Develop Bugs

[Q] Evo additional antennas?

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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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.

External Antenna

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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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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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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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...
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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.
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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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The TB jack is not a Hirose U.FL. It looks more like a MS-156.

A temporary fix for low signal and slow data speeds!

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.

Question about coaxial plug on R800 motherboard, wifi plug possible?

OK, so I came across a component replacememnt pdf and listed there was a photo with a coaxial plug (photo 1) like what you see in the old wireless cards you could buy for a laptop.. (see photo 2)
My question is if anyone knows if I can plug in an old wifi laptop card antenna to that and if thats for wireless in our devices? I know where the wireless antenna is in our phones but am stumped to what else this plug could be used for... I will be taking my PLAY apart tonight and testing this theory out, I will be shocked if its even remotely related to wifi.....

jgregoryj1 said:
OK, so I came across a component replacememnt pdf and listed there was a photo with a coaxial plug (photo 1) like what you see in the old wireless cards you could buy for a laptop.. (see photo 2)
My question is if anyone knows if I can plug in an old wifi laptop card antenna to that and if thats for wireless in our devices? I know where the wireless antenna is in our phones but am stumped to what else this plug could be used for... I will be taking my PLAY apart tonight and testing this theory out, I will be shocked if its even remotely related to wifi.....
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Click to collapse
why would you want to though? i mean wifi range is good enough as it is

fma965 said:
why would you want to though? i mean wifi range is good enough as it is
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Click to collapse
I have been having constant connection issues with my phone for over a month. I have reflashed the correct doom kernel wifi modules for CDMA and that helps for anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 days then it acts up again. I have FTFd and reinstalled everything from scratch in hopes that helps... which it did but only for like a week. If I sit next to my router its top notch but go in the other room and its dropped to 2 bars and wont stay connected.
I used wire to the underside of the wifi sticker as a sudo antenna and it seemed to give me an extra 30-50 feet of range but after 2 days its abck again. So I took out the wire, and found the pdf I attached. I have confirmed by looking at my old old laptops wireless card antennas inside that they connectors are the same and if I take thge wifi antenna from my laptop and put it to the connect in the PDF it snaps in place but its too big to let me put the phone back together. So lets just say I have a wifi issue that doesnt seem to want to be fixed. And I am just really tired of fighting with it and running out of ideas.... scrathc that.. I have run out of ideas. I just dont know what to do. And my only choices for other kernels are Stock with overclock, but no recovery, or stock kernel with no overclock. I have never been able to get the CWM installer to work ever........ anyways sorry for the long reply just tired of this.....

Amplified GPS antenna?

Has anyone bought an amplified GPS antenna? I find my KGL unit struggles to keep a locked signal - if I move the antenna around it locks again, but drops after an hour or two and I have to move it around again.
Thinking of getting an amplified antenna -but not sure if it'll help?

Just try a different antenna and make sure its fitting well. Also, mount it on the side of the dash farthest away from edge of the road. In the US that's the drivers side. The reason is that the center of the road generally has the most clear path to the sky.

My antenna is stuck to the top of the windshield with velcro - under the dash I almost always had no signal. I've tried removing and reconnecting it a few times... instead of ordering another plain antenna, I'd prefer to find an amplified one.

Most people don't have amplified antennas because they are generally not needed.
If you have it velcro'd to the top of the windshield ... I wonder if you mounted it upside down. Can you take a picture? The flat side with the label should be down.

Geez, my MTCB GPS antenna is working inside my house and in my garage so i'm surprised even under a plastic dash pad you would have a signal issue. I have one on the underside of a vette w/o any signal issues also but that's a pioneer HU.