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Improve Nexus S WiFi antenna

Hi everyone!
Is it possible to improve the wifi antenna of my nexus s? With my last nokia it was possibile by salding an extra copper wire, is there any similar mod that I can do on it?
Thankyou..

not 100% sure but the antennas are in the back cover along with the nfc chip.

If you remove the back cover, you can see the connector.

The connectors are for the nfc chip
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium

Improve Nexus S WiFi antennaArrow
I have just bought my Nexus S and am experiencing a weak wifi signal. I normally get 3 bars on all other hardware in my bedroom but am only getting 1 bar which occasionally goes up and down to 2 bars. When I am 3 meters away from the Wifi access point i only get 3 bars out of 4. All my other hardware gets full bars. When i am 6 meters away from the access point I have only 2 bars showing for wifi.
The wifi signal icon seems to fluctuate alot. Does anyone else have a similar problem?
-----------------

Always wonderd
ourtut said:
The connectors are for the nfc chip
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium
Click to expand...
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I always thought that these connectors were for a power mat to recharge the battery...wow I'll go to bed smarter tonight !!

First and foremost bars don't mean anything really. The signal strength typically is better but what matters is the SNR (signal to noise ratio). This can by typically improved by allowing your router to switch channels automatically (from the default 6) to find the most open one. Adding your own antenna is a bad idea and it likely will make the problem worse. Those antennas are precisely designed (exact configuration) for that ranges of frequencies, adding wire will ruin those characteristics.

With GB the wifi signal was completely awful...but now with ics wifi isn't that bad....I'm not having a lot of issues now...
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA

I haven't seen any difference in wifi signal between GB and ICS: in both of them I get 1-2 bars while my ipod gets full signal. BTW it isn't a good idea to mess up with your phone's antenna.

Most probably it is not.
WiFi antennas on theese devices can even be SMD only (trying to improve is waste of time), or "copper plate sticker" type, ussualy stickered on the internal back cover.
I've been messing around with the second type on crappy chineese WiFi phone - I've added a tiny connector used in mobilephones and connected simply a piece of coax wire to make a dipole. After few changes signal finally got a bit better, but also because in original it was really poor.
If there is a sticker-type antenna, it is theoretically possible to change antenna quite easy. In practise, you will hardly get it better because you can't just put some wire in and done (well, you can, but it will be like wining a main prize in lotery if it gets better). The wire should have right size, right shape and must be on right place. And milimeters makes a difference there, so have fun
Most likely it can get better only with some kind of external antenna, but you could hardly use your phone as mobile then
Easiest way to tune-it-up could be disconnecting the original sticker and connecting a flexible internal notebook type of antenna, but even that will probably be too big to fit inside - it must not overlap another antenna. And that's not the only rule.
Even if it does not overlap anything, it can interfere with other circuitry or Tx-devices. Bluetooth works on almost the same frequencies as 2.4GHz Wifi, for example. It's a piece of science theese frequencies, actually
I'm absolutely NOT thinking of trying to tune it up on my LG O2x, coz I know it won't be better

So my phone is useless for controlling my RC AR Drone then?
Wifi signal is crap, I'm pretty handy with electronics but I've read that even the chipset they've used in the NS is rubbish... Does anyone know which reasonably new handsets have good wifi range? My old N1 was pretty good but it's just too old.

if someone can confirm that it's the antenna and not just a sh*t wireless card then i'll have an attempt at replacing it with laptop antennas.

A little question, it won't be easier to improve the antenna of the WiFi router, instead of the mobilephone's one?? You can do that simply, by putting a can on that antenna (Search on google for the tutorial, it really worked for me).
Regards

Hmm.. I think you can.
lollo64 said:
Hi everyone!
Is it possible to improve the wifi antenna of my nexus s? With my last nokia it was possibile by salding an extra copper wire, is there any similar mod that I can do on it?
Thankyou..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check the Battery Cover, and you will find that. But it's not sure

Wooooow Nexus S have WiMax

There's definitely something wrong with the Nexus S 4G's wifi. I have to be next to the router to be able to use the wifi. No other device, phones, tablet, notebooks, etc has an issue. Odd that others are having the same issue.
Did they forget to connect the wifi antenna?

just upgrade your phone maybe? and your antenna is somewhere in the back.

