Is there some trick or tip that can increase the wifi strength? I'm able to pick up nearby signals, and they are non-secured but not able to connect.
Do your testing on WiFi networks that you are sure are working; test with a laptop before all this.
We don't have a way to up the power by software at present.
The only thing could be to drill holes and get soldering bigger antennas.
What about passive amplifiers like tin cans and satellite dishes; aka put the nook in the focus point of a wok.
jago25_98 said:
We don't have a way to up the power by software at present.
The only thing could be to drill holes and get soldering bigger antennas.
What about passive amplifiers like tin cans and satellite dishes; aka put the nook in the focus point of a wok.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a few words of caution:
1: Even if the output power can be adjusted trough software, doing this can easily fry the wifi circuitry, I've burned a couple of routers this way
2: Unless there are ultra-mini connectors like those found on mini PCI wifi boards, do not even think about this. Unless you're an expert and can do all the math required, you'll end up with reduced antenna gain, and in the worst case you'll end up with a fried circuit due to a catastrophic change in antenna impedance.
3: This works, even a big piece of cardboard covered with tin-foil will help increase signal strength.
what if we try to carefully line the battery cover with foil??
4218kris said:
what if we try to carefully line the battery cover with foil??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually
If you're somewhat of a DIY'er you can buy an external antenna and attach it to your NST as it does have a external antenna connector on the pcb.
I don't recall the exact connector type but you can find it easily enough if you pry off your power button with a screwdriver, unscrew the tiny little bastard of a screw behind it and slide the back-cover towards the bottom to release it from the NST.
The number of antennas available is beyond counting, just figure out the connector type and search ebay .. I'm pretty sure you can get one for less than $5 including shipping.
Here's a picture of the connector
i39.tinypic.com/xkreck.jpg
i think they have the same connectors as minipcie wifi cards
Here is the Samsung Galaxy S3 (GT-I9300) Service Manual.
Please take a moment to read the notes and issues about this manual in this post.
For some reason Google didn't pick up that post, so I had to re-post here...
Now, if you are brave and happen to have a GT-I9300, you can still help us by posting some
internal pictures, to verify some issues in the manual. If they are good,
some of them will eventually become part of the SGS3 Hack-Pack.
Thanks and Enjoy!
I will be opening up the phone in the next few days due to me managing to damage the sim card holder section(not holding sim card) So at present i have got somthing putting pressure to keep sim card in place. I have a new sim card holder on order so when it arrives i will pull phone apart and take some pictures.
If you have any advice for me before attempting this please let me know via pm
Do you have any experience in this kind of electronics? I mean, are you planning to replace and solder the SIM card holder by yourself?
If you have not done this type of soldering before, I do not recommend it.
If you do decide to do it on your own, make sure:
You are working on a clean workspace
You are well grounded and not wearing wool clothes mixed with synthetic materials to avoid any ESD.
Have the right tools for the job.(Temp controlled SMD soldering iron + flux and acid-free lead-free SMD solder etc.)
A very steady hand with good eyes!
As for the pictures, keep the environment as bright as possible, preferably daylight. Try to keep your PCB on a bright or neutral background. (Bright cardboard is usually good.) Inspect your pictures and make sure you can read the text on the smallest chips. (The big ones we already know about, its the smaller ones that are difficult to navigate around.) Make sure the pictures are well focused.
Good Luck!
From looking at the pictures I was hoping I don't have to solder the sim card slot in. It looks easily replaceable as it looks like it's just a connector and not soldered
Replaced the sim holder. My camera wasn't good enough to get focus of the smaller chips however it is very very easy to take phone apart. And I guess Samsung are expecting issues with sim slot so they have fixed it using one screw and connected to board using a pull off connecter.
Just in case anyone else is interested the sim holder/sd holder cost me £20, delivered.
E:V:A said:
Here is the Samsung Galaxy S3 (GT-I9300) Service Manual.
Please take a moment to read the notes and issues about this manual in this post.
For some reason Google didn't pick up that post, so I had to re-post here...
Now, if you are brave and happen to have a GT-I9300, you can still help us by posting some
internal pictures, to verify some issues in the manual. If they are good,
some of them will eventually become part of the SGS3 Hack-Pack.
Thanks and Enjoy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
amazing !!!
