ZTE MU5001 Router With eSim

[Johnny99]

Having just mastered my new (to me) ZTE MU5001 router I thought I would try it with an eSim. "The router doesn't do esims" I hear you shout, and you are correct. BUT, it will take an eSim adaptor onto which you can load an eSim. It works!! The adaptor card is from a company called Switch found at https://www.switchesim.com/ Costs about £17 plus postage. Onto this I have loaded a Spusu eSim. (Chose them because you can get an eSim to play with for £2.90, cancel after 1 month). With this I got a download speed of 450mbps on the EE 5g service. There are other eSim adaptor providers. Cannot say whether they would have worked. Probably, would be my guess.

The trick is to put the eSim adaptor in your phone and set it up. Then just put the adaptor in the ZTE router, set the APN to Spusu and away you go. With this you can have up to 15 eSim profiles in your router and switch between them. Or whistle up a new provider anytime without needing a new physical sim. Seems like progress to me.

Been using and esim adapter for a few years now in my teltonika, they are great aren't they. Means you can move your esim between devices just like a normal sim and hold several esims on the one "sim". I got mine from esim.me who seemed to be the only provider at the time, your switchesim looks better value now. Some routers support esim now but you can't easily migrate it to another device like you can with an adapter.

 

[pandas]

esim adapters sound very useful.
I get some conflicting feedback instructions regarding my settings: For both Tesco and Lebara sims (not esims) tell me I need to change the APN settings and these are different with each sim provider. Then I am told actually it is not necessary? Great if you don't as it would make an sim much more user friendly.

 

[EssexBoy]

esim adapters sound very useful.
I get some conflicting feedback instructions regarding my settings: For both Tesco and Lebara sims (not esims) tell me I need to change the APN settings and these are different with each sim provider. Then I am told actually it is not necessary? Great if you don't as it would make an sim much more user friendly.

I think that's because the APN always changes with provider, it's just most times the SIM will pick up and set it's APN automatically

Usually, it's only when the auto process doesnt work that you need to worry about APNs

 

[Graydo]

esim adapters sound very useful.
I get some conflicting feedback instructions regarding my settings: For both Tesco and Lebara sims (not esims) tell me I need to change the APN settings and these are different with each sim provider. Then I am told actually it is not necessary? Great if you don't as it would make an sim much more user friendly.

That's my concern too, having to change APN settings on my MTU router.
My router stopped working in EU and changing APN is a pain.
Might be tempted back to E-sims if this was done automatically on the phone before switching to the router.
I really resent spending hours of my holiday fiddling with these bloody things.

Graydo

 

[Johnny99]

That's my concern too, having to change APN settings on my MTU router.
My router stopped working in EU and changing APN is a pain.
Might be tempted back to E-sims if this was done automatically on the phone before switching to the router.
I really resent spending hours of my holiday fiddling with these bloody things.

Graydo

I think tha APN is set on the device / phone /router not the esim / sim. Another advantage of the adapter is you can see what settings work on your phone, because for most it's easier to do it there, then transfer it to a router but you will still have to go into the router and put the same APN setting in. I've always managed with auto APN but when starting a new sim or esim they can take a long long time to register on a foreign network. In conclusion, get it working in your phone, then transfer it

 

[Fontie]

This will come in handy in my MU5001 I am sure thanks .

 

[yorkiebar]

Changing APN settings should only be required in a small number of cases ( graydo seems unlucky here ). If you need to change APN settings on the MU5001 then you can use the ZTE phone app to do this, much easier than attempting to do it on the device itself if that's even possible.

 

[Graydo]

Changing APN settings should only be required in a small number of cases ( graydo seems unlucky here ). If you need to change APN settings on the MU5001 then you can use the ZTE phone app to do this, much easier than attempting to do it on the device itself if that's even possible.

Had problems trying to change it via its IP address.didn't know there was a ZTE app.

Thanks, will give that a try before I get an e-sim adapter.

Graydo

 

[yorkiebar]

Had problems trying to change it via its IP address.didn't know there was a ZTE app.

Thanks, will give that a try before I get an e-sim adapter.

Graydo

ZTE Link is the app.

 

[Neilfg]

We've been using one for a little while, excellent . Used with Lebara, 1pMobile and a couple of esim only providers Holafly, Roamic and Bytesim

The esim providers, some are great, but the well promoted providers for roaming can be pricey (Saily, SIM.io etc...), also not all esimd work in mifi or tethered.

