Hi,
I have a Motorola G Play and what I desire to do is to remove the motherboard and take the components that provide the wifi, 4g, and bluetooth capabilities to the phone.
I have never done this before and I understand that the tool to use is the soldering iron. I've never used one of those before either.
I wondered if anyone had any experience with this or where I should find the diagram for the motherboard. I understand that the bluetooth and 4g run on the same current, and if you disable one then you disable the other. But I don't know if it compromises anything else dependant on the current.
If you have any experience or information, it would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Welcome to XDA
You'll destroy that mobo... guaranteed
Unless you have specialized and very expensive equipment as well as intimate knowledge of the components involved, this will be an impossible undertaking.
The communications module is integrated into the SoC, for which the design and diagrams are proprietary intellectual property.
My recommendation: Abandon this idea and get yourself a Raspberry Pi.
I like your attitude, but as @V0latyle says most of that stuff is integrated into the SoC and you're not going to get that with a soldering iron.
The Raspberry Pi is not a bad suggestion.
If you want to go low-level I suggest you pick one, WiFi or Bluetooth to start.
There are lots of modules that do this.
You can also do Bluetooth peripherals.
Why not even start with USB peripherals, there's a lot of fun there.
If your goal is to disable the transmitters you could disable all wireless then try finding the antennas and detach them. Avoid unsoldering anything from the mobo as they are easy to damage by poor technique.
I don't see the point though...
I do a lot of sensitive work and I use smartphones for the convenience. They run the apps I need but apps leak and apps steak and apps make a backdoor for "hackers" (i.e. cops) who want valuable intellectual property or intelligence that's digital and easy to steal-store-sell or adopt.
Instead of rooting, which I Am not opposed to, I thought maybe I could find the components for signal processing and disable them but leaving the rest of the processes intact.
Renate said:
I like your attitude, but as @V0latyle says most of that stuff is integrated into the SoC and you're not going to get that with a soldering iron.
The Raspberry Pi is not a bad suggestion.
If you want to go low-level I suggest you pick one, WiFi or Bluetooth to start.
There are lots of modules that do this.
You can also do Bluetooth peripherals.
Why not even start with USB peripherals, there's a lot of fun there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Renate,
I'm not sure I understand; I'm really new to this--by peripheral do you mean to connect other devices? Such as a keyboard? I Am looking to disconnect ALL signals to and from the phone without disrupting it's ability to run apps or store data.
I cannot take any risk of "hackers" stealing data via any radio waves of any kind.
93Nietzsche said:
Hi Renate,
I'm not sure I understand; I'm really new to this--by peripheral do you mean to connect other devices? Such as a keyboard? I Am looking to disconnect ALL signals to and from the phone without disrupting it's ability to run apps or store data.
I cannot take any risk of "hackers" stealing data via any radio waves of any kind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then make sure your traffic is encrypted. Bluetooth does this automatically, and most WiFi networks are encrypted too.
Better yet, go off grid and don't use a smart device at all.
I build precision microelectronics for a living. You will not be able to accomplish what you want to do with a soldering iron. Those boards are manufactured by million dollar machines in a tightly controlled process. Smartphones are not hand soldered, and any repairs involve replacement of complete assemblies.
Since the comms module is integrated into the processor, the only thing you can do is disable those functions in Android - but that won't fully disable everything.
So, you have a choice to make. Either accept the fact that the convenience of being connected comes at the cost of privacy and exposure...Or, you can completely sever yourself from the Internet. Take your money out of the bank and store hard cash in a vault. Use only cash for your transactions. Never keep anything in any digital form unless it's fully contained in a certified Faraday cage.
If you take apart your phone you'll see the antenna connections.
There are two types, tiny round ufl coax connectors and gold spring pins that go to sticky antennas.
You can pull up all the matte black sticky antennas.
If you have ufl connectors you can burn your bridges and put a solder blob in the center.
Usually the antennas go by band, so if you kill WiFi you'll also kill Bluetooth and maybe GPS.
Renate said:
If you take apart your phone you'll see the antenna connections.
There are two types, tiny round ufl coax connectors and gold spring pins that go to sticky antennas.
You can pull up all the matte black sticky antennas.
If you have ufl connectors you can burn your bridges and put a solder blob in the center.
Usually the antennas go by band, so if you kill WiFi you'll also kill Bluetooth and maybe GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is, most antennas are printed on the board, there probably won't be any connectors at all.
V0latyle said:
The problem is, most antennas are printed on the board, there probably won't be any connectors at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? I've seen a lot of "hairpins" and "wiggles" right on the PCB on WiFi and Bluetooth modules (makes the FCC or other acceptance easier).
Most of the Androids I've gutted have black stickies or metal strips inset into the plastic.
