Damaged WiFi Card & Antenna socket - Can this be fixed ? Asus laptop

Gadgets and Devices Laptops & AIO Desktops
1

Hey Folks

Recently bought an Asus Tuf Laptop from a TE member and in excitement I tried changing the Wi-Fi card to a new Wi-Fi 6 AX card
While trying to remove the current Wi-Fi card from the board, unfortunately I have damaged both the card and the antenna connector.

I took the laptop to few local service centers here in Bangalore and one person suggested to use a USB dongle and other asked for few days time to check & confirm if this can be fixed. (I got the laptop back since I was not comfortable leaving my laptop there)

I am not worried about the Wi-Fi card since I can get a new one, but I am worried about the antenna wire connectors which is also damaged.

So any suggestions on how to fix this ? will soldering help ?
also not sure if the Antenna wire is available with Asus as a spare part,

Please help

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2

Looks like it’s called ipex mhf4 connector.

https://superuser.com/questions/1642655/what-is-the-name-of-this-connector-2x-of-an-internal-laptop-wifi-card-dell-i

Doesn’t seem to be many listings online, Asus spare parts is worth checking they might have it.

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3

Better to buy a new wifi card instead of spending time on this unless you’re a micro-soldering expert.

4

It should have a Part Number / ID and available as a spare part.
It should be common across multiple laptops based on the same chassis / generation.

Check with the local Asus service center first.

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5

buying Wifi card is the easiest option but what about the antenna cable which is also damaged ?

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@@vivek.krishnan

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@@mzsa1994

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Is it damaged? Or just the connectors from the card are still connected to the cable socket?
If so then you need to find the new cables as spares or maybe hack a solution yourself to maybe directly solder bare wires to the card PCB.

If nothing then maybe just throw it away and use a USB wifi adaptor from TP-Link or something.

9

you are right the connectors from the card are stuck inside the antenna cable socket

I have a old laptop which is not working and has these antenna cable sockets can I use them?

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Can’t you pry them out with nails or something sharp? The cable must be fine.

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get only new connectors from Ebay.com if you want cosmetic cleanliness , something like this -

or
if you survive with external protruding then get this [

Wifi - модуль MSATA 2 антенны](‘Wifi - модуль MSATA 2 антенны’

) ( from ebay or Alixpress) as couldnt find the actual link . I have this antenna from old Pogoplug and seagate tinkering

Both link are to give you an idea , Dont buy from these

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These are available on Amazon also and guess he will have to change the cable now.

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so I have a Dell laptop which has motherboard issues can I use the antenna and the cable from that laptop?

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yes its exact same , issue would be size and location of antenna in both . Connectors are standard from atleast 10 years

15

ok quick update - I had raised an out of warranty service request with Asus and one of their onsite engineer visited my house and confirmed antenna module needs to be replaced.
Within an hour I received the below Quotation from Asus vendor asking me to approve the part replacement including service charges.

The antenna costs just 70 bucks and service charge is whopping 1.3k :open_mouth:
I had no choice but to approve the replacement and service charges, will confirm how this goes once the part replacement is done.

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16

cant you just ask them too give you the part and save up on service charge.

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I did ask the same to the technician, he said he will try :wink: but I dont think it will happen

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yeah probably wont, who would wanna give up 800 for 5 min of work.

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They wont , Service center guys income is this only

20

Use tweezers to remove the connector from the wifi antenna carefully. Changing the antenna will be difficult as you will need to open the display panel and i would not recommend it.

Get a wifi 6 card from @@mzsa1994

1 Like