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ZTE MF286D external antenna?

NoHomer

Regular Member
Hi all
My friend donated a ZTE router to me after my Mikrotik stopped working.

I got it to work pretty well but the quality and speed of my internet connection is fluctuating wildly from 30mb to 2mb.

I’m hoping that replacing the bunny ears antenna with a decent high gain antenna will help but I saw somewhere that my router may not be able to support an external antenna. Can anyone who uses this router tell me if this is possible please?

I‘ve attached a few screenshots that may help
 

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Thx, I’ll try that but does the router support support an external antenna and are there any ones recommended for this particular router?
 
Yes, the Mikrotik was on an external mount and on another network which was getting really badly oversubscribed. We had it removed so we could re-position it for our current network but before we could find a decent new position for it, it filled up with water and stopped working. ☹️
 
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EE was our provider. Signal is good from the but they are so oversubscribed that speeds were at most 5mb and usually 1.5mb!
They even admitted that speeds were awful and let us out of our contract! We’re now with Asda (Vodafone)
 
EE was our provider. Signal is good from the but they are so oversubscribed that speeds were at most 5mb and usually 1.5mb!
They even admitted that speeds were awful and let us out of our contract! We’re now with Asda (Vodafone)
Does the OpenSignal app confirm Vodafone is better than EE in your area?

I guess alternatively https://cellmapper.net might show a local EE dead spot but I think this is quite rare for EE.
 
I’m using cellmapper. It shows that both EE and Voda are good / reasonable coverage in my area. Theres no dead spot- the only issue is oversubscription!
Im connected to the Ruthin transmitter in my area and in the band 22 area
 
The design of the MF286D annoys me somewhat. The second external antenna (left when looking at rear side) is almost pointless.

I've refitted mine in place of the VN007+ for giggles and it's performance has been surprising.

That being said, I've modified mine so that the second MIMO pair antenna is accessible externally but definitely worth it.
 
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Can I assume that these mods are not for newbies?
All got to learn at some point.

I had no choice, I live 5 miles from the nearest high capacity mast that's worth anything so I have duzzy great antennas and need access to the ports.
 
The design of the MF286D annoys me somewhat. The second external antenna (left when looking at rear side) is almost pointless.

I've refitted mine in place of the VN007+ for giggles and it's performance has been surprising.

That being said, I've modified mine so that the second MIMO pair antenna is accessible externally but definitely worth it.
Could you please share the required connectors etc for the mod? :-)

Thanks
 
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Port 3 on the MF286D modem is 4G (low band) main antenna, port 4 is 2X MIMO secondary antenna.
1 and 5 are for diversity. I tested with a 4x4 MIMO configuration and saw no benefit so I suspect my configuration isn't good enough or the mast doesn't support.
Found some old posts. Don't have any pictures I'm afraid.

Essentially, for 2x2 MIMO you just need to connect port 4 on the modem to an external antenna.

I drilled a hole in mine and ran an SMA adapter through. In hindsight, I could have disconnected the fly lead to the left SMA port from port 2 and plugged it to port 4 somehow, effectivity turning the left SMA connector into the second MIMO port if it'd reach.
 
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All got to learn at some point.

I had no choice, I live 5 miles from the nearest high capacity mast that's worth anything so I have duzzy great antennas and need access to the ports.
Sadly, my hands shake these days so soldering and fine work is beyond me. In my youth, I would have given it a go!
 
Found some old posts. Don't have any pictures I'm afraid.

Essentially, for 2x2 MIMO you just need to connect port 4 on the modem to an external antenna.
I'll be modding my firmware to Nordic B12 via the serial port later in the week and thought about moving the internal antenna connections while I'm at it.
I'm going to test the local Vodafone 4G signal after being with Three on 3G for the past couple of months. Three 4G is hopeless where I live & I'm looking at alternatives for when the 3G is turned off.
Vodafone is only on B20 locally so there's no point in thinking about CA vs MIMO.
I have an external antenna. Is it correct that I simply need to move the left external antenna connection to port 4 on the modem to get 2x2 MIMO? If so, will I need another, longer internal connector cable, or can I simply move the existing connector from port (??) on the modem to port 4?

Thanks
 
20230819_204455.jpg


I moved port 4 to an external sma not tested yet but read somewhere you can also move port 1 and 5 for 4 x mimo and keep the external ports as they are
 
I moved port 4 to an external sma not tested yet but read somewhere you can also move port 1 and 5 for 4 x mimo and keep the external ports as they are
Interesting, please post any testing results? I'd prefer to keep the outside as-is so will look at just moving / replacing the LH external connector.
 
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