I found that the WiFi on my NS went to **** after upgrading to JB.
Sent from my Crespo using xda premium

[Q] Poor WLAN sensitivity with Photon Q

Hi,
yesterday my brand new Photon Q arrived, which - after doing the SIM mod - hopefully will replace my Sony Xperia Pro.
While playing around with the Photon there was some thing that disappointed me a lot:
The sensitivity of WLAN is very poor. I own 6 android devices with WLAN, and the Photon has the poorest WLAN sensitivity of all.
Using it about 10 m away from my router, through a thin wall of bricks, it tells me connection rates of about 2 MBit only (varies from 1 - 5 MBit).
My Xperia Pro shows - at the same place - connection rates from 60 to 65 MBit!
What are your expierences with WLAN on your Photon Q devices - compared to other devices you own?
Thank you.
P.S.: 2 m away from the router the speed is 60-65 MBit too, so maybe I have an issue with the antenna of the photon Q?

Hi.
Although this is pretty old, I feel like answering to it, since there never has been any answer.
What was it, that caused your poor WLAN? I guess, the guys who do the SIM mod, when they cut the small gap the inner cover where you insert the SIM later, they sometimes damage the antenna in that spot, which may be the WLAN antenna. What do you think?

I have a SIM-modded PQ, but no problems with wi-fi.When I disaśembled PQ I haven't seen anything antenna-like (wires, fractal mazes) on the motherboard...

The back piece of the phone that holds the speaker and camera flash also contains the antennas. On the bottom there is a piece of black tape that I'm pretty sure covers one. Maybe this piece was damaged where an antenna is located?

bmccrary said:
The back piece of the phone that holds the speaker and camera flash also contains the antennas. On the bottom there is a piece of black tape that I'm pretty sure covers one. Maybe this piece was damaged where an antenna is located?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's correct. It holds all sorts of antennas, and on the back of the battery there must be the NFC antenna, right?
The seller, who modded the phone now told me, that at the bottm, where he made the SIM slot, there is the GSM antenna, not the WLAN one. So, today I'll get to open it and have a look, what else looks disordered. Maybe some plug on the mainboard or some of the antenna contact is bad. And just in case - I have one more cover from another PQ.
But if all this doesn't help - I'm grateful for more ideas

Yes, on the back of battery that's NFC antenna. Dismounting PQ is quite easy, but you have to have a T5 torx screwdriver.

I know how to unscrew the cover and even the mainboard of the PQ and I have precise tools.
Having done so and having replaced the cover with the slightly damaged antenna by another one where everything is intact - I experience the same weak WLAN It says 1 MBit/s in 2m distance or up to 20 MBit/s, when I am 10cm next to the access point. What else can be wrong or damaged?

If the cover is ok, maybe connectors to PCB are dirty/damaged (but you've probably already checked it). And how about another router? Maybe the one you're using is damaged or "doesn't like" PQ?

Thanks for the ideas, but from what I can see, they look good and clean and bent the right way to make safe contact And yes I tries other access points. I tried with my Droid4 providing a hotspot, my tablet, at my family's house, my girlfriend's, at work, at home... It's the same everywhere: very close or up to 3 meters, no obstacles, I have signal, but 1 or 6 MBit/s only, Further away or a door in between it's gone.
Can Android (CM 12.1 / 5.1.1) cause this, or must there be a hardware issue? How likely is it that these kind of problems are caused by a broken WLAN chip rather than an antenna problem?
I bought it in this condition from a guy who modded it (SIM mod)

Shaker1978 said:
Thanks for the ideas, but from what I can see, they look good and clean and bent the right way to make safe contact And yes I tries other access points. I tried with my Droid4 providing a hotspot, my tablet, at my family's house, my girlfriend's, at work, at home... It's the same everywhere: very close or up to 3 meters, no obstacles, I have signal, but 1 or 6 MBit/s only, Further away or a door in between it's gone.
Can Android (CM 12.1 / 5.1.1) cause this, or must there be a hardware issue? How likely is it that these kind of problems are caused by a broken WLAN chip rather than an antenna problem?
I bought it in this condition from a guy who modded it (SIM mod)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash stock if you'd like to rule out issues with CM - although I doubt it, definitely sounds like a hardware issue.

