Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro (MR6450) review - top mobile networking but at what cost? (2024)

You can trust PC Guide:Our team of experts use a combination of independent consumer research, in-depth testing where appropriate - which will be flagged as such, and market analysis when recommending products, software and services. Find out how we test here.

Now for something a bit different, a travel router review. Moving away from the safety of a home and a wireless router expected to stay in one place, we review the Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro. More specifically the MR6450 which is available here in the UK and Europe. Now, it has some different uses from our usual network hardware, it certainly still has its use cases so we see how it does in our usual testing case.

Instead of relying on your trusty ISP to provide your internet, you can get it all off of a sim card and utilize mobile networks to get internet. With a more unique design and use case it has its merits but also plenty of detriments that make it a bit of a harder recommendation especially considering the price of the gadget. So let’s see what it has to offer.

Design

As a mobile router, it certainly is a lot different than standard, unlike gaming routers sporting big antennae and lots of surface area, it goes for small and compact. The Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro is just a square that fits in the palm of your hand. Measuring 105 x 105mm, 21.5mm thick, and weighing 256g it does make it quite easy to transport and get around, although a carrying case would be a good addition to have at the ready.

It does come with a 5,040 Lithium-ion battery that reportedly does last 13 hours, but that is likely with all the performance turned down for the least power consumption, which could be better for a travel router. This is where the easy access to the back is very useful, as the battery can be taken out and a SIM inserted, which can be a bit fiddly at first but easy to figure out sliding in.

Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro MR6450 profile off, source PCGuide

Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro MR6450 back, source PCGuide

Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro MR6450 box profile, source PCGuide

Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro MR6450 ports, source PCGuide

Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro MR6450 power button, source PCGuide

Previous

Next

1 of 5

See Also

Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro Wi-Fi Router ReviewNetgear's Pricey M6 Pro Unlocked Mobile Router Adds Wi-Fi 6E, 5G mmWaveWhat are the specifications of the NETGEAR M6 and M6 Pro mobile hotspot?

Previous

Next

For networking, the M6 Pro can connect to any network with an unlocked SIM. Connecting up even the fast 5G network to then become a strong WiFi 6E router with the ability to create a 6 or 5Ghz, and/or 2.4GHz network. As in you can have 5 or 6 and 2.4 or any of those separately. But also with an ethernet port, you can use it in a formal way but still require a SIM inserted to do so, or you can extend your existing WiFi network too, even making public ones a bit safer.

Alongside the 2.5Gbps ethernet port, you do get a USB Type-C connector, which is used for charging or running the device but also can be used for tethering and working off another device instead. There are also two TS-9 external antenna ports if you do want to get some of those to extend your range whilst on the opposite side is the power button.

Other features

Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X65 5G processor it is a strong mobile unit that the touchscreen works well with and so does the network speed. As it supports up to 32 devices at the same time and is able to be used in 125 countries it is a versatile unit. Plus targets a 1,000 sq. ft. range by standard and has a good plug solution as our one is a European model you can replace the plug between UK and EU plugs.

The router is AXE3600 rated for that fast speed to devices and varies from the nonpro as that drops to a 2.5Gbps mas 5G speed, loses 6GHz support, and lowers the ethernet port to Gigabit and shrinks the touchscreen by 0.4 inches. Other than that there’s not too much else apart from the strong range of options and settings available that’s fairly simple to go through. Including still being able to set up a guest network, along with having plenty of control via the web app as well for quicker use.

Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro MR6450 empty battery compartment, source PCGuide

Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro MR6450 front profile turned on, source PCGuide

Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro MR6450 box contents, source PCGuide

Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro MR6450 home screen, source PCGuide

Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro MR6450 info page, source PCGuide

Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro MR6450 WiFi settings, source PCGuide

Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro MR6450 Web app control, source PCGuide

Previous

Next

1 of 7

Previous

Next

Pricing

Now here is the biggest drawback of this router. We’ve seen our fair share of expensive, routers, much like in our Nighthawk RS700 review. However, that still comes at less than the M6 Pro, which has a lesser WiFi standard and a lot fewer features. Our particular MR6450 has an MSRP of £900 although Amazon has it listed at £849 and lower on sale. The US version of the MR6550 is $1,000 or $900 on sale. But still, that is rather much more than you’d expect for a portable router.