Renate said:
Really? I've seen a lot of "hairpins" and "wiggles" right on the PCB on WiFi and Bluetooth modules (makes the FCC or other acceptance easier).
Most of the Androids I've gutted have black stickies or metal strips inset into the plastic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are multiple ones and in Samsung's some are in bizarre places.
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I can see a Faraday cage in the OP's future...
Renate said:
If you take apart your phone you'll see the antenna connections.
There are two types, tiny round ufl coax connectors and gold spring pins that go to sticky antennas.
You can pull up all the matte black sticky antennas.
If you have ufl connectors you can burn your bridges and put a solder blob in the center.
Usually the antennas go by band, so if you kill WiFi you'll also kill Bluetooth and maybe GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thank you. I have another cheap Android around here and I'll experiment with that one. I have a heat gun and screwdriver kit on the way. This is a priority for those of us who use electronics for intelligence or sensitive proprietary data who are not government employees or Fortune 500 employees.
It is very easy for law enforcement to get into your electronics. They have supposedly made over $200,000 on My work before I had an opportunity to earn anything at all. They even intercept emails, adjust social media accounts, etc, while getting copycats of your ideas up and running. So this is a priority for Me. Thanks for the advice.
-93Nietzsche
Related
Just spent about 30 mins hacking the supplied headphone cable to take any 3.5mm and it was very, very easy.
The buttons unclick off the control unit with no damage and with a bit of careful prying the board will come out of the housing.
Add a female 3.5mm from the end of a extension lead and you have a lead with full controls and mic with any headphones.
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Hey,
could you please elaborate on this?
If you need elaborating on what he just wrote... maybe you should not do what he did. Hacking stuff needs a certain amount of practical sense.
hmm.. Well, am just new to Android.. I have done a lot of modding with some Sony Ericsson's. Not sure, if you are aware of se-nse forums.
But, yes never tried hardware modding. hence the elaboration required.
Hey
I am interested about that but I don't speak english very well and cannot understand all what you wrote...
Is there anyway you can make a video ?
Just try carefully taking off the three buttons and all will become clear. You can do this without damaging the unit and if you decide against doing the mod just put the buttons back on, no harm done.
There is a small printed circuit board held in with soft glue, a bit of prying will get it out and on the reverse you will be able to see the headphone leads.
Desolder the leads, taking note of right, left and polarity. Prepare your female 3.5mm by first passing the end through the hole in the housing, then stripping just enough cable to allow re-soldering, you may need to double up the shield side to both right and left.
Once this is done you can check correct operation before reassembly which is the reverse of dismantling.
When attaching the buttons remember to point the arrow on the centre play/pause/answer button in the direction of the FF side.
MG
pretty much what i didwith the terrible headphones back in the days with my g1/adp. check for cheap extension leads, the have nice connectors sometimes - looks better then the usual self-soldier screw ones.
Thanks for the advice, now try to make myself such headphones.
Thanks for the advice,
Thanx guna try this
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA Premium App
HTC RC E160 / Creative EP 630 Zombie Headphones - sounds good!
Thanks for the inspiration.
As one can get the HTC RC E160 really cheap (EUR 4,50), I ordered two and gave it a try. In contrast to the OP, I did not manage to make proper connections to the small printed circuit - glue all over, and everything much too tiny for my soldering skills...
I found it much easier to just swap the speaker capsules with an old EP 630 (which had a broken cable, my family's standard earphone). Both the HTC's and the Creative's capsules open really easy, and you already have stripped, tinned wires and nice (not so tiny) soldering pads.
Just be careful when pulling out the cables and don't forget to re-add the knots before soldering.
Heinz
How about making a video ?
Yes, Please make a video for this hack, I hope then our doubt will be clear
Sorry, I don't have the parts to repeat all steps in a video.
But I opened it again for you and took another picture. Please note the black cable in an otherwise white body my doubtful readers...
These are the exact steps:
On the EP 630 side:
Pry the metal ring loose carfully using a knife and remove it.
Now you can pull out the sound driver easily.
Unsolder, cut and remove the cables.
On the HTC side:
Deform the earplug gently until the metal capsule pops out (I used a 200g hammer - we are only interested in the cables!)
Pull out the cable some centimeters using a tweezer (don't just pull on the metal capsule or the solder joints will break).
Unsolder the cables.
Unknot the cables and pull them out.
Guide them trough the tube of the EP 630 body.
Knot them again.
Solder them to the pads on the EP 630 driver. (Be sure not to cross polarity on your left and right ear which will probably sound bad. There seems to by a red color code near the "plus" pad. Connect the solid green or solid red wire here. The other one - solid nothing or striped green - seems to be ground.
Re-assemble the plugs (the metal ring holds everything in place).
