Database Users

Passive Fractal Antenna 3G Boost 1 to 4 bars

I got frustrated only getting 1 bar and slow connections inside my back office?, so I made a "Passive Fractal Antenna" 3G to Boost from 1 to 4 bars, my dslreports.com Mobile Speed Test went from 228kbit/sec to 2976kbit/sec. the antenna is easy to build and more importantly! it$ Cheap! total cost $20.00, The only thing to keep in mind is that since its a passive antenna it works better when you have the HTC HD2 laying on the Base input and in front of the reflector, The further you are from the base the less the affect? I put the Antenna as high as possible in my closet with one side 90 degrees perpendicular facing the closest Cell Tower (Find Cell Tower) and with the grounded reflector facing directly to the Cell Tower with a 10ohm transformer for matching.
The Antenna I made is purposely tuned for wide band but you can fine tune it for greater reception if needed, but the frequencies we are working with makes it too directional?
If people are interested I will put up a simple schematic with parts and description build list.

hd2shadow said:
If people are interested I will put up a simple schematic with parts and description build list.
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Why would you have done that from the start? Of course people are going to ask to see exactly what you did. I know my office is down in the basement and would like to have a better signal while down here.

would be awesome if you post a how-to on this...may give this a try.
T-Mobile USA recently boosted coverage in my area. I actually called in after experiencing better signal quality / speeds to give them kudos. Shortly thereafter, speeds dropped by two-thirds to around 0.3mbps. I have sneaky feeling they thought I was enjoying the newfound speeds too much.

Yes. Interested on how to do this!!

hd2shadow said:
I got frustrated only getting 1 bar and slow connections inside my back office?, so I made a "Passive Fractal Antenna" 3G to Boost from 1 to 4 bars, my dslreports.com Mobile Speed Test went from 228kbit/sec to 2976kbit/sec. the antenna is easy to build and more importantly! it$ Cheap! total cost $20.00, The only thing to keep in mind is that since its a passive antenna it works better when you have the HTC HD2 laying on the Base input and in front of the reflector, The further you are from the base the less the affect? I put the Antenna as high as possible in my closet with one side 90 degrees perpendicular facing the closest Cell Tower (Find Cell Tower) and with the grounded reflector facing directly to the Cell Tower with a 10ohm transformer for matching.
The Antenna I made is purposely tuned for wide band but you can fine tune it for greater reception if needed, but the frequencies we are working with makes it too directional?
If people are interested I will put up a simple schematic with parts and description build list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is pretty interesting...but aw man..you screen protector is not so hot!!

Interesting...
I would have preferred that you did a series of speed tests and looked at the averages, since I have seen wild swings from one test to the next. But 228kbit/sec to 2976kbit/sec? That's pretty amazing.
I can basically see the concept of your antenna - so I guess the biggest question is: What wire did you use, and what does it do between the desk spiral and that diagonally zig zag in the closet. I sure hope your wife isn't tripping over it when she heads to the laundry room, LOL! +1 on the screen protector... Dude, the screen is hardened glass, and while I would cry if mine got scratched, I would be downright embarrassed walking around with that bubbled mess on top of my beautiful HD2.

+2 on the screen protector. Remove or replace it! NOW!!

SmartAs$Phone said:
Dude, the screen is hardened glass, and while I would cry if mine got scratched, I would be downright embarrassed walking around with that bubbled mess on top of my beautiful HD2.
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+3 on the awful screen protector he has.
But, that amazingly hardened glass CAN scratch. I watched the Youtube video of a guy trying to scratch it with a razor blade, and felt pretty confident I didn't need a screen protector. I had a half inch scratch in the center of the screen 2 days later. NO idea how it happened, but it my have been my keys the ONE time they were NEAR the phone.
Logically, I upgraded shipping on a couple PhantomSkinz so I'll never have to worry about that again.

Keys can scratch the absolute hell out of glass. My friend's ipod touch has a scratch running the entire diagonal of the screen.

service sucks in my basements im interested

I'd love to see the plans/schematics too, I know these types of antennas can work wonders, if implemented properly.

I will post pictures and plans/schematics as well very soon, next day or so, I just got back and need to do a few things first, Passive Fractal Antenna is not anything that is hard to do? you just need a roll of wire and patience.

toreone said:
but aw man..you screen protector is not so hot!!
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What a gem. Had to take a second look. Lol this is hilarious.please wait 2 seconds for an uncompressed image, or press Ctrl+F5 for original quality page

Think this would work to get a better WiMax signal?

