[antani121]

After few tries I managed to solve the wifi issue on my Pipo M3 3G.


This is what I did (sorry for the pictures, I forgot to take some during the mod.. I will take some more next time I open the tablet).

I took some wifi antennas from an old notebook:


I soldered them to the existing crap wifi antenna, on the original soldering points:


and sticked them on the back metal case of the Pipo (but the signal was still bad):


after few attempts I decided to put the antennas in the positions showed below:



and now the signal is way better than before. It gets signal where before It got none and can see wireless networks I couldn't see before.
But still I'm not 100% satisfied.. Even if now my Pipo as 3 antennas and the connection is more stable, it performs better if you open the back case...

I'm thinking about drilling the back case so that I can put the antennas outside...

=========================================================

Wifi issue 100% solved

UPDATE HERE:
http://www.slatedroi...268#entry461268

This post has been edited by antani121: 03 December 2012 - 09:36 AM

[FerrarisIV]

Me cocomeri

Congratulations

[Dixblake]

Hello there:

I have read in many forums about the problem of poor wifi signal on tablet Pipo M3 (wifi and 3G) models, but I want to know what is people Pipo (manufacturer)says about it? or do not care? They have think about change the motherboard or wifi antenna? or is a problem with the software or what?

Thanks

DB

[Malaquai]

I think that isn't an antenna issue only. I've made some tests with my M3 and I found that the signal strength is good or better than other devices that don't have problems (same place) like M1, Motorola Atrix, Droid 3. But the connection quality is horrible, falls to 1 Mbps (router in other room, 2 walls). Remember that M1 has a metal back case too, and don't has any problem. My solution for now was buy a wifi repeater for usd 25 aprox. With the repeater the speed is excellent, come to max. The idea of an old notebook antennas is very good. I'll try to find some and install it.
Very thanks for share your experience.

Enviado desde mi MB860 usando Tapatalk 2

[antani121]

Malaquai, on 01 December 2012 - 08:40 PM, said:

I think that isn't an antenna issue only. I've made some tests with my M3 and I found that the signal strength is good or better than other devices that don't have problems (same place) like M1, Motorola Atrix, Droid 3. But the connection quality is horrible, falls to 1 Mbps (router in other room, 2 walls). Remember that M1 has a metal back case too, and don't has any problem. My solution for now was buy a wifi repeater for usd 25 aprox. With the repeater the speed is excellent, come to max. The idea of an old notebook antennas is very good. I'll try to find some and install it.
Very thanks for share your experience.

Well, a wifi repeater could be a solution in your house, but what happens when you are outside and have to connect to other wifi networks?

On mine even the signal wasn't good.
But again the problem is the metal case, I'm sure sticking the antennas out of it will result in much better signal.

[antani121]

BIG UPDATE ON WIFI ISSUE: I SOLVED ALL MY PROBLEMS!


I was considering to drill the back case of my Pipo but I finally decided to try a different solution before doing it.

BEFORE proceeding with the new solution, I sticked the antennas (which I soldered before) out of the Pipo to see if I had better signal.
I noticed that I had an improvement, but it wasn't much better than before... so the problem was somewhere else!


These below are the steps I followed:
1) I got rid of the crap Pipo's antenna unsoldering it from the wire that goes to the motherboard.
2) I connected and soldered the old antenna wire to the two new antennas wires, just soldering the wires together.
3) I re-soldered the old wire on the motherboard with some new pond (THIS WAS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP, otherwise the signal should have been better with the antennas sticked out of the case!).
4) All the connectors and the antennas as well were isolated properly with some tape. They absolutely mustn't touch the metal back cover.


THE RESULTS WERE IMPRESSIVE!
Now I get STABLE and GOOD signal everywhere in my house.

This is the first result where I got 250/300 kbps in download before (ceiling between Pipo and router):


And this is where I could barely connect before and got everytime unstable signal (ceiling+ 2 walls):



Here a scheme of where I positioned the new antennas:




I would recommend to do this mod to all of you that know how to solder. It's not a big deal and I'm not a master at soldering, so anyone with a bit of knowledge and skills can do it easily.


One more thing could be increasing the "TXpower" in the build.prop file.
This should give more power to the wifi transmitter and get better signal.

This post has been edited by antani121: 05 December 2012 - 12:54 PM

[jamieg]

antani121, on 03 December 2012 - 09:31 AM, said:

BIG UPDATE ON WIFI ISSUE: I SOLVED ALL MY PROBLEMS!


I was considering to drill the back case of my Pipo but I finally decided to try a different solution before doing it.

BEFORE proceeding with the new solution, I sticked the antennas (which I soldered before) out of the Pipo to see if I had better signal.
I noticed that I had an improvement, but it wasn't much better than before... so the problem was somewhere else!


These below are the steps I followed:
1) I got rid of the crap Pipo's antenna unsoldering it from the wire that goes to the motherboard.
2) I connected and soldered the old antenna wire to the two new antennas wires, just soldering the wires together.
3) I re-soldered the old wire on the motherboard with some new pond (THIS WAS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP, otherwise the signal should have been better with the antennas sticked out of the case!).
4) All the connectors and the antennas as well were isolated properly with some tape. They absolutely mustn't touch the metal back cover.


