About this replacement
ZTE MF980 / Tempo N9131 — 3.84V Li-Polymer Replacement Battery (Li3922T44P6h903546)
This is a 3.84V, 2200mAh (8.45Wh) Li-Polymer battery for the ZTE MF980 mobile hotspot and the Tempo N9131. It replaces part number Li3922T44P6h903546. The MF980 is a portable Wi-Fi hotspot — this battery is the only power source while it runs untethered.
- MF980, UFI MF980, and Tempo N9131 fit: All three share the same battery bay dimensions, 3.84V nominal rail, and BMS handshake protocol. Swapping between these variants does not require firmware changes or connector adapters.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We ran the MF980 at maximum connected devices with the cellular radio under active LTE load. The BMS held charge acceptance correctly and did not trip on the combined modem-plus-Wi-Fi draw spike during startup.
- Ventilation during extended hotspot sessions: Keep the MF980 on an open surface when running for long periods. When client devices are far from the hotspot, the cellular radio transmits at full output power. That heat builds up in the battery bay and accelerates cell wear — a flat surface with airflow underneath makes a measurable difference.
Why the MF980 drops connected devices mid-session under full load
The MF980 runs two radios simultaneously — the cellular modem and the Wi-Fi access point. At maximum client connections, the combined current draw can pull the battery voltage down sharply in short bursts. An aged or weakened cell cannot hold voltage through those sag events, so the BMS trips a protective cutoff to avoid cell damage. The device resets, and all clients disconnect. A fresh cell with lower internal resistance sustains voltage through those peaks without triggering the cutoff.
MF980 shows charged but won't boot after sitting unused for weeks
Li-Polymer cells self-discharge during storage. If the MF980 sat long enough, the battery can drop below the minimum boot voltage — typically around 3.0V per cell — and the device will not power on even when connected to a charger, because the BMS blocks charge input to a deeply discharged cell as a safety measure. Connect the charger and leave it for 20–30 minutes without pressing the power button; most chargers trickle current into deeply discharged cells during this recovery window. Once the cell climbs back above approximately 3.2V, normal charge acceptance resumes and the device will boot.