Play's recent offer includes new equipment from ZTE.
For customers in 5G N1 or DSS2100 coverage, the operator has offered an external 5G/LTE CPE access point.
It is the MC7010, equipment based on the Qualcomm X55 chipset, and consists of an external router integrated with a 5g/LTE modem, powered by a dedicated POE power supply over an Ethernet cable, which is included.
In addition, a MF18a mesh router is added to it, which creates an internal Ethernet and WiFi AC network.
Of course, the equipment also works on LTE networks and aggregates 4 bands in QAM256 modulation and uses MIMO4x4.
In tests it performs very well, in my case in Play the following speeds were obtained https://www.speedtest.pl/wynik/281584700 . Unfortunately, but the lack of access at my place to the 5G network did not allow to check the operation in this technology.
The specifications can be found at https://www.ztedevices.com/pl/product/zte-mc7010-5g/
Another 5G router in the offer is the MC801A, it is a counterpart of the previously known Huawei PRO2, but unlike its competitor, it has two TS9 antenna connectors, which are missing in Huawei.
This is an important feature as in most locations the use of external antennas is essential. Like the MC7010, this router is based on the X55, which is a proven 5G/LTE chipset known from many flagship phones, and works on the N41 band, so it supports 5G 2600 of Plus, and works on N1, i.e. in DSS 5G2100 for Play, Orange or T-mobile, technical specifications https://www.ztedevices.com/pl/product/zte-mc801a-t-mobile/
Of course, there is also no shortage of news in the LTE equipment segment.
There is also a new version of the MF286 router on offer.
It is MF286D supporting aggregation of 3 LTE bands in QAM256 modulation, which is enabled by a 12-category Qualcom MDM9250-2 modem.
The router is a cheaper alternative to the Huawei B818 .
I have had it for some time and it works very well, but in its case it would be good if the Polish version had a FW similar to the Scandinavian version of the Telia network, where in the management panel there are many useful functions unavailable in the FW for Play.
For more information see https://www.ztedevices.com/pl/product/zte-mf286r-t-mobile/
MF258K
Finally, I have left myself an external LTE access point as the successor to the well-known WF830, and this model is worth devoting more time to. In view of the expansion of the LTE network and its modernisation, when aggregation of 4/3 LTE bands appears at base stations, an affordable LTE CPE access point is indispensable, which can cope perfectly with longer distances from the BTS. Easy to install and configure. Such a role is perfectly fulfilled by the MF258K.
It allows to resign from using additional external antennas for signal improvement, which in many locations have to be connected to classic LTE routers.
. Its precursor was the WF860 used by me. It has long aroused great interest and many questions as to whether it will appear officially in the Play offer. It was a good thing that ZTE Poland, together with Play, made it possible for these users to purchase an improved and final version in the form of the MF258K.
Users have finally received an LTE CPE with a 15 Cat modem, thus aggregating 4 LTE bands MIMO2X2 in QAM256 modulation.
Very useful when we have a base station in the vicinity working in aggregation of 4 LTE bands, and there are more and more such stations in Play, Orange or T-mobile.
The device is included in Play and T-mobile subscriptions at an affordable price, or can be purchased on its own without a subscription in Play
In return, we receive an elegant set consisting of an external unit-ODU, i.e. an external MIMO4X4 antenna with a gain of approximately 7-9dBi and a fairly wide radiation angle in the horizontal and vertical planes.
An LTE15 CAT5 modem is built into the antenna
The ODU is powered by the POE of the WAN port of the internal router-IDU, after a 10m Ethernet cable is included, the WAN port is Gigabit as are the other two LAN ports.
The LTE modem 15 CAT. is GTC GDMA7243A built-in powered by POE 24v 1A, allows aggregation of 2 LTE MIMO4x4 bands in QAM256 or 4 LTE MIMO2x2 bands in QAM256 modulation on DL which in theory allows speeds up to 800Mb/s, at UL it supports QAM64 modulation and LTE band aggregation, but for the time being Polish operators do not aggregate LTE bands at UL anyway, so we will use only one band with QAM64 modulation, which allows up to 67Mb/s at UL, in the case when the base band in aggregation is the one with 20MHz width.
