ZTE MF253 router "Limited Service"

[GarthFC]

Hi!

Yesterday I got a ZTE MF253 router from Vodacom on a 2gig package. My plan was to use the 2gigs with my tablet as I travel for work a lot and use my 8ta 10gig package in the router for home use.

When I put the 8ta sim in the router it says "limited service". I contacted Vodacom and they said I need to contact Telkom to get their APN details as the router is preloaded with Vodacoms details.

I tried changing the APN to Telkoms but still no luck gettting it to work! Has anyone dealt with this before and managed to get the router working on a different network?

 

[JimM]

You should be able to set the APN for 'internet' and it should work on any network be it Cell C, MTN, Vodacom or Telkom Mobile.

My guess is your modem needs 'roaming' enabled for the Telkom Mobile to roam on to MTN. However, certain contract Telkom Mobile packages are available on Telkom Towers and not via MTN National roaming...

 

[GarthFC]

You should be able to set the APN for 'internet' and it should work on any network be it Cell C, MTN, Vodacom or Telkom Mobile.

My guess is your modem needs 'roaming' enabled for the Telkom Mobile to roam on to MTN. However, certain contract Telkom Mobile packages are available on Telkom Towers and not via MTN National roaming...

I tried the above, still no luck. Is it possible that Vodacom have locked the router to their network?

 

[sajunky]

Are you sure this model support LTE TDD band 40? It is required for Telkom.
I remember these routers have frequency limitations similar to those in Huawei B593.
Try to swap for Vodafone branded Huawei B315s, even you would need to pay little-bit more. It supports all SA LTE networks.

 

[GarthFC]

Ok, seems the fault is with my old 8ta sim card. I tried a different (and newer) Telkom Mobile sim and it worked just fine and with no need to change any settings. I'll be off to Telkom tomorrow for a new sim and confirm if it is indeed the problem.

 

[GarthFC]

Ok, seems the fault is with my old 8ta sim card. I tried a different (and newer) Telkom Mobile sim and it worked just fine and with no need to change any settings. I'll be off to Telkom tomorrow for a new sim and confirm if it is indeed the problem.

I got a new Telkom sim and everything works perfectly now without having to change any settings. Old 8ta sim was the culprit!

 

[farhaanwireless]

Hi i have a ZTE MF253 and 4 days ago my sim on RAIN network went down. it says limited service. Automatic network it selected is 65519,I tried selecting network manually, and select 65538 it says forbidden. Please help? Thank you in advance