Lost wireless range after replacing LCD

[danzimmer]

Hi,

The LCD on my Aspire 6930G cracked and I replaced it. The old LCD had a CCFL backlight and the new one is an LED. The cable on the LED is designed to plug into the old cable from the CCFL, so I removed it from the old LCD and connected it to the new LCD. The inverter is no longer needed, so I removed it. The cable that had plugged into the inverter connects to another ribbon coming out of the new LED. I powered up the computer and the screen works fine but there's no internet connection. I took the computer apart again to see if I forgot to connect anything and everything appears to be connected. I measured the continuity of the two antenna wires (one black and one white) that go from the wireless board under the lower panel to the top of the LCD. Both wires have minimal resistance so it doesn't look like either wire is open. I put the computer back together again, booted up and noticed that the computer had connected to my home router, but the signal strength was only 3/5 lines. I moved the computer into the room where the router is and the signal strength increased to 4/5. I moved to the next room and the signal went down to 3. As I moved down the hall away from the router, the signal went to 0 and the network status said that no connections were available. This isn't a problem with the router because my kids' laptops work fine in the room where my Aspire says no connections available. It looks like something happened to antenna because the range is squat. Any ideas what might have happened when I replaced the LCD? Or is it just a coincidence that this happened after I replaced the LCD? I don't think the inverter has anything to do with the antenna, or does it?

 

[Ubrales]

You are right! The LCD changes have nothing to do with the wireless signal strength.

For information, I experience this when I start the computer first and then turn the router ON (I turn it OFF when I don't use it; for increased security reasons). Then, at first I get a message stating "limited or no connectivity", and after a few seconds, I get excellent signal strength.

It may be possible that your modem and router need to be reset. The firmware is regularly updated by the modem provider. Re-setting the modem updates the firmware manually. Ditto for the router.

I don't think that the wireless card failed when you did your LCD changes.

 

[danzimmer]

Thanks for the reply, Ubrales. It is possible that one of the antenna wires got pinched slightly in the right hinge. It isn't a very good place to route the antenna wire. I reset the router and modem even though the wireless on our other two laptops works fine. I also downloaded the latest version of the driver for the wireless card. None of these things helped and I'm pretty sure that it is a hardware problem. I measured the continuity of the antenna wire from the wireless board to the metal area where the wire terminates on top of the LCD. The resistance is close to zero, but I'm not sure if that is a valid way to test an antenna wire. I am thinking about replacing the antenna. Is there a way to test the existing antenna wire or do I just have to replace it to see if that takes care of the problem?

 

[Ubrales]

Thanks for the reply, Ubrales. It is possible that one of the antenna wires got pinched slightly in the right hinge. It isn't a very good place to route the antenna wire. I reset the router and modem even though the wireless on our other two laptops works fine. I also downloaded the latest version of the driver for the wireless card. None of these things helped and I'm pretty sure that it is a hardware problem. I measured the continuity of the antenna wire from the wireless board to the metal area where the wire terminates on top of the LCD. The resistance is close to zero, but I'm not sure if that is a valid way to test an antenna wire. I am thinking about replacing the antenna. Is there a way to test the existing antenna wire or do I just have to replace it to see if that takes care of the problem?

The way to test the antenna would be to check the signal strength. I don't think that this type of sophisticated testing can be done at the consumer level. Replacement will provide you the answer.

 

[danzimmer]

I was just thinking that it might be easier to buy a USB wireless dongle instead of replacing the antenna. The built in wireless is 802.11g, and one can buy an 802.1n with up to 300Mbps for around $15. I haven't been able to find the antenna wire for that cheap. Thanks again for your replies.