Huawei released a series of LTE cubes for LTE-A or LTE-A Pro networks. Some people want to change their 3G router or ADSL router to 4G LTE Router or 4G LTE Cube, however, for those who don’t know well about Huawei routers, they may have trouble to choose the Huawei 4G WiFi router or Huawei LTE Cubes. Huawei B525 and Huawei B528 are two typical WiFi routers, but what’s the difference between Huawei B528 and B525, and which one is better for home or office gateway. In this article, you will find the answer from our comparison.
Huawei B528 VS Huawei B525 Appearance and Interfaces
As the new Huawei LTE Advanced router, Huawei Router B525 is a traditional stationary router. On the front, there are five indicators for Power, Mode, WiFi, LAN, and Signal. The Huawei B525 LTE WiFi router could stand on the desktop and in white or black colors. There are 4 LAN ports (One of them for WAN/LAN), One telephone port and one USB 2.0 port. However, if you see the Huawei B528, you would be attracted by the cool design. The Huawei B528 looks like the latest Huawei B818 5G CPE; they are both in the shape of a column. The white color Huawei B528 makes it look good when standing with the modern furniture. The LED indicators are also available, including Signal, LAN, WiFi, and Power. The power button is below the indicators. On the back, there is only one LAN port (RJ45) and one VoIP port(RJ11).
As the standard configuration for Huawei Router with Ethernet port, two connectors for external antennas are available. The connectors in Huawei B525 are SMA-female while the Huawei B528 has two TS-9 connectors. If you want to buy Huawei B525 antenna, the connector in the antenna should be SMA-male. And if you want to use the antenna with Huawei B528, you need an SMA-to-TS-9 adapter. The two routers both use Micro SIM card size, and the SIM card slots are both located at the bottom of the router. Some customers who are not familiar with the router may don’t know where to plug the SIM card in.
Huawei B525 VS Huawei B528 Specs and Variant Models
If you had read our review about Huawei B525, you may know Huawei B525 has two variant models in the market: B525s-23a and B525s-65a. The Huawei B528 has only one variant model B528s-23a, which is available for Vodafone and get a new name “GigaCube”. From the appearance, you may still have questions about the difference between the two routers and which one is better. Below the table including the specs, interfaces, speed, antenna, manual, datasheet, WLAN, price and other features will tell you.
| Model | Huawei B525s-23a/B525s-65a | Huawei B528s-23a |
| Product type | LTE WiFi Router | LTE WiFi Router |
| Category | LTE Cat.6 | LTE Cat.6 |
| Chipset | HiSilicon LTE Cat6 Chipset | HiSilicon Balong 722 |
| Data rates | DL 300Mbps/UL 50Mbps | DL 300Mbps/UL 50Mbps |
| Supported 4G LTE frequency bands | B525s-23a: Band 1/3/7/8/20/32/38 B525s-65a: Band 1/3/4/5/7/8/20/19/26/28/32/38/40/41 | LTE B1, B3, B7, B8, B20, B32, B38 |
| WLAN | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band 2.4GHz & 5GHz | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band 2.4GHz & 5GHz |
| Max support users | 64 users | 64 users |
| MIMO | 2 x 2 MIMO | 2 x 2 MIMO |
| Connector for external antenna | Two, SMA-female jacks | Two, TS-9 jacks |
| App management | Huawei Hilink APP | Huawei Hilink APP |
| SIM type | Micro SIM | Micro SIM |
| Battery | NO | NO |
| Dimensions | 163 mm x 52 mm x 226 mm | 105 mm x 90mm x 181 mm |
| Interfaces | * 1 x power adapter port * 3 x LAN port(45) * 1 x LAN/WAN port (45) * 1 x telephone port(RJ11) * Two external LTE antenna ports (SMA) * One micro-SIM card slot * 1 x USB 2.0 port | * 1 x Gigabit LAN (RJ45) * 1 x RJ11 (VoIP) |
| Datasheet | Huawei B525 Datasheet | Huawei B528 Datasheet |
| User Manual | Huawei B525 Manual | Huawei B528 Manual |
| Other features | NAT, DHCP, VPN, SMS, VoIP, CS Voice, Firewall, DMZ, UPnP, ALG, IPv4 /IPv6 dual stack | IPv4 /IPv6 dual stack |
| Reviews | Huawei B525 Review | Huawei B528s-23a Review |
| Price/USD | 299.00USD | 399.00USD |
Conclusion
Huawei B525 and Huawei B528 (Vodafone Gigacube unlocked) are both LTE Cat.6 wireless router, which could achieve downloads speed up to 300Mbps and upload speed to 50Mbps. Ignoring the appearance and design, the interfaces (Ethernet ports and telephone port) are the main difference which should be the important concern before buying a 4G LTE WiFi Router. If you have many terminals to get network via Ethernet, then Huawei B525 LTE CPE is the right one. If your devices mainly access the internet via WiFi, the Huawei B528 can be considered because it’s really cool as a home router.
They both support maximum WiFi-enabled devices up to 62 users, so you don’t need to worry about the connected device quantity is over the limit. By the way, the Huawei B525 variant models support more LTE frequency bands, which make it work well in more areas after unlocked. To summary, the Huawei B525 is more powerful in practical use while Huawei B528 is attracting in design with same specs.