Hi guys,
Here is my contribution to da community, hope so it helps.
h t t p s : / / docs . google . com/open?id=0B9lrf7AWQW7ETjRZTkFXb1luN0E
On image 20120616_150200.jpg you can see the region jumpers. The images are of a live demo unit - everything works besides the GSM/3G data. Haven't tested to see if the NFC is working.
The real unit has some more antenna connector. The demo one does not have PBA /printed board antenna/ the ANT102 and ANT103 as well as the capacitors and the coils u may seen them market in red cycles (ANT102, ANT103, C102, C191, L103, L102) there is no room on the MOBO for C192 /or at least I can't find its place/.
Thanks.
^^ Here is the link for above! (Thanks!)
Hi again,
I can confirm that the NFC is working on the live demo unites. According to the original S3 user manual the NFC antennas are build into the battery back.
I still can't figure out what is the "W2" antenna connector for. The Live demo unit has no connector soldered to the motherboard and also lacks the small PCB antenna with the white coaxial cable. Some ppl claim that the W2 is for WiFi antenna, but it is not, because I got great WiFi connectivity tho the lack of such PCB antenna. I can only confirm the WiFi working fine, under "G" type of WiFi networks. The openWRT firmware of my current router has known bug and I can't bring up "N" standard in air, to check if the PCB antenna is for "N" type of WiFi networks.
I also did some testing to see if the PCB is for GLONASS or GPS, and it seams that this PCB antenna with the white coaxial cable is not for any of these services. That's why I think it might be for wifi "N" or 3G data/networks. Donno if the 802.11n requires a separate antenna.
^^ Please post a link to a specific image, that clearly show the connector(s) you're talking about.
Hi I have a live demo unit to, so I think I can help about this =).
I can't show you the mainboard back because I' m new user... xD
I don't really know what you mean with NFC (sorry, I'm not really good with english)
But
W1 is a GSM external antenna conection
W2 is a wifi external antenna conection
And the white wired antenna is for wifi to.
After thinking a lot, if you conect an antenna to the GSM antenna conection (external or the internal lacked in Demo unit) you probably can't use phone function.
That function probably was crippled by software or because demo units don´t have imei maybe o.o.
The only thing I need to try is to connect a microsim to the phone
No one has any insights ???
johnny21a said:
No one has any insights ???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have sgs3, international version on my workbench right now.
Don´t have any clue what could I share, so - if there is anything specific -- let me know. I will do my best..
BR
Samsung galaxy S3 i747
i have a Galaxy S3 SGH-i747m that has been water damaged and given to me so i could try and fix it. I can take pretty much any pictures you want, have openned the phone a couple times now to try and clean it up.
My problem is that the works well, it starts up, unlock the screen, plays sound...but the screen is off. Now at first when i was "playing" with it the screen would flicker on and off to show me the battery charging logo when it was plugged in. I've cleaned the phone and all flex connectors with some products. the phone still turns on and works but my screen is off. It detects the touch since i can unlock the screen ( it plays the water sound when i slide my finger on the screen) and speaker works when i boot it up (little booting sounds).
I was thinking there might be a small fuse on board for the screen backlight and that could be blown. I was also thinking my battery might be damaged and is not giving the phone the right voltage to the right connectors or something so i have ordered a new battery on ebay (under 4$) and am waiting for it.
Anyone has an idea to some specific things i should be looking for ? only thing haven't disassemble is the digitizer from the framebecause doing so would surely break the glass. It bums me up a bit since there are some electronics behind the frame that could have been damaged by the water that i couldn't see.
Bigred065 said:
i have a Galaxy S3 SGH-i747m that has been water damaged and given to me so i could try and fix it. I can take pretty much any pictures you want, have openned the phone a couple times now to try and clean it up.
My problem is that the works well, it starts up, unlock the screen, plays sound...but the screen is off. Now at first when i was "playing" with it the screen would flicker on and off to show me the battery charging logo when it was plugged in. I've cleaned the phone and all flex connectors with some products. the phone still turns on and works but my screen is off. It detects the touch since i can unlock the screen ( it plays the water sound when i slide my finger on the screen) and speaker works when i boot it up (little booting sounds).
I was thinking there might be a small fuse on board for the screen backlight and that could be blown. I was also thinking my battery might be damaged and is not giving the phone the right voltage to the right connectors or something so i have ordered a new battery on ebay (under 4$) and am waiting for it.
