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has anyone noticed that when you take the batter cover of the evo there two holes on the right side of the handset that you can see two antenna connections. anyone think maybe you can use these antennas: http://cgi.ebay.com/Tyco-Universal-...-PCI-U-FL-/280359933530?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0 to boost signal or what are they for?
well, i think what you are referring to is the antenna connectors they use in the factory to test gps/4g/wifi. You would have to find the scematic to discover which one is for the wifi. Even then, since most likely the antennas that wrap around the outside of the back casing are connected to those ports, I am not sure if they would be powerful enough to make a difference in the reception.
But, you have me interested so I am looking around.
They look similur
elegantai said:
well, i think what you are referring to is the antenna connectors they use in the factory to test gps/4g/wifi. You would have to find the scematic to discover which one is for the wifi. Even then, since most likely the antennas that wrap around the outside of the back casing are connected to those ports, I am not sure if they would be powerful enough to make a difference in the reception.
But, you have me interested so I am looking around.
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Click to collapse
They look the same as the ones on my netbook internal wireless card thats why I think the antennas would fit. But like you said even they might of been for testing and might not even help and btw if you look closley thru two vent on the right side on back of evo youll see the connections are open and nothing seems to be connected!
I believe those are test ports. But you could connect an antenna to it, but you would have to make a matching/phasing array for the external antenna to properly couple. Otherwise your impedence will be out of whack, and you will probably get zero reception, as well as possibly damage the transmitter output. Since we are talking very low power you will also have to contend with line loss going to the external antenna. All in all I wouldn't bother.
Yeah I prob wouldnt was just curious if anyone had any ideas.
Anyone ever use one? If so, what do you think of this?
http://bestcelldist.com/htc_thunderbolt_antenna_combo_em_removal.html
Not interest in saving my brain, but in extending my 3G and 4G range.
I'm a little interested as well. For $50, it had better give great reception.
I heard my friend talk about this today. I hope it works.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
I have used them from Wilson Electronics with great results...Don't know about these
Hold the (cell)phone - that one doesn't cover the LTE frequencies. Here's a nice indoor one that covers 700 MHz.
http://bestcelldist.com/htc_thunderbolt_all_bands_8db_panel_indoor.html
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
I would like to see how they are attached to the Thunderbolt. (It says direct connect). There is no illustration of the antenna connection to the phone.
rtompkins3 said:
I would like to see how they are attached to the Thunderbolt. (It says direct connect). There is no illustration of the antenna connection to the phone.
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Click to collapse
I would think that it plus into that jack on the bottom back of the TBolt.
Looks to have a rubber plug in it now.
I thought that was covering a screw
Has anyone tried either of these or any other similar device? I recently moved and now my signal has gone to hell (I'm lucky if I get one bar), so I'm seriously considering one of these.
Any reviews/feedback?
rtompkins3 said:
I thought that was covering a screw
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Click to collapse
thats what ive heard.
i also would like to see how this thing connects..
Are we still unaware as to how this connects to the phone? All we've got is our USB port and our headphone jack... unless there's a secret antennae jack that I'm unaware of?
wgoeken said:
Are we still unaware as to how this connects to the phone? All we've got is our USB port and our headphone jack... unless there's a secret antennae jack that I'm unaware of?
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Click to collapse
I know on the droid and several other phones, there are little Antenna diversity jacks so that you can plug in extended or high-gain antennas (usually underneath the battery covers). I have seen the metal connectors (but not in a standardized form) on the inside of the case that connect to the antenna leads inside the back cover. You could potentially solder some leads from those to a proper antenna connecter that you mount on the back of the phone or inside one of those rubber fitted screw-holes. Then you could plug in and unplug your external antenna. As far as standardized connectors for external antennas, I don't think the T-Bolt has one.
emailed that site. heres what they said:
The is a small plastic cover, about 1/4" in diameter, on the back
of the phone. You may remove, very carefully, with a needle, and
the antenna port will be exposed.
Notice, however, that we recommend using the ExtAntPro™ adapter
with the Thunderbolt, because of the very small antenna port. The
regular adapter, which comes with the antennas, falls off very
easily, although it does still work.
