New Three 4G Hub

[JitteryPinger]

Meh, I get that it doesn't have B32, I think they should have replaced it with a B818 or a 618.

both of which are over specced for Three's network and also WELL expensive pushing the 4G Home Broadband onto contracts and removing 30 day options.

 

[Bubblesthefish6]

Probably got them in a job lot for 25p each.

Makes sense for 3, they are cheapskates but tbh who could blame them

 

[JitteryPinger]

Well just swapped my antenna cables over on the pci card and going to run like that for a bit and see how performance is.

 

[johnro]

My guess by now is that this router features 2x2 (2CA) antenna setup but supports 4x4 layers over LTE.

I initially thought it might feature 4x4 (4CA) antenna setup.

Despite this little set back it does pull in some good bandwidth (albeit via Vodafone) I've just downloaded a game and peak speeds where pretty solid at 170-180Mb/s (22MB/s)

The downfall however is that I think the router is struggling to push upload bandwidth over Band 7 (indoor signal likely issue) with my max currently being around 2Mb/s.

I've seen it jump up to 20-30Mb/s but the download was then down to the 50-70Mb/s mark so my guess would be that it fell to lower bands 1+20 that morning.

The possitive to take from this I guess is using external antennas (good quality) wouldn't impact the capability of the LTE modem where it would with other devices such as the B818 (without mod)

Having taken the ZTE apart on day one of receiving it, I can confirm I couldn't see much more than two antennas, I shall have to take it apart again at some point and share some pictures.

just to be sure, what is your HDD's writing speed?

 

[TTJJ]

Is the 4G signal any worse than that of the B535?

If the WiFi is worse, but it supports better LTE as well as bridge mode, it may be the perfect piece of kit to serve purely as a 4G modem.

 

[JitteryPinger]

just to be sure, what is your HDD's writing speed?

I run M2 NVMe ..... No bottlenecks for sure.

 

[JitteryPinger]

Is the 4G signal any worse than that of the B535?

If the WiFi is worse, but it supports better LTE as well as bridge mode, it may be the perfect piece of kit to serve purely as a 4G modem.

That is exactly what it is . much better 4G modem.

 

[JitteryPinger]

So this ZTE MF286D is becoming a decent investment now, its doing a pretty good job with a Voxi sim inside it,

Glad to report my uploading issues seem to have sorted themselves too, and online gaming is pretty decent too.

 

[TTJJ]

So this ZTE MF286D is becoming a decent investment now, its doing a pretty good job with a Voxi sim inside it,

Glad to report my uploading issues seem to have sorted themselves too, and online gaming is pretty decent too.

Are these speeds using it's own WiFi?

Not bad if so. I think I'll bite the bullet and purchase shortly.

 

[CarlO1460]

So this ZTE MF286D is becoming a decent investment now, its doing a pretty good job with a Voxi sim inside it,

Glad to report my uploading issues seem to have sorted themselves too, and online gaming is pretty decent too.

What package did you choose out of interest

 

[JitteryPinger]

Are these speeds using it's own WiFi?

Not bad if so. I think I'll bite the bullet and purchase shortly.

This is connected via Ethernet in router mode, however the WiFi is pretty fast too though the coverage footprint in rubbish.

 

[JitteryPinger]

What package did you choose out of interest

Its a Voxi Unlimited plan on the sim, yo get the hub I signed up to three on a 30 day rolling contract and paid £29 upfront for device.

 

[Bubblesthefish6]

Its a Voxi Unlimited plan on the sim, yo get the hub I signed up to three on a 30 day rolling contract and paid £29 upfront for device.

If you ring three you can get it on a 30 day with no upfront. I did this with my B535 and the Mifi

 

[CarlO1460]

Its a Voxi Unlimited plan on the sim, yo get the hub I signed up to three on a 30 day rolling contract and paid £29 upfront for device.

The £35 plan or the £10 for now plan? I was tempted with the for now but unsure if they would ever clock on a blank image was uploaded

 

[JitteryPinger]

The £35 plan or the £10 for now plan? I was tempted with the for now but unsure if they would ever clock on a blank image was uploaded

I have a £10 plan still from when I was out of work.

 

[JitteryPinger]

If you ring three you can get it on a 30 day with no upfront. I did this with my B535 and the Mifi

I spoke to Three this morning about upgrading to 5G and they wouldn't give it me as my area not classed as 5G.

They offered to drop my £30 monthly 4G to £25....

I've however since placed the order online as an existing customer for 5G hub on 12 month contract for £31 and will kill the 4G contract on 29th.

 

[Bubblesthefish6]

I spoke to Three this morning about upgrading to 5G and they wouldn't give it me as my area not classed as 5G.

They offered to drop my £30 monthly 4G to £25....

I've however since placed the order online as an existing customer for 5G hub on 12 month contract for £31 and will kill the 4G contract on 29th.

Have fun with their dud 5G router. Hope you get a bit further.

 

[Bubblesthefish6]

I spoke to Three this morning about upgrading to 5G and they wouldn't give it me as my area not classed as 5G.

They offered to drop my £30 monthly 4G to £25....

I've however since placed the order online as an existing customer for 5G hub on 12 month contract for £31 and will kill the 4G contract on 29th.

I killed the Mifi the other day, instead of ringing 3, use a STAC code. I found it much easier and just gave the STAC code to a random O2 SIM I had laying around.

 

[smithbill17]

I see you guys have been discussing the Three 4G Hub router and concluded it's probably a ZTE MF286D - is that right?

But can anyone tell me what Three's "4G Plus Hub" is (pic & spec attached).

My 2year contract with Three is up soon, and I'm wondering whether to renew with them on a SIM only deal & keep my Huawei B535, ask for their "4G Hub" deal at £14/month, ask for their "4G Plus Hub" deal at £17/month or switch to a cheap Smarty SIM or go with pricey Vodafone (who have 5G in my area). I'm assuming the Three "free LG TV" deal is over? (not that I want a TV, I'd rather have cheaper/faster internet!)

 

[The Wee Bear]

I see you guys have been discussing the Three 4G Hub router and concluded it's probably a ZTE MF286D - is that right?

But can anyone tell me what Three's "4G Plus Hub" is (pic & spec attached).

My 2year contract with Three is up soon, and I'm wondering whether to renew with them on a SIM only deal & keep my Huawei B535, ask for their "4G Hub" deal at £14/month, ask for their "4G Plus Hub" deal at £17/month or switch to a cheap Smarty SIM or go with pricey Vodafone (who have 5G in my area). I'm assuming the Three "free LG TV" deal is over? (not that I want a TV, I'd rather have cheaper/faster internet!)View attachment 1540View attachment 1541

We discussed it in the thread below smithbill17.

Thread Below

It's a Sercomm, but no one has it yet so don't know if it's anything to write home about so far.