External Antenna Patch Cable

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Hi Guys,

This is a reference thread for anybody who has patchy reception and is considering using an external antenna to boost reception.

I have found that the patch cable required is the same as most other samsung phones.

The particular cable I used is this one: http://www.cellink.com.au/productdet...Omnia+2+(i8000)

I imagine that the same type of product would exist overseas as well - but if you are in a tight squeeze Cellink distribute worldwide.

Note that plugging in this cable disables the internal antenna (so if you don't have an antenna plugged to the other side of the patch cable then you will lose reception immediately).

Finally note that YOU WILL HAVE TO REMOVE THE BATTERY COVER TO USE THE PATCH CABLE. I'm hoping to get a second cover and drill a hole in it so that I can simply plug the cable in through the whole. I can confirm that there is enough clearance to drill a hole and plug the cable in that way.

Let me know if you have any questions.

I quite like the idea, but I have a few concerns:

• Does the antenna work for both internet (all networks), wifi, gps, and normal cell connectivity?
• Would one theoretically be able to connect an RP-SMA antenna, I have some nice wifi antennas lying around
• I have read some concerns about the manual switch responsible for turning the internal antenna on / off is not that reliable and can cause issues stopping your internal antennas from working

Hi fed44,

Answers in red below.

Originally Posted by fed44

I quite like the idea, but I have a few concerns:

• Does the antenna work for both internet (all networks), wifi, gps, and normal cell connectivity? Yes, no, no and yes is the short answer. The external antenna is ONLY for the telephone radio.
• Would one theoretically be able to connect an RP-SMA antenna, I have some nice wifi antennas lying around I'm not an expert here but from my limited knowledge: (1) you would need some kind of patch cable because the standard patch cable outputs to a male SMA connector (and not an RP-SMA) and, (2) there appear to be different antennas for different purposes (wifi, mobile network, etc.) my understanding is that a wifi antenna is not optimal for boosting mobile signal - that said it may or may not provide a boost over the internal antenna.
• I have read some concerns about the manual switch responsible for turning the internal antenna on / off is not that reliable and can cause issues stopping your internal antennas from working I think this is an issue with older samsung phones. I have experienced no such issue with my external antenna (over around 10 uses). I'm not sure but I don't think it actually uses a manual switch - the reason why I say this is because when you unplug the antenna it takes a few seconds to switch back to the internal antenna.

I was thinking about using something like that. My problem is that 3G signal is very weak in two places where I spend most of the time - home and work. And for some reason phone is preffering 3G even if signal is so weak that internet is not working. So I had to turn off 3G. But it seems stupid to have HSDPA capable phone using EDGE only.

Originally Posted by amaric

I was thinking about using something like that. My problem is that 3G signal is very weak in two places where I spend most of the time - home and work. And for some reason phone is preffering 3G even if signal is so weak that internet is not working. So I had to turn off 3G. But it seems stupid to have HSDPA capable phone using EDGE only.

I can confirm that this setup will be awesome for that.

I haven't drilled the hole yet (in the case that is) - but once I do that it will make the setup much more functional.