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Click to collapse
they seem to think that cover isnt hiding just a screw, even tho htc says its just a screw. i feel that htc rep might be wrong tho. i might just have to tear my cover off to figure it out once and for all.
edit: ok that htc person is stupid. ITS AN ANTENNA PORT FOR SURE. watch this vid:
http://youtu.be/zdPiT82gWKw?hd=1&t=2m48s pause at about 2:52. youll see its clearly an antenna port with contacts in the circuit board running from it.
gohamstergo said:
emailed that site. heres what they said:
they seem to think that cover isnt hiding just a screw, even tho htc says its just a screw. i feel that htc rep might be wrong tho. i might just have to tear my cover off to figure it out once and for all.
edit: ok that htc person is stupid. ITS AN ANTENNA PORT FOR SURE. watch this vid:
http://youtu.be/zdPiT82gWKw?hd=1&t=2m48s pause at about 2:52. youll see its clearly an antenna port with contacts in the circuit board running from it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, I second that. I had these antennas for a couple years. I never found the antenna connection on the last couple phones I had, so I never even cared to pull the rubber plug, but it is indeed the antenna plug, these antennas work great, special during long drives, or for when I visit relatives who live in the woods, with a very weak signal. Thanks!
nope not covering a screw i double checked
I would never hook up an external antenna to a phone again. I did it once with my old Samsung Epix, and while it improved the signal when I disconnected the antenna I lost all service, so my phone was basically useless after connecting it.
What about a signal repeater, my office uses them and they work great! our corp office is outside of town so weak signal. Get to work and go inside you get full bars - kinda weird when you notice it. They are place on windows on every floor look just like the external antenna but only have a power cord coming off it.
avatar120 said:
What about a signal repeater, my office uses them and they work great! our corp office is outside of town so weak signal. Get to work and go inside you get full bars - kinda weird when you notice it. They are place on windows on every floor look just like the external antenna but only have a power cord coming off it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We have one of these at my work as well. Great signal outside, but not so much in the basement of the building. As soon as we moved into that building, getting one of these installed was a top priority of mine. It made a HUGE difference, although mostly for non-VZW!
external antenna
Search U.FL on wikipedia
That appears to be the connector under the rubber plug on a thunderbolt.
I cant find any that just go straight except ipx connectors at rfconnector.com
Does connecting an external antenna affect the internal one at all?
LAMPEY said:
Search U.FL on wikipedia
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Click to collapse
The TB jack is not a Hirose U.FL. It looks more like a MS-156.
Wilson electronics makes an adapter that will plug into the external antenna jack under the back cover. I tried it, and it worked great... until I disconnected it. Then the internal antenna would no longer work. It's like the act of plugging it in destroyed the phone's ability to use its internal antenna. It would work when I reconnected the external antenna, but when I disconnected it, the phone would only get any signal strength when I was right under a cell tower.
Anyone else try one of their adapters with the Captivate? If so, what were the results?
-nfs
Sent from wherever I was when I sent it.
I had no idea that input jack was there until you said anything. What happens if you switch airplane mode on and off after the disconnect of the adapter?
nappent said:
I had no idea that input jack was there until you said anything. What happens if you switch airplane mode on and off after the disconnect of the adapter?
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Click to collapse
I don't remember if I tried it, but it was restarted many times. I would think that power cycling the phone would have essentially the same effect.
Sent from wherever I was when I sent it.
I saw this but never had the courage to try it. Did you pull the battery and try the 3 button fix?
photo please?
This should clarify things
TommyZee said:
photo please?
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Click to collapse
It's the round gold connector at the bottom right of the SIM card. The adapter (FME on the other end) is available here:
http://www.wpsantennas.com/359919-samsung-captivate-galaxy-s-antenna-adapter-cable.aspx
After one BAD experience, I'm not eager to try again. I was sort of hoping that my experience was a fluke and that other people had been more successful.
Why?
capnoob said:
I saw this but never had the courage to try it. Did you pull the battery and try the 3 button fix?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never occurred to me to do that, since the phone booted and it would work when very near a cell tower.
This struck me as either a defect in manufacture, or a design flaw... either in the phone or in the connector. I suspect it was mechanical in nature, and that once the act of connecting the adapter disconnected the internal antenna, something caused it to stay disconnected.
I wonder if this might have happened?
Read the part under "How To Know If a Cellular Yagi Will Work With Your Phone"
http://www.ehelpfultips.com/how_to_use_cell_phone_yagi_direc.htm
capn1 said:
I wonder if this might have happened?
Read the part under "How To Know If a Cellular Yagi Will Work With Your Phone"
http://www.ehelpfultips.com/how_to_use_cell_phone_yagi_direc.htm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
I was using a dual band antenna without an amplifier, so there should not have been too much SWR. I've used this antenna for years with another phone AND an amplifier without problems.
