using cell phone with a wifi adapter

[shane17]

Hey all, i havent been on this fourm in awhile and I thought Id come on here to talk about an idea i have. Iv been looking for a way to have a better wifi signal on my phone, not just at home but also for public wifi spots. Then i thought of those usb Wifi adapters you can hook into your computer. Is it possible to use your cell phones usb charging cord and plug a wifi adapter into it and increase your cell phones wifi capabilities. I have a new samsung galaxy note , so i was hoping that this phone would be able to do the job. This phone is like a mini computer so i am considering trying it but just wondering if anyone else has had success with this or has any opinions.

 

[!on]

Have a look at http://www.usbwifi.orconhosting.net.nz/

The problem being you need to connect to the actual antenna. You can do this with some dongles as some do have a connector for a pig-tail connection, though usually inside. Probably the best you can do along these lines is make some kind of dish & position it so your phone is the right distance inside it it to work. But that wouldn't be convenient at all.

Have you thought about buying a portable hotspot, like a MiFi? These are pocket wireless routers that you can place anywhere, are rechargeable, recieve 3g & give you internet over WiFi. You can place it upstairs or higher up & use your phone as normal. I use it when I want to use it's data (it's on 3, phone is on t-mo).

 

[chanchan05]

There aren't any drivers for Android to support those kinds of hardware from what I know.

 

[Dracconus]

What the HELL...I've posted twice now in this thread and my posts keep getting deleted...

Anyways, for the THIRD time now...

You can't simply connect wifi adapters to the USB on your phone because it won't notice the hardware, nor be able to even install the drivers.
What you need is a wifi antenna that uses a QMA Adapter.
You'll have to open the phone's back plate to use it though - Providing it even faces the back (which most do.) Some are covered, so it may take some investigative work to find the little adapter that you connect the antenna to.
Do NOT use powered antennae as they CAN potentially damage your phone.
Hi-Gain antennae are fine, but not ones that require external power sources.
You can also find a regular wifi connector RMA ( I Think it's called that.) to QMA converter cables to use a regular antenna that may not come with a QMA Adapter

 

[shane17]

What the HELL...I've posted twice now in this thread and my posts keep getting deleted...

Anyways, for the THIRD time now...

You can't simply connect wifi adapters to the USB on your phone because it won't notice the hardware, nor be able to even install the drivers.
What you need is a wifi antenna that uses a QMA Adapter.
You'll have to open the phone's back plate to use it though - Providing it even faces the back (which most do.) Some are covered, so it may take some investigative work to find the little adapter that you connect the antenna to.
Do NOT use powered antennae as they CAN potentially damage your phone.
Hi-Gain antennae are fine, but not ones that require external power sources.
You can also find a regular wifi connector RMA ( I Think it's called that.) to QMA converter cables to use a regular antenna that may not come with a QMA Adapter

okay so no usb adapter, Iv been hunting for a QMA adapter and im not having much luck so far. I havent even found any confirmations yet that this is possible for WIFI use. All the adapters i find are for improving the data signal like the 3G network.

You say I have to open the back plate of my phone ? I did that and took a look and there is nothing back there for an adapter, not that i can notice. I called samsung customer service and they said that there shouldnt be anything behind the back plate of the phone for an adapter. I was thinking that if there are adapters and wifi antennas that they would go into the data slot on the phone which is conveniently on the outside of the phone. If there is a hook up inside the phone for an adapter then I dont understand why they would hide it inside the phone..

 

[Dracconus]

Okay, My apologies first off. The antenna connector that I meant to say was MHF...I got that wrong
I have included a picture of the connectors that I'm speaking in regards to. Almost ALL (hint word almost) wifi enabled mobile devices use these, but some (my huawei ascend for instance) have a built in "flat" antenna that is directly soldered onto the board. However, the huawei ascend that is in the picture next to my LG connect (the phone on the left) DOES have the connection that I'm speaking of.
The connect has two of them, and the huawei ascend has one - even though I know for a fact that one isn't for the wifi.
This is why I say that it'll take investigative work to find it, or find out where it may be.
There may be a small black (literally almost not noticeable) sticker covering it (black, grey, white - whatever color the phone is.

Anyways, here's a picture of my lg connect, and huawei ascend side by side with their combined three connectors showing.
I've also included links to both an MHF (also known as U.FL) to SMA connector pigtail (converts that mini connection into a "desktop" type for regular antennas) and also a "cantenna" (original manufacturer/developer of the technology) wireless directional hi-gain antenna.


