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ZTE MF286D

Performance tanks for me as well with 20 as the main band, i now have to wait 5 minutes after powering on my router so that it can switch to band 3 only.
Its an odd issue. I can't tell if its a congestion issue or a technical issue with the mast/cell. I don't think its a device issue as it happens with both but who knows. We're talking about Three here :D
 
Its an odd issue. I can't tell if its a congestion issue or a technical issue with the mast/cell. I don't think its a device issue as it happens with both but who knows. We're talking about Three here :D
I think it was done as an attempt to fix the issue of being stuck on B20 and having little throughput, which used to happen frequently.
 
it does

Code:
ARM OpenWrt Linux-3.14.77
...
ARM OpenWrt qcom-ipq40xx-ap.dkxx device tree blob

I got the serial to work and it shows the boot messages, but after "starting kernel" I get just rubbish.

I am using a HL-340 USB-Serial adapter, also tried a PL2303 Serial Port but don't get any output with the latter

That’s odd my old pl2303 cable that’s been battered around my work bag works fine.
I used some strong steel wire and solder it on the board.
I posted and need a bit more info from one of the Polish chaps regarding the bin files and were to put them using tftp as it looks like you have to upload about 12 different files which is unusual to say the least.
 

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A little further forward I guess, I can get the TIM/Elisa firmware on to the device but it wont let me log in to to web gui. Fortunately a revert to old firmware appears to work.
 
Well there we are, with trial and error and some fiddling about over a few hours work I've basically unlocked the Three firmware to show all the various settings the "other" firmwares have - so 4g band locking, antenna instructions etc and whatever else there is. Made sure i've turned off auto updates too. Now to put it through its paces and see what happens.
 
That’s odd my old pl2303 cable that’s been battered around my work bag works fine.
got it to work now, the pins on the PL2303 module were in a different order from those on the HL340 (although the marking on the module suggested that they were the same).
I've basically unlocked the Three firmware to show all the various settings the "other" firmwares have - so 4g band locking, antenna instructions etc and whatever else there is.
How did you do that, with the original firmware?
 
Using the Elisa Firmware, uploading to the device via TFTP but not quite in the way the Polish chaps have said to do it.

Basically I cleared the whatever was stored in NAND memory by wiping it using the commands from that form, rebooted and then let it look for a "fall back" tftp boot server which is on a certain IP range that you cant change. I cloned that IP into my TFTP server device and then presented the device with the Elisa firmware.

Obviously this device is still hindered by the crazy antenna setup but i'm going to modify that once some parts arrive
 
well down
Using the Elisa Firmware, uploading to the device via TFTP but not quite in the way the Polish chaps have said to do it.

Basically I cleared the whatever was stored in NAND memory by wiping it using the commands from that form, rebooted and then let it look for a "fall back" tftp boot server which is on a certain IP range that you cant change. I cloned that IP into my TFTP server device and then presented the device with the Elisa firmware.

Obviously this device is still hindered by the crazy antenna setup but i'm going to modify that once some parts arrive
well done.

Would be appreciated if you can write a step by step instruction

and do you still see the dns issue?
 
A little further forward I guess, I can get the TIM/Elisa firmware on to the device but it wont let me log in to to web gui. Fortunately a revert to old firmware appears to work.
Nice going Gandi! Time for me to start reading up on this stuff and do it with my 286D
 
You’ll definitely need working rs232 cable for this but other than that it’s actually very simple to do
 
Using an EE SIM causes DNS issues for me. I have got around this by manually configuring each devices to use cloud flare but not all devices allow you to manually add a DNS which is a pain. Can this router be put into bridge mode or is the firmware also blocking this? It seems to be a good router but the restricted firmware really let’s it down 😭
 
The DNS is locked to 3, it works fine on EE when I chang DNS on each device.
Mine is not, that's why I'm trying to understand what's happening.

The default software uses openwrt chaos calmer 15.05.1 as the base, and the useless ZTE web interface is thrown on top.
 
The DNS is locked to 3, it works fine on EE when I chang DNS on each device.
So my 3 locked mf286d from cex for £40 arrived.

Works fine with my Lebara SIM but some DNS requests do not work.

I've got no interest trying this out any further so it's going to be backed up and flashed to Nordic B11 and then I'll see what the fota needs to update to B12.
 
So my 3 locked mf286d from cex for £40 arrived.

Works fine with my Lebara SIM but some DNS requests do not work.

I've got no interest trying this out any further so it's going to be backed up and flashed to Nordic B11 and then I'll see what the fota needs to update to B12.
I don't have the know how to do such a thing, or I would
 
You’ll definitely need working rs232 cable for this but other than that it’s actually very simple to do
Hi,

I'm about to pull the trigger on a CEX Three locked MF286D.
My plan is to flash OpenWRT and try Smart Queue Management in the form of CAKE w/ Adaptive Bandwidth.
But I digress...

Could you please clarify what was the exact cable that worked for you? (Perhaps with a link?)
There are 5.5V and 3.3V version mentioned but I'm a bit lost and there is a serious chance of bricking the device using incorrect wiring.

Edit:
Okay, so you know the feeling when you ask a question and find the answer 5 mins later? Sometimes I wonder, if you need to ask the stupid question first just to kick your brain (Google searches) into gear...
Gandi69 already created a guide on the process and mentioned the cable used:
PL2303 cable to usb
and the voltage is 3.3V
Still a bit unsure on the exact cable type (several results show up such as breakout cable, etc) but this should be enough to find the correct one.
 
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