Having a hard time getting a good wifi signal. Anyone have any tips, suggestions, or ways to extend the wifi antenna?
I know someone wired it to a SMA port on the back with a normally stubby wifi antenna back there.
I toyed with this idea and was tempted to solder in the BNC jack/antenna off the spare router that I keep around just in case but eventually had to scrap it due to the limited RE in the dashboard cavity behind the HU. I used a slightly different approach which has proven to be just as effective: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=67394021&postcount=2
I did it here on my old Android 4 unit:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/and...rk3188-rk3066-2-din-head-units-t3193170/page2
And i did the same thing on my Android 5.5.1 unit as well.
What I do is cut off the end of the cable they provide. All the provide is a simple antenna made from cutting the coax back a bit to expose some center conductor, and the put some heat shrink on it.
I cut that off, and actually crimp on a proper rp-sma jack and mount it to the case. It's not difficult, but I am a ham radio operator, and have the correct crimping tools and experience doing it.
I do it on mine because I actually have a wifi antenna externally mounted on my jeep, and I need the rp-sma jack to connect to the coax from that outside antenna.
On the new Android 5.5.1 unit, it has TWO wifi antennas, I guess for diversity reception which can sometimes help the signals. But what I did was leave with the short stock antenna, and only put the connector on the other which goes to the external antenna. So now I sort of have one internal antenna, and one external.
nixfu said:
I did it here on my old Android 4 unit:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/and...rk3188-rk3066-2-din-head-units-t3193170/page2
And i did the same thing on my Android 5.5.1 unit as well.
What I do is cut off the end of the cable they provide. All the provide is a simple antenna made from cutting the coax back a bit to expose some center conductor, and the put some heat shrink on it.
I cut that off, and actually crimp on a proper rp-sma jack and mount it to the case. It's not difficult, but I am a ham radio operator, and have the correct crimping tools and experience doing it.
I do it on mine because I actually have a wifi antenna externally mounted on my jeep, and I need the rp-sma jack to connect to the coax from that outside antenna.
On the new Android 5.5.1 unit, it has TWO wifi antennas, I guess for diversity reception which can sometimes help the signals. But what I did was leave with the short stock antenna, and only put the connector on the other which goes to the external antenna. So now I sort of have one internal antenna, and one external.
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Click to collapse
in that post, you linked to an external antenna on ebay. did you end up buying that and is it good? or were you just thinking about it? in this post you mention an external antenna mounted on your jeep. is that the ebay antenna you linked or a different one?
my unit has a weak antenna on its back side outside of the box. it's fine for picking up my phone when i make it a hotspot in the car but doesn't/can't pick up wifi from the house when i am parked in the garage. phone easily picks it up. i don't know if it's just a weak antenna or the fact that it's surrounded by the dashboard housing... or both. would like to change that if i can do it on the cheap.
Related
Hello all. I am wondering if anyone has made any modifications to their wifi antenna and saw an improvement in reception?
I messed with mine after reading a how to on making an improved reception antenna - I cut off the tip of the sheathing on my antenna and then stripped a copper wire bare and spliced them together. I covered the wire with a straw and tried it out. Unfortunately I did not see any improvement.
Is there a better antenna I can buy, or a booster or something of that sort?
noDaveu said:
Hello all. I am wondering if anyone has made any modifications to their wifi antenna and saw an improvement in reception?
I messed with mine after reading a how to on making an improved reception antenna - I cut off the tip of the sheathing on my antenna and then stripped a copper wire bare and spliced them together. I covered the wire with a straw and tried it out. Unfortunately I did not see any improvement.
Is there a better antenna I can buy, or a booster or something of that sort?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You likely made it worse. Antennas are tuned for the frequency used - making them longer doesn't necessarily make them better. (antennas for AM radio generally being an exception, because the tuned length is longer than they can be practically made). For 2.4 GHz, the 1/2 wave length is about 2.5 inches (64 mm).