I returned the phone to the seller, it was definitely something wrong with the hardware. I ordered a fully working board from another seller, since I still had a damaged Photon Q anyway, SIM modded it myselt and got everything working now, incl. GSM and WLAN. Thanks here.

[Q] Broken Antenna ?

So I've dropped my Nexus 5 twice on concrete by accident. The first time it cracked the camera glass and the second time, half of the back cover clips popped off but I just pushed them back in. So in my attempt to DIY fix the cracked camera glass and replace it, I tried popping off the back cover (with proper plastic tools). But I couldn't get the clip under the SIM tray and the volume rockers so I gave up. But now, recently I can't get any signal when I'm inside a building and the signal when I'm outside fluctuates from full bar + LTE to no service to emergency calls only. I thought it might have been my SIM card so I went to T-Mobile to get another SIM which worked fine for like 10 minutes until the same problem came up again. So now I'm thinking could I have damaged the SIM reader in the phone or an antenna?

crazykidguy said:
So I've dropped my Nexus 5 twice on concrete by accident. The first time it cracked the camera glass and the second time, half of the back cover clips popped off but I just pushed them back in. So in my attempt to DIY fix the cracked camera glass and replace it, I tried popping off the back cover (with proper plastic tools). But I couldn't get the clip under the SIM tray and the volume rockers so I gave up. But now, recently I can't get any signal when I'm inside a building and the signal when I'm outside fluctuates from full bar + LTE to no service to emergency calls only. I thought it might have been my SIM card so I went to T-Mobile to get another SIM which worked fine for like 10 minutes until the same problem came up again. So now I'm thinking could I have damaged the SIM reader in the phone or an antenna?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More than likely the back cover is no longer making good contact with the body of the phone. Try applying slight pressure at the back on the top third of the phone and see if that helps.

Did you solve this issue? It sounds similar to a problem I'm currently experiencing.
Thanks,
Will

Nexus 5 loss of ntework signal
wch93 said:
Did you solve this issue? It sounds similar to a problem I'm currently experiencing.
Thanks,
Will
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Click to collapse
I have lost my network signal after I removed the back to improve the GPS function. It is not existing or very weak.
Has anyone a clue how to fix this?
Arno

ZeilerNed27 said:
I have lost my network signal after I removed the back to improve the GPS function. It is not existing or very weak.
Has anyone a clue how to fix this?
Arno
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Click to collapse
I have the same problem. A fix to this would be very helpful. My phone is now almost permanently stuck at H instead of LTE. When I do see LTE, it's one or two bars where it used to be full bars.

I'm not alone... Anyone can help us?

I found out what my problem was. While opening up the case, I must have slid my tool too far in. It actually got in the same spot as the antenna connection on the top right side, right above the battery. When I applied pressure to open the case, it unhooked the antenna. Re-opening the case and using some tweezers, I was able to re-position the wire and snap it back on like a button. Restored all of my connection.

I've tried, but don't work

Comrade1809 said:
I found out what my problem was. While opening up the case, I must have slid my tool too far in. It actually got in the same spot as the antenna connection on the top right side, right above the battery. When I applied pressure to open the case, it unhooked the antenna. Re-opening the case and using some tweezers, I was able to re-position the wire and snap it back on like a button. Restored all of my connection.
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did u remove the speaker module to fix this issue?

ajaxcbcb said:
did u remove the speaker module to fix this issue?
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Click to collapse
I didn't have to remove the speaker module. I just had to reconnect the cable on the right back into it's slot. That's what got disconnected when I opened up the back.

Antenna
Comrade1809 said:
I didn't have to remove the speaker module. I just had to reconnect the cable on the right back into it's slot. That's what got disconnected when I opened up the back.
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is there a cable?? from what i know the silver thing is the antenna
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What? No.... My situation had nothing to do at all with the speaker or any other portion of the phone aside from the antenna wire.
If you open up the back of the phone, on the right side of the battery, there is a small wire that runs along there and connects just to the right top side of where the battery ends. It is covered by a small black plastic piece that is supposed to stop it from coming off. I accidentally disconnected that wire with the tool I used to open the back of the phone. After reconnecting it to it's proper place, my signal came back without further issues.
I attached a picture with a red arrow pointing to where the antenna is connected. If it's loose, I would suggest reconnecting it and checking your signal again.

