is there a safe wifi boost in x51v ?

[polishruben]

is there a safe way of boosting wifi signal at our baby axim ? ( x51v )
(besides mounting a huge antenna)

?

[Duke_Box]

A huge antenna does not boost the signal, it can(!) only offer better reception. The wificard is limited to 36mW transmit power, unfortunately this is a hardware limit. We develop replacement chips that offers up to 82mW transmit power, you can exchange them if you have a simd capable soldering station. However, they are not legal in a lot of country's.

[polishruben]

A huge antenna does not boost the signal, it can(!) only offer better reception. The wificard is limited to 36mW transmit power, unfortunately this is a hardware limit. We develop replacement chips that offers up to 82mW transmit power, you can exchange them if you have a simd capable soldering station. However, they are not legal in a lot of country's.

duke - by "we" who do you mean ?
where can I get this puttpy ? How the new chip deals with battery power ? 20-30% cuts ?

[Duke_Box]

We is my company, we develop hardware (like mainboard pcb's) for PDA devices. Mostly for symbol.

[polishruben]

We is my company, we develop hardware (like mainboard pcb's) for PDA devices. Mostly for symbol.

are you going to be shy and not tell the name of your company ? How the 82W chip impacts Axim power consumption ?

[bigbop]

A huge antenna does not boost the signal, it can(!) only offer better reception.

Wrong - a properly designed antenna with gain can indeed, boost the ERP (effective radiated power). An antenna with 3db gain essentially doubles your effective power output without making any changes to the WiFi device. Antennas used on these PDAs are typically unity gain types (no gain) so you're stuck with what the designers gave you. There is a test port inside of the X50v for both the bluetooth and the WiFi that theoretically you could connect to, but the problems with impedance matching aren't worth the effort.

The wifi card is limited to 36mW transmit power, unfortunately this is a hardware limit. We develop replacement chips that offers up to 82mW transmit power, you can exchange them if you have a simd capable soldering station. However, they are not legal in a lot of country's.

You're talking about an external wifi card? The wifi interface in the X50 is a Texas Instruments and Maxim combo. The Maxim chips have both the final output amplifiers and an interface for the TI chip. It's not something that can be replaced without a circuit board redesign.
Here's the Maxim chip specs: http://www.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm/qv_pk/2458

[Duke_Box]

The A02 pcb has a broadcom chip, it's compattible with the older Ti.
Broadcom offers 2 compattible bc chips, one non adjustable (with software=firmware) and one that is.

[bigbop]

The A02 pcb has a broadcom chip, it's compattible with the older Ti.
Broadcom offers 2 compattible bc chips, one non adjustable (with software=firmware) and one that is.

That's news to me. What's the part number for the broadcom chip?

The A02 you are referring to is for the X51v or the X50v?

The Maxim output chip is capable of 22.5dbm - that's almost 200mW. I have no idea what is actually getting to the built-in antenna but I'm assumming it's at least 100mW. What is needed is some kind of RF coupling device that can be easily attached to the top of the Axim, to extend the range of the unit without opening the case.

Bigbop: An antenna with 3db of ERP @ 2.4 Ghz, are we talking about several inches of whip outside the shell of the unit?

[dgoldring]

How would you attach such an antenna to the wifi chip?? Obviously, something that requirs you to open the Axim would not be useful to the average user.

Doug

[Duke_Box]

That's news to me. What's the part number for the broadcom chip?

BCM1638MB order number 122933.

[Jerry Atrick]

I've been yearning for a ~50% boost in my wi-fi tx/rx range ever since i got the thing... *dreams on*

[dk1]

:rolling: would those stickon cell phone antenna's help to improve the wifi signal?

[bigbop]

Bigbop: An antenna with 3db of ERP @ 2.4 Ghz, are we talking about several inches of whip outside the shell of the unit?

Probably a few inches, but you ain't gonna get 3db any other way

[bigbop]

How would you attach such an antenna to the wifi chip?? Obviously, something that requirs you to open the Axim would not be useful to the average user.

Doug

That's why I'm trying to figure out if I can design some kind of clamp that slides in through the side of the SD slot.

Have a look there - just beside the SD slot and in front of the CF slot, there is enough space for a thin piece of metal or PCB to slide in.

I'm proposing to make a matching device to inductively couple the signal from the internal WiFi antenna to an external one in the same fashion that automobile cell antennas are coupled through the windshield.

The only problem is that I don't know if I can design a pickup with enough coupling to fit in that narrow space.

Maybe Duke_box can play around with the idea a bit as well.