1. Home
  2. Wireless Networking
  3. Compaq 2162US -- added wireless card, but range is bad

Compaq 2162US -- added wireless card, but range is bad

Hi,

I just added a Ralink-based mini-PCI wireless card -- and small Hitachi antennas attached to MAIN & AUX antenna connectors on the card -- to a Compaq 2162US notebook PC. The antennas have about a 4" pigtail and they're easy to tuck under the door of the card. My problem...range is so-so and it doesn't stumble upon other WLANs in the neighborhood that it should see under normal conditions.

Question is, might this notebook have a pre-installed antenna with the cable end tucked away somewhere? If so, where might I look?

Fwiw...the notebook did not come with a pre-installed WLAN card. Thanks.

Reply to
R. J. Salvi
Loading thread data ...

Specs are found here and they say there isn't wireless inbuilt.

formatting link
info is here
formatting link

Reply to
Pen

formatting link
All info is here

formatting link
Thanks...I saw the specs prior to my original post, but I wasn't sure if mfrs. might at least pre-wire the units for future upgrades. Thanks again.

Reply to
R. J. Salvi

"R. J. Salvi" hath wroth:

I'm not sure this applies to your Compaq 2162US, but the Compaq 2120US was retrofited with this abomination:

That's one of two rather lossy antennas mounted on the *HINGES* of the laptop. It's a terrible location. If you look carefully, you can see where the black coax cable was crunched by the hinge (which eventually shorted the cable). This is what Compaq did when there was no suitable antenna location in the top of the LCD section. As would be predictable, the range of the 2120US was much less than I would have expected thanks to the antenna locations. Check if yours are in the same location.

There's some interesting ideas for improving the antenna location and connection for laptops here:

Sorry, but nothing on your specific laptop.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Cabling-Design.com Forums website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.