The evidence clearly indicates that phone's transmitter was not burned out due to too much SWR or anything else, because it would still work just fine when reconnected to the external antenna. Ditto for the phone's receiver section; it worked fine whenever it was connected to the external antenna. Once connected, thereafter the signal bars went to zero when it was disconnected. Also, as I mentioned, the phone would still function normally, if I was VERY near a cell tower.
The only conclusion I can make is that the connector was designed to disconnect the internal antenna when an external antenna is connected. Somehow the connector or the electronics failed to ever reconnect it when the external was disconnected.
Sent from wherever I was when I sent it.
try reflashing a modem
It's NOT a firmware problem
I know you guys are trying to help, but it's not a firmware problem. It's a hardware problem. I was just trying to see if anyone else had a similar experience. I just talked with Wilson Electronics, and the guy I spoke with acknowledged that the connector or board can be damaged on the Captivate. He also volunteered that they don't recommend direct connection with that phone. Well, that's kind of odd, since I only learned of the connector by calling them up and asking which one to use with the phone.
Even though I did not buy the adapters from them, I bought them on the recommendation of one of their people, so I have contacted them to get my money back. We'll see; they haven't responded officially yet. I suppose I can contact the vendor, but they were not the ones who told me it would work...
They have another way to inductively connect the phone. The only problem is that my old amplifier won't work for that. I'll have to get a model 801201 instead of my old 812201 which will run another $250 or so, with a cradle and/or velcro attached inductive connector.
comdei said:
try reflashing a modem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well guess what!!?? You are in luck!!!
Theres something you can do with hardware problems..
CALL SAMSUNG
your phone is under 1 year old. you have a warranty. call them. flash to stock . and get it replaced then
Why don't you try reflashing the modem or rom? People are offering you solutions and you seem stuck on it being a hardware issue. A rom or modem re-flash takes a few mins of your time. Not to start anything but I do support for a living and it bugs the hell out of me when people jump the gun and won't try other solutions.
I am stuck on the evidence as to what the nature of the problem is. Did you read what I posted previously?
Let me tell you a little more. At the time I had the problem, the phone was still on the factory firmware. The phone had never been flashed.
All the available evidence points to a hardware problem. The fact that the phone worked when in close proximity to a cell tower, that as soon as there was any distance between the tower and the phone there were no signal bars, but if I plugged the external antenna in there was immediately good signal...the fact that the connector manufacturer has admitted that their adapter could damage the board... I don't mean to be unapreciative, but I do support, too (a well a writing the software itself), and I've learned to really think about the available information when trying to deduce the nature of a problem, and it seems to me that you are stuck on a conclusion that the evidence doesn't support.
Besides, I am not looking for help here. As I wrote previously, I was trying to find out if anyone has had a similar experience. If my experience was a fluke, then I would have been willing to try connecting the replacement phone. See, the problem has been solved, but I don't want to have it again.
Now that the manufacturer has admitted that their connector could damage the board, I have decided to get a different type of amplifier which allows an inductive connection. That should prevent further problems of this nature. It's an expensive solution, but an antenna with a bi-directional amp is really useful when you are in a remote area with a faint signal. When the signal is too weak for that, it's time to use the ham radio... but that's another topic, and yes, I have been known to take my jeep off road... way way off the road.
nappent said:
Why don't you try reflashing the modem or rom? People are offering you solutions and you seem stuck on it being a hardware issue. A rom or modem re-flash takes a few mins of your time. Not to start anything but I do support for a living and it bugs the hell out of me when people jump the gun and won't try other solutions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from wherever I was when I sent it.
nfs_phone said:
Now that the manufacturer has admitted that their connector could damage the board, I have decided to get a different type of amplifier which allows an inductive connection. That should prevent further problems of this nature. It's an expensive solution, but an antenna with a bi-directional amp is really useful when you are in a remote area with a faint signal. When the signal is too weak for that, it's time to use the ham radio... but that's another topic, and yes, I have been known to take my jeep off road... way way off the road.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So samsung admitted it is a known problem? Are you sending it in for warranty then?
Trusselo said:
So samsung admitted it is a known problem? Are you sending it in for warranty then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was referring to the manufacturer of the adapter, not the phone. Samsung was made aware of the problem when I was trouble-shooting the problem. The tech I was talking to blamed the problem on me for using third party accessories not authorized by Samsung. However, since I had been acting in good faith, he did authorize my sending the phone in for warranty repair. I don't know if they can be counted upon to always do that.