To use these in conjunction you just pop the mhf connector onto your phone, then screw the cantenna's connector onto the pigtail's SMA end (the WAY bigger one) then you're done...start twisting, and turning your cantenna into a hi-gain wifi finding beast.

Pics:

Phones, and connector showing

Pigtail Converter:
2 Mini PCI U.FL to RP-SMA WiFi Antenna Pigtail Adapter | eBay

Cantenna Hi-Gain Directional YAGI Antenna:
14dBi One Super CANTENNA YAGI WiFi Extender 802.11bg | eBay

OR...
A small wifi antenna (standard strength 2DBi commonly used in mini atx towers like the HP P6010):
1pcs Laptop Notebook PC Desktop Network-Card Wi-Fi W-LAN U.FL MiNi PCI-E Antenna | eBay

You will either use the pigtail converter with the hi-gain antenna, or other types of antennae with SMA Adapters, or you can simply use one of the "mini pci" wifi antennae (they will all be that connector type if they're for mini pci cards as the entire network card's about two inches wide )

Hopefully this'll help you find what you're looking for a little easier now. Sorry for the confusion.

Oh, and FWIW...Never trust anyone that works for your mobile provider, or manufacturer. LG and Sprint BOTH told me that the LG Rumor 2 wasn't capable of Phone as Modem because it "didn't have the hardware necessary for it, nor the software capability in the networking protocol." and yet I still managed to not only figure out that it did, but get it working, and write the ONLY guide IN THE WORLD (The webpage it's hosted on is worth an estimated ~4 Thousand dollars for a single webpage ) explaining how to do it - AND do it off of sprints networks. (they changed their PAM and DUN policy because of me Tethering is no longer an option on anything except 3g, and 4g )

Good luck, and if you have more questions, feel free to let me know.

 

[shane17]

does anyone know if an external antenna can be plugged into a cell phone to improve the wifi range? Other people on other forums have said that behind the cell phones case there are these spots for antenna hooks up so i looked at my phone and found a couple little ports. See in my picture here there are 2 small ports that say R1 and R2 , is one of these for a wifi adapter?

 

[shane17]

Okay, My apologies first off. The antenna connector that I meant to say was MHF...I got that wrong
I have included a picture of the connectors that I'm speaking in regards to. Almost ALL (hint word almost) wifi enabled mobile devices use these, but some (my huawei ascend for instance) have a built in "flat" antenna that is directly soldered onto the board. However, the huawei ascend that is in the picture next to my LG connect (the phone on the left) DOES have the connection that I'm speaking of.
The connect has two of them, and the huawei ascend has one - even though I know for a fact that one isn't for the wifi.
This is why I say that it'll take investigative work to find it, or find out where it may be.

To use these in conjunction you just pop the mhf connector onto your phone, then screw the cantenna's connector onto the pigtail's SMA end (the WAY bigger one) then you're done...start twisting, and turning your cantenna into a hi-gain wifi finding beast.

im just checking out your information now, first of all THANK YOU! iv been posting on many forums and getting more and more confused as i talk to people lol. Okay so the website you posted with the pigtail adapter, is this a universal adapter? im wondering if it will fit into my phone , see my picture below of my galaxy note I717. So from my understanding your saying that I can just hook this adapter into my phone and the other end can pretty much go into any kind of antenna? I would want a good antenna that has good range. But of course I would want it small enough so that its portable to take with me into public or my car if needed. I dont want to be walking around with a satellite attached to my back.

I actually talked to an antenna sales man and he told me that the long range antenna require amplifiers to power them, so what about an antenna to cell phone? Does my phone power the antenna , does it drain my battery? If i get a big antenna will it require to be plugged in an external source to power it?

 

[shane17]

heres a bigger picture of my phone, I had to make it smaller for another forum that wouldnt allow big pictures ,apparently this forum does allow this size of photo.

 

[Dracconus]

hey, sorry for taking so long on this, I was having some...IRL issues...so to speak.

Anyways, the pigtail adapter is for that specific connection type. There is no concern of whether or not it will fit as it's specifically designed for that type of connection, and will not work with any other. (kind of like trying to stick a SATA cable on an old IEDE Hard drive...just won't work no matter WHAT you do because there are so many physical differences it's impossible without a special adapter.)