Comrade1809 said:
I didn't have to remove the speaker module. I just had to reconnect the cable on the right back into it's slot. That's what got disconnected when I opened up the back.
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oh thanks mate. finally resolved the problem. seems the cable is actually kinda loose. after getting it hook up. signal is back and blazing. thanks

Broken black antenna cable
Comrade1809 said:
What? No.... My situation had nothing to do at all with the speaker or any other portion of the phone aside from the antenna wire.
If you open up the back of the phone, on the right side of the battery, there is a small wire that runs along there and connects just to the right top side of where the battery ends. It is covered by a small black plastic piece that is supposed to stop it from coming off. I accidentally disconnected that wire with the tool I used to open the back of the phone. After reconnecting it to it's proper place, my signal came back without further issues.
I attached a picture with a red arrow pointing to where the antenna is connected. If it's loose, I would suggest reconnecting it and checking your signal again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my antenna clip broke off the main logic board. is there any way of fixing this. I get no service now

luv2vexx said:
my antenna clip broke off the main logic board. is there any way of fixing this. I get no service now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're really good at soldering you could give it a try. Otherwise I'd try and play the warranty card. I don't think there's a replacement part just for that, like there is one for the speaker or the camera. I may be wrong though.

similar problem
I bought a used Nexus 5 which suffered water damage as I later found out. The seller told me, that he used the phone until I bought it. Now when I want to use the phone with my sim, which is a new one, I have a very weak signal. I lose it most of the time. When I use the phone with a sim from another carrier (the same like the seller used) it's working fine. The phone also works with a third carrier but not with the one I want to use. There is also another phenomenon: when I take of the back cover, the signal becomes much stronger, still not good but much better. The sim is ok, because I use it now with my old phone and have no problems with the connection. Has anyone an idea where the problem could be?
I’m thankful for any help.

Excellent signal after reconnecting antenna
Thanks for the tip! I dropped my phone some weeks ago and since than I got bad reception, usually only EDGE and only outdoors but not really reliable. I had the chance to test my sim card in my friend's phone and with that I got excellent connection (40Mbps). I tryed factory reset but it did not help.
Solution:
After removing the plastic cover above the battery with a phillips #00 screwdriver I found that the antennas were not properly connected (the black and the white cables). I snapped them back to place, and after that my phone was able to connect to LTE.

I am super interested in this topic. I actually have a nexus 5(which has since been replaced by another nexus 5) that got some water damage on it from being in my clothes when they were hosed down. everything on the phone works, wifi, gps, speakers etc except cell signal. I get it sometimes for barely a second and then it is gone again. My thinking here is that my antenna is shot.
Anyone ever find out if this is a part that can be replaced? Would love to have two working nexus 5's just in case I need one as a back up or something.

Oh well! a bit over a year ago I stopped getting LTE and H from my carrier, tried everything and nothing worked, I guessed it was a factory defect and surrendered because I imported the device and couldn't send it thru warranty. I tried another carrier SIM and it did get at least H (no LTE however) so I switched to that carrier cause i wasnt gonna live with EDGE only, and I've been living like that for 14 months until now that I stumbled upon this thread, opened my N5, found out that same right cable antenna was not well connected, put it back where it belongs, now im getting full LTE, and I wanna kill myself! If I had noticed this before I wouldn't have had to go thru the mess of switching carriers and having to pay a more expensive plan! LMAO either way THANKS! Finally back on LTE !!!

Could you please tell how this antenna looks like? A photo of that would help me to fix my issue,. I have dropped my phone and I get as no service with signal strength as 0. Did u face this before u fixed ur antenna?

[Q] No GPS After Screen Replacement

I bought a cheap screen replacement off eBay for $47. The replacement screen had no copper foil on the back like the original. While reassembling, I broke the top small pin off to the far left of the rear camera.
The phone now has no GPS, extremely weak WiFi ( only works when <5 feet from the router), and Bluetooth signal is extremely weak.
Everything else works fine.
Any idea how I can get GPS, WiFi, and Bluetooth working again?