The internal router is based on the well-known MediaTek MT7621A chipset, , FW is built based on OpenWRT.
Having this equipment at our disposal, we can proceed to its use.
Start-up of the set is based on mounting an external antenna with the modem, inserting the card into the SIM reader located at the bottom of the antenna .
We set it to a specific operator's base station, connect it with an Ethernet cable to the WAN POE port.
We connect the computer with an Ethernet cable to one of the two LAN ports or by WiFi, the router works in the AC1200 standard and has two MIMO2X2 network cards with internal antennas, it works on 2.4GHz with a speed of up to 300Mb/s and on 5GHz up to 866Mb/s.
After about a minute, the equipment is ready for use.
Management is done by logging into the browser at 192.168.1.1 , the default account is admin and password admin.
Once logged in, we gain access to a number of functions, which are divided into those relating to the LTE connection and the internal network.
In the factory settings, the LTE connection establishes itself automatically.
The set of advanced local network settings in the case of ZTE is rich and we gain access to functions often not available in LTE hardware.
More on these can be found at https://www.ztedevices.com/pl/product/zte-mf258k/
In this short description, it is difficult to present in detail the capabilities of the equipment in many respects, so if there are any questions or problems, you can ask about their solutions in the discussion.
As I've written before, I'm the user of the precursor of MF258K, i.e. WF860, which I've had courtesy of ZTE Poland for 19 months, and now I also use MF258K.
The aforementioned equipment works with me on cards of all operators, it does not have a simlock. I have a short distance to NetWorks, Play and Plus base stations, with NW and Play being fibre-optic stations with aggregation of 4 LTE bands and Plus with LTE2600+1800+900.
The collected experience allows us to conclude that both models operate stably, provide connection both in MIMO4X4 and aggregation of 2 LTE bands as well as MIMO2X2 with aggregation of 4 bands; personally I prefer the latter, which in combination with QAM256 modulation allows me to obtain speeds of about 300Mb/s from the Play station. Below are the results of several speedtests performed at different times of day
https://www.speedtest.pl/wynik/282220772 ,
https://www.speedtest.pl/wynik/282099988,
https://www.speedtest.pl/wynik/281528490
The question is for whom is the LTE CPE mentioned?
For all those who have a longer distance to the operator's base station supporting the aggregation of 3/4 LTE bands, in which case an external antenna to the router and the pulling of 2 antenna cables is required. With these devices, an antenna becomes superfluous and only an Ethernet cable is used for the connection. A decent gain of the antenna and its directionality allow to obtain proper signal parameters and stable connection, but at the same time it should be mentioned that the speed of mobile Internet depends not only on the range, but on many other factors, which should also be taken into consideration.
Such a solution is an ideal choice for the average user who, once installed, gains easy, constant access to mobile internet. At this point, however, I would like to ask ZTE Polska for access to the smartadmin account, which allows you to choose yourself the bands for aggregation, carriers and even PCI, functions which, although unwelcome by operators, are often useful to advanced users.
Enclosed please find a few screenshots from the MF258K WebUI, particularly useful is the LTE Settings section which shows the base station data and signal parameters on individual LTE bands.
It is worth mentioning that the MF258K is also available in the T-mobile offer.
I hope that I have attracted your attention to the latest LTE/5 equipment offered by Polish operators and ZTE Polska. If you have any questions, please feel free to discuss further. I will try to help to the best of my ability.
Links to the websites of operators where this set is offered :
https://www.play.pl/telefony/zte/zte-netbox-mf-258k/?oid=4012574679&ogrp=internet ,
https://www.t-mobile.pl/telefony-i-urzadzenia...odemy-i-routery/cat10022.chtml?catId=cat10022
For customers in 5G N1 or DSS2100 coverage, the operator has offered an external 5G/LTE CPE access point.
