X98 Plus II (C2D4) Internals

[aksems]

Hi @eGuru, thanks for the photos.

Is this one with WiFi issue ?

[FaiRLane]

In picture IMG_35861.jpg – if that gray “cable” is a antenna… well.. there might be a possibility to mod it better?

is this tablet easy to “open” or do you need a special tools for that ?

 

 

[Rimantas]

I hope that someone knew how to replace this crappy wifi antenna.

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[aksems]

Maybe this method works for the antenna.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/windows-8-rt/general/teclast-x80h-wifi-fix-t3031975

[Rimantas]

I have checked mine. Nope, antenna is not shorted. Both wires are ok.

[eGuru]

aksems wrote:

Hi @eguru, thanks for the photos. Is this one with WiFi issue ?

The WiFi isn’t as good as on any of my other tablets or laptops. Its adequate in all locations in my 2 story home (router is in basement).

I tried it with the antenna floating free like in the picture and it worked quite a bit better – possibly because in its designed-in location it is partially shielded by the TF card connector shield which is grounded.

Thought about repositioning it but the only option was to remove the camera – which would not be a great hardship.

 

[eGuru]

FaiRLane wrote:

In picture IMG_35861.jpg – if that gray “cable” is a antenna… well.. there might be a possibility to mod it better? is this tablet easy to “open” or do you need a special tools for that ? [/quote

You can easily open it with a couple of stiff 1mm guitar picks.

Stick one in at the end opposite the connectors and then work your way around with the other pick.

Don’t intrude too far into the tablet with the tools (picks).

[Golden]

After reading this thread and watching this video: YouTube I bit the bullet and opened my X98 plus II with the equivalent of a guitar pick. A couple of observations:

– start with opening the case between the screen and the white of the back, away from the connectors, then work your way around; it opens very easily (take the SD card out first)

– nothing connects to the metal back, so you can’t break any ribbon connectors or such

– there is a surprising amount of space left inside, enough for an alternative wi-fi antenna, especially between the two speakers

– 3 out of 4 screws of the speakers were loose, a bit of super glue and no more crackling sound

I’ve got two retrofit wi-fi antennas on order from AliExpress and will report back if these make a difference.

[Mark V]

Golden wrote:

After reading this thread and watching this video: YouTube I bit the bullet and opened my X98 plus II with the equivalent of a guitar pick. A couple of observations: – start with opening the case between the screen and the white of the back, away from the connectors, then work your way around; it opens very easily (take the SD card out first) – nothing connects to the metal back, so you can’t break any ribbon connectors or such – there is a surprising amount of space left inside, enough for an alternative wi-fi antenna, especially between the two speakers – 3 out of 4 screws of the speakers were loose, a bit of super glue and no more crackling sound I’ve got two retrofit wi-fi antennas on order from AliExpress and will report back if these make a difference.

Hey Golden,

Let us know what you find when you swap the antenna. Also post a pic if you can of your swap. I’d really like to know the results for a possible fix to my C2D4.

Thanks!

Mark

[Mark V]

Hey guys,

I opened my c2d4 up and replaced the wifi antenna with one from an iPad 2 (got the antenna cheap from a repair place). The wifi might be ever so slightly better, but is still pretty poor.

What I did notice though, is that the signal strength is reported about the same as on my android phone and other tablets (using a WiFi analyser app), the only difference is is that they work perfectly even on low signal, like in the negative 70’s and below. The teclast will only work well with anything in the low sixties or high fifties. So I’m thinking it’s not really a signal strength issue, but more a noise issue.

That’s where my expertise ends though. I noticed that the WiFi chip is soldered to a small daughter board, which is then soldered to the main board. Does this mean that one may be able to replace the WiFi chipset with something better?

 

Mark

[eGuru]

A  new WiFi daughterboard with a different chipset would probably be incompatible with Teclast’s firmware.

If the issue was noise, it wouldn’t explain why the WiFi works better in Windows than in Android (at least in my experience).

 

 

[Mark V]

Ok, so I’ve put the stock setup back in, but trimmed up a bunch of things inside the case so that it sits closer to the camera. In doing this I can get the +’ve portion of the antenna to stick out almost entirely and wrap it round and stick it to the screen (as some people have suggested already). The results are dramatic. I had tried this trick already, but I couldn’t get as much of the antenna out before. Now with basically the entire live portion outside of the case, I can actually use the thing all around the house. The throughput still isn’t great, but the latency and usability are almost perfect.

I’m somewhat happy for now. This is all in Android, so I’m hoping that in Windows it’ll be even better.

Mark

[Mark V]

Oh, I see Teclast uploaded a C2D4 package onto their firmware download section on 30/09/2016. Does anyone know if this is the stock setup or an update? I did email them to ask… but they’ll never reply.

I can’t download it now anyway, they’ve reached their download limit or something.

Mark

[eGuru]

Mark V wrote:

Oh, I see Teclast uploaded a C2D4 package onto their firmware download section on 30/09/2016. Does anyone know if this is the stock setup or an update? I did email them to ask… but they’ll never reply. I can’t download it now anyway, they’ve reached their download limit or something. Mark

 

It is version 1.05

You can get it here if you still have 1.03

http://blog.geekbuying.com/index.php/2016/08/27/teclast-x98-plus-ii-c2d4-dual-os-windows-10-android-firmware_207118/

[Mark V]

I see in android I’m still on 1.03. I’ll do the upgrade then. Is this also an update to the windows portion?

[Author]

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