Regards,
Heinz
Thx Heinz!
I like this and might have to give it ago myself....... will report back if successful
this post inspired me...gonna to do this
Neat trick, Very useful considering the lack of choice of 3 button Android compatible headphones. Do you know if this reduces the quality of sound in mid range headphones?
Thanks
From Russia with love by my HTC Desire S
bongo1 said:
Neat trick, Very useful considering the lack of choice of 3 button Android compatible headphones. Do you know if this reduces the quality of sound in mid range headphones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
depends how you do it if properly, then there will be no quality reduction, regardless of the range of headphones. there's really little you can do wrong.
Nicely done
So I recently accomplished the unbrickable mod for the SGS4G and I wanted to provide some info and a story so that you guys can see what it takes to do the mod, and get some laughs about how badly I almost messed up my phone.
Here is the link to Adam's post, in case you haven't seen it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1333424
At the outset, you should know that I attempted this mod with the help of my friend, who has some experience soldering surface mount components, and has a rather nice temperature-controlled soldering iron, solder paste, clips, a flux pen, magnifying glasses, tweezers, and a jeweler's loupe. My point is that we went into this with a pretty decent set of tools.
Step 1: Naïveté
After some careful thought, we attempted the mod and thought we had it. However, even with the loupe and other magnification equipment, we couldn't really see what was going on at these sizes. The phone booted, and I wasn't totally sure how the phone would behave unplugged. Plus we both had kinda run out of time for the day, so we called it tentatively good.
Step 2: Inspection
I happen to have a high megapixel camera with a macro lens, so later that day, I was able to get a suitable inspection picture and confirm that the mod did not take properly. It turns out that we had shorted the OM5 resistor, and this was causing the phone to operate normally, instead of being modded.
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Step 3: Stupidity
Once I realized that the mod didn't take, I was disappointed and wanted to fix it. In my haste, I pulled out my RadioShack Cat No. 64-2067C soldering iron with the thought that I could maybe just touch the OM5 pad and get it to flow. Well, it turns out that cheap soldering irons are f-ing HOT and it immediately melted the adjacent resistor off its plastic(?) pad, which was now white. Oh, and the phone was now hard-bricked.
Step 4: Entropy
I called my friend for an emergency soldering operation. This time I brought my camera with me. We quickly cleaned off the solder. But now we had two effectively lifted resistors and decided we needed to come up with a recovery strategy. Based on looking at the pictures, we came up with a notional schematic. Unfortunately, in the process of probing with a multimeter to try to determine some resistance values, another resistor popped off. Well, damnit. We measured this resistor at 100k-ohms. So these look like protective resistors for what is probably a high-impedance input.
Step 5: Cleanup
We realized that the OM5 bridge was still there. This was based on a resistance measurement and you can see a bead of solder in the picture above which looks like it was still making a connection. We went in to try to get this solder to flow.
Step 6: Square One. Or Negative 2.
Things are getting bad. Two missing resistors, and our eyes are getting tired. Spouses are getting antsy. We decide the best way to move forward is to try to get a small bead of solder onto the tip of the iron, and try to create bridges where the resistors were. The first one was a success:
Step 7: Are You Kidding.
Well, with that rather clean-looking success, despite the fact that what happened above was largely due to good luck, we decided to keep going with this approach. We couldn't think of anything else to do... Unfortunately, we didn't know how to get a small enough blob of solder onto the gun, and the next blob was a little too big:
Step 8: Square Negative 3
What is immediately clear in the above picture is that we are completely screwed. Another resistor has lifted, and there is a sea of solder shorting the remaining resistors, and if you look closely, you can see two of the resistors floating together in the solder tsunami.
Step 9: Patience
We cleaned this up, and with some luck, were able to reestablish one of the connections. We still felt kind of lucky about that, and decided we needed to try another approach if we were going to proceed.
Here is an attempt at solder paste. Which basically was too messy to difficult to apply at this scale:
Also, notice the beads of solder in the solder paste. This is not normally what solder paste looks like to the naked eye.
Step 10: Slow Progress
We figured out we could reflow already-melted solder that was hanging around the station on some paper, and with some mushing and chopping motions with the iron tip on the paper, we could subdivide the solder into smaller and smaller quantities until we had a very tiny sliver floating on the end of the iron. We started doing this:
Step 11: Victory
Repeating this process with the solder beads bit by bit, we carefully added solder until we had the configuration we wanted. This was tricky, because surface tension wanted to keep the solder of the solder-resist. Also heat conduction would sometimes cause adjacent solder to flow when we didn't want to. First, we had this:
Yes, a mess. But we had determined through our schematic analysis that the left four resistors were originally grounded, so as long as we preserved a connection on the top middle resistor (above OM5) and prevented a solder bridge forming on OM5 itself, we were good to go. Now to work on the high pins:
Close....
