HUAWEIB525 2017 -4G 300Mbps, CAT 6, mobile WiFi Router, NOT UK warranty stock

Worked straight out of the box with my 3 micro- sim card (unlimited data, text, calls). Living in a rural area I've given up on Openreach and I should have bought one of these before. Picked up 3 network very easily (both 3g and 4g) and now gives me a consistent service 3-4 times faster than my fixed broadband line which was at best slow (1-3mbs) and often not working at all. The internal aerial is powerful enough to get me a very good signal inside the house without the need for external aerials so don't order these until you try the unit. I can stream video to my firestick with no problems. I also use my landline phone set with it although it does need a diferent connecting plug rather than the usual wall socket BT plug (I believe it is called an RJ11 and I already had one handy with 4 wires in it although you may get with with a 2 wire version). The Hilink app means I can also use my mobile phone to access the router (via wifi) and send SMS messages via it rather than using the router web page to do so. Highly recommend this to people living in the same position. I also have two of their phones so I knew that Huawei products are very good quality and this router didn't disappoint.

Purchased this Huawei 525 to replace the Huawei B311. Far better improvement in speed and connection, being a dual router covering 2.4 ghz and 5ghz. It’s larger than the previous models but still light and has a nice look to it. Dual screw on SMA antenna sockets at the rear to attach an internal antenna. I’m with the three network and their data SIM card fits and works perfectly.I use the SMA dual antenna 35dBi GSM high gain 4G LTE.I have tested without adding an antenna, as the unit has built in dual Mimo WiFi signal booster but swapping to internal antenna is much improved. You will need to log into Huawei Router’s WiFi network to change the antenna settings if you want to add your own antenna.In a four roomed property on same floor, coverage is superb in the lounge were the router is placed but drops a bar or two occasionally from the room furthest away, although It’s never dropped connection. Easily handles watching movies on smart tv and still use WiFi on another device.However, for perfect connection speed and no drop outs, I’ve added a TP-Link 650 router extender, which I have also left review. Combined it’s more than enough power to handle anything!Overall, it’s a great reliable router, although a bit pricey at £122. But a saving if, like me, I was using two B311 routers to cover all rooms. Getting rid of the extra router has saved at least £15 a month on a network provider contract.If you want several devices connected on the same router, go for this Huawei 525, invest in an internal dual antenna (no need to spend a fortune on expensive antenna’s). And for the full coverage and reliability, perhaps invest in a TP-Link router extender.

It worked straight out of the box when placed in a window in our very poor reception area without an external aerial. Initial setup was simple and clearly explained, involving insertion of a SIM card and its codes and powering up. The improvement in internet reception in my location was substantial, around 6x faster downloads when the device was mounted inside my attic. Even though it is usually only getting 3G (occasional 4G) through high trees to the nearest Mobile base station 650m away, download speeds have gone from 750Mbits on landline 'broadband' to around 4Mbits which is a huge improvement for our home. I am now considering professional installation of a high gain aerial at a high location in an attempt to improve this still further by getting a reliable 4G connection.The downer on this device is the software and the defaults that it uses; this is the reason for the 4 stars.The router defaults to an IP address of 192.168.8.1 which might be fine for some. However, my network has many devices, some of which are very difficult to reconfigure and which require addresses in the 192.168.1 - 254 range which is usual for domestic networks. You might think that this was easy: just use the software to reset the base IP address. Well I did that. We lost all connections. The Web-Browser based software could not find the router, or it did not respond. When, eventually, the router was found login was made complicated by it using a wholly unnecessary pop-up window. This resulted in the dreaded Factory Resets - many of them. After a factory reset the whole setup process starts from the get-go and it failed mid save (many times) losing both its default passwords and the new ones just entered. This behaviour led to perhaps 6 or 8 factory resets before the system could be got to work as required. OH! It also has conflicts with every Android device that connects to the Wireless Hub. The System Log records a Warning that the 'LAN side maintenance Address is in conflict'; whatever the base address you are using, this happens with every Android device. Though it does not seem to compromise performance it looks pretty messy. However, as this may be a feature of Android operating systems that are not under Huawei's control I mention it last.Update Jan 22 2019 – with external mast mounted aerialIn January an outside aerial was installed professionally on a high mast and cabled into the house. Following speed tests the network was changed to Vodafone on a new SIM. Assistance from Vodafone Chat led to a factory reset of the Huawei. With the external aerial connected to the left hand antenna socket (looking at rear) and Settings>antenna set to ‘External’ this gave around 20Mbits upload & download fairly consistently on Vodafone (ping 30ms). With or without the external aerial, I had been getting 3 to 5Mbits using Three. Probably, if the system had been factory reset before installing the Vodafone SIM it would have auto-configured but Vodafone’s SIM only package arrives with NO instruction at all – just a bare, almost unmarked SIM card, without even its Phone number.The problem of the 'LAN side maintenance Address is in conflict' remains. The conflict occurs when connecting some older Android devices (e.g. Samsung Note3, bought 2013) and to Microsoft’s localhost network support system (which may be important to some). Both of these continue to create IP address conflicts with the base IP address used by the Huawei 525 every 3-5 minutes. To resolve this conflict I downloaded the Huawei HiLink Mobile WiFi App to the Android phone that was failing to connect, as recommended by Huawei’s More>App Management. Using HiLink, I changed the name of the Android device but made no other changes. HiLink reconfigured something(s) and, initially the phone was connected to the internet and the conflicts disappeared. However, on reconnection, it was clear that the router had been reconfigured in some way (log said the WANPPPConnection – the Internet Name - had been changed) and THE INTERNET WAS NOW UNAVAILABLE TO ALL DEVICES. The HiLink App is simple, with few options and neither it, nor the native Browser Interface on the Huawei 525 have options to change the Internet name under user control. Only a FULL FACTORY RESET (which loses all the logs: data usage; SMS & all settings) restored the internet. After all this, the address conflict persists. SO WARNING: Huawei HiLink can harm your setup and cause you to lose data. Huawei’s email Support has not responded to a request for assistance with the conflict problem. DON’T USE HiLink with the 525.