Hi,
about 4 months ago i bought the MK908 and when i first activated it, the WiFi signal was horrible. I have to say first, that i had no problems with my router before and i had full reception in every corner in my apartment (which is not very large). Also, the router was only a few meters from my TV where i hooked up my MK908. So, i tried to figure out the problem, because i saw such great review about the device before i bought and those were the reason i bought this device in the first place. I tried to play with the router's channels, update the firmware and what not. Then a couple of things happened - Firstly, i saw in these forums and other forums that people say the V3 (which i was lucky to get, because there is no way of knowing you're gonna get one until you open it up, way to go Tronsmart) has less antenna than V2 V1 and MK808. Also, when i checked the device Wifi signal in my parents house, the signal was ok.. It wasn't great but at least i got 7Mbps, which in my apt i got less then 1Mbps. I was still not happy with this. i knew i should probably replace my router, which i planned to do anyways because it was a crappy ISP router (got it for free from ISP), but i knew this device could do more. So i decided to open it up and look inside. What i found inside was not surprising - There's a very small copper foil which is used as an antenna, similar to what we have in our smartphones. Also, i noticed that a new model was out by Tronsmart - the MK908II which featured an externel antenna, i figured there was a reason for this. IMO the problem comes from:
1. The size of the antenna which does not fit the specific wifi chip and reduce the signal none, especially with old and crappy routers.
2. Because the device is usually positioned behind the TV, the reception is even worse.
So, i thought of a solution for these problems by using a wifi antenna from an old Network adapter i had, which comes with an external long antenna (See Pics).
I took a small drill and drilled a small hole on the side of the casing (the part which the thin copper foil is glued on).
I then exposed the copper wire on the antenna from the adapter and checked the it fits the hole i drilled. After that i soldered it to the small copper foil in my MK908, while trying not to over heat the plastic casing. It's a pretty easy fix if you have the right equipment and have some experience with soldering.
Whats cool about this mod is that it not only allows for more signal to reach the device, but i can also put the antenna where ever i want to improve the signal.
So, did it work? Yes it did! i now have full reception of wifi signal with no drops at all and i get my full internet speed of 15Mbps (not much, but enough for a student lol). I hope this will help some of you who got stuck with this device and thought about give up and buy another. My next mod will be installing a 5mm fan on above the heat sink to improve performance.
Here are some pics of after the fix:
about 4 months ago i bought the MK908 and when i first activated it, the WiFi signal was horrible. I have to say first, that i had no problems with my router before and i had full reception in every corner in my apartment (which is not very large). Also, the router was only a few meters from my TV where i hooked up my MK908. So, i tried to figure out the problem, because i saw such great review about the device before i bought and those were the reason i bought this device in the first place. I tried to play with the router's channels, update the firmware and what not. Then a couple of things happened - Firstly, i saw in these forums and other forums that people say the V3 (which i was lucky to get, because there is no way of knowing you're gonna get one until you open it up, way to go Tronsmart) has less antenna than V2 V1 and MK808. Also, when i checked the device Wifi signal in my parents house, the signal was ok.. It wasn't great but at least i got 7Mbps, which in my apt i got less then 1Mbps. I was still not happy with this. i knew i should probably replace my router, which i planned to do anyways because it was a crappy ISP router (got it for free from ISP), but i knew this device could do more. So i decided to open it up and look inside. What i found inside was not surprising - There's a very small copper foil which is used as an antenna, similar to what we have in our smartphones. Also, i noticed that a new model was out by Tronsmart - the MK908II which featured an externel antenna, i figured there was a reason for this. IMO the problem comes from:
1. The size of the antenna which does not fit the specific wifi chip and reduce the signal none, especially with old and crappy routers.
2. Because the device is usually positioned behind the TV, the reception is even worse.
So, i thought of a solution for these problems by using a wifi antenna from an old Network adapter i had, which comes with an external long antenna (See Pics).
I took a small drill and drilled a small hole on the side of the casing (the part which the thin copper foil is glued on).
I then exposed the copper wire on the antenna from the adapter and checked the it fits the hole i drilled. After that i soldered it to the small copper foil in my MK908, while trying not to over heat the plastic casing. It's a pretty easy fix if you have the right equipment and have some experience with soldering.
Whats cool about this mod is that it not only allows for more signal to reach the device, but i can also put the antenna where ever i want to improve the signal.
So, did it work? Yes it did! i now have full reception of wifi signal with no drops at all and i get my full internet speed of 15Mbps (not much, but enough for a student lol). I hope this will help some of you who got stuck with this device and thought about give up and buy another. My next mod will be installing a 5mm fan on above the heat sink to improve performance.
Here are some pics of after the fix:
.gif "HELL YEA!!")
Well done
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