Got it. This may look like a hot mess. And it is. However, notice that there is electrical separation between the logic level low inputs (connected by the upside-down L shaped glob on the left) and the logic level high inputs (connected by a glob which looks like maybe and Android robot doing a situp).
We booted the phone, and we had it. Successful mod.
Step 12: Denouement / Lessons Learned
To perform this mod successfully, you need to have access to good equipment. Visual inspection at these sizes is going to be difficult, especially if you start to get discoloration and other things making the image confusing to your brain.
Performing this modification requires a pretty high level of soldering expertise. These resistors are not much wider than a strand of copper speaker wire.
Have a way to verify your work. Like a camera, USB microscope, or some other way to get a good look at what you've done. Even with the loupe, this stuff was hard to see.
Be patient. Be aware of what surface tension is going to do, and what effect using flux will have. Practice on something if you have it.
If you are getting tired or fatigued, walk away for a minute and come back to it.
If you find yourself in crisis, think through the problem so you know how to define success.
Adam's guide in this forum is rather brief. However, he has references at the bottom that lead to quite a bit more information about what he has done. This information is valuable and can help you understand what is going on. I would review these references at least a little bit before you get started on this mod.
You can solder anything.
Here is a picture to help with scale:
Wow the scale made it look a lot harder.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda premium
Quite the adventure bro! I use a Hakko soldering station (var. temps). Works wonders. A little desoldering wire and flux are key. Glad you got it going! I've done the same thing in the past lol Literally a hot mess My only concern would be the 2 missing resistors. Good work. Thanks for the post!
thegoo said:
Quite the adventure bro! I use a Hakko soldering station (var. temps). Works wonders. A little desoldering wire and flux are key. Glad you got it going! I've done the same thing in the past lol Literally a hot mess My only concern would be the 2 missing resistors. Good work. Thanks for the post!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, my friend had a variable temp soldering iron too. We did a lot of the work at lower temps than usual in the hopes that the solder would be "stickier."
I was a little worried about the reistors too, and it may shorten battery life a bit, but there are probably resistors on the inside of the chip and they are likely high impedance (inputs usually are), so I doubt I will see a difference. On something like an ARM i would guess they would be rather high--i'm going to go ahead and guess 1M-ohm. I should look it up. Noise immunity should not be too much of an issue for configuration pins, and, well if a short develops inside the chip I suppose it could cause more damage than might normally happen but honestly if that were to happen the phone would probably be toast.
Hi, yesterday i open my gtab and i saw the wifi antena its very small
Is there any way to change it? or amplyfi the wifi signal by changing it?
I was thinking changing for one of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1pc-New-Lap...ectional_Network_Antennas&hash=item5ae928d096
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1pc-Laptop-...ectional_Network_Antennas&hash=item5ae6213b5f
http://www.ebay.com/itm/U-FL-Mini-P...ectional_Network_Antennas&hash=item4cf5ef6d82
I think this its the best:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/U-fl-Laird-...ectional_Network_Antennas&hash=item416946edf8
Problem solved (Antenna) i will get one OMNIDIRECTIONAL ANTENNA 9bi and try to get inside the tablet, i will post pictures by request.
anyone?
A solution for you would be this:
buy one of these (dont have to use fleabay of course, but it must be IPX to RP-SMA)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/U-fl-IPX-to...824?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4a9fb5aa28
drill a hole on top/side to fit perfectly and screw it in, the ipx end will attach (snap on) to the motherboard.
then you can buy one of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/7dbi-2-4GHz...ectional_Network_Antennas&hash=item45fbc0cf30
or you could even get one of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Netgear-Pro...ectional_Network_Antennas&hash=item415fa80efb
this one would not be portable but you would have a great signal!!
your only requirements are the IPX connector and an RP-sma adapter if the antenna you buy does not have an Rp-sma connector
Our antenna is like the second one I linked, just way smaller, probably 2 or 3 dbi.
In terms of signal, every 3dbi is a double in gain, so a 7db would be double or triple stock antenna strength
You have the right idea, but anything less than 5db would be a waste of time, you wont notice much, and the patch antennas are directional. The external rabbit ear type will receive from any direction
to mods: I am not a vendor and I hope linking to fleabay is not against the rules. I will change if needed.
redeyedjedi said:
A solution for you would be this:
buy one of these (dont have to use fleabay of course, but it must be IPX to RP-SMA)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/U-fl-IPX-to...824?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4a9fb5aa28
drill a hole on top/side to fit perfectly and screw it in, the ipx end will attach (snap on) to the motherboard.
then you can buy one of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/7dbi-2-4GHz...ectional_Network_Antennas&hash=item45fbc0cf30
or you could even get one of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Netgear-Pro...ectional_Network_Antennas&hash=item415fa80efb
this one would not be portable but you would have a great signal!!
your only requirements are the IPX connector and an RP-sma adapter if the antenna you buy does not have an Rp-sma connector
Our antenna is like the second one I linked, just way smaller, probably 2 or 3 dbi.