I simply drilled a hole in the case near where the antenna is attached to the PC board so I could route the antenna to be external to the metal case, so it's no longer shielded by it.
The root problem is that the wireless on these units isn't particularly sensitive. That's difficult to address with a different antenna. Antennas only provide gain by being more directional - they can get better performance in some directions only by sacrificing performance in other directions. In general, you'd want the best performance horizontally, and in all directions. The exiting antenna will do that, if it's oriented vertically - so drill a hole in the bottom of the chassis, and route it that way, if there's room.
Hello all. I am wondering if anyone has made any modifications to their wifi antenna and saw an improvement in reception?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I cut off the end of the coax, put an rp-sma jack on mine(see carjoying topic), and now I use an external "real" wifi antenna and the reception IS better. In fact I plan on putting a mag-mount wifi antenna on the outside of the vehicle.
Recently got an MCTD unit, has a v3 mainboard and I am suffering on poor FM reception and non existent AM (not bothered about AM though)
Have read that sometimes the aerials are not connected internally so had a look, one of the earth points was a bit suspect so re-soldered that, but no improvement. If I am stationary I can get 3 stations, however when I start to move I lose the signal. Interestingly it does seem to improve if I leave the radio out (I.e. Not fixed into position in the car).
I think the unit is an A Media (will have to check later) but it is a Huefei variant (running Android 5.1.1)
I have bought replacement internal aerial adaptors that are boosted to no real improvement (although after doing a bit more reading I need to check if the booster power source (from the ANT wire from the headunit) is actually giving 12V
Any ideas / mods to help improve it? Aerial works fine with standard headunit.
Thanks
anyone any ideas?
ok if anyone is interested, I bought a cheap window aerial that has a power booster, can now get channels but still not great. My next step is to either replace the roof aerial on my car (or certainly the wiring), of take of the power boosting element from the new aerial and incorporate that into the car roof mount
Buy this (don't look to the price) and you will say thanks to me for long time
http://www.dabonwheels.co.uk/Kinetic_DRA-6005_GPS_FM-AM_DAB_car_aerial.html
I am not interested in making publicity of this product but even I would have been you will be as happy as I am. BEST!!!
You will need extra wire extenders as the product has short cables fitted. It's on that page the link of what you will need.
similar issue
Hi are you still having this issue or did you manage to fix it? if so what did you do please?
i am having a similar issue with mine and found that iv improved things by putting a cable to earth my head unit (cable from screw on back to ground on loom) and also i have changed the cable coming from the Headunit with one from halfords (at first glance i thought it was part of the unit as it had the black sheath and blue cable but it just pulls out)
not fully, I am going to look at the antenna wire from the headunit as I dont have that connected and that may help (from reading the pumpkin website).
I have good earths which I have measured with a multimeter so I know thats good.
If I cant imrove then I will look at an aerial from the above place
htt p:// www .ha lfords .co m/ techno logy/ car-audio/ stereo-fitting-acce ssories /aut oleads-pc5-111-fakra-to-din-aerial-adaptor
i used that cable from halfords to replace the one that came with the headunit. For me it was problem solved. obviously the one that came with it wasnt making a good enough contact.
sorry had to put spaces as im not allowed to put links yet.
Thanks for the link but I have about 3 different ones and they all make good contact (have checked with the unit taken apart and everything makes contact where it should)
I am going to check my installed aerial to see if I can work out whats going on with that. I can ge radio 2 now fully on my way to work (50miles each way) but I dont want to listen to radio 2
It is antenna wiring issue, not antenna itself.
I had the same problem in US with my A-Media unit. Initially the seller sent me a power cable and I had poor radio reception, FM working but not great, no AM at all. When the seller figured out wrong cable for steering wheel issues he sent me the correct cable and everything works great including radio FM/AM. My antenna harness has two wires but the first cable connected only one. The 2nd cable has both antenna wires connected, one to antenna socket and the other goes to power cable connector.
Sorted it out, the existing aerial on my car was a dummy aerial (sharkfin), turns out the aerial itself is on the rear windscreen.
