As one of the 4G LTE modems from ZTE, the TDD modem ZTE MF820s2 may not be well known because it’s born for China Mobile 4G LTE networks. ZTE MF820s2 looks very similar to ZTE MF820, they are using the same appearance module, but inner parts are completely different. ZTE MF820 is for FDD network while MF820s2 works for TDD & FDD.
There is another 4G TD-LTE modem ZTE MF880, which is also FDD compatible. Today, we will have a look at what’s the difference between ZTE MF820s2 and MF880.
Frequency Bands
Frequency band should be the key difference between similar 4G modems, even though some modems looks almost the same. The frequency band decides where could work or not, and which operators they could support. ZTE MF820s2 supports FDD 2600MHZ and TDD 1900/2300/2600MHz. The band 1900MHz is a special band that very operator has chose as their 4G network spectrum. So many other 4G modems could replace ZTE MF820s2 if the band 1900MHz is not a must frequency. ZTE MF880 could also support TDD 2300/2600 MHz, but it cannot work with band 1900MHz. As a TDD and FDD surfstick, ZTE MF880 also supports FDD800/2600MHz. So when users don’t require modem to support 1900Mhz, ZTE MF880 could fully replace MF820s2.
4G LTE Speed
As standard 4G USB modems, ZTE MF880 and MF820s2 both supports the TDD and FDD network. However, under the two technologies, the data transmission rates are different. When working on FDD network, the peak download speed could reach 100Mbps while upload speed up to 50Mbps. But if on TDD networks, maximum download speed could reach 68Mbps and upload speed could reach 17Mbps. By the way, the speeds are only theoretical speeds. In real practice, the network can’t be perfect as we wish; the link speeds may vary time to time.
External Antenna and MicroSD card
It’s a pity that both ZTE MF880 and MF820s2 both don’s have connector for external antenna. And we didn’t find any place to plug the MicroSD card. So they couldn’t use as flash memory card.
USB Design
ZTE MF880 and MF820 are both under design of 2D USB design. The USB is rotatable for 270 degrees. This design will help users to use more space when plug to PC.
We can’t make conclusion that which is better. They are in same brand and could meet different requirements from users or operators. So it would be better to know more about the difference between similar models. If you want to check more 4G LTE modems, welcome to land www.4gltemall.com