Anyone has an idea to some specific things i should be looking for ? only thing haven't disassemble is the digitizer from the framebecause doing so would surely break the glass. It bums me up a bit since there are some electronics behind the frame that could have been damaged by the water that i couldn't see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
check if you can see anything on the screen, use some extra light, torch for example.
if so - then its more likely that the LEDs in the display panel are damaged, since it flickered, as you said. also could be the driver circuit for backlight. Clean connectors for display panel, use magnifier, or better microscope to check for corrosion. use IPA to clean or scrape off the corrosion.
also - maybe this is not the right place to discuss this.
GL
Redrigon said:
Hi I have a live demo unit to, so I think I can help about this =).
I can't show you the mainboard back because I' m new user... xD
I don't really know what you mean with NFC (sorry, I'm not really good with english)
But
W1 is a GSM external antenna conection
W2 is a wifi external antenna conection
And the white wired antenna is for wifi to.
After thinking a lot, if you conect an antenna to the GSM antenna conection (external or the internal lacked in Demo unit) you probably can't use phone function.
That function probably was crippled by software or because demo units don´t have imei maybe o.o.
The only thing I need to try is to connect a microsim to the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have he white antenna coaxial cable neigh the PCB antenna board that this cable is connected to but I have WiFi.
Could it be for WiFi N(150Mbps)?
Watter damage, LCD working/not working?
Bigred065 said:
i have a Galaxy S3 SGH-i747m that has been water damaged and given to me so i could try and fix it. I can take pretty much any pictures you want, have openned the phone a couple times now to try and clean it up.
My problem is that the works well, it starts up, unlock the screen, plays sound...but the screen is off. Now at first when i was "playing" with it the screen would flicker on and off to show me the battery charging logo when it was plugged in. I've cleaned the phone and all flex connectors with some products. the phone still turns on and works but my screen is off. It detects the touch since i can unlock the screen ( it plays the water sound when i slide my finger on the screen) and speaker works when i boot it up (little booting sounds).
I was thinking there might be a small fuse on board for the screen backlight and that could be blown. I was also thinking my battery might be damaged and is not giving the phone the right voltage to the right connectors or something so i have ordered a new battery on ebay (under 4$) and am waiting for it.
Anyone has an idea to some specific things i should be looking for ? only thing haven't disassemble is the digitizer from the framebecause doing so would surely break the glass. It bums me up a bit since there are some electronics behind the frame that could have been damaged by the water that i couldn't see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have identical symptoms with my i9300.
1. Water damaged
2. Dried in a can of rice etc over several days
3. Cleaned under sim card, lots of debris there, looked scorched, I cleaned with alcohol and a brush in an ESD protected environment.
4. Re assembled, the display briefly flashed on, and showed the expected "Battery is low, an d No Sim Card" then powered off.
5. Now after charging the battery and emplacing my sim card, I hear the proper musical tones when the phone boots but the screen doesn't light.
Where you able to get the screen working?
I am going to try a more throughal cleaning and I will try viewing the LCD under a more power full light.
I too worry that just getting the LCD screen replaced might not work; the screen may be fine but the mother board LCD power supply might be at fault...
I will keep you posted and keep an eye on this forum to find out how to fix this.
This thread has served its main purpose.
OT discussions are prevalent.
Thread Closed!
The tabs connecting the antennas to the motherboard is pretty fragile and breaking them is a big problem. Mine is broken, for unknown reasons, and I'm proposing some solutions.
Solder with wire
Someone tried to do this and according to the replies, its not safe and would probably lead to the end of the world. But the results are better than having no antenna at all.
Using other pins on the motherboard
Crazy idea, but would probably work. This is the part where I need help.
I labeled which I think are not important(Correct me if I'm wrong). #2.1 and #2.2 looks like ground tabs for the motherboard.
Im also planning on using the nfc's tabs, labeled #2.3, since I never use nfc and probably never will.
First of all, is it safe and reasonable to take these tabs and use them as replacement tabs?
If yes, then which tab should I use? #2.1, #2.2, or #2.3
I'm currently choosing between solution 1 and 2. Any comment would be deemed valuable.
Thanks
Image courtesy of iFixit.com
Bump. Anyone?