The other thing we found was that once the esim has been installed on the adapter, it cannot be easily moved. You can move the adapter but if you want to move the esim off the adapter it's not so easy, granted rare but tricky.

 

[TheBows]

Was this iPhone or android?

Android. I do not believe their app is available for iPhone.

 

[Fat Albert]

The ZTE link is available from the Apple App Store. I can confirm that even myself (as an IT muppet) used the app to change the APN when required and the router worked much to my surprise.

 

[starquake]

To me

We've been using one for a little while, excellent . Used with Lebara, 1pMobile and a couple of esim only providers Holafly, Roamic and Bytesim

The esim providers, some are great, but the well promoted providers for roaming can be pricey (Saily, SIM.io etc...), also not all esimd work in mifi or tethered.

The well promoted providers on esim all mostly use Polish or Lithiuanian networks as their parent (ie, all traffic via those). Cheapest place in Europe for data, but does add latency. Never as fast as a native (same network as actual network) eSIM.

I'm all for eSIMs when used with the actual network (ie, using a 3 Esim on 3uk is decent).

Personally I've had bad experiences otherwise, with slow performance, throttlng (on unlimited!!!) and other games being played by the eSIM provider.

eSIMs via this adapter method yes, work, but are rather a lot more faff than just keeping another sim card in back of the router case to swap to. I would however note that I'm still going to get one as a backup for the 3 sims I already keep in the van ..

One thing I'd note is non-unlimited sims are usually better though in esims than unlimited, less games being played as if you buy 200gb you GET 200Gb.

 

[yorkiebar]

The ZTE link is available from the Apple App Store. I can confirm that even myself (as an IT muppet) used the app to change the APN when required and the router worked much to my surprise.

I think the question related to the app needed to manage the eSim adapter rather than the router.

 

[Fat Albert]

Oops sorry. As I said an IT Muppet. What's an eSim?

 

[Manic]

Having just mastered my new (to me) ZTE MU5001 router I thought I would try it with an eSim. "The router doesn't do esims" I hear you shout, and you are correct. BUT, it will take an eSim adaptor onto which you can load an eSim. It works!! The adaptor card is from a company called Switch found at https://www.switchesim.com/ Costs about £17 plus postage. Onto this I have loaded a Spusu eSim. (Chose them because you can get an eSim to play with for £2.90, cancel after 1 month). With this I got a download speed of 450mbps on the EE 5g service. There are other eSim adaptor providers. Cannot say whether they would have worked. Probably, would be my guess.

The trick is to put the eSim adaptor in your phone and set it up. Then just put the adaptor in the ZTE router, set the APN to Spusu and away you go. With this you can have up to 15 eSim profiles in your router and switch between them. Or whistle up a new provider anytime without needing a new physical sim. Seems like progress to me.

I know this is a year old post but I have a Zte mu5001 but use an iPhone so maybe the putting sim in phone to set it up may not work.
I wonder if the APN is known it could be put straight in the MiFi?

 

[TheBows]

I know this is a year old post but I have a Zte mu5001 but use an iPhone so maybe the putting sim in phone to set it up may not work.
I wonder if the APN is known it could be put straight in the MiFi?

The sim adaptor has to go into a phone firstly because you need the Switch app to load the eSim to the adaptor sim. Then you move the adaptor sim to your MiFi. Maybe they do an iPhone version of the app now?

 

[Manic]

The sim adaptor has to go into a phone firstly because you need the Switch app to load the eSim to the adaptor sim. Then you move the adaptor sim to your MiFi. Maybe they do an iPhone version of the app now?

Yes they do an Android/Iphone version for £17 but wondered if it was setup in my iPhone would it then work in the ZTE but then it probably would because it’s not that clever

 

[MichaelT]

Yes they do an Android/Iphone version for £17 but wondered if it was setup in my iPhone would it then work in the ZTE but then it probably would because it’s not that clever

The app only loads the esim program needed to connect to the network to the esim adapter itself. Once loaded the esim adapter it will work in any phone or router.

 

[Hettie's Crew]

I’ve asked before on a different thread but does anyone have a recommendation as to where I can get a real/quality pair of the 5G TS9 stubby antennas for a ZTE MU500.
Mine, which is the Motorhome WiFi 5G didn’t come with any as it was fitted with a roof antenna.
My reason for wanting a pair is to try it at home, it appears to do quite well without antennas so I was hoping adding a pair may improve it.
There are plenty on eBay at less than £10 but I expect they’re well dodgy rubbish.
I ordered a pair off eBay a few weeks ago and received an empty envelope, eBay refunded.