THE RESULTS WERE IMPRESSIVE!
Now I get STABLE and GOOD signal everywhere in my house.

This is the first result where I got 250/300 kbps in download before (ceiling between Pipo and router):


And this is where I could barely connect before and got everytime unstable signal (ceiling+ 2 walls):



Here a scheme of where I positioned the new antennas:




I would recommend to do this mod to all of you that know how to solder. It's not a big deal and I'm not a master at soldering, so anyone with a bit of knowledge and skills can do it easily.


One more thing could be increasing the "TXpower" in the build.prop file.
This should give more power to the wifi transmitter and get better signal.

Many thanks for sharing this, I saw this link mentioned before and have my Laptop aerials on order. Thanks antani121 for the M3 opening case advice. Good idea to tweak TXpower, problem could even be noise, so TXpower decrease may improve signal further.

[GalacticTeapot]

I will try to do this when I am confident enough to crack open my M3 (I've only had it for 4 days) and when I find some laptop antennas. I have been considering just getting a new router + repeater setup though

[krlosF9]

speedtest not check the quality of the signal, checked speedtest download and upload speed of your connection

[antani121]

krlosF9, on 03 December 2012 - 02:16 PM, said:

speedtest not check the quality of the signal, checked speedtest download and upload speed of your connection

I checked the signal with WiFi analyzer. But even with my first modo i got good signal but slow navigation speed.
With this second modo WiFi speed is very good so far and speedtest reports the evidence

[Malaquai]

So, the old antenna remains disconnected. Ok ? Very thanks for your solution, I'll try it as soon as have the antennas.


Sent from my Pipo M3 tablet.

[antani121]

Malaquai, on 04 December 2012 - 02:42 PM, said:

So, the old antenna remains disconnected. Ok ? Very thanks for your solution, I'll try it as soon as have the antennas.

Yes, correct.
I put it out of the tablet and replaced it with the new one.




I had to re-open it again and take the chance to take one more picture.

HOW IT LOOKS NOW:

This post has been edited by antani121: 05 December 2012 - 12:54 PM

[Gis]

GalacticTeapot, on 03 December 2012 - 10:44 AM, said:

I will try to do this when I am confident enough to crack open my M3 (I've only had it for 4 days) and when I find some laptop antennas. I have been considering just getting a new router + repeater setup though

My tablet is used in house or in a open area or large office where there is NO big walls & if your like me & don't want to risk killing your M3 repeaters work !

[Mareesub]

Great Antani121 , nice tips.

I found this wifi antenna from aliexpress , http://goo.gl/adu6x , Is it good?
So Do i have to solder the cables direct to the motherboard of the tablet where there is the point of the old antenna ?

I am little scared , i have not great soldering skill .

This post has been edited by Mareesub: 05 December 2012 - 05:27 PM

[antani121]

Mareesub, on 05 December 2012 - 05:26 PM, said:

Great Antani121 , nice tips.

I found this wifi antenna from aliexpress , http://goo.gl/adu6x , Is it good?
So Do i have to solder the cables direct to the motherboard of the tablet where there is the point of the old antenna ?

I am little scared , i have not great soldering skill .

Yes it's perfect!
And don't solder it on the motherboard but unsolder the wire from the default antenna and join it with your new antenna wire.

This post has been edited by antani121: 05 December 2012 - 06:25 PM

[Mareesub]

Thank you Antani121 , i will use the old antenna wire.

It comes to my mind a strange idea....Is it possibile to use the back case like an antenna ?

Solder the wire to the case , so bad idea?

[FerrarisIV]

Mareesub, on 06 December 2012 - 10:30 AM, said:

Thank you Antani121 , i will use the old antenna wire.

It comes to my mind a strange idea....Is it possibile to use the back case like an antenna ?

Solder the wire to the case , so bad idea?

Waiting for Antani121's opinion.. he is our expert friend

[antani121]

Mareesub, on 06 December 2012 - 10:30 AM, said:

Thank you Antani121 , i will use the old antenna wire.

It comes to my mind a strange idea....Is it possibile to use the back case like an antenna ?

Solder the wire to the case , so bad idea?

Honestly i don't know...
First i sticked the antennas to the back case, without any success

But it's worth a try! Let us know

[dbx232629]

antani121, on 07 December 2012 - 12:55 PM, said:

Honestly i don't know...
First i sticked the antennas to the back case, without any success

But it's worth a try! Let us know

Im planning to do the same thing ad modding it, but some considerations. Please advise

The metal cover is grounded, we can isolate it from ground first.
Our hands may affect the signal when we use it. (paint it with transparent just to insulate it.)
Im currently looking for ipad battery to replace the stock battery, i dont know if it would fit.

[01101110110110]

I believe I read somewhere around here about someone doing something similar but he ended up having a very poor signal due to interference I think.

I've been wanting to try and do this mod however I've been unable to find any antennas locally except used laptop antennas that look quite different from the ones displayed here. Infact it comes separated from the wires and I have to get wires for it, I'm worried that it wouldn't give me any improvement in signal, does it matter the type of antenna or will any antenna suffice ? I have no idea which laptops these antennas came from