Reception (non-)Issue (like in iPhone 4)

"Admittedly, this isn't a problem that exists only for the iPhone 4 -- we've seen reports of the same behavior on previous generations (the 3G and 3GS), and there is a running thread about this problem with the Nexus One."
taken from http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/24/apple-responds-over-iphone-4-reception-issues-youre-holding-th/
So i decided to do a pathetic test on my Hero. I remebered from a YouTube vid on the Legend that the antenna was in the "chin" area.
Hero on desk: 4 bars of reception (full)
Wrapped hands around chin of Hero: 1 or 2 bar(s) of reception
Since noone has mentioned it b4, its probably a non-issue, but i do get quite a few dropped calls.
Just wondering if my dropped calls are connected to this? Or maybe T-Mo is just crap in my area.

Indeed the reception does drop considerably when holding the chin! .... I wish you hadn't told me now!!!
I'll have to see how it affects calls tomorrow. I'll report back.

my bars dont change =S

You have to really cover the chin with your hand. Just touching the chin with the lower side of the hand is not enough. Also you have to wait about 10 seconds.
Thething is though, that you have to want to do this on the Hero. On the iphone 4 it happens when you are simply touching the gap with naked skin... especially when damp. This just seems to me like bad engineering. And the stuff about the Legend or the iphone 2g having bad reception is just silly... also in the engadget article. That is a fact of physics which you have to deal with when you want a phone built like a tank. It a completely different story when saying this happened on a phone which has this design flaw on a component meant to strengthen the signal reception. This is just bad engineering.
Sent from my HTC Hero

Every phone will lose signal if you cover the area where the antenna is. I have never noticed any dropped calls etc on Orange UK and the signal is pretty crap around here

Has desire HD got iPhone grip problem

I have created a new topic as I feel this one is important and don't want it to get lost in the ether.
I've noticed if you hold the phone in a normal way and it doesn't matter if its left or right hand the signal and WiFi will drop , when you change your grip signal goes back to normal .
IPhone problem on a HTC ?
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

Just picked up my phone. Full WiFi signal. Full mobile signal.

I can make wifi drop to 1 bar by holding the top half of the phone. Base of thumb on the volume control, top of thumb covering the power button and palm touching the camera. Releasing it, the signal will jump straight up. But who smothers their phone anyway?

Trifidw said:
I can make wifi drop to 1 bar by holding the top half of the phone. Base of thumb on the volume control, top of thumb covering the power button and palm touching the camera. Releasing it, the signal will jump straight up. But who smothers their phone anyway?
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+1 I can simulate this as well. At least its not at the bottom where your more likely to hold it in a call

mancuk29 said:
I have created a new topic as I feel this one is important and don't want it to get lost in the ether.
I've noticed if you hold the phone in a normal way and it doesn't matter if its left or right hand the signal and WiFi will drop , when you change your grip signal goes back to normal .
IPhone problem on a HTC ?
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
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It's not that simple. I'll bet there isn't a phone with an internal antenna that wouldn't drop a few bars anywhere when held in hand. Point is that the singal strenght in iphone 4 drops significantly more than in any other phone.
So does the DHD have the same antenna problem than iphone4? The only way to find out is to test in serval locations that will the DHD drop the signal when iphone 4 doesn't when the phones are held in hand. Comparing bars is pointless becouse it's calculated in so many different ways in various phones.

All phones suffer from this to some extent. The problem with the iPhone is that the metal part of the aerial is on the outside of the phone so that you are actually touching the aerial with your skin, which is why it's such as issue. At least HTC have a bit more design sense.

berek9999 said:
All phones suffer from this to some extent. The problem with the iPhone is that the metal part of the aerial is on the outside of the phone so that you are actually touching the aerial with your skin, which is why it's such as issue. At least HTC have a bit more design sense.
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+1 The problem in iPhone 4 is due to the design of the phone - it uses the chassis as the aerial but the DHD is not designed to work in the same way.