Anyway, I got an DAB aerial off ebay (bee sting type) fitted that in place of the sharkfin and re wired it. Result now have perfect reception on both FM and DAB with no loss of signal at all. Only cost £29.99 GBP as well with all wiring extensions etc
jaytc2003 said:
Sorted it out, the existing aerial on my car was a dummy aerial (sharkfin), turns out the aerial itself is on the rear windscreen.
Anyway, I got an DAB aerial off ebay (bee sting type) fitted that in place of the sharkfin and re wired it. Result now have perfect reception on both FM and DAB with no loss of signal at all. Only cost £29.99 GBP as well with all wiring extensions etc
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Click to collapse
hello, i have the same problem with my unit.
i wanna buy that antenna also on ebay. but the (bee sting type) you told about have a din style connector.
the original one that was by the radio is a usb type. how did you fix that problem?
I was able to solve my unworking AM Radio here.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/an...questions-development/radio-fm-radio-t3895859
I got my 10.1" unit and decided I was going to do something about the abysmal wireless reception these units have (I set up a WAP in my garage next to my car because it couldn't get a good signal to the router on the other side of the wall for my 7" unit). I connected up my new HU to power and tested, sure enough the wireless reception was garbage. I decided to fix that.
I popped off the lid, de-soldered the existing excuse for an antenna, and replaced it with a pigtail I had laying around. The pigtail was intended to be used in a desktop using a mini pcie card in it, so I chopped the connector off the end and stripped it down in similar fashion to the OE cable. I popped the hole next to the GPS antenna out with a screwdriver and the new RSMA connector fit perfectly. I put a reasonably large antenna on the unit and not only could I see the router from a house on the other side of the street and down a plot, but I was able to connect and pull internet through it.
I could put a smaller antenna on the connector and install it as is, but I intend to use an extension cable like this to get better signal from somewhere besides the radio slot of my car.
Next up: Heatsinks and a fan!
You got my hopes up there. Thought you were going to talk about the RADIO reception.
Unfortunately, the only thing I can imagine needing the wifi for is for hooking up an rpi I use for dashcam at a distance of 2 feet.
luciusfox said:
You got my hopes up there. Thought you were going to talk about the RADIO reception.
Unfortunately, the only thing I can imagine needing the wifi for is for hooking up an rpi I use for dashcam at a distance of 2 feet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used extension cable from the head unit to under my fibreglass roof on my campervan and then from the extension cable, wired 8 metres long cable running under the roof.
Now I get much better reception with that than with my decorational amplified shark fin antenna Both AM and FM pull now weaker stations.
Unless I am mistaken this will improve bluetooth reception (usually they share an antenna and are in the same chip). There have been times when my phone has been passed to someone in the back seat and bluetooth audio started cutting out. For radio reception you may consider some kind of FM pre-amp? I have never used one, and generally broadcast radio is a last resort for me (commercials can be atrocious where I live, sometimes I prefer silence...), but it may help you.
Brilliant idea. I use the WiFi to connect to a USB 3G dongle for Waze & Google maps traffic data, and the wifi is terrible even with the dongle 2-3 feet from the head unit. Already done my fan mod, so wifi antenna will be next.
BTW bluetooth is also 2.4GHz so make sense to share the antenna. Home or office wifi is often the reason why phone headsets don't work well in these environments, especially with multiple access points not correctly configured.
http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Networking-and-WiFi/Getting-a-better-Wireless-Network-Signal/td-p/3170334
pwood999 said:
Brilliant idea. I use the WiFi to connect to a USB 3G dongle for Waze & Google maps traffic data, and the wifi is terrible even with the dongle 2-3 feet from the head unit. Already done my fan mod, so wifi antenna will be next.
BTW bluetooth is also 2.4GHz so make sense to share the antenna. Home or office wifi is often the reason why phone headsets don't work well in these environments, especially with multiple access points not correctly configured.
http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Networking-and-WiFi/Getting-a-better-Wireless-Network-Signal/td-p/3170334
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Click to collapse
Which 3g dongle are you using?
