New AT&T Flagship Mobile Hotspot Launched – The Netgear Nighthawk M7 Pro, The First Hotspot With An X75 Modem

AT&T and Netgear today launched a new flagship 5G mobile hotspot - the Netgear Nighthawk M7 Pro.

This is the first mobile hotspot with the Qualcomm X75 modem, which builds on the X65 and promises impressive performance and capabilities once networks are upgraded enough to take advantage of it.

The Nighthawk M7 Pro also comes with another first - Wi-Fi 7, including bandwidth aggregation on the 5GHz and 6Ghz frequency bands. Additionally, the M7 Pro comes with a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port and TS-9 ports for an external antenna. However, it does drop support for AT&T's millimeter wave 5G spectrum.

How does it stack up to the Nighthawk M6 series, first released in 2022?

First Look Video

 

Nighthawk M7 Pro: A Next-Gen Flagship

The Netgear Nighthawk M7 Pro is AT&T's new flagship, and it will be able to take advantage of AT&T's growing 5G network, particularly the new C-Band 5G+ spectrum that AT&T is rapidly deploying. Following the familiar Netgear model naming convention, this M7 Pro is model number MR7400.

Here's what bands the new Nighthawk M7 Pro supports:

• Sub-6GHz 5G: n2, n5, n12, n14, n28, n29, n30, n48, n66, n77, n78
• mmWave 5G: None
• 4G/LTE: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 14, 28, 29, 30, 40, 46, 48, 66

This list features all the Sub-6GHz 5G and LTE bands AT&T is currently using and some that aren't used now but will come online at some point in the future.

Compared to the previous flagship, the M6 Pro, the new M7 Pro supports more 5G and LTE bands but has dropped support for millimeter wave (mmWave) bands.

mmWave is only deployed in dense urban cores and crowded venues like airports and stadiums - its absence from the M7 Pro won't have a major effect on most users.

As is typical for mobile hotspots, it is not a good fit for Verizon and T-Mobile as it doesn't support critical bands on those carriers for both 4G and 5G. It's also not a great option for international use.

The Qualcomm X75

The cellular modem is the heart of any mobile hotspot, and the M7 Pro is the first to market with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X75. In some ways, this is surprising because the X75 is new and currently only used in Samsung S24 smartphones and the iPhone 16 that is just launching this month.

Usually, the newest and fastest modems are first introduced to flagship smartphones and then only later to data-only devices. Remarkably, Netgear has an X75 mobile hotspot on the market before Apple has an X75 iPhone.

So, what's special about the X75?

The X75 supports "5G Phase 2" (3GPP Release 17) standards like the X65, but incorporates features from the next specification - "5G Advanced" (3GPP Release 18). Benefits include 5x carrier aggregation for sub-6 GHz 5G bands - compared to 3x for the X65. Additionally, the X75 has improved network and power efficiency thanks to a smaller chip and AI enhancements.

Although the X75 modem has a theoretical peak speed capability of 10 Gbps, Netgear states that the M7 Pro has a peak theoretical speed of 7.5 Gbps. However, like all theoretical peak speed figures, the end user will never see those numbers except in lab conditions.

However, it does show that this modem and the M7 Pro will be able to keep up as 5G networks continue to expand and grow.

World’s First Wi-Fi 7 Mobile Hotspot

Also new in the Nighthawk M7 Pro is support for tri-band (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz & 6GHz) Wi-Fi 7.

As explained in our recent Wi-Fi Industry Update article, Wi-Fi 7 provides several benefits over Wi-Fi 6 and 6e used in the previous M6 series.

One advancement is support for dual-band dual concurrent (DBDC) operation and bandwidth aggregation on the 5GHz and 6GHz frequencies. This means the M7 Pro can simultaneously connect to the 5GHz and 6GHz bands and handle traffic on both bands concurrently rather than switching between them.

The benefit of this is higher peak data rates and reduced congestion problems. Netgear claims a peak aggregated WiFi speed of up to 6.4 Gbps. Like the peak cellular performance above, this is for laboratory-perfect conditions. But the important point is that the Wi-Fi system in the M7 Pro is very fast and should provide great short-range reliability and performance, especially for other Wi-Fi 7 devices.

The Wi-Fi system is a huge improvement over the previous M6 Pro, which could not simultaneously support 5 GHz and 6 GHz Wi-Fi. This is a major downside, making 6 GHz mostly useless on that hotspot.

One downside continues, however, and that is that the 6 GHz band is only enabled when the hotspot is in "Plugged-In Mode" and not when on battery-only power.

Other M7 Pro Features

The M7 Pro has features commonly seen on previous Netgear mobile hotspots

Wired Connectivity

Ethernet ports have become standard in higher-end 5G mobile hotspot devices, and the port on the M7 Pro supports 2.5 Gbps speeds. This is another area where the M7 Pro is future-proofing, as it will be quite some time before AT&T's 5G network can serve those speeds to a cellular device on Sub-6 GHz 5G bands.

USB tethering is also supported via a USB 3.2 Type-C port, which can support speeds up to 10 Gbps while tethering and is also used for charging.

Antenna Ports

We're glad to see that Netgear continues its tradition of including two TS-9 antenna ports on its hotspots. These antenna ports make it easy to utilize an external antenna in difficult signal conditions, albeit by sacrificing the 4x4 MIMO of the internal antennas for 2x2 MIMO with the external antenna.

M7 Pro Plugged-In Mode

Like the M6 Pro, the M7 Pro supports a "Plugged In Mode" that requires removing the M7's battery and powering it via USB from an AC adapter. In addition to enabling the 6 GHz Wi-Fi band, this mode "boosts performance" and "improves WiFi coverage," although Netgear does not explain precisely what performance is boosted or how much Wi-Fi coverage is increased.

But this does mean that the M7 Pro can be used without a battery, which is another nice feature for nomads concerned about battery overcharging, heat, and swelling.

Getting the Nighthawk M7 Pro

The Nighthawk M7 Pro is now available directly from AT&T for $499.99 for consumer accounts. AT&T Business customers can also purchase it for $349.99 with a two-year agreement or $299.99 with a three-year agreement.

For comparison, the M6 Pro was $459.99 when it launched in 2022.

Customers on retired data plans should be wary of upgrading to the M7 Pro because they risk losing a grandfathered plan.

Member Exclusives Below:

Concluding Thoughts

Netgear is the first to market with an X75 mobile hotspot, even beating most smartphone makers, including Apple.

It's currently - on paper anyway - the most advanced and capable mobile hotspot device yet made - so advanced that it may take some time for AT&T's 5G network to grow enough to enable it to shine.

Netgear is providing us with a demo unit, and we will do comparison testing to the M6 and M6 Pro for our members to see how it stacks up on AT&T's network in the real world. Our members will have access to our testing notes and our final review once testing is complete.

It's too early to give the M7 Pro our coveted Top Pick status, but Netgear's track record and the specs for this mobile hotspot give us confidence that it will earn that title after our testing.

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