JKSurf said:
I bought a cheap screen replacement off eBay for $47. The replacement screen had no copper foil on the back like the original. While reassembling, I broke the top small pin off to the far left of the rear camera.
The phone now has no GPS, extremely weak WiFi ( only works when <5 feet from the router), and Bluetooth signal is extremely weak.
Everything else works fine.
Any idea how I can get GPS, WiFi, and Bluetooth working again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By repairing/fixing it properly? I mean you answered your own question where is the issue. Maybe the shielding also plays into it.

Ok well I guess my questions are:
Has anyone been able to replace the left pin in the picture?
Or been able to rig a substitute?
Does this pin control GPS, Wifi, and Bluetooth?

JKSurf said:
Ok well I guess my questions are:
Has anyone been able to replace the left pin in the picture?
Or been able to rig a substitute?
Does this pin control GPS, Wifi, and Bluetooth?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the pin contacts with the battery cover that acts as an antenna, you can try use wire to solder it from the phone to the battery cover to reconnect it.

Wow! I have same problem!
 @JKSurf
But in my case: I did screen replacement at mobile store.
About GPS gone - technician said to me, that this is because I have corrosive damage from water in my Oneplus.
I didn't believe him - at home opened the phone - no corrosive damage. But I have this "bridge to antenna" gone like you. I have another Oneplus (for parts only) - there was 2 antennas. So this is definitely the problem.
Did you solved it?

Calling works sometimes, no network available most of the time

My original OnePlus One worked great in my area, my Moto E also get's signal all the time so this is not a network coverage issue. I have an OPO that will let me make calls perfectly with great clarity, and then a moment later will say it does cannot find a signal. If left on it will mostly have no signal but after a few power cycles boom there you go, full signal! I would think it was an antenna issue except when it does work I have full signal, not a weak signal like on my old S3 with antenna issues.
I am hoping this is just a modem issue that can be fixed by flashing the latest stock rom/modem but I am hoping I can get some input on the problem.
Thanks for your time!

earmuffs said:
My original OnePlus One worked great in my area, my Moto E also get's signal all the time so this is not a network coverage issue. I have an OPO that will let me make calls perfectly with great clarity, and then a moment later will say it does cannot find a signal. If left on it will mostly have no signal but after a few power cycles boom there you go, full signal! I would think it was an antenna issue except when it does work I have full signal, not a weak signal like on my old S3 with antenna issues.
I am hoping this is just a modem issue that can be fixed by flashing the latest stock rom/modem but I am hoping I can get some input on the problem.
Thanks for your time!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you dropped the device? it could be hardware.....too. Have you tried different modems or not? If not that would be a start. (https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-one/general/firmware-modem-oneplus-one-t3462214). If the modems dont help then here what i would check...only if you confident.
Open the OPO and make sure the screws have not come lose as sometimes that can cause issues with signal.
Recently i has something similar but no as bad as you, i ended up replacing the, Speaker Antenna module, microphone flex. you could also replace the coax- i was suppose to be but the one i got sent was too long so i had to stick with the original one.
This is what they ebay guy sent me before i replaced the parts:
first thing to replace is the Coaxial cable (which carry's signal), check both coaxial sockets and the ports on the board it connects to
-Second (like you said) Mic Flex, although it is a tough call between the lower speaker unit and the mic flex as they are equally as likley to be at fault)
the speaker unit contains the GSM Antenna, the Mic flex simply takes the Signal to the main board from the speaker Module.
both would be Ideal unless you have time. speaker unit is relatively cheap.
finally check for any lose connections or wear to any of the Gold inside the phone where it makes a connection, using some wet and dry sandpaper rub the Gold plates Very very lightly to reveal a shinny Gold, some on the mic flex, some on the speaker unit, some on the other flex's,
and finally tighten all screws properly, often the screws can work their way out, pulling the connections away from each other.
I would suggest check the connection and wear to the gold as mentioned if u dont want to replace the parts. I found that the coax on mine has been disconnected on one end so i fixed this but it didnt help hence i ended up replacing the parts.

Service was spotty for me too.. I would have LTE and then the next second EDGE or no service at all. I eventually had to fastboot flash CyanogenOS 13 (latest stock for our device) and start over but it fixed my problem. I have not had a problem since.