In terms of signal, every 3dbi is a double in gain, so a 7db would be double or triple stock antenna strength
You have the right idea, but anything less than 5db would be a waste of time, you wont notice much, and the patch antennas are directional. The external rabbit ear type will receive from any direction
to mods: I am not a vendor and I hope linking to fleabay is not against the rules. I will change if needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you say your antenna its 2 or 3dbi (
Our antenna is like the second one I linked, just way smaller, probably 2 or 3 dbi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
)
but also say
but anything less than 5db would be a waste of time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so, what about your antenna? did you see any difference from stock antenna?
i dont want to have any external antenna, because i use it most of times with some of my clients, and having some external antenna takes the "stylish" thing to the g-tablet, i have even consider to buy some carbon fiber for the back
so you say that the last option i consider (the black internal antenna rectangle) will be useless? or worst than the stock antenna?
can you send me a picture of the work you made with your tablet?
NO, the STOCK antenna is 2 or 3 dbi. If you upgrade to a 4dbi like the one you linked to, you will not notice a difference, but if you went up to 5dbi or 6 or 7, you will notice an improvement. They make patch antennas which may fit inside our tab, but if you do not get at least 5, it is a waste of time. I have not changed mine, but I have a lot of PC experience getting people wifi from long range. I have even set up a connection two miles away using a 24dbi dish from an mmds system. I am just saying that wifi reception is based on signal level, measured in DB, and every +3DB is equal to double the reception strength. If you go from our STOCK 3DBi to the one you showed, you will be mad that your signal is the same. go to atleast 5, and you will see a difference. Some people think their wifi is crappy because they do not realize our STOCK antenna is directional, and if facing the wrong way, signal will be weak. I only suggest the external antenna for a more noticeable improvement. You will have to choose style over strength or vice-versa.
redeyedjedi said:
NO, the STOCK antenna is 2 or 3 dbi. If you upgrade to a 4dbi like the one you linked to, you will not notice a difference, but if you went up to 5dbi or 6 or 7, you will notice an improvement. They make patch antennas which may fit inside our tab, but if you do not get at least 5, it is a waste of time. I have not changed mine, but I have a lot of PC experience getting people wifi from long range. I have even set up a connection two miles away using a 24dbi dish from an mmds system. I am just saying that wifi reception is based on signal level, measured in DB, and every +3DB is equal to double the reception strength. If you go from our STOCK 3DBi to the one you showed, you will be mad that your signal is the same. go to atleast 5, and you will see a difference. Some people think their wifi is crappy because they do not realize our STOCK antenna is directional, and if facing the wrong way, signal will be weak. I only suggest the external antenna for a more noticeable improvement. You will have to choose style over strength or vice-versa.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats great info! i made a research
and as you say, omnidirectional will be best option
so, instead of having an EXTERNAL antenna as you suggested
why no put inside the tablet?
will work the same right? and will be omnidirectional , right?
as the space inside gtablet with the both plastic covers isnt that much
i tought this its my best option:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-4GHz-7dbi...090?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f05ccd302
+
http://www.ebay.com/itm/RP-SMA-fema...761?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ab4023a39
I will just dismantle it, and make it happen inside the tablet (the plastic cover around antenna its useless right?its just for protection? since will be inside tablet no need protection, right?)
another options are this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Lin...ectional_Network_Antennas&hash=item1e677a7dd1 (this its directional only, will be that bad?) (but its ufl/ipx :good
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-Band-2...ectional_Network_Antennas&hash=item20c639d4fb (cheapest but 1 dbi less, its that much difference?)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/7dBi-Linksy...ectional_Network_Antennas&hash=item1e6e6818b5
As your an expert in this specific area, what do you suggest me from this options?
