Weak Antenna On 6k Internal Wireless?

[jbruno]

Does anybody else have this problem? I switched to the 6k from my 5000d that had a low-power socket wireless card in it.

I used to be able to connect from anywhere in my house, now I'm constantly losing the signal "Signal level is low" shows up intermittently, even when I'm only ~30 feet from my linux box.

Is there some hack to boost the signal, or attach some kind of antenna?

[jbruno]

(I posted this in 6k general by mistake - reposting here...)
Does anybody else have this problem? I switched to the 6k from my 5000d that had a low-power socket wireless card in it.

I used to be able to connect from anywhere in my house, now I'm constantly losing the signal "Signal level is low" shows up intermittently, even when I'm only ~30 feet from my linux box.

Is there some hack to boost the signal, or attach some kind of antenna?

[cwaig]

sound faulty to me - me SL6000 get much better recpetion than my 5500 ever did with it's (admitedly cheap & nasty) Origo cf wifi card...

[cdollar393]

sound faulty to me - me SL6000 get much better recpetion than my 5500 ever did with it's (admitedly cheap & nasty) Origo cf wifi card...

I agree that you might have a bad z.  I don't have any problems with the wifi from my 6K.  In fact, it connects in places that my laptop won't.  Don't have another z to compare it to though.

[hatchetman]

My SL-6000L is the first WiFi anything I've ever owned, so I don't have much to compare it to. When I was at school I couldn't get any reception unless I was right on top of the AP. I think it must have a lot to do with interference from other appliances, walls, elevators, etc. Now at home with a new Linksys router (had a netgear that was shit) I get reception at every corner of my house.

So before you go hacking it appart trying to install the Ghetto Antenna 2K (http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/ghettoant.php) try different channels that might have less interference on them, don't test it next to the microwave, and put the hub in a more central location.

I know out to the box Wifi for me seemed useless, but after it got settled in and I got everything setup  right it works as well as I would expect.

In comparison to USB wireless adapters for PC's, it seems like all my friends can get great reception where I can't even get a whisper unless I have one foot in the air holding on to a coat hanger. That's in a very less then ideal situation though.

[Jcroto1]

My 6000 seems to have the same problem.  My 5500 worked fine with the wireless card throught most of the house but now with my 6000 I have to connect in certain places (about 2 feet away from where I want to connect) or it wont connect, then I can move to where I want to.

It's really annoying.

[soundwave106]

With mine, my problem is just more that the connection is intermittent in many places. I can connect pretty much anywhere in my home, but sometimes the connection just seems to drop off for a small bit. Maybe it's not good at dealing with interference. I have no other wireless devices to test and see if it works. I do know the Z's wifi is relatively low-powered, which means its not as efficient as say a full fleged PC or even a laptop.

I found this web page:
How to hook an external PCMCIA (yep, you read that right) wifi kit w/ antenna to the Zaurus. This is at least a solution for those who desire it!

[hatchetman]

I've noticed the connection drop outs also. Maybe this is some feature gone wrong that can be adjusted? All I know is I can not afford a PCMCIA wifi card, or a PCMCIA adapter, the Zaurus broke my bank account already. Maybe we should see if we can tap into the embedded antenna somehow with a tin can (I think I can afford that).
http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html

I nabbed some pics of the internals picture the wireless module and attached them for your viewing pleasure. If your interested in some higher resolution, or cool stuff like RF tests check out the FCC's website
https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/cf/eas/r...APYNAR0052'

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http://www.stopfcc.com/ [ Invalid Attachment ]

[jbruno]

Thanks for those pix! Where did you grab those from?

It looks like there is no antenna at all! No wonder it's flaky!  Where would one attach an antenna? Can something be hacked to make an anteanna inside the case somehow? I'm definitely no hardware guru, so I sure don't know.

I also wonder if there is some way to make the network layer on the Z autoscan for the best channel, instead of having to pick a channel in Network Settings.  Can this be done?

[hatchetman]

I got the pics from the FCC's website by looking them up by the FCC-ID number found beneath battery. I believe they're also mirrored here on ZaurusUserGroup.com.

The antenna is on the 3rd picture down, on the left hand side. Should be marked with a little white box that says Antenna (might be blurry).

There is the cable the comes from the wireless module to the antenna, guess that's where you would plug one in. Still someone would need to design one that works better then the original.

[BarryW]

Okay, looking at the picture of the hole board over on the left side there is that little blue box.  That's the antenna.  It's not a bad antenna, if you've ever broken apart a "real" wireless card it's much better than those.  There is a cable connecting the wireless card to the antenns.  That cable has a U.FL highrose connector on it.  You can get pigtails with that connector on it.  The problem is where do you route it??  I've had mine apart, there is no room inside the z.  Without cutting holes in it you really can't add an external ant.  If you did, then you would have a very delicate coax cable flopping around on the outside.

[byzantium]

FWIW, I've been trying to tune my wireless reception too.

I usually use the Zaurus in the 90 degrees counterclockwise rotation (i.e. the hidden keyboard would be in my right hand, and the top of the display in my left)

Did you know that the Network Settings application has a Current Tab that can show you your signal strength and quality in real time?

I usually get about 40-60% signal strength from about 5-8 metres from my Apple Airport base station.  Right next to the station, I get 100%.

I have noticed that if my right hand is over the keyboard area, that I get a 15-20% drop in signal strength.  The antenna is where my left hand would be in hatchetman's pic.

If I rotate the screen to the vertical mode, I get a different set of numbers, usually a bit stronger -- but the vertical mode isn't great for reading web pages!

So it looks like your Zaurus can have a weaker signal from the effects of your hands and how you're using it.  Try it.

[BarryW]

Water absorbs microwaves, we are mostly water.....

[hatchetman]

If the price wasn't so steep I would love to try mounting this little multi polarized bullet antenna. Where I mostly use my PDA in an environment that's very very very obstructed I think it would provide a lot better results.

http://www.wifi-plus.shoppingcartsplus.com...9770/219794.htm

Because of the space limitations, I think a small hole to inside the groove for the hand strap (right by the stylus holder) could feed a short pigtail to the outside. Something could be put into the grove with the wire to keep any tension put on the wire from breaking stuff on the inside.

Now the antenna just needs to be mounted. I was thinking maybe something that slips into the grooves used to hold the protective cover, except it would go along the backside. Then you can't use the protective cover though.

[hatchetman]

To use that antenna you'd need a U.FL (Zaurus) -> N Male (Bullet Antenna) pigtail, and of course they run around $20 AFAIK. Not very cost effecient, wonder how hard it is to get the connectors and crimp your own wire together.