When taking apart my Nexus 7 (2013) LTE tablet apart, I accidentally yanked on, what seems to be, the WiFi antenna, which pulled the wire out from the metal bracket. I've been trying to find a replacement but I cannot find it anywhere online. Ive tried WiFi Antenna replacements from Nexus 5 (got them from eBay), but the wire is too short, and it doesn't seem to latch on. I've attached some photos.
Has anyone had any luck on finding WiFi antenna replacements from which I could order from?
Found this website talking about the different types of coaxial wifi antennas:
http://www.onlinewirelessplace.com/
[11/12/2014]
Using the reference website above, I am thinking I need the Hirose U.FL
Ordered from
www.gridconnect.com
[11/19/2014]
I received the cable today. Unfortunately it doesnt fit/match. There are two similar cables in tablet, so I tried transferring the working cable to the location that had the broken cable. This fixed my Wifi. I haven't seen anything go wrong by doing this. I guess that's enough for me.
Related
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
Click to expand...
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?
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The TB jack is not a Hirose U.FL. It looks more like a MS-156.
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.
Nothing is ever easy, is it?
I bought a pair of BRC 550's off of Amazon - one for my phone, one for the phone I intend to give my wife (which had to be sent back to the Ebay seller because the condition was misrepresented.)
I picked up a few Nokia DT-900's directly from AT&T. ($24.50 each, but then 25% off if you buy 3 accessories - great deal, even with tax.)
The Qi charging works great, although I can hear the high-frequency sound it gives off.....
But today I noticed Waze and Google Maps aren't getting a GPS lock. I first wondered if it was my fresh chilly CM10.2 (now with ringtone!) install. So I switched back to 10.1 and loaded up "GPS Status & Toolbox."
It has nothing to do with 4.3. Then I thought maybe I skooched something when I replaced my USB port earlier today. I popped the back off to start disassembly to check connections but before I got out the Torx driver, I thought to try to stock back. BAM! GPS lock.
Switched back to the Qi back. No lock. Tried the OTHER Qi back. No lock.
The "antenna" bits are a bit different in the Qi back vs. the stock back. I wonder if that's the issue. Does anybody know which one is for GPS?
I guess I should check for cell signal differences, too.
Grrr. Palm had this poop down years ago. Maybe I go back to trying to modify the stock back with a Palm coil, return the Qi backs and Ebay the DT-900s. Cheaper and cases will fit better than with the Qi back.
Anybody have any thoughts? Common or different experiences?
Never mind.
The style of the GPS antenna on the Qi back is different; it's a metallish strip pinned down across the center by a thing plastic strip. (I think.)
By flexing the wings up a bit, I now get signal. I guess they weren't quite touching the contact pads on the circuit board.
I've been through a lot of hassle with wanting the black back from a 3T for my 3.
I received the black back and it didn't have the buttons, camera lens, vibration switch or NFC antenna. Everything was working fine at this point with it fitted
I was unable to find a black back with all the above so I ordered a 3T gun metal back.
I received and fitted it but now WiFi and Bluetooth show poor reception to the point where I have to put the phone right next to my Pebble or WAP to get a connection.
Nothing has changed in the meantime, I now no longer have the original or black back.
Does anyone know what might have caused this?
I checked all the pins that connect to the housing antenna bands and they're all fine but still weak signal.
I've just about had enough of this, dealing with Chinese sellers and waiting hasn't been great and I just want my phone back to be the way it was. I shouldn't have bothered :laugh:
Yeah I was looking to fix it myself, I've seen the daughter boards which i believe connect to the housing for the WiFi and Bluetooth antennas on eBay for like £10
flyboyovyick said:
Yeah I was looking to fix it myself, I've seen the daughter boards which i believe connect to the housing for the WiFi and Bluetooth antennas on eBay for like £10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you solve your WiFi and Bluetooth signal problem?
fabiobu said:
Did you solve your WiFi and Bluetooth signal problem?
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Click to collapse
Unfortunately not, I replaced the daughter board located at the bottom of the phone. The rear housing and the antenna cable. None of which resolved the issue.
Hey (first post!)
I was replacing USB charging port flex cable by myself (and for whatever reason decided to unscrew the main board as well, but put it back in place right after). After I put everything together I noticed that my WiFi signal is extremely low. Also tried connecting to my Bluetooth headset but it has very weak signal and can operate properly within 1m distance, otherwise it starts stuttering and finally disconnects.
So I figured that I might have damaged WiFi/Bluetooth board and need to replace it. However I cannot find any spare parts for it anywhere. I only found one for OnePlus 5 but it seems that most of the parts are different between 5 and 5T.
Any suggestions please?