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Soldering iphone antenna = worse reception?

P

phatcat

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 10, 2008
193
0
I had a failed attempt in opening my iphone. I bent the cover and in the process cut the wifi antenna cable. I resoldered the antenna cable, but wifi is greatly reduced along w/ bluetooth range. Could the solder be affecting signal quality?

I saw on ebay $10 antenna replacement cables. I'll try those as well.

thx.
 
phatcat said:
I had a failed attempt in opening my iphone. I bent the cover and in the process cut the wifi antenna cable. I resoldered the antenna cable, but wifi is greatly reduced along w/ bluetooth range. Could the solder be affecting signal quality?

I saw on ebay $10 antenna replacement cables. I'll try those as well.

thx.
Click to expand...

It might improve it. :cool:

Ok, actually soldering would probably make things worse. Antennas are a mysterious science. Things that should improve them, don't always.

Notice in all FCC documents, Apple always keeps the antenna specs out due to "propriatary information".
 
Thanks Wildcardd, I imagine solder has different properties than the copper antennas. That could be the culprit. We'll see how the replacement antennaes hold up.

My initial goal was to replace the back cover with a different cover. It appears this forum is based on simple Q/A. I probably should have posted on hackintosh.

SFstudent, I hope you're not majoring in Finance. Why replace a 1st gen iphone for $250 when 2nd gen will be out for $199 in about 3 weeks?

I can live w/o wifi or bluetooth for a few weeks longer. BT is the bigger inconvenience.
 
The shape of sensitive electronic antennas is very important to them receiving the correct frequency at a reasonable level of efficiency. A electrical engineering professor once told me "putting a man on the moon was the easy part. Talking to him while on the moon is the hard part".

Just get an antenna replacement for $20 im sure you will figure something out.
 
phatcat said:
My initial goal was to replace the back cover with a different cover. It appears this forum is based on simple Q/A. I probably should have posted on hackintosh.I had a failed attempt in opening my iphone. I bent the cover and in the process cut the wifi antenna cable. I resoldered the antenna cable, but wifi is greatly reduced along w/ bluetooth range. Could the solder be affecting signal quality?/B]

SFstudent, I hope you're not majoring in Finance. Why replace a 1st gen iphone for $250 when 2nd gen will be out for $199 in about 3 weeks?
Click to expand...


I'm hoping you don't intend to make a living replacing the back cover of a near useless iPhone; and I'm concerned that all that Mechanical Engineering Education that you've acquired during your last demolition of your iPhone will once again be put to the test on the new 3G iPhone. So, lets see according to my financial calculations you've already spent about $399 plus tax on v1 iPhone, (you'll probably do as I suggested, buy another iPhone at $250, but not share that bit of info with us, yes, I'd be totally embarrassed as well), $199 on a 3G iPhone, $10 for another antenna plus shipping, and plan on getting an extra antenna for that one as well, and throw in one of those cheezy replacement backs, b/c you'll probably jack that one as well; and I'm not sure if Apple or AT&T will allow you to get "another" 3G iPhone at the subsidized $199 price, but then again, you could be "the test" and please post your results, so plan on a non-subsidized 3g iPhone at about $575 plus tax. In fact with the evidence of your Mechanical Engineering Education, I would buy a case of the antenna and a case of the backing for the v1 iPhone and 3G iPhone, just in case you find yourself in this exact same predicament on July 11th, 2008. From a "financial management" point of view, you've got a $399 plus tax "paperweight" so I'd recommend that you stay in school, or get a second job, something other than replacing the backs of iPhones! :eek::D
 
If you haven't done so already, change your major to English where you can excel in authoring fiction.
 
Phone works fine w/ exception of BT and wifi.

Perhaps English shouldn't be your major since you're having difficulty reading. Stick to homemaking.
 
Replacement antenna cable came in today and phone is back to original state.

Solder apparently is not a good fix for a broken cable.
 
Which antenna did you replace, the long white one or the short one? How did you go about reattaching it? I'm in the same boat as you and just wanted to know what you did. THX

So, I guess that cable is a wifi/bluetooth antenna, and not just wifi.
 
yes. The longer one. It's both Bluetooth and wifi. I replaced it. It has a push connector that u can pry off or pull carefully. I used a small flat head screwdriver to help pry it off
 
I think you answered the question I was going to ask. I didn't know if the original antenna connection was soldered (hard to see in the "will it blend" video). ;)

Anyway, are you back up to full signal strength? Any pics of the new back? Gotta be a big demand for case mods.
 
phatcat said:
If you haven't done so already, change your major to English where you can excel in authoring fiction.
Click to expand...

LOL! Now *that's* funny! His lengthy post had three periods, an exclamation point, two random semicolons, and more assumptions than Bush made to attack Iraq. Looks like you struck a nerve...
 
heh heh

yeah uh ::tugs on collar and looks around nervously:: i kinda had to replace the headjack and ended up cuttin the same blasted wire... heh heh :eek: now, i got the replacement and what not so how did you pull it outta the 4 metal clampy things that are holding it down on the side?

and for all those out there who are tearing on this guy... i had no choice but to do it myself cuz my warranty is void cuz this thing is way jailbroken, hacked and anything else you can imagine... so yeah... thanks for any help!
 
Cordovad88 said:
yeah uh ::tugs on collar and looks around nervously:: i kinda had to replace the headjack and ended up cuttin the same blasted wire... heh heh :eek: now, i got the replacement and what not so how did you pull it outta the 4 metal clampy things that are holding it down on the side?

and for all those out there who are tearing on this guy... i had no choice but to do it myself cuz my warranty is void cuz this thing is way jailbroken, hacked and anything else you can imagine... so yeah... thanks for any help!
Click to expand...

You could have restored the unit and no one would be able to tell.
 
I left the clamp alone and cut as much of the old antenna cable off.
 
why are some of you laughing at the thread starter? he made a mistake, we all do.


hope u find a solution man.
 
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