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Mc888 ULTRA vs Zyxel 5103E by Three: The best is?

Progetto5G

Regular Member
Hi,

i'm evaluating to buy a good router, it's better:

- MC 888 Ultra by ZTE (brand Vodafone) - X65 Qualcom
- Zyxel 5103E by Three - T750 Mediatek

Your opinion?

Thanks
 
I've only used the 5103E (I'm happy with it), so I don't know which one performs better, but overall I think Qualcomm has better modems. If everything else is equal (antennas, bank locking, etc), it might give you an edge for band aggregation / when signal isn't strong / top speeds.

I don't know if you'll see any huge difference in practice though.
 
I've only used the 5103E (I'm happy with it), so I don't know which one performs better, but overall I think Qualcomm has better modems. If everything else is equal (antennas, bank locking, etc), it might give you an edge for band aggregation / when signal isn't strong / top speeds.

I don't know if you'll see any huge difference in practice though.
Do you have some speedtest to show the speed that you reach with the NR5103E by three?
 
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Do you have some speedtest to show the speed that you reach with the NR5103E by three?

The same SIM in different devices, just a few minutes apart, best of 3 speed tests:

NR5103E (ethernet):

gke041l.png


OnePlus 8 Pro (X55):

kAIXVv8.png


Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (X70):

K47vifP.png


The S23 Ultra always gets better speeds. I don't know about the antennas, but at least the modem seems to be a big improvement for top speeds compared to the OnePlus 8 Pro and similar devices. In this area it also aggregates more bands than the NR5103E and the OnePlus 8 Pro (usually B3+B3+B1+B7+B7 vs B3+B3+B1) when using N78 (5G NSA).

The NR5103E seems to be better than the OnePlus 8 Pro, but a step below the S23 Ultra. 5G modems have been improving a lot, so I guess it's to be expected.
 
Personally for me it would always be a Zyxel Device, the ZTE Devices in my experience have always had some sort of Software Issues waiting to pop thier heads up, having said that the ZTE Outdoor Devices do seem to be a lot more robust in that department.
 
I found a good offer for a 5103E modem, but i have only a question:

- do you think that it's possible to modify the firmware and upload a malware into it that can catch some data?

I admit to be a lot paranoid about the use of used network hardware
 
I found a good offer for a 5103E modem, but i have only a question:

- do you think that it's possible to modify the firmware and upload a malware into it that can catch some data?

I admit to be a lot paranoid about the use of used network hardware
Extremely unlikely, both the Firmware on the EE and Three 5103 are extremely Locked down over the Debadged Version (which technicaly doesn't exist) there is a Unbadged Version of this Device under a different Model name, which escapes me at the moment (FWA something) but your into a lot bigger price bracket for that model and still not sure if you could mess with Firmware options for you needs.

From memory some of the Huawei 5G CPE (Facrory Standard) allowed some redirection on the Firmware and Internet Gateway but never really played in that area on them.

Generally speaking, if its a Second Hand / User Device, then a Full Factory Reset is as good as it gets and should suffice in terms of Security.
 
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The same SIM in different devices, just a few minutes apart, best of 3 speed tests:

NR5103E (ethernet):

gke041l.png


OnePlus 8 Pro (X55):

kAIXVv8.png


Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (X70):

K47vifP.png


The S23 Ultra always gets better speeds. I don't know about the antennas, but at least the modem seems to be a big improvement for top speeds compared to the OnePlus 8 Pro and similar devices. In this area it also aggregates more bands than the NR5103E and the OnePlus 8 Pro (usually B3+B3+B1+B7+B7 vs B3+B3+B1) when using N78 (5G NSA).

The NR5103E seems to be better than the OnePlus 8 Pro, but a step below the S23 Ultra. 5G modems have been improving a lot, so I guess it's to be expected.

Best speeds I've seen so far (wifi to my phone):

Screenshot_20231114_131642_Speedtest.webp
 
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