Huawei E5186 (prototype) reviewed
Thursday, March 12. 2015
As I mentioned earlier, a reader of this blog got a Huawei E5186 and I got to test drive it. The model is still in prototype and the semi-official rumour is, that it will be released Q2/2015. As usual, they are not sold directly by Huawei, but by telcos. The one I had was from Germany, T-mobile. The mobile side is pretty much same as in B593s-22, the exact model I had was in fact E5186s-22. Frequencies and modulations are: LTE FDD DD800/900/1800/2100/2600 and TDD 2600. It is very likely, that inside the box is a HiSilicon Android running on a ARM-chip.
It looks exactly like a B593. Here are the pics:
The first things I noticed, that the Tel1 and Tel2 RJ-11 connectors are missing. Also: no USB!! What! I found information from discussion boards, that this particular T-Mobile version is a "poor man's model". There does exist other E5186 models, which have USB and the Tel-connectors.
As a B593 has, there are dual antenna connectors and they are SMA:
For testing this router I didn't need external antennas, the RF-side is much more sensitive than in a B593. In a location where I normally have one bar (without external antenna), this one got three (out of five). Nice!
If you'd want to pop the hood, it opens like B593 does, from the bottom:
All Huawei-hardware has a thin paper on top of one screw. This is to indicate if that screw was removed to void any warranty. I didn't open it, it wasn't my own box.
The web-GUI is completely new:
Everything looked brand new, so had to port-scan the thing:
PORT STATE SERVICE 53/tcp open domain 80/tcp open http MAC Address: 38:F8:89:03:1C:36 (Unknown)
What a surprise! Nothing there. Nothing! No SSH, no FTP, no Samba, no HTTPS. A B593 has plenty of ports open, but this beast is closed as a clam.
A cursory check on the HTML and JavaScript prooved, that entire front was re-written. B593 front has issues on security and functionality, this thing is entirely jQuery / AJAX -based thing. All the requests transfer XML. I was expecting JSON, but hey, it works. I guess there is something on back-end, which runs better on XML.
As the stripped-down hardware suggests, the web-GUI has very little options:
No real surprises there. The only thing, that really caught my eye, was the 5GHz WLAN which B593 doesn't have. There must be some new electronics inside.
This is the device information screen:
As it happened, also Finnish magazine happened to review the E5186. I don't have a permission for reprint, but here is a small glimpse what they said:
As a conclusion, the mag loved the box. I don't know which version they had, but this one without USB I don't especially love. It's too pricey without the port. Under the hood, the AJAX-API has a ton of features not available via your web browser. I'll get back to that subject later.
Valtteri on :
Actually there is RJ-11 ports and USB port. It's under the sticker next to RJ-45 ports.
Jari Turkia on :
Arnaud on :
I only see a piece of plastic which may be sticked but i want to be sure before.
Jari Turkia on :
Michal on :
Michal on :
Jari Turkia on :
Juha on :
I have the telekom speedbox3(E5186s-22a).
Regards Wikings1
Michal on :
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-YZOMmVIvQKVU4xWFMwSkM4OFE/edit?usp=docslist_api
Simon on :
Simon
Michal on :
Arnaud on :
Spedo on :
Jayr on :
Allen on :
If you want to know more details about Huawei original specifications, welcome to check here.
Hasnain on :
Because in Huawei Router E5186s-22a box Company haven't given External Antenna.
Jari Turkia on :
As a general note: Don't confuse RP-SMA (used generally with Wi-Fi appliance) and SMA (used generally by everything else).
Dobe on :
Regards, Dobe
Francisco on :
Jari Turkia on :
No external router can support that, ever. That's technically not feasible. Let's explore this a bit further. A prerequisite here is to understand the OSI-model of communications functions at different layers.
1st attempt)
Your computer cannot negotiate an IPv4-address from your telco. And at the point your Huawei does get one, the game is already lost. Huawei starts NATting the connection and your direct access is gone. We need a bridge here!
2nd attempt)
Let Huawei negotiate an IPv4-address and tweak the router's Linux LAN/WiFi configuration so, that the external LTE-interface and local Wifi/Ethernet interface are bridged. Then any outgoing traffic to Internet will pass out of LTE and any incoming traffic will land at your computer. Nice idea, but the "bridge" isn't a bridge in the wired-world sense. The bridge needs to be smart and do lot of translation with the passing packets. Bits in your LAN are totally incompatible with 3GPP-specs of the mobile data. Naah, this bridging thing won't work, it's operating on way deep level.
3rd attempt)
Let Huawei negotiate an IPv4-address and re-write the passing IPv4-packets. Oh but ... that sounds familiar. Yes, that's what your box does already. It's called Network Address Translation, aka. NAT.
Working solution:
If you need a direct connection, get an USB-stick or ditch the LTE and get a fiber-to-the-home. Both allow unmodified IPv4-packets from The Net to land directly at your computer.
fs on :
As an example, take the Huawei E3372. There are two modes, Hilink and "Modem".
In Modem-Mode, you get an ethernet network interface. You send an AT-Command to connect the modem to the ISP. You then use DHCP to get the IP to your local interface.
If you want bridge mode, then you just bridge two ethernet interfaces on your router, don't use DHCP on your router where the modem is connected to. Your second router or PC then uses DHCP and it will get the external IP from the ISP.
Of course, this is not a Bridge Mode where you would bridge an LTE Interface with Ethernet, but I think it's what #8 wants.
Sean on :
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=what+is+bridged+mode+on+a+router
fs on :
OleR on :
Eric on :
Jari Turkia on :
charline on :
Jari Turkia on :