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In this article, we’ll discuss external antennas for 4G and 5G home broadband, how you can choose one and how it can help with the speed of your connection. Key Considerations
Compare it to the best-in-class smart speakers and the Huawei AI Cube doesn’t come off well. The Sonos One decimates it on every audio front. Its bass is far deeper, its mids are more detailed and better projected, dynamics are leagues ahead; the scale of the sound is barely comparable. It’s one of two 4G home broadband devices available from the network at the time of writing, but with the other (the Huawei AI Cube) also being a smart speaker, this will likely be the default device for many buyers. Tools gives you a number of mini applications, such as the aforementioned Best Position signal-chasing feature. You’ll also find an SMS app tied to the SIM card used within the AI Cube, and a Guest Wi-Fi feature that lets you set up a strictly limited sub-network for guests. If you’re using a 4G or 5G home broadband service such as Three’s HomeFi (Huawei B311), Three’s Huawei B535, Vodafone’s GigaCube or EE’s 4GEE Home, attaching an external antenna to your router can help to improve both the speed and reliability of your internet connection.Those first two paragraphs sum up Huawei’s first stab at a smart speaker pretty neatly. With its tapered cylindrical design, white soft-touch plastic top half and fabric-covered bottom half, the design has clearly been influenced by Google’s smart speaker.
We used the Ethernet port to set up a direct internet connection between the device and our laptop too. The set up process on this occasion required following a few more steps. However, this was due to the more demanding procedure of our MacBook Air for establishing a new connection. Figuring out how to establish a Bluetooth link isn’t immediately apparent, though. It’s strange that you can’t hook up your smartphone in this way (for direct music streaming) from the HiLink app, but rather have to ask Alexa to do so. But at least the function is there, contrary to reports you might have read elsewhere. Features Both 4G and 5G technology use a technique called Multiple In Multiple Out (or MIMO for short) to increase the maximum speed available on the network. The MIMO technique requires your router to use multiple antenna to communicate with the mobile network at the same time. But should you take up the offer? It’s a question I’ve asked myself recently. Virgin Media has a monopoly on fast internet in my area, but seems to consider regular price increases a fun hobby.The top of the device lights up when the speaker is activated; either when switching the device on, changing the settings or voicing a command. We recorded 16Mbps using Fast.com which is the same as our test smartphone, a Pixel 2XL connected to Three. It means that the antenna layout inside the device didn’t have any impact on performance. Huawei is no stranger to disrupting established markets. It has rapidly ascended the ladder to become one of the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturers, partly through pioneering combinations of components. It was ahead of the game on both triple-lens cameras and reverse wireless charging, for example.
As a speaker, the Huawei AI Cube offers reasonably expansive performance, though the output isn’t strictly 360-degrees as claimed. The sound is clearest and fullest from the front.This review aims to answer that question, as well as looking at the price, design, performance and features of the Huawei AI Cube. So read on to find out if this is the 4G router, speaker and smart home controller for you. Design Three HomeFi isn’t a perfect solution for south east London yet. The speeds I see are invariably slower than traditional home broadband, by a huge margin, and less consistent.
Fibre Broadband is a one of the main alternatives, delivering potentially higher speeds and lower latency, but this requires a landline and setup by an engineer, whereas with the Huawei AI Cube you can get set up instantly, don't need a landline and can take the device anywhere with a network signal and mains supply. The 4GEE Home Router 2 meanwhile matches the Huawei B535 / Huawei HomeFi Plus for speed, and can connect up to 64 devices at once, but it has two (rather than four) ethernet ports. So again, it’s not quite as good as the B535.
Can result in a less stable connection. The mast you’re using could be overloaded or down for maintenance. There are also a couple of alternative products on Three. The HomeFi B311 has slightly lower specs with only 2.4GHz WiFi and lower maximum speeds, but has the option to add an external SMA aerial which can boost range significantly. Some routers like the HTC 5G Hub and Huawei AI Cube B900 do not allow you to attach an external antenna. Recommended Antenna
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