I have been in two minds since I received the NETGEAR Nighthawk MR2100, and the announcement of their 5G WiFi 6 mobile router did not help. Of course, knowing that the latest and greatest will cost a whopping $750–$800 in the USA does add some brakes to the early adopter train, but knowing that this particular mobile router is already outclassed will no doubt sway some minds. Knowing that the MR2100 is not even available for retail purchase in many countries will make it easier for those to just ignore this review altogether, especially with the lack of support for some popular LTE bands in many major countries. Plenty of frustrated people have been venting about this online for the past 1–2 years, so NETGEAR may have been its own worst enemy when it comes to the Nighthawk MR2100.

Having spent a few weeks with it does add a lot of context—namely, how expensive such mobile broadband routers tend to be. Indeed, the other NETGEAR LTE router tested thus far is somehow even more expensive, especially with the current sale pricing of this one. Competing solutions from other brands are hit or miss, with customer reviews generally being positive only for products in the same price range. I did see them at CES over the past few years, but did not understand their real use case as I didn't need one. So for those who would readily dismiss it at its price point, I do understand where you are coming from since I was there before. In context, however, especially knowing how far mobile broadband may progress in some regions of the world compared to wired internet, these can be the difference between having a reliable internet connection for your entire home or none at all. Using a smartphone as a hotspot is doable as well, but I personally would not say it's a real standalone solution, either. Then there's the pricing for alternatives, such as satellite internet (Starlink, anyone?), to where a 4G LTE SIM card with unlimited data can be far less expensive, and the initial cost of the router is nothing over the long run.

There are many things the Nighthawk MR2100 does get right in those countries it is sold in, including good support for the network providers and the excellent portability. The ability to use it as a power bank was also an unexpected bonus while I was out and about, having just arrived on a new continent, and despite the short time frame for testing, I ended up being a near-perfect candidate, experiencing this mobile LTE router in a way most customers likely will. I saw the good and the bad all condensed into a few intense weeks and see the use case for it even over the Orbi LBR20, where the mobile broadband service was more of a backup service for many. Unfortunately, there are too many shortcomings here, including with performance to where the recently launched 5G+WiFi 6 mobile router from NETGEAR and no doubt other such solutions from other brands will fill in the gap better from now on out. This is a high-end 4G LTE router that does not deliver the performance I expect in a world where even the cheapest 5G router will outperform it soon.