You are correct in your assumptions of what the pins purposes are... the pins you call "ground" are to ground the shield on the back cover... most likely to pass FCC requirements on RF emissions... and if you don't use the NFC radio, those pins would probably do fine also... you may end up losing the NFC radio after awhile running with no load on the antenna outputs so that may be a "no turning back hack"
I have powered up my tablet and used it for 30 minutes or so with the back cover removed to test my antenna mods so those ground pins are not required for the tablet to function properly... not like they complete a circuit or anything
Worked for me
I know this is an old thread but, FWIW, using the mentioned spring tabs (#2.1 & #2.2) worked for mine. As previously stated, they appear to just be EMI grounding. They probably clean up emanated noise that could otherwise interfere with the tablet's antenna reception/transmission. I moved them to replace the broken wifi tabs and so far reception for wifi works just fine. I haven't tried any other antennas yet but I suspect the impact is minimal on the other antennas.
I'll update if I notice any degradation to the other antenna functions.
Like the title says I now have little to no wifi signal unless stood next to the router?
Can anyone help me out am getting really cheesed off with this.
thanks in advance
Checked for loose connectors? Does wifi improve if you remove the cameras?
Was perfectly fine, before I did the camera, checked the conector the little point bit snapped off but not the ful connector so I am still able to lift it up slightly?
Are you referring to the centre pin?
no the little connector on the oppisote side of the bored
located here in the green ring, the whole connector is still attached all tho a little bit on the top has came of no bigger than a half centimeter
Maybe the connector is not making proper contact with the back casing. Maybe add a bit of solder to the gold contact to raise it up a bit to it makes better contact?
Would adding solder not damage it?
Check WiFi Antenna
PhaseCoder said:
Like the title says I now have little to no wifi signal unless stood next to the router?
Can anyone help me out am getting really cheesed off with this.
thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds to me like the device was opened to replace the camera, and it could be something easy to fix. Fix step open the device, and check that suckers WiFi Antenna wire....looks the same as a Laptop WiFi Antenna Wire, except smaller and shorter, it may be disconnected from the logic board connector location, or the wire is broken or damaged.
Adding a but of solder may work as long as you use low-melt solder, a very fine tip iron, and you do not let the solder flow to other parts of the board.
I suppose the alternative would be taking it to a cell shop to see if they can fix it.
I have Samsung i9505l updated to lollipop via OTA after updating All the sensor stopped what does it mean is Samsung killing their devices via ota's i said to my friends that it's hardware (sensor Hub) problem! and he was saying no it's software problem after downgrading to Kit Kat... everything works fine I lost $30 bet on it.! poor Samsung ! so the main question is there anyway to upgrade to lollipop with working sensors?
http://samsung-updates.com/
Hey guys. Here are a probably fix for wi-fi/sim/gps signal strenght problem after changing the touch or anything similar that needs to disassembly the Mimax2. Well, i found 2 solutions for the problem, but i need someone that understand about hardware to help us. The problem begins when you disassembly the phone, and the pins of the antenna dont plug correctly at the back of the phone. Here are the First solution (that didn't works for me, but maybe works for you):
The video is based in put on the pin a tinfoil to improve the connection with the back cover. I guess that the contact in back cover of my MM2 is very weak, so didnt work for me.
The solution number two is based in connect a copperwire on the pins or on Motherboard to make a homemade antenna. Maybe this way work for me and for who dont have success in the First guide. But as i said previously, i need someone to say If the connections in the pics are correctly. Those pics was found in a telegram group. Some guy made and send them.
Well, if anybody here help me, i'll probably make a video solving the problem. That may help a lot of people having the same problem (they think is a ROM issue, but isnt). I Just need to know where EXACTLY i have to plug the copperwires (fear of burn some peripheal) , and do the tests.
This is ridiculous. Just peel the old antenna out of the old screen, separate the new screen, and put the real antenna in.
You might ask, what is the antenna? Well, there's actually two in one piece of the phone. It's a sticker that the two gold contacts on the original screen were on. The main body is behind the glass, stuck to the plastic. Carefully peel those ends with the gold contact pads up, then from the other side, peel off the sticker they are a part of. The holes are there in all the screens, you just need to carefully push the ends back through with tweezers, then re-glue the glass to the plastic.
It's not easy, but it's not a copper wire hanging out of your phone either.