I noticed that holding the TOP of the phone with your hand cupping the back causes WiFi signal to drop when in medium to low signal strength areas and also the Network signal to drop by up to 2 bars. Apple were keen to point out that many handsets have issues with signal degradation when holding the phone, however generally this is NOT while holding it at the bottom, the natural way of holding a phone.
So while the Desire HD will suffer a signal drop when held with your hand cupped around the top of the phone, it doesn't suffer the iPhone 'death grip' which imo is still a MAJOR issue with a handset that is perfect in many other ways. Put it simply, I've not dropped any calls with the DHD!!
Regards.

OMG I can't believe someone asking this question!
Next it will be someone reporting "Why can't I access the Apple app store on this device?!"

Your having a laugh aren't u ... hate Apple with all my might .. just concerned we would have same problems ! Hold my phone different so I don't
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

apprentice said:
OMG I can't believe someone asking this question!
Next it will be someone reporting "Why can't I access the Apple app store on this device?!"
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It's a good question and one I was considering asking myself after noticing it while browsing in bed. I sleep at the opposite end of the house to my router and can easily cut the connection while holding the phone at the top.
I think with the current trend of slimmer phones the issue will be highlighted more frequently as it is now a necessity to make use of the phone casing in regards to signal transmission. It's a known fact that the DHD unibody is part of the functioning antenna, so it's not suprising that you can produce the effect when cupping the phone.
Thankfully HTC have placed the module in the top of the phone and not the bottom like our good friends in Cupertino!

Nothing here when I try the methods mentioned. The signal stays very strong. It's been flicking between H and 3G but that's nothing to do with the phone, pure T-Mobile thing.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

I have a desire z and just googled for this grip problem and found this thread.
I have quite a bit of trouble with my desire z, it drops two bars while calling. It even gets worse when you slide out the keyboard and start typing. The wifi and gsm/3g signal drops 2/3 bars!
This kind of sucks...

Has anyone had dropped calls due to this issue? If no, then there is no problem. Lowering the signal strength is normal, dropped calls aren't.

tkolev said:
Has anyone had dropped calls due to this issue? If no, then there is no problem. Lowering the signal strength is normal, dropped calls aren't.
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In my device there is a little signal drop, but no drop calls at all!
"Drop calls" are a trade mark of iPhone4. ;-)

No dropped calls yet but 3g/hsdpa switches to gprs when holding it.

GiGi. said:
No dropped calls yet but 3g/hsdpa switches to gprs when holding it.
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Well that's still a connection I know that it's slower and that's something you can feel unlike switching a voice call from UMTS to GSM, but it's not a drop. The higher frequency of 3G is more prone to signal attenuation and nothing can change that.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

Hi all from Russia.
I have the same problem.
When the phone is on the table, the signal level WiFi and GSM 100% (A router in the half meter away from me)
Whenever I put it on your hand or touch the side cover, the level of WiFi drops to zero and GSM is not as critical, but falls to 2-3 division
I'm not saying if I go into another room, where the signal disappears altogether.(WiFi)
Do you think that this might be?
Bad soldering?

Waaa said:
Hi all from Russia.
I have the same problem.
When the phone is on the table, the signal level WiFi and GSM 100% (A router in the half meter away from me)
Whenever I put it on your hand or touch the side cover, the level of WiFi drops to zero and GSM is not as critical, but falls to 2-3 division
I'm not saying if I go into another room, where the signal disappears altogether.(WiFi)
Do you think that this might be?
Bad soldering?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check if the battery cover is closed properly. In the room where my WiFi router is, the signal drops 1-2 bars but it's still strong. I've read some reviews on 802.11n routers that claim the signal is actualy worse if you are too close to the router (can't check this myself as I am with a 802.11g router).

Dude, I checked a hundred times that damn cover
in the next room the signal disappears altogether, although on a different device everything is fine!
I tried to switch the router in different modes, the effect is the same.

[Q] Reception, how to improve?