It is the MC7010, equipment based on the Qualcomm X55 chipset, and consists of an external router integrated with a 5g/LTE modem, powered by a dedicated POE power supply over an Ethernet cable, which is included.
In addition, a MF18a mesh router is added to it, which creates an internal Ethernet and WiFi AC network.
Of course, the equipment also works on LTE networks and aggregates 4 bands in QAM256 modulation and uses MIMO4x4.
In tests it performs very well, in my case in Play the following speeds were obtained https://www.speedtest.pl/wynik/281584700 . Unfortunately, but the lack of access at my place to the 5G network did not allow to check the operation in this technology.
The specifications can be found at https://www.ztedevices.com/pl/product/zte-mc7010-5g/
Another 5G router in the offer is the MC801A, it is a counterpart of the previously known Huawei PRO2, but unlike its competitor, it has two TS9 antenna connectors, which are missing in Huawei.
This is an important feature as in most locations the use of external antennas is essential. Like the MC7010, this router is based on the X55, which is a proven 5G/LTE chipset known from many flagship phones, and works on the N41 band, so it supports 5G 2600 of Plus, and works on N1, i.e. in DSS 5G2100 for Play, Orange or T-mobile, technical specifications https://www.ztedevices.com/pl/product/zte-mc801a-t-mobile/
Of course, there is also no shortage of news in the LTE equipment segment.
There is also a new version of the MF286 router on offer.
It is MF286D supporting aggregation of 3 LTE bands in QAM256 modulation, which is enabled by a 12-category Qualcom MDM9250-2 modem.
The router is a cheaper alternative to the Huawei B818 .
I have had it for some time and it works very well, but in its case it would be good if the Polish version had a FW similar to the Scandinavian version of the Telia network, where in the management panel there are many useful functions unavailable in the FW for Play.
For more information see https://www.ztedevices.com/pl/product/zte-mf286r-t-mobile/
MF258K
Finally, I have left myself an external LTE access point as the successor to the well-known WF830, and this model is worth devoting more time to. In view of the expansion of the LTE network and its modernisation, when aggregation of 4/3 LTE bands appears at base stations, an affordable LTE CPE access point is indispensable, which can cope perfectly with longer distances from the BTS. Easy to install and configure. Such a role is perfectly fulfilled by the MF258K.
It allows to resign from using additional external antennas for signal improvement, which in many locations have to be connected to classic LTE routers.
. Its precursor was the WF860 used by me. It has long aroused great interest and many questions as to whether it will appear officially in the Play offer. It was a good thing that ZTE Poland, together with Play, made it possible for these users to purchase an improved and final version in the form of the MF258K.
Users have finally received an LTE CPE with a 15 Cat modem, thus aggregating 4 LTE bands MIMO2X2 in QAM256 modulation.
Very useful when we have a base station in the vicinity working in aggregation of 4 LTE bands, and there are more and more such stations in Play, Orange or T-mobile.
The device is included in Play and T-mobile subscriptions at an affordable price, or can be purchased on its own without a subscription in Play
In return, we receive an elegant set consisting of an external unit-ODU, i.e. an external MIMO4X4 antenna with a gain of approximately 7-9dBi and a fairly wide radiation angle in the horizontal and vertical planes.
An LTE15 CAT5 modem is built into the antenna
The ODU is powered by the POE of the WAN port of the internal router-IDU, after a 10m Ethernet cable is included, the WAN port is Gigabit as are the other two LAN ports.
The LTE modem 15 CAT. is GTC GDMA7243A built-in powered by POE 24v 1A, allows aggregation of 2 LTE MIMO4x4 bands in QAM256 or 4 LTE MIMO2x2 bands in QAM256 modulation on DL which in theory allows speeds up to 800Mb/s, at UL it supports QAM64 modulation and LTE band aggregation, but for the time being Polish operators do not aggregate LTE bands at UL anyway, so we will use only one band with QAM64 modulation, which allows up to 67Mb/s at UL, in the case when the base band in aggregation is the one with 20MHz width.
