Internal Wi-Fi antenna on Desktop PC.

[Sorenson]

Okay, I know this is likely a stupid idea, but has anyone tried mounting internal wifi antenna in a PC case with any success? I just ordered the Streacom da2 since my current case is an oven, and there is a vented top area that I was thinking of putting internal wifi antenna in. I know it won't be as effective as an external antenna but those are just so ugly. I was thinking of using something like this: https://www.amazon.com/IPEX-Internal-Antenna-M-2-Wireless/dp/B07QDTXGGJ/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=internal+wifi+antenna+m.2&qid=1572894142&sr=8-3

[BrinkGG]

2 minutes ago, Sorenson said:

Okay, I know this is likely a stupid idea, but has anyone tried mounting internal wifi antenna in a PC case with any success? I just ordered the Streacom da2 since my current case is an oven, and there is a vented top area that I was thinking of putting internal wifi antenna in. I know it won't be as effective as an external antenna but those are just so ugly. I was thinking of using something like this: https://www.amazon.com/IPEX-Internal-Antenna-M-2-Wireless/dp/B07QDTXGGJ/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=internal+wifi+antenna+m.2&qid=1572894142&sr=8-3

As soon as you put antennas inside a metal box, you lose signal strength and consistency. I don't recommend it. 

[Windows7ge]

Depending on the chassis it may have a path to ground if the PSU happens to have a good enough connection with the case. This could cause a bit of a faraday cage affect. You'd lose signal strength/integrity. How much I can't say. It'd vary based on the design of the box.

[Yebi]

So, in the interest of science, I've just put the antenna of my MSI X570 MEG ACE inside my case, set on top of the gpu backplate. The case has a glass side panel aimed towards the router, and the top panel is slightly open to allow the cable to pass through.

The signal strength dropped significantly, from full to 2-3 bars (using the win10 tray icon to measure, which is perhaps the worst way to measure anything, but this is an experiment designed and conducted in about a minute), but it doesn't seem to have a big impact on network performance.

Switching the panels around (glass towards the wall, metal towards the router) resulted in the 5GHz signal being completely dead. Auto-switched to 2,4GHz, with the strength at more or less the same place where it was with 5GHz and glass

The router is about 6-7 meters away, behind a wall/closed door.

[Sorenson]

43 minutes ago, Yebi said:

So, in the interest of science, I've just put the antenna of my MSI X570 MEG ACE inside my case, set on top of the gpu backplate. The case has a glass side panel aimed towards the router, and the top panel is slightly open to allow the cable to pass through.

The signal strength dropped significantly, from full to 2-3 bars (using the win10 tray icon to measure, which is perhaps the worst way to measure anything, but this is an experiment designed and conducted in about a minute), but it doesn't seem to have a big impact on network performance.

Switching the panels around (glass towards the wall, metal towards the router) resulted in the 5GHz signal being completely dead. Auto-switched to 2,4GHz, with the strength at more or less the same place where it was with 5GHz and glass

The router is about 6-7 meters away, behind a wall/closed door.

Thanks for the testing, perhaps I should look into discreetly mounting the antennas on the outside of the case. But at $6 I’m not to worried about wasting my money on the antennas. I’ll grab them and try mounting them inside under the mesh top panel and out side the case in the name of science. My pc case sits about 5ft away from a netgear orbi range extender when it isn’t plugged into Ethernet. My biggest concern is will it substantially increase my ping in games I play online. 

[tailslol]

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/310504-any-htpc-internal-wifi-mod/

[Alex Atkin UK]

5 minutes ago, tailslol said:

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/310504-any-htpc-internal-wifi-mod/

Would have made more sense to put them behind the plastic front panel pieces.

 

Not only would there be less signal blocked, but they would also be further apart.

[Sorenson]

4 hours ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Would have made more sense to put them behind the plastic front panel pieces.

 

Not only would there be less signal blocked, but they would also be further apart.

There is no plastic front panel on the DA2. It’s surrounded by aluminum on all sides. There is just a very tiny plastic part for the power button that wouldn’t let signal through imo. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

Just now, Sorenson said:

There is no plastic front panel on the DA2. It’s surrounded by aluminum on all sides. There is just a very tiny plastic part for the power button that wouldn’t let signal through imo. 

I was referring to the linked post, as it seemed a poor example of how to do it.