It's similar to this one. I only have 500MB VirginMedia Data SIM for £5 per month, so didn't bother with 4G dongle. This is plenty for Waze Traffic !!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HSDPA-USB-STICK-SIM-Modem-7-2MBPS-3G-Wireless-USB-Dongle-TF-Card-Adapter-Win-7-8/161578239488?epid=1689886176&hash=item259ed04600:g:LNMAAOSw-W5UyEy4
Nice modification dude! That's actually pretty cool. I'm pretty sure that this should also improve the bluetooth reception of the unit. Have you noticed any difference in that?
Thanks for sharing! :good::good:
-Murf
Odd, mine pulls signal from my neighborhood, and I can connect in my separated garage through three wall. I haven't done any modification to it.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 02:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:13 PM ----------
Wonder what it will do with this mod?
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
I think they have bad quality control in their factory.
I have a Sofia 3GR model with good WiFi reception. Now I have a PX5 with very bad WiFi reception. I put them next to each other and the PX5 is just terrible compared to the Sofia 3GR.
So it seems to vary per unit: again, bad quality control.
Maybe it is the soldering itself, or some damaging heat effect from the soldering or bad connections? Who knows.
Does anyone know what type of GPS antenna's these units use?
I have an Xtrons PX5 Oreo head unit, but I'm having difficulty positioning the GPS antenna in a good location, due to lack of space under the dashboard.
I'd like to buy another antenna, to take apart and get rid of the plastic cover, in the hope that it will be a bit smaller and I can squeeze it under the dash
However I'm not sure if all antennas that I can buy are the same.
The socket type on the back of the Xtrons unit appears to be a type called FAKRA, and the antenna that came with the unit has a right angle connector.
I can find loads of similar looking antennas on eBay and AliExpress etc, with FAKRA plugs, but most of them are straight (so I'll need to check if a longer plug would be a problem.)
But apart from that... Does anyone know if there is anything specific I need to look out for when buying another GPS antenna ?
Some antennas say they are "Active" and are powered by between 3 and 5V, but I presume they are all like this ?
Also, I've seen splitter cables, which would suggest that I could install more than one GPS antenna, but I'm not really sure if thats possible either ??
Thanks
RogerClark said:
Does anyone know what type of GPS antenna's these units use?
I have an Xtrons PX5 Oreo head unit, but I'm having difficulty positioning the GPS antenna in a good location, due to lack of space under the dashboard.
I'd like to buy another antenna, to take apart and get rid of the plastic cover, in the hope that it will be a bit smaller and I can squeeze it under the dash
However I'm not sure if all antennas that I can buy are the same.
The socket type on the back of the Xtrons unit appears to be a type called FAKRA, and the antenna that came with the unit has a right angle connector.
I can find loads of similar looking antennas on eBay and AliExpress etc, with FAKRA plugs, but most of them are straight (so I'll need to check if a longer plug would be a problem.)
But apart from that... Does anyone know if there is anything specific I need to look out for when buying another GPS antenna ?
Some antennas say they are "Active" and are powered by between 3 and 5V, but I presume they are all like this ?
Also, I've seen splitter cables, which would suggest that I could install more than one GPS antenna, but I'm not really sure if thats possible either ??
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What for a car do you have? (brand & model)
Xtrons TE706PL. It has a FAKRA connector on the back.
Since I posted, I've ordered a generic GPS antenna from AliExpress which has a FAKRA connector on it, (for less than $10)...
So I'll see if that works.
What I don't know however if these antennas are Passive or Active. I presume they are mostly Active, where between 3 and 5 volts is supplied to the antenna, via the same cable (coax) where the signals are sent into the unit (capacitive coupling)
As GPS signals are at 1500Mhz, the loss on thin coax is extreme, so I'd be surprised if any of these antennas, which come with several metres of coax, are passive.