 

[Diabalo]

I have the same unit, I think 4G only works on the internal antennas and 5G works on the internal and external antennas if fitted.

 

[Steve901]

This is all new to me but great research. Are these devices good enough to run a firestick without buffering every minute, for sport or movies ?

 

[starquake]

This is all new to me but great research. Are these devices good enough to run a firestick without buffering every minute, for sport or movies ?

In most locations yes. The U50 (the newer MU5001) has slightly better antenna though, and its cheaper.

So far we are yet to find a place in 2026 where we didnt have signal enough for sport/movies/netflix.

 

[starquake]

I’ve asked before on a different thread but does anyone have a recommendation as to where I can get a real/quality pair of the 5G TS9 stubby antennas for a ZTE MU500.
Mine, which is the Motorhome WiFi 5G didn’t come with any as it was fitted with a roof antenna.
My reason for wanting a pair is to try it at home, it appears to do quite well without antennas so I was hoping adding a pair may improve it.
There are plenty on eBay at less than £10 but I expect they’re well dodgy rubbish.
I ordered a pair off eBay a few weeks ago and received an empty envelope, eBay refunded.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bingfu-External-Antenna-Hotspot-Nighthawk/dp/B07YBW534D/?tag=mhf04-21

Bingfu are a "okay" Chinese antenna manufacturer. Yes it's only 3Dbi, but it's 2 additional antennas when connected, which will improve 5g only.

If you want something "good" you want a 12Dbi (which are a lot larger) and hang it out of window for home use. Keep the cable from router to antenna to under 1 metre ideally as the loss at more than 1m on 5g gets to be quite extreme, which is why direct connected antennas like 3Dbi are actually okay.

 

[Hettie's Crew]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bingfu-External-Antenna-Hotspot-Nighthawk/dp/B07YBW534D/?tag=mhf04-21

Bingfu are a "okay" Chinese antenna manufacturer. Yes it's only 3Dbi, but it's 2 additional antennas when connected, which will improve 5g only.

If you want something "good" you want a 12Dbi (which are a lot larger) and hang it out of window for home use. Keep the cable from router to antenna to under 1 metre ideally as the loss at more than 1m on 5g gets to be quite extreme, which is why direct connected antennas like 3Dbi are actually okay.

Thanks, I looked at those but they’re described as 4G. Will they work as 5G on an ZTE MU5001?

 

[Steve901]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bingfu-External-Antenna-Hotspot-Nighthawk/dp/B07YBW534D/?tag=mhf04-21

Bingfu are a "okay" Chinese antenna manufacturer. Yes it's only 3Dbi, but it's 2 additional antennas when connected, which will improve 5g only.

If you want something "good" you want a 12Dbi (which are a lot larger) and hang it out of window for home use. Keep the cable from router to antenna to under 1 metre ideally as the loss at more than 1m on 5g gets to be quite extreme, which is why direct connected antennas like 3Dbi are actually okay.

I think I should start taking notes, I’ll never find this info again when the time comes that I need it

 

[starquake]

I think I should start taking notes, I’ll never find this info again when the time comes that I need it

Just check on here when you ready to buy. The best model of router will change annually based on availability and cost. At moment ZTE U50 is the cheapest, highest performance device per £ available. (about £90 on ebay today to buy, where equivlanet 5g routers are £300 from other vendors).

Ref; antenna there are choices based on if it's for van, home use. Hettie asked for who supplies the small portable antennas for home, these are not what I use in our motorhome (where I have a Panorama roof antenna doing 12Dbi gain on 5g frequencies).

 

[treblid]

I think I should start taking notes, I’ll never find this info again when the time comes that I need it

Use the 'bookmark' feature (to the left of the post number) to save any posts you want to return to.

 

[Steve901]

Use the 'bookmark' feature (to the left of the post number) to save any posts you want to return to.

Thanks, I never spotted that

 

[HappyDays-NI]

This is all new to me but great research. Are these devices good enough to run a firestick without buffering every minute, for sport or movies ?

Yes. We have been watching a rather good danish series on C4 via the firestick with no issues and this morning I watched the Grand Prix. Orange sim.