I know Linksys its a great company for wireless solutions, right?
but ,chinese omnidirectional 7dbi vs Linksys directional 7dbi
What you think will be better for my specific case? I know its hard, since its omni vs directional antenna, and also no-brand vs good company
Hope you can help me with this last questions
thanks
Get the cheapest one you can find. Actually, get 2 of them. All they are is a wire which is cut to the right wavelength, and they have a ball shaped ground plane towards the bottom. If you get one from a router, it will even have an IPX connector on the end of it already. I say get 2 because if you are careful, you can cut the outer rubber/plastic away and have just the wire, which will easily fit inside the gtab case, and still work even if you curl it around. They are really cheap, so if you get 2, you can mess up on 1, and still have the other.
redeyedjedi said:
Get the cheapest one you can find. Actually, get 2 of them. All they are is a wire which is cut to the right wavelength, and they have a ball shaped ground plane towards the bottom. If you get one from a router, it will even have an IPX connector on the end of it already. I say get 2 because if you are careful, you can cut the outer rubber/plastic away and have just the wire, which will easily fit inside the gtab case, and still work even if you curl it around. They are really cheap, so if you get 2, you can mess up on 1, and still have the other.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THATS EXCELLENT NEWS FOR ME!
just one last dub!
you say
curl it around
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you mean like CURVED as an L or U (like in the picture)?
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like the image above?
and will work the same?
If it does will work the same, then i can buy a higher DBI antenna, and just curve it as an L in the angle of the Gtablet
i saw 17dbi antenna that are 20-30cm something lenght
so i can curve in the angle, and will fit great inside tablet
i'm right?
yes, you're right. If it is the right wavelength it will work, as long as it will fit. a 17dbi would be longer than that though, sounds like a FAKE. ALFA makes one that is 9dbi, thats the best REAL one I have seen.
redeyedjedi said:
yes, you're right. If it is the right wavelength it will work, as long as it will fit. a 17dbi would be longer than that though, sounds like a FAKE. ALFA makes one that is 9dbi, thats the best REAL one I have seen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
could you send me some ebay link for that one your talking (9dbi)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/WiFi-Wirele...ectional_Network_Antennas&hash=item45fa984463
This is not a cheapo chinese, be careful taking the plastic off. I own one of these, it works great, look at all that have been sold already.
old thread dig up
Any updates on this, I hate my WiFi connection, anyone got any pic
timritchieblue said:
Any updates on this, I hate my WiFi connection, anyone got any pic
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i test a DIY wifi antenna, and didnt work better
but it work
so, yes, you can change with a better antenna
its just that a better antenna will be 10$+ and actually i dont want to spend that money just for an antenna
GPS FIX FOR HTC DESIRE S
FIRST OF ALL! This is not my idea! Original thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2263078
I just wanted to make a better thread with pictures so people can see it better
And i don't actually use this phone.
Just using my old nokia
Guys i want to make a clear instruction for you if you are having trouble with your gps.
The problems with the phone before i did the fix:
- GPS not locking at all!
- GPS can't find any satellites!
- Endless waiting just to find (with luck) 1 satellite!
And now after i did this fix:
- GPS finds 5/6 satellite under 1 minute. (if you are in a good area sometimes 7/8.
- GPS Locks constantly. even when it finds less satellites.
- Navigation works perfect
And WIFI is now stronger. Now i can connect to the router from a longer distance. outside the house the wifi router still gives me full great signal
did not effect the battery life
Warning!!!!
Before You Begin. Iam not responsible for broken devices. You just gotta be gentle with it! And use your brains
Instructions With pictures:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry6Dj5JPcvY
Watch this Video! At 0:52 seconds The only thing you need to do is remove the camera cover.
Don't unscrew anything!
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Video for proof:
http://youtu.be/CPfRNOY2phg
THANKS To: hirsty19784 ( for his idea ) :good:
Original Thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2263078
antenna on battery cover is for GSM/3G....wifi and GPS are under camera cover
441Excelsior said:
antenna on battery cover is for GSM/3G....wifi and GPS are under camera cover
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have read in the forums that the battery cover is also cooperating with the GPS. I couldn't find anything good in google that shows where the gps and wifi antenna's are. But the good thing is that this fix works for me.
thank you soo much! Tried it today and worked!
I also put aluminium in these antenna's.
I can't watch the youtube video, it says "private".
The pictures' quality is very poor, couldn't you make better ones? Thank you
And, last question, do we have to unscrew something to open the phone in that way?
Giaki said:
I can't watch the youtube video, it says "private".
The pictures' quality is very poor, couldn't you make better ones? Thank you
And, last question, do we have to unscrew something to open the phone in that way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Videos is now Fixed!
Sorry for the poor photo quality. I am not able to make better pictures.
Maybe as soon as possible i will get a new camera. So i can make new ones.
And no you don't have to unscrew anything.
Watch this Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry6Dj5JPcvY
At 0:52 seconds you can see how you can remove the camera cover.
Thanks a lot for sharing. It fixed my WiFi!! It was broken after severel throw downs :victory:
It's not so easy to open the camera cover, because of the glue under the cover.
I put two little pieces of aluminium over the contacts, but the wi-fi cover doesn't seem to be changed.
I'll try later with the gps antenna signal.
Anyway thank you for the tips and the guide.