As previously stated i"m completely unable to effectively inform you as to which port will be the one for the wifi. I CAN however inform you that it will be obvious when you have it right. Just go to the "edge" of your wireless network where you BARELY get a signal, then connect it to the R1 port. Wait about ten seconds for the wifi to refresh (sometimes it takes up to 30-60. This is why I MYSELF just disable, then wait five seconds, and re-enable wireless of the device.) Once you get the antenna connected to the pigtail, and the pigtail connected to the right port then you'll know because your signal will jump at LEAST a bar. (this will depend on the antenna you get and it's strength in DBi.
After that, it's just a matter of modding your phone's back case to allow you to use that with it on, and be able to sit outside on the patio, or whatever.

If you got anymore issues, just let me know.
Regards,
Dracconus

Oh, and tell that "antenna guru" that he's a god damned jackass.
There's already a small amount of power transmitting through the antenna, that's why it's able to receive a signal at all.
The cantenna is specifically designed to amplify its own signal by taking what WOULD be a 360 degree signal, and taking it down to about 25 degrees, and bouncing that signal inside of the tubing to amplify it before it goes out. Kind of like sticking a bouncy ball in a basketball court after applying flubber to it.
Sure, the ball will bounce enough on it's own becaue of the rubber, and hard floors, but that flubber will turn it into a super jumping amplified version of itself.

I've used cantennas, and made several different types of home made antennas from yagi to omni directional, and have been in the networking field for over 15 years with experience in the mathematical fields that are necessary to figure range, DBi levels, and such. That guy's just a half assed ****** with some BS degree from a community college and thinks that he has a chance to upsale an "ignorant individual."
Don't give him your commission, he's no better than the morons that buy apple products thinking they don't get viruses just because no hacker wants to steal garage band music.

 

[Dracconus]

also...while I'm thinking of it...

There's a good chance that R1 is your Wireless a/b/g antenna and R2 is your N if you have that technology on your phone.
If not then there's a chance that your phone is using a MIMO (Multiple In Multiple Out) system to give less interference to your signals when xmitting, and receiving. If that is the case then it'll be REALLY helpful to get two antenna. But don't do that until you figure that out

 

[shane17]

also...while I'm thinking of it...

There's a good chance that R1 is your Wireless a/b/g antenna and R2 is your N if you have that technology on your phone.
If not then there's a chance that your phone is using a MIMO (Multiple In Multiple Out) system to give less interference to your signals when xmitting, and receiving. If that is the case then it'll be REALLY helpful to get two antenna. But don't do that until you figure that out

Okay iv finally got some time and patience to try and piece this together .
so far you are the most knowledgeable about this stuff and I appreciate the feedback as it will help me narrow this down.

From my understanding there are a couple options here. I either buy a pigtail adapter that has one cord and goes directly to either R1 or R2 and the other end goes to my external antenna. Option 2 would be having two cords going to both R1 and R2, which I believe you were mentioning in your above quote. One other person wrote a similar message, but he wasnt too certain. this is the product he has suggested.


NEW TYCO INTERNAL LAPTOP NOTEBOOK WiFi WIRELESS ANTENNA
NEW TYCO INTERNAL LAPTOP NOTEBOOK WiFi WIRELESS ANTENNA | eBay

With this option I do not understand how too cords can be used. I will be using one external antenna so how can I hook 2 pigtail adapters up to one external antenna, im very confused lol. I actually called samsung today, i finally tracked down someone who could offer more advice other than " dont open your phone and leave it alone!". The person told me that R1 and R2 are infact used for attaching antennas for cell phone networks to improve signal strength. And i said okay well that sounds exactly like what im looking for, but im looking for improving Wifi, but its the same idea. Hook up pigtail to R1 and R2 and then external antenna. He agreed with me but he said samsung has not tested this and therefore cannot recommend me doing it... in other words they work with the big cell phone companies so they only endorse improving the network strength!

OH and I checked more about which type of wifi my galaxy note has and this website indicated that it does have N wifi technology. "Dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 b, g and n support" So according to you the R2 should be for the N wifi.

Really im just hesitant to try this because I wouldnt want to wreck my phone somehow. I dont see how it could but this is the most expensive and nice phone iv ever had!!

 

[Dracconus]

If those are the wireless network antenna ports then they're not going to work to improve wifi at all (possibly 4g, or 3g- but not wifi.)

This means that the antenna for the wifi on your phone is a flat style antenna and you'd have to find out where it's at, and do a direct solder mod inline with the current antenna which is 1. Dangerous if you're not a professional electronics specialist, and 2. Stupid because the boards on cell phones are EXTREMELY sensitive, and thin.

Looks like the best bet for you would be to just leave it alone.