HELP BROKE A WIRE IN MY LAPTOP!

[Manage My Cables]

Hello,

 

So after rushing to put my laptop ( Toshiba Satellite A660 ) back together after installing new ram and general cleaning I noticed the WIFI was cutting out and not connecting. So I pulled it back apart and realised the white cable with that connects to the WIFI m.2 card and runs up around the motherboard and into the bezel to a small hidden antenna. The cable had slipped out of cable management hook and got into the way of one of the screws that secures the motherboard to the laptop case and got cut by it when reassembling it. I have no idea how to open the bezel of the screen to replace the cable and wasn't sure if the cable is able to be soldered back together. 

 

The cable is a 

Mini PCI U.FL / IPX to RP-SMA Antenna WiFi Pigtail Cable Connector

[Rodniz]

As a guy, who never done anything near soldering, i had that problem once. I just cut the bad piece out, desolated the ends of both pieces, twisted them together and isolated them with eletrical tape. not pretty, but worked as long as i had my laptop.

[Manage My Cables]

1 minute ago, Rodniz said:

As a guy, who never done anything near soldering, i had that problem once. I just cut the bad piece out, desolated the ends of both pieces, twisted them together and isolated them with eletrical tape. not pretty, but worked as long as i had my laptop.

From what I could see it's fibre with a thin metal or similer braided sheath. I'll see if anybody else has any ideas before I try anything. 

 

Thanks  

[Sharon24]

http://www.amazon.com/U-FL-RP-SMA-Pigtail-Antenna-Cable/dp/B005UWD0EG

[NumLock21]

The antenna goes around the perimeter of the monitor. Different models have different types, so you can't just buy anything random. The one from Amazon link, will not work because there are no mounting areas in your laptop to install it. The other is length. a small laptop of 11.6", will not need a long antenna compare to a 17" laptop that does.

Your best option is to buy a USB wifi adapter.

 

[trag1c]

Its just a shielded wifi antenna wire. If its not physically severed then it will probably work just fine. You could always buy a replacement for it.

[Mr.Meerkat]

9 hours ago, Rodniz said:

As a guy, who never done anything near soldering, i had that problem once. I just cut the bad piece out, desolated the ends of both pieces, twisted them together and isolated them with eletrical tape. not pretty, but worked as long as i had my laptop.

That really is the easiest way of solving the problem and the most ghetto way (and the cheapest way).

 

But if the wires inside are still intact then it's fine and also, just power up your lappy and see whether it would still connect to wifi no?

[Rodniz]

1 hour ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

That really is the easiest way of solving the problem and the most ghetto way (and the cheapest way).

 

But if the wires inside are still intact then it's fine and also, just power up your lappy and see whether it would still connect to wifi no?

The cable is right on top of the pcb. maybe it could short something out?

[.spider.]

Is that wire shielded?

[Hackentosher]

13 hours ago, Manage My Cables said:

From what I could see it's fibre with a thin metal or similer braided sheath. I'll see if anybody else has any ideas before I try anything. 

 

Thanks  

It's a coax cable, so there's a copper wire core, surrounded by an insulator, then wrapped in a copper braid for RF insulation, then covered in another insulator.

[Manage My Cables]

Thanks for all your help

[toxicnos]

You are going to need to solder it back together. Make sure to put heat shrink tubing on it to prevent shorting.

[Manage My Cables]

3 hours ago, toxicnos said:

You are going to need to solder it back together. Make sure to put heat shrink tubing on it to prevent shorting.

Don't worry I put shrink tubing over all connections I solder.

[xaaronx]

Just make sure you don't ground out the signal (center) wire.