I noticed a boost on my 3G signal level when I bent a little bit those pins under the batter cover, then I added two small pieces of aluminium foil on the battery cover, over the "golden" contact pins
View attachment 2035611
Warning against this mod!!!!!
I would be seriously cautious about modding your phone in this way, you can cause damage!!!!
Anyone who knows about transmitters will tell you that a transmitter needs a tuned antenna or it will suffer poor performance at best and damage at worst!
The gps unit although not a transmitter is very close to the other antennas and sticking foil inside your phone on just that antenna could still cause reflection of RF energy from the other units.
modding the antennas in any way of the transmitters within the phone is even more likely to cause damage, adding the foil changes the electrical characteristics of the antenna and what is called "SWR" (standing wave ratio).
When an antenna and feedline do not have matching impedances, some of the electrical energy cannot be transferred from the feedline to the antenna. Energy not transferred to the antenna is reflected back towards the transmitter. It is the interaction of these reflected waves with forward waves which causes standing wave patterns. Reflected power has three main implications in radio transmitters: Radio Frequency (RF) energy losses increase, distortion on transmitter due to reflected power from load and damage to the transmitter can occur.
So, mod your antennas at your peril.
Bending or cleaning the spring contacts that connect to the antennas will do no harm and could actually improve the connection but anything else comes with potential risks.
Steve.
Thanks Man! My wifi signal is now much stronger!
But sometimes when iam in a bad area the wifi drops a little bit... and goes up again.
The gps fix worked a bit faster. And my 3g boosted up a little bit.i have no idea how that happend but it's awesome!
It didn't give me a huge boost but it kinda boosted every thing a little bit up!
Thanks, this boosted all my signals, as I didn't know yet where the antenna's were located.
Tried this fix but honestly it didn't improve any signal, it did not make it worse either. Maybe it's a aluminium foil quality thing
send from my desire s
steve_htc_wizard said:
I would be seriously cautious about modding your phone in this way, you can cause damage!!!!
Anyone who knows about transmitters will tell you that a transmitter needs a tuned antenna or it will suffer poor performance at best and damage at worst!
The gps unit although not a transmitter is very close to the other antennas and sticking foil inside your phone on just that antenna could still cause reflection of RF energy from the other units.
modding the antennas in any way of the transmitters within the phone is even more likely to cause damage, adding the foil changes the electrical characteristics of the antenna and what is called "SWR" (standing wave ratio).
When an antenna and feedline do not have matching impedances, some of the electrical energy cannot be transferred from the feedline to the antenna. Energy not transferred to the antenna is reflected back towards the transmitter. It is the interaction of these reflected waves with forward waves which causes standing wave patterns. Reflected power has three main implications in radio transmitters: Radio Frequency (RF) energy losses increase, distortion on transmitter due to reflected power from load and damage to the transmitter can occur.
So, mod your antennas at your peril.
Bending or cleaning the spring contacts that connect to the antennas will do no harm and could actually improve the connection but anything else comes with potential risks.
Steve.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I completely agree with the above statement this is dangerous and may also make your signal directional (so good for one direction - away from the foil side and terrible for all other possible directions) - trust me you dont wanna be the idiot standing in a room trying to "aim" your phone for good signal. Plus there is an agps fix available at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1442032 which is much safer and definitely works locks up to 13 satelites and atains lock in about 7 to 15 seconds for me. It further speed things up by eliminating SSL encryption when it gets the network time NTP to use for GPS location fixing. As for WiFi get a better router and maybe update the radio software both easy to do and explained in detail on XDA forums, and more likely to work.
Thanks for Your article. I didn't tap a foil, but i just scrached joints. It bring my gps to life
This is what i did please correct me if is wrong if alu folia can damage something?
After that tested gps, had 0 satelites before this and now
My router in room is about 2 meters far from my bed and chair and signal was like this now that signal is from outside 7 meters trough 3 thick walls
and inside is
Thanks guys
I chose the Z1 Compact as I like to run/bike with my phone; not so that I can use things like Strava/RunKeeper/Endomondo etc but becuase I
a. listen to music
b. take calls
c. take photos
d. like my loved ones to track me in case of emergency
e. make calls in case of emergency
etc
So the high spec, waterproofness and size really appealled to me
And I have to say.. it is proving a delight.
I have now finalised my run/bike setup and thought you guys might be interested in the set up.
Photos attached
Run:
Armband: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-Xperia-Z1-Compact-Shocksock/dp/B00HUGVTIE
I have tried various armband cases over the decades (!!) but this one I have for the Z1 Compact is the best to date (and one of the cheapest)
It has a nice amount of stretch, a little key pocket and nice velcro closure that doesn't rub.
