- Hotspot Guides
- Netgear Nighthawk 5G Hotspot Pro M5 (MR5100, MR5200) External Antenna Guide
Looking to get the best possible data rates from your Netgear Nighthawk M5?
You’ll want to purchase and connect external MIMO antennas to the device’s two TS9 ports.
In this guide, we'll:
Note: The Netgear Nighthawk 5G comes in two models: The MR5100 model optimized for AT&T and the MR5200 model optimized for all major carriers.
Using a MIMO antenna outside your building, pointed at the nearest tower, can help you get the fastest LTE data rates possible.
The Netgear Nighthawk M5 has two TS9 ports on the bottom edge, which allow for a 2x2 MIMO antenna to be connected to the device.
We recommend two different MIMO antenna options for use with the Netgear Nighthawk M5:
This MIMO panel antenna kit will provide meaningful signal improvement, even if you're surrounded by trees, hills, or tall buildings.
For most users the best external antenna choice for the Netgear Nighthawk 5G M5 is our MIMO panel antenna kit. This antenna doesn’t require line-of-sight to the tower.
These cross polarized log periodic antennas are have higher gain and are more directional, but work best if you have direct line-of-sight to the tower.
However, if you have line of sight to the nearest tower, we recommend using a MIMO log periodic antenna kit instead. The higher gain on these antennas can get you better performance, but only when you have a straight shot to the tower.
There's one big misconception about external antennas.
Most people think that external antennas primarily help you increase your data rates by increasing the signal strength.
But that's not the case.
An increase in signal strength is actually probably the third most important way that external antennas help.
Here are the three main ways that external antennas help you increase your data rates:
In 4G LTE and 5G networks, signal quality is measured as SINR (Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio) or sometimes as RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality).
Improving signal quality has a huge impact on your data rates.
Higher data rates allow your hotspot to communicate using "higher order modulation schemes." That means they can use the same wireless spectrum to send more data per second.
However, there's one big caveat:
In order to improve your signal quality, you need to both aim and shield your outdoor antenna properly. We talk more about this in the next section.
Hotspots like the Nighthawk 5G support an LTE feature called "carrier aggregation."
Carrier aggregation allows the Nighthawk 5G to connect on multiple cellular bands simultaneously.
The more bands you're connected on, the greater the bandwidth, and the higher your data rates.
However, many of the higher frequency bands aren't able to penetrate into buildings. Using external antennas allows you to access higher frequency bands, which are often less congested and offer higher speeds than lower frequency bands.
As you might expect, using outdoor directional antennas can help increase the signal strength.
This helps increase data rates, but only up to a point.
If your signal strength (called "RSRP" in LTE and 5G networks) is stronger than about -100 dBm, stronger signal won't speed up your connection any further.
Positioning and aiming MIMO antennas well is crucial to getting the best performance to your Nighthawk 5G M5, or indeed any other hotspot.
We've actually compiled a detailed instruction manual to accompany our own MIMO Antenna Kits, where we go into depth on the best ways to aim the antennas.
The goal is to find the best location and direction for the antenna(s), to maximize data rates to the Nighthawk 5G M5. It can take a little patience, but can have a huge impact – it’s worth a bit of extra effort!
Before getting started, it's always a good idea to run a couple of speed tests indoors from a device connected to your Nighthawk's WiFi. The results will fluctuate a little, but this is the baseline you're trying to improve.
TS9 adapters connected to the similar Netgear Nighthawk M1 (MR1100)
Now connect the MIMO antennas to your Nighthawk via the TS-9 ports, like in the image above, and go outside with your "test-rig".
With each location and direction you try, run a couple speed tests, and make a note of the results. Here are all the locations and directions where we recommend testing your MIMO antenna:
Where to test your signal
Pro tip: Don’t just go to the highest point of the roof! While signal is generally stronger the higher you go, there’s also often more interference. We’ve found it’s often better to mount the antenna(s) on the side of the building where the structure can shield the antennas from interference.
Once you've found the position which gets you the highest data rates to the Nighthawk, that's where you'll want to install the MIMO antenna. Go ahead and mount the antenna, run cables inside, connect everything up, and enjoy superior data rates!
^Supported only by the MR5100
^^Supported only by the MR5200
