 18mths ago. Very poor battery life tho', so needs continuous power or power bank to be reliable. Reboot every now and again helps.

 

[Richard10002]

Out of idle curiosity I did a Google search and came up with this site, https://uk.hardware.info/reviews/71...sted-portable-network-netgear-aircard-ac790sn, for some possibly older (but not too old) MiFis.

The AC790 has both antenna sockets and supports carrier aggregation, it seems available at reasonable prices on ebay.

I dont know if this is your experience but read that having the dual antenna supporting a MIMO configuration should significantly improve the conitnuous data rate experience, ie signal stability, if not the peak data rate.

Ordered this on Thursday from Amazon, arrived Friday, £129.99, Free Delivery. Thanks to all for the info and advice!

First impressions: better quality/more solid feel than the Huawei. Much better interface, both on the device, and on it's "web page". 4 Bars without any aerials connected. 5 Bars with one aerial connected, (I dont have a facility to connect my second aerial connector yet).

Random Speedtest whilst typing:

Ping 38ms, D/L 34.21 Mbps, U/L 27.78 Mbps.

EE Mobile Broadband

Very pleased with it after a day of use and, for some reason, my perception is that it's streets ahead of my perception of the equivalent Huawei, mostly due to feel and ease of use - performance is almost certainly similar in both.