So, we have probably all noticed that even compared to other phones the xperia line (and the Play in specific) seem to suffer from lower reception capability.
Putting them side by side, my Motorola Droid (A855, OG Droid 1) gets a better signal both in DB measurement and in bars. Same thing for WiFi signal. I'm guessing there is an issue with design of the antenna array in the device that causes for lower reception/broadcast quality.
I don't wish to shell out $300 for a cell repeater or $300 + monthly for a femtocell that will eat my internet bandwidth (which is pathetically limited). With that in mind, I went and started looking over the device, its teardowns, and its schematics. I was looking for something as a diversity jack for an external antenna. Now I noticed, next to the battery connector, there is a small semi-covered coax input. It appears that if you pulled off the rest of the sticker, or even if you just pushed a coax prong into there you could potentially be an antenna. However, it is not specifically labeled as such on the system board or the chassis, and the schematics were largely electrical diagrams and not system board schematics. Is there any answer for this? On pretty much every smartphone I have ever owned, there is an auxillary or "diversity" coax jack for adding an external antenna or doing signal injection.
Does anybody have any input on this? I would love to be able to boost my phone's reception quality, even if only in the car or at home (even if it means a custom modded case for ease of connect/disconnect).

Cant help you with your specific question but i can throw a tip.
- Switch your phone to GSM only. It will strengthen the signal. The downside is you are stuck with G/E data speeds (slower than H).

dsswoosh said:
Cant help you with your specific question but i can throw a tip.
- Switch your phone to GSM only. It will strengthen the signal. The downside is you are stuck with G/E data speeds (slower than H).
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Sadly, with the US-CDMA variant and its firmware, I believe that is not an option. I'm specifically using the R800x. However, the board layouts are essentially identical.

I don't see the problem if you arnt getting any dropped calls. Wrap your phone in tin foil lmao
Sent from my XPlay using XDA App.

Deoxlar said:
I don't see the problem if you arnt getting any dropped calls. Wrap your phone in tin foil lmao
Sent from my XPlay using XDA App.
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Well that is sort of the problem. I live in an area that its hills are filled with lead and other heavy minerals. Dead zones and limited signal zones are rampant, especially while driving. I _DO_ get dropped calls, and more importantly dropped data. Heck I even get dropped data from the router in the house through only one wall just a room away.
Basically if I can find out where exactly the aux/diversity port is for antennas, then I could design and fabricate a better back cover to either allow for external antennas, or to integrate better antennas into the cover (like the Thunderbolt sort of does).
Side note: Wrapping it in Tin/Aluminum Foil would make it worse, I believe (yes I have limited sense of humour).

you can easely remove the rubber in front of the coax port (atleast it definitly looks like a coax port). Would like to see a back case with better antenna in it (also being able to harbor an extra fat battery).

svenk919 said:
you can easely remove the rubber in front of the coax port (atleast it definitly looks like a coax port). Would like to see a back case with better antenna in it (also being able to harbor an extra fat battery).
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The problem is that there are several coax ports. The one near the battery connector is the most obvious, but there are some more that are under the secondary cover or behind more stickers. Trying to find out which one is which or what they do is not easy. I have some basic electronics schematics, some teardown pics/video, and a really really sparse parts replacement guide, but not much else to go on.

Plug in an antenna and see if it improves?

svenk919 said:
Plug in an antenna and see if it improves?
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*laughs* I suppose that would be the easy/simple way to find out, wouldn't it?
I'll see if I can find a matching pigtail adapter and see if I can plug a big fat antenna into and see if the DBM improves for either Cell or WiFi. I wanted to see if anybody could confirm before I attempted to mod this thing.

Nice Battery Cover Replacement

I bought this on eBay thinking it was an aluminum case. I just got in the mail and opened it up to find it is a battery cover. I love it! Replace the flimsy one with the aluminum. It adds a bit of weight too. The stock cover goes in the box now.

Nice. Who makes that one?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA

It clearly says it's a battery door replacement but I didn't read lol
http://www.ebay.com/itm/16082094015...AX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_500wt_1287

Since metals are opaque to radio waves, your signal strength must have plummeted.

Full bars bro...
Sent from my badass Samsung Galaxy SIII

ReggieTee said:
Full bars bro...
Sent from my badass Samsung Galaxy SIII
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Try it in an area where you don't have full bars with the battery door on and off. Or just read off decibel level of the signal from Settings/About/Status.
Bro.

I heard the aluminum back covers screw with nfc
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

nabbed said:
Since metals are opaque to radio waves, your signal strength must have plummeted.
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Correction. Grounded metals are opaque to radio waves.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk 2

jnadke said:
Correction. Grounded metals are opaque to radio waves.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk 2
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I don't think so. It doesn't matter if a piece of metal is grounded or not, it will absorb most radio frequencies.