(But I could be wrong.. In which case I'll probably also try to shorten the coax to just the length I need, as that will also improve GPS reception)
RogerClark said:
What I don't know however if these antennas are Passive or Active. I presume they are mostly Active, where between 3 and 5 volts is supplied to the antenna, via the same cable (coax) where the signals are sent into the unit (capacitive coupling)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What was your determination on this. Does the radio use an active antenna or passive?
btw, its an active antenna. I bought a replacement antenna from anywhere they sell active gps antennas.
I've got one of these Alps F9212B 1 din head units from AliExpress from the seller Carlaoer
Android 9.0 1din Quad-Core Car GPS Navigation Player 7'' Universa Car Radio WiFi Bluetooth MP5 1 DIN Multimedia Player NO DVD
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001147862560.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.1aff4c4dvndEM7
When it's in the car parked outside my house, the WiFi won't connect to my home WiFi, I've also tried tethering via WiFi to my mobile inside the car and that really struggles to connect too.
I took the unit inside the house where the WiFi is obviously stronger and the WiFi will work, but the transfer rate is really slow in comparison to my phone which is connected to the same router in the spot as the head unit.
I've taken the unit apart to have a look inside, there's two very short blue wires (about 1 inch in length) that are used for the bluetooth and wifi.
Some observations and thoughts....
I was going to try tracing the WiFi wire back to the chip on the board and soldering a proper shielded pigtail, but the traces are hidden behind some kind of mod board. I'll post a picture in a moment to see if anyone can tell me what the WiFi chip might be?
I've noticed that the WiFi wire is showing continuity with ground on the board (whereas the bluetooth one doesn't), was wondering if this could be the source of the problem possibly too?
After doing quite a bit of googling, the motherboard appears very similar to this one in this video
Any help much appreciated
Here's some photos I took.
There's the top and bottom of the board. (bottom board shows the mod board that has been attached to underside of the connectors)
Also a close-up of the blue BT and WiFi antennas, they are both 40mm in length from the top of the connector
There's also the pinout diagram shown in the manual and on the device itself.
And also a screenshot of the OS version that the device is using.
Some observations:
On the bottom side of the board under the silver shielding with the 13 sticker on there's MT6627N chip (which google says is an all in-one WIFI, BT and GPS chip. The silver cover just pops off with a screwdriver. Doesn't appear to be any solder points or connections to attach an antenna.
So both the paper manual and device manual confirm that the same pin is used for WiFi. However the device manual has 30mm marked next to it. I measured the wire and it's 40mm, will this extra 10mm make a difference I wonder?
Here's the datasheet for MT6627 - https://datasheetspdf.com/pdf-file/791003/MediaTek/MT6627/1
On page 16 it mentions the RF port and Antenna port can be connected directly with a trace of 50 ohms
Also found a diagram that shows single antenna implementation
I have pretty much the same unit. Been trying to improve the wifi myself. Checking around, I found two possible methods. One, is soldering a RP-SMA pigtail to the wire on the end of the connector, and then screwing an actual antenna onto it. I haven't tried it yet because I am still waiting on the part. The second was cutting the size of the wire to the designated size. The wire on my connector is nearly 3 times the length, but since I have so much extra wire, before I cut it, I want to test the antenna method.
Hope that helps.
DroidX2 said:
I have pretty much the same unit. Been trying to improve the wifi myself. Checking around, I found two possible methods. One, is soldering a RP-SMA pigtail to the wire on the end of the connector, and then screwing an actual antenna onto it. I haven't tried it yet because I am still waiting on the part. The second was cutting the size of the wire to the designated size. The wire on my connector is nearly 3 times the length, but since I have so much extra wire, before I cut it, I want to test the antenna method.
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have photos of your unit? Is it the same board layout as mine?
While I don't have pics of the board at the moment, here is a link to the Unit I have. https://www.amazon.com/Android-Navigation-Bluetooth-MirrorLink-Subwoofer/dp/B09135FMM1?dchild=1
Have you done any modifications that fixed things?