I am left wondering how often this problem happens. I used the antenna connector on the back of my Motorola V3xx thousands of times with no issues. It seems really odd to have just connected the Cappy once and suffered such a problem. One key difference is that I don't think that the V3xx disconnected the internal antenna when you connect the external one.
Sent from wherever I was when I sent it.
I've seen similar behavior when one of my foster kids mistook the antenna for a screw while disassembling a blackberry.
The antenna jack is a "normalizing " jack in that when you plug something in a circuit is disconnected and when you unplug it restores the circuit.
if there was a problem with the adapter and it applied too much pressure to the middle pin then it may not have normalized and you would only get signal if you sat under a tower.
This is exactly what happened with the poor blackberry.
Glad to hear Sammy is covering it with warranty, other wise you would have been the proud owner of the only door wedge that plays angry birds.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Interesting. Not sure I understand what you mean by normalizing nor"middle" pin, but it was pretty clear that the internal antenna was no longer connected. Of course the unit was not entirely useless as a phone, but the requirement of having to always have it connected to an external antenna to get it to work did make it a tad cumbersome to use...
pawadca said:
I've seen similar behavior when one of my foster kids mistook the antenna for a screw while disassembling a blackberry.
The antenna jack is a "normalizing " jack in that when you plug something in a circuit is disconnected and when you unplug it restores the circuit.
if there was a problem with the adapter and it applied too much pressure to the middle pin then it may not have normalized and you would only get signal if you sat under a tower.
This is exactly what happened with the poor blackberry.
Glad to hear Sammy is covering it with warranty, other wise you would have been the proud owner of the only door wedge that plays angry birds.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from wherever I was when I sent it.
I'd agree that it's a hardware problem, it may actually be that the internal antenna is burned out. I had a similar problem with the wifi on my old ipod.
I used an aftermarket charger which shorted something inside the device. Consequently, the battery would not hold a charge for longer than 15 minutes AND the it would not recognize a wifi signal, unless I held the ipod within inches of the router. Similar to what you experience with the cell towers, except on a smaller scale.
Good luck.
Burning out the antenna itself would require the kind of amperage generated by a lightning strike. Much more likely that even in your situation some circuitry connecting your antenna to the phone blew out.
In my case there was no overvoltage, just a mechanical connection. I think something just got bent beyond its ability to bend back from... I'm guessing here, but I can see a bar inside the antenna connector. When the center pin of the adapter is pushed into the connector, it will make contact with that bar (the bar is at the side of the opening at 90 degrees to the center pin of the adapter) and pushes it to the side to some extent. I am not sure, but I think that maybe it was pushed a tiny bit too far, and it wasn't able to spring back to its original position. I am assuming that when it is pushed to the side it causes the connection to the internal antenna to be disconnected and that its contact with the center pin of the adapter is the connection to the antenna. I am further concluding that if it doesn't spring back to its original position, that the internal antenna is never reconnected.
jwolfburg said:
I'd agree that it's a hardware problem, it may actually be that the internal antenna is burned out. I had a similar problem with the wifi on my old ipod.
I used an aftermarket charger which shorted something inside the device. Consequently, the battery would not hold a charge for longer than 15 minutes AND the it would not recognize a wifi signal, unless I held the ipod within inches of the router. Similar to what you experience with the cell towers, except on a smaller scale.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from wherever I was when I sent it.
Hey guys, just got my DInc2 Monday and found that the signal strength was no better than the Eris I had before it. The problem with the eris was that there was nowhere to connect an external antenna. After messing around with my new DInc2, and reading this forum, I found that by using the antenna that I bought for my eris: http://www.amazon.com/Wilson-Electronics-Trucker-Mirror-Antenna/dp/B001DTZ25A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323615483&sr=8-1
and the passive antenna adapter
http://3gstore.com/product/1691_passive_antenna_adapter.html
that I never could get to work to boost my eris' signal, I was able to DRAMATICALLY increase my signal and data speeds!!!
I have the antenna pointed in the general area of my closest tower.
I cut the end off the adapter, and stripped the wire. I then slid the wire into the antenna contact on the PHONE SIDE...not the cover. I went from 2 bars of signal and an average of -95dbi without the antenna, to a STEADY 3 bars and an average of -86dbi with the antenna. The back cover has to be off for this to work, so it's only a fix if you are at home, or somewhere stable where you can just connect it and set the phone on a table somewhere.