The internal router is based on the well-known MediaTek MT7621A chipset, , FW is built based on OpenWRT.
Having this equipment at our disposal, we can proceed to its use.
Start-up of the set is based on mounting an external antenna with the modem, inserting the card into the SIM reader located at the bottom of the antenna .
We set it to a specific operator's base station, connect it with an Ethernet cable to the WAN POE port.
We connect the computer with an Ethernet cable to one of the two LAN ports or by WiFi, the router works in the AC1200 standard and has two MIMO2X2 network cards with internal antennas, it works on 2.4GHz with a speed of up to 300Mb/s and on 5GHz up to 866Mb/s.
After about a minute, the equipment is ready for use.
Management is done by logging into the browser at 192.168.1.1 , the default account is admin and password admin.
Once logged in, we gain access to a number of functions, which are divided into those relating to the LTE connection and the internal network.
In the factory settings, the LTE connection establishes itself automatically.
The set of advanced local network settings in the case of ZTE is rich and we gain access to functions often not available in LTE hardware.
More on these can be found at https://www.ztedevices.com/pl/product/zte-mf258k/
In this short description, it is difficult to present in detail the capabilities of the equipment in many respects, so if there are any questions or problems, you can ask about their solutions in the discussion.
As I've written before, I'm the user of the precursor of MF258K, i.e. WF860, which I've had courtesy of ZTE Poland for 19 months, and now I also use MF258K.
The aforementioned equipment works with me on cards of all operators, it does not have a simlock. I have a short distance to NetWorks, Play and Plus base stations, with NW and Play being fibre-optic stations with aggregation of 4 LTE bands and Plus with LTE2600+1800+900.
The collected experience allows us to conclude that both models operate stably, provide connection both in MIMO4X4 and aggregation of 2 LTE bands as well as MIMO2X2 with aggregation of 4 bands; personally I prefer the latter, which in combination with QAM256 modulation allows me to obtain speeds of about 300Mb/s from the Play station. Below are the results of several speedtests performed at different times of day
https://www.speedtest.pl/wynik/282220772 ,
https://www.speedtest.pl/wynik/282099988,
https://www.speedtest.pl/wynik/281528490
The question is for whom is the LTE CPE mentioned?
For all those who have a longer distance to the operator's base station supporting the aggregation of 3/4 LTE bands, in which case an external antenna to the router and the pulling of 2 antenna cables is required. With these devices, an antenna becomes superfluous and only an Ethernet cable is used for the connection. A decent gain of the antenna and its directionality allow to obtain proper signal parameters and stable connection, but at the same time it should be mentioned that the speed of mobile Internet depends not only on the range, but on many other factors, which should also be taken into consideration.
Such a solution is an ideal choice for the average user who, once installed, gains easy, constant access to mobile internet. At this point, however, I would like to ask ZTE Polska for access to the smartadmin account, which allows you to choose yourself the bands for aggregation, carriers and even PCI, functions which, although unwelcome by operators, are often useful to advanced users.
Enclosed please find a few screenshots from the MF258K WebUI, particularly useful is the LTE Settings section which shows the base station data and signal parameters on individual LTE bands.
It is worth mentioning that the MF258K is also available in the T-mobile offer.
I hope that I have attracted your attention to the latest LTE/5 equipment offered by Polish operators and ZTE Polska. If you have any questions, please feel free to discuss further. I will try to help to the best of my ability.
Links to the websites of operators where this set is offered :
https://www.play.pl/telefony/zte/zte-netbox-mf-258k/?oid=4012574679&ogrp=internet ,
https://www.t-mobile.pl/telefony-i-urzadzenia...odemy-i-routery/cat10022.chtml?catId=cat10022
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