I would say though that it is not a tight fit in the armband case (it is NOT custom made for the phone).. but that is fine with me as I can easily slip in and out, it works with my normal case I have for the phone, and is still secure and not had issues on long runs (+20k)
If you want the smallest possible case for the phone then look elsewhere
The screen is responsive enough through the clear screen, but as with all the cases, the power button of the phone is in a bit of an awkward position
Bike:
Handlebar case: http://topeak.com/products/bags/smartphone_drybag_5in_bk2
Why bother with a waterproof case?
Well.. I suppose I didn't really need to, but I wanted something for the handlebars that would protect it in case of a fall a bit more, but wouldn't be too bulky. (also.. I could be on the bike in the rain for upwards of 6hrs.. not sure if the IP rating could handle that!)
The fit is actually perfect: I can just squeese in with the my normal case (Krussel FrostCover) still on. Without the case it is still a nice and snugg fit with no flapping around.
Screen responsive enough through the clear plastic front
The power button is okayish to press on the go
The downside I see with this is that the inbuilt clip on the back means that on bumps it can 'slap' a bit, so I might look at fixing that somehow (the case is good enough that I would want to do that rather than look for another solution)
also, if you wanna take phonts you need to take out of the waterproof case.
Run/Bike:
Headphones: http://www.jaybirdsport.com/bluebuds-x-bluetooth-headphones/
I understand people who say you should not use headphones while running/biking outdoors, but I do like to do it
These bluetooth headphones are the best out there.
Expensive but worth it: can use in the rain, no long cord, answer calls etc.
They have already proven the best sports headphones I have ever bought
The only downside I would say is that the stock earbuds can fall out, so I use comply foam buds (http://www.complyfoam.com/products/S-500/)
That makes the fit perfect and secure (can run for 2hrs without needing to adjust once)
No dropouts.
Hope this is helpful.
I really am in a near perfect place now with my setup.
I first started looking for the ideal set up to run/bike with, in 2002 (using the first phone that I started to run with).. I have finally found it (until the wearable tech means I use something other than a phone in a few years)
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Milkywaye said:
I chose the Z1 Compact as I like to run/bike with my phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for your feedback :good:. Quite similar need for me: day long mountain bike and hike sessions.
I'm curious about any setup allowing charging the phone with a dynamo, but still being waterproof, or anything allowing to extend the battery life for a complete day of use as GPS track recorder and map. I have in mind a setup based on something similar to the Shimano Dynamo Generator Hubs.
Regarding the power button, I hope Tap2Wake & Wake 2 Touch, or any other similar feature, will be soon available for the Z1 Compact.
Scalpos said:
Thank you very much for your feedback :good:. Quite similar need for me: day long mountain bike and hike sessions.
I'm curious about any setup allowing charging the phone with a dynamo, but still being waterproof, or anything allowing to extend the battery life for a complete day of use as GPS track recorder and map. I have in mind a setup based on something similar to the Shimano Dynamo Generator Hubs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah.. the phone batteries are not quite up to the extended rides or ultras.
tbh that is why I use a Garmin Edge for my long rides (i don't need to go longer than that battery allows) and not use my phone for tracking.
in the past I have used different things for keeping the juice of my phone going (additional batteries, external batter packs etc).. but I think this is one of the weaknesses of the phone for that application
[1] the magnets on the magnetic charging socket tend to be weak so on a bike you will probably need to keep on reconnecting or use some sort of tape to tape the socket in place
[2] the normal usb charging socket is in an awkward position.. so the cable would jut out to the side.. but worse.. you lose the waterproofness and more worryingly, the flap is in a dangerously vulnerable position to breakage
[3] no removable battery
If i needed to charge on the go (on the bike) then I would defintely look at utilising the magnetic socket and tape the plug n place.
that would then leave the issue of keeping the phone out of the elements (especially on extended downpours) and for that you would need a different mount to the topeak one (not broad enough to have the charger in the bag as well)
there is also the other issue of amps.. you need to make sure that the phone is being given enough amps to actually charge. not sure a dynamo would do that,.. but those battery packs would if you choose the right one
---
When you do get something sorted.. then post piccies! very interested to see what you come up with
Nice post!
I used the same Topeak case with my late SGS3, which was a very tight fit...
I have used it in different conditions over half a year and found one big nuissance with it. That clear plastic gets foggy from the inside and you have to clean that up every now and then (sealed rolled and everything). And I'm not a neat freak... also I don't have sticks for fingers, so cleaning all of it is just not pleasant...
As for the charging en route... you could still hook the dynamo output by soldering the wires (actually with some connector) to a solar battery - as complimentary powersource to the solar cell. Then charge from that, which gives a more stable output. Worst case scenario is that going downhill may fry a solar battery instead of the phone...