ZTE MF831 is the new 4G LTE Wireless modem which supports TDD & FDD networks. It’s a LTE Category 4 Internet USB Stick, which support peak download speed up to 150Mbps on FDD network and upload speed to 50Mbps. Since we had introduced the predecessor ZTE MF823 USB Stick, what’s the difference between the two sticks? Today, we will have a look at the difference between them.
| Model | ||
| Form Type | 4G Datacard | 4G Datacard |
| Brand | ZTE | ZTE |
| Category | LTE Cat4 | LTE Cat3 |
| Network Technology | 4G TD-LTE/FDD-LTE/UMTS/DC-HSPA+/EGPRS/GSM | 4G FDD-LTE/UMTS/DC-HSPA+/EGPRS/GSM |
| Frequency Bands | LTE-FDD 800(B20)/900(B8)/1800(B3)/2600(B7)/2100MHz LTE TDD 2600(B38) OR 2300M(B40) |
LTE-FDD: 800/900/1800/2600MHz |
| UMTS 900/2100MHz | UMTS 900/2100MHz | |
| GPRS/GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz | GPRS/GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz | |
| Data Rates | LTE Peak Download Speed to 150Mbps LTE Upload Speed to 50Mbps |
LTE Peak Download Speed to 100Mbps LTE Upload Speed to 50Mbps |
| DC-HSPA+ DL Speed to 42Mbps, UL Speed to 11Mbps | DC-HSPA+ DL Speed to 42Mbps, UL Speed to 5.76Mbps | |
| MIMO | Yes | Yes |
| Interface | USB | USB |
| Antenna | Built-in Antenna | Built-in Antenna, Two external Antenna Connectors |
| Storage SD card | MicroSD card expandable to 32GB | MicroSD card expandable to 32GB |
| SMS | ? | YES |
| Supported OS | Win7, Windows XP, Vista, Win8, Mac OS | Win8，Win7，Vista，Windows XP，Mac OS |
| Online Upgrade | Yes | Yes |
| Dimension | 90×28.4×13mm | 90×28.4×13mm |
From the blank, we can see ZTE MF831 and MF823 are in the same dimension. ZTE MF831 is the upgraded version of ZTE MF823. MF831 is LTE Category 4 Stick which supports peak download speed to 150mbps, and it’s first ZTE LTE Cat4 Stick. With the support TDD network, ZTE MF831 could work well with more network providers. It supports more LTE Bands than MF823, and data rate speed is almost 1.5 times than MF823.
They are both compatible with 3G UMTS 900/2100MHz networks; with DC-HSPA+ technology, they could reach peak download speed to 42mbps. When LTE networks are not available, they would automatically switch to UMTS network to get the reliable network with fastest speed. But ZTE MF831 support upload speed to 11Mbps while MF823 supports 5.76Mbps.
However, it seems there is no external antenna connector in MF831, while MF823 has two external antenna connectors which will be more useful for MIMO connection. They both support microSD storage card expandable to 32GB. And they can both works with the latest operation system: Win7, Windows XP, Vista, Win8, Mac OS etc..
So ZTE MF831 is better with upgraded function, but if you want the 4G datacard with antenna connector, MF823 seems to be the right model.