If anybody knows where I can pick up some kind of small alligator clip or ANYTHING that would allow me to more permanently attach the antenna while I'm at home, I'd love to hear it. I think if I had a better connection between the phone and the antenna, the signal would be that much better.
Here are the speedtests I took this morning. The first three are without the antenna, and the 2nd three are with the antenna
Antenna fix
You could get a spare back and drill into the area where the connections are and solder the wire to the contacts on the back.
Try it with the stock antenna intact. If the signal is not better, interupt the trace of copper for the stock antenna.
Enjoy...
Poking around in the back of my phone, I pulled off a tiny rubber cover located just above the SD card slot. Just underneath is what appears to be an antenna port. I have a Wilson antenna that I used with an old flip phone from back in the day, but the adapter I had did not fit. I ordered this one off of E-bay: Wilson 359909 Antenna Adapter LG, Motorola, Samsung,HTC (160641678739) - even though it did not explicitly state it would work on the Dinc2. In the meantime I spliced off the end of the adapter I already had and put the exposed wire in the antenna port. I noted an immediate increase of signal strength of -5dbm. Unfortunately, the ebay adapter arrived and it also does not fit. I think if we could find the right size adapter, we could drilll a hole in the back of the cover and it should seat nicely. Anyone have any thoughts?
I see that port. I didn't get any signal at all when I put my wire into it though. Anybody know what this port is for if not for an antenna? I find it hard to believe that nobody has noticed this before.
I find it hard to believe that nobody has noticed this before.
I agree. Maybe wishful thinking got the best of me!
I just hope there's something to this!
I shoulda thought more before posting. There is no doubt in my mind that I got a signal increase with the external antenna as compared to the last signal reading prior to taking off the cover (and having no signal at all).
Question is - could I have inadvertently touched something else in addition to that port?
At work till tomorrow afternoon and will retest then.
It IS an antenna port
I have attached pictures of the "setup", and a screen shot displaying my dbm's with the cover off and the antenna attached. Cover on signal status was -96 dBm and with the antenna attached it was -87 dBm.
Hopefully this will get someone a lot smarter than me interested in figuring out what kind of adapter would work on this port.
Thanks in advance for any and all feedback!
View attachment IMG_20111215_105537.bmp View attachment 2011-12-15_11-06-09_540.bmp View attachment 2011-12-15_11-07-26_527.bmp View attachment screenshot-1323982757531.bmp
Umm i get 2meg download speed with no app and the back on. Remember the phones internal antennal is actually the back door of the phone. Did you do those first speed tests with the back on? Try flashing a new radio. The newest one ending in .1111 is great!
Sent from my Incredible 2 using XDA App
Thanks for the advice! I flashed the .1111 radio a couple days ago and have noticed that the dead spots on my 1.5 hour drive to work have gotten shorter and my average dl speeds have increased from an average of .5 Mbps to about 1.2 Mbps
My hope is that with the right adapter, I could plug in an external antenna (pictured in my previous post) and cause those dead spots to disappear all together.
By taking the back cover off and plugging the bare wire of the adapter into the port directly above the SIM card slot, I get better reception than I had with the back cover on. Problem is, it's a very precarious connection. I think if I could find an adapter that actually fit in that port, I could drill a hole in the back of the cover and plug and unplug as needed.
Does anyone know of an external antenna for the GN? Perhaps a backpack style or battery door or even a case that plugs into the external antenna port?
I live in an area where I often have very weak or no signal. I have tried several radios and have similar performance on most of them. So I figure the better fix would be a better antenna.
The part you're looking for is very elusive. People have tried with similar butbwrong parts and borked their phones. Nice thread about it in gs2 forum.
sahibunlimited picks his nose. in his sleep.
From what I've seen here, plugging an external antenna in is a very bad idea.
Don't plug anything into that port. You'll permanently break the internal antenna. Read the thread in sgs2 forum.
Thanks. I'll take a look over there.
Here is the other thread if anyone else will benefit from it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1273292&highlight=antenna
I guess as of now I will just suffer since I really dont want to goof up the connector. I did destroy the connector on my Vibrant and had to solder bridge it. I used the wrong connector and it got stuck and actually ripped the connector off of the vibrant, so i solder bridged the 2 points on the board before even powering up the phone for fear of blowing out the radio while not having the antenna connected. It worked the same after "removing" the connector so it wasnt a complete loss.
Oh well maybe Ill look into a wilson amp or something similar.