It's $12 and looks good. If it affects anything, I have the option of removing it lol.
Sent from my badass Samsung Galaxy SIII

You owe me 40.00 my wife saw this
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=160820596085&index=8&nav=SEARCH&nid=65699023939
And ordered 3 & clear cases to go over
Lol thanks
Sent from my Sprint Galaxy Nexus CDMA using Xparent ICS Blue Tapatalk 2

Epix4G said:
You owe me 40.00 my wife saw this
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=160820596085&index=8&nav=SEARCH&nid=65699023939
And ordered 3 & clear cases to go over
Lol thanks
Sent from my Sprint Galaxy Nexus CDMA using Xparent ICS Blue Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol sorry!

the metal case has to reflect/degrade signal, since that was a major issue with my Transformer prime and its all metal back. which people found that if they removed it or repositioned antennas that the signal would improve by a ton.

nabbed said:
I don't think so. It doesn't matter if a piece of metal is grounded or not, it will absorb most radio frequencies.
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I don't know if absorb is the word of choice. Without getting overly technical for the average person, metal impedes/obstructs radio signals severely if the antenna is inside of the metal enclosure or wall. Elevators are big metal boxes that kill signal really easily if you're inside them. Trees are big rf attenuators depending on the frequency of the radio. Even a hand or body very near or touching an antenna will greatly reduce your signal tx/rx. RF is a strange thing and can be affected both good and bad by many different kinds of external objects.

oscarthegrouch said:
I don't know if absorb is the word of choice. Without getting overly technical for the average person, metal impedes/obstructs radio signals severely if the antenna is inside of the metal enclosure or wall. Elevators are big metal boxes that kill signal really easily if you're inside them. Trees are big rf attenuators depending on the frequency of the radio. Even a hand or body very near or touching an antenna will greatly reduce your signal tx/rx. RF is a strange thing and can be affected both good and bad by many different kinds of external objects.
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I think absorb is the right word.
Here's a snippet from an Argonne writeup:
Electrons in metals can slosh back and forth in a piece of metal at slow frequencies, and so metals absorb radio at nearly all frequencies.
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http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/phy99/phy99245.htm

I have to saw that with this cover the headphone jack is affected. It won't allow the plug to go all the way in and the sound is affected. That sucks.
Edit: This is incorrect. I didn't have it plugged in all the way.

nabbed said:
I think absorb is the right word.
Here's a snippet from an Argonne writeup:
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/phy99/phy99245.htm
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AFAIK, that site, and the person writing that article is wrong. I will have to ask someone I know who was an electrical engineer and amateur radio operator (extra class) if that gov site is correct. Everything I've learned about RF, before and after I got my radio license, tells me that guy is wrong. I'm not trying to start an argument with anyone either. I'm debating this issue. http://www.iphelp.ru/faq/9/ch02lev1sec6.html is a link explaining rf behavior in wlan situations, but the gist of it holds true with what I've learned with HF/VHF/UHF and microwave bands. If anyone here is a ham radio operator, please chime in with your input. The statement the scientist said that something needs to be a wavelength thick to affect rf is bs. Like I said before, I'm not trying to start anything with anyone. I am not saying I am smarter or better either. I just have had some training and hands on experience with antennas and building a few from scratch and testing their performance.

oscarthegrouch said:
AFAIK, that site, and the person writing that article is wrong. I will have to ask someone I know who was an electrical engineer and amateur radio operator (extra class) if that gov site is correct. Everything I've learned about RF, before and after I got my radio license, tells me that guy is wrong. I'm not trying to start an argument with anyone either. I'm debating this issue. http://www.iphelp.ru/faq/9/ch02lev1sec6.html is a link explaining rf behavior in wlan situations, but the gist of it holds true with what I've learned with HF/VHF/UHF and microwave bands. If anyone here is a ham radio operator, please chime in with your input. The statement the scientist said that something needs to be a wavelength thick to affect rf is bs. Like I said before, I'm not trying to start anything with anyone. I am not saying I am smarter or better either. I just have had some training and hands on experience with antennas and building a few from scratch and testing their performance.
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This is simple physics. Please don't fight science in your ignorance.

Gotta love how even the simplest debate on xda can end in one member attempting to belittle another.

mlin said:
Gotta love how even the simplest debate on xda can end in one member attempting to belittle another.
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Everybody put ur flame suits on
Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA
Edit can anybody help me out with "external..izing?" The antenna ? Haha