To be fair there is certainly a range of people that will find this sort of device very helpful and handy and find the worth in its value. Others may find just using their phone as a hotspot much more reasonable, or find a much cheaper option. To be fair to Netgear you’re unlikely to find that high tech in those choices and that is likely where the high price comes from implementing some of the latest tech into such a small package.

Performance

There is a range of testing we put the MR6450 through to see how well it performs. Both on the network and using a WAN connection, although we found in our office we only got a 4G connection to the Vodafone network and so did not get the full ability of the mobile solution to test.

On our current setup, we are also limited to WiFi 6 on a Samsung S21 FE so were not able to put the WiFi 6E network to the test and instead focused on both the 2.4 and 5GHz WiFi connections. The wireless tests we did over a set of distances from the router, starting off with 10ft/3m, and 30ft/9m uninterrupted, along with 60ft/18m with a wall in between and a bit more troublesome 90ft/27m with two rooms and plenty of obstacles. We gathered this data using the WiFiman and Ookla Speedtest apps and recorded them.

Router benchmark – LAN internet speeds, source PCGuide

Router benchmark – latency to router @ 2.4GHz, source PCGuide

Router benchmark – signal strength @ 5GHz, source PCGuide

Router benchmark – download speed @ 5GHz, source PCGuide

Router benchmark – download speed @ 2.4GHz, source PCGuide

Router benchmark – signal strength @ 2.4GHz, source PCGuide

Router benchmark – physical download speed @ 5GHz, source PCGuide

Router benchmark – physical upload speed @ 2.4GHz, source PCGuide

Router benchmark – physical download speed @ 2.4GHz, source PCGuide

Router benchmark – upload speed @ 2.4GHz, source PCGuide

Router benchmark – latency to router @ 5GHz, source PCGuide

Router benchmark – physical upload speed @ 5GHz, source PCGuide

Previous

Next

1 of 12

Previous

Next

Signal strength and latency

First off we started off with the signal strength, which is how well the device and router can communicate effectively. Measured in decibels per meter, the lower the number, or closer to zero, the better the signal and speed. There we see that 2.4GHz holds up better than 5, with the values staying the same with mobile or ethernet unsurprisingly. The strength ranged from -50 to -69dBm and was unable to connect at the longest range of 2.4GHz, whilst 5GHz spanned -58 to -80dBm. Compared to other routers it is rather low but it does have a limited capacity and much fewer antennae to work with.

Now the latency is how long it takes for the communication and data transfer to occur between the two devices. The M6 Pro holds up quite well on that front although 2.4GHz is a bit hit or miss. That spans between 23 and 35ms, with 5GHz just being 8 to 12ms. It does not have too many problems with connections, although the latency to the internet may be a different story.

Speed tests

For speed testing we took both the PHY speed and internet speed, the first of which is the theoretical speed between router and phone, with the internet speed and how fast the overall connection is. The first of which does fairly well, with the 2.4GHz download ranging 258, and drops off with a wall in between 74Mbps, with uploads between 229 and 103Mbps. With 5GHz down at 864 to 108Mbps, and the up ranging 864 and 144Mbps.

However, actual speed tests drop that significantly. The 2.4GHz download for mobile is between 11 and 8Mbps, with ethernet between 33.7 and 9.1Mbps. Whilst 5GHz boosts that well with mobile between 149.5 and 52.1Mbps and ethernet at 262.0 and 60.2Mbps. Whilst uploads at 2.4GHz on mobile go from 13.5 to 8Mbps and on ethernet between 43.8 and 5.3Mbps, and 5GHz spanning 17.5 and 14.1Mbps on mobile and 270 and 58.1Mbps on ethernet.

Finally, we also tested the connection speed on a PC connected to the router. With the mobile network, the speed test got us a 67Mbps download and 9.7Mbps upload, whilst using ethernet that went to 265.6Mbps download and 283.9Mbps upload. We also were not able to do a usual read/write test for connected storage as the router lacked a USB port we could use.

Conclusion

Overall, the Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro (MR6450) is an incredible piece of hardware, the great tech it is able to fit inside makes it one of the if not the best mobile routers out there. Utilizing the top speeds available and then coming out with some fast WiFi 6E is a great feat, along with all the options and setup that it can achieve. However, its big letdown is the price which makes it such a hard recommendation unless you really have a great need for it and a lot of time to make it a valued choice.