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Is $60 a good price for ZTE MF286D ?

burn

Casual Member
Hi everyone

From reading some threads on this forum, I got a feeling the ZTE MF286D is considered a good reliable model that sometimes outperforms comparable e.g. Huaweis.

However, it's an ageing model (one of the pictures in this review says 2017) yet the eBay price range for it is between $70 and $100. Why is that? Does it have some feature or ability that people are after?

I found someone selling it locally, a Nordic version in the original box for $60. Seeing the eBay prices makes that seem like a good deal. On the other hand, eBay asking prices are often inflated and may not be a good indicator.

Or am I completely off and $50-100 for a router is actually not much?
Thanks for reading!
 
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However, it's an ageing model (one of the pictures in this review says 2017)
It is ageing, but that article does not talk about MF286D, which is a newer iteration.

Three UK launched it in 2021 for example and the specs say LTE cat12, not cat6, so it will not break any speed records, but still provide more than a reasonable performance, of course based on how good the signal & backhaul is in your area.
 
Thank you for replying!

What's your budget btw?

I guess $50 – $100, maybe $150 for a reliable mid-range model that would last?

Because if going more expensive than that, might as well get e.g. Zyxel NR5101 with 5G and Wi-Fi 6 support, and hopefully never think of this again for another 10+ years
 
Thank you for replying!



I guess $50 – $100, maybe $150 for a reliable mid-range model that would last?

Because if going more expensive than that, might as well get e.g. Zyxel NR5101 with 5G and Wi-Fi 6 support, and hopefully never think of this again for another 10+ years
Hm, I think you could have a go at searching for a 5G device for $150.
Thought I saw something on ebay.de, but I don't really sprachen the deutsch enough to make any sense of it.

Check the local/neighbouring ebays and other online stores, there could be a Huawei CPE Pro2 or Zyxel NR5101 to be had for that money and it would sort you out for a number of years, as you say.
 
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Thank you for replying!



I guess $50 – $100, maybe $150 for a reliable mid-range model that would last?

Because if going more expensive than that, might as well get e.g. Zyxel NR5101 with 5G and Wi-Fi 6 support, and hopefully never think of this again for another 10+ years
which mobile networks do you have available in Denmark?
 
which mobile networks do you have available in Denmark?
The major ones are TDC, Telia-Telenor and 3, all offering both LTE and 5G. Then there are lots of MVNOs built on top of them.

I will be using LTE from one of the MVNOs.
 
I bought two second hand MF286D on eBay, the first one in October 2021 for £50 and another one more recently for £26. You can look on eBay under "completed items" how much they normally cost, but I would say you should be able to get one for less than £40 (plus postage). The Three branded UK models are unlocked so they work with any network.
The firmware on the UK models is a little limited but it is easy to change this to the Nordic version (Telia). The only thing that is annoying about the MF286D is the lack of support for external antennas, but the built-in antennas are ok in most cases.
 
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