I'm interested in finding an Android tablet that has jacks for external antenna for all of GPS, GSM, 3G/4G and any other wireless protocol you can commonly think of. It also has to have, in particular, GPS, GSM and 3G/4G capability to go with this of course.
The unit has to be of good quality, doesn't have to be a recognisable name brand or look particularly flash.
Sources like alibaba in bulk quantities would also be OK. (When I search alibaba with relevant keywords, thousands of irrelevant products come up, which is why I'm asking the experts.)
The antenna is meant to be car-mounted so would probably be external. Any antenna product and technology pointers here would also be most welcome, including location of antennae, whether outside is always better than inside, etc. The following is a sample quad-function outside vehicle antenna, all I need is a tablet to go with it!
www kolumbus24.com/Zubehoer_/_Sonstiges/Antennen/GPS_-_Antennen/Calearo_157727075_-_SHARK_2_QUAD_Mehrfunktions-Antenne_AM/FM_/_GSM/UMTS_/_GPS_/_WIFI_i440_2685_0.htm
(Noob no URL rule is tripping me up, you will have to convert this!)
Hardware hacks of existing models are not so desirable -- I would rather work with a manufacturer to modify a unit with built-in jacks in the long run if necessary. A larger 10" screen model is more desirable.
e.g. there are car DVD players running Android out there with options for external AM/FM antenna and possibly others, however I need a flat screen, not looking for chunky in-dash car stereo formats.
Thank you!
Hi Sean, did you ever find one of these tablets?
Thanks
Sean001 said:
I'm interested in finding an Android tablet that has jacks for external antenna for all of GPS, GSM, 3G/4G and any other wireless protocol you can commonly think of. It also has to have, in particular, GPS, GSM and 3G/4G capability to go with this of course.
The unit has to be of good quality, doesn't have to be a recognisable name brand or look particularly flash.
Sources like alibaba in bulk quantities would also be OK. (When I search alibaba with relevant keywords, thousands of irrelevant products come up, which is why I'm asking the experts.)
The antenna is meant to be car-mounted so would probably be external. Any antenna product and technology pointers here would also be most welcome, including location of antennae, whether outside is always better than inside, etc. The following is a sample quad-function outside vehicle antenna, all I need is a tablet to go with it!
www kolumbus24.com/Zubehoer_/_Sonstiges/Antennen/GPS_-_Antennen/Calearo_157727075_-_SHARK_2_QUAD_Mehrfunktions-Antenne_AM/FM_/_GSM/UMTS_/_GPS_/_WIFI_i440_2685_0.htm
(Noob no URL rule is tripping me up, you will have to convert this!)
Hardware hacks of existing models are not so desirable -- I would rather work with a manufacturer to modify a unit with built-in jacks in the long run if necessary. A larger 10" screen model is more desirable.
e.g. there are car DVD players running Android out there with options for external AM/FM antenna and possibly others, however I need a flat screen, not looking for chunky in-dash car stereo formats.
Thank you!
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Click to collapse
Related
Hi,
Got my XDA a while ago and I love it!
But never really explored the options of what can be fully done with it!
I am interested in GPS and wondered what you guys recommend, also any other suggestions will be taken on board!
I have used several different types of gps on xda and ipaq, I would suggest using the cheap haicom device, this will come with power/charge lead and integrated antenna, for approx £80, the best software I have found is tomtom which does a great job of navigating, rerouting if you take a wrong turn, normal human voice prompts, instead of the dalek voices others use, free speed camera add on software etc, the overlays for points of interest, cash points, shops, parking, restaurants etc are superb, plus many people have produced their own overlays to cover their own specific interest, such as dialling codes, monuments, fishing, etc. The gps hardware from Haicom is very adept at its task and rarely loses a fix, I got mine from GPS warehouse. I have also used the destinator software and hardware and found the software was very good, the hardware was also very good, its a Leadtek product also with integrated antenna and power/charge leads. I also got hold of a cheap digitraveler gps from the usa and rewired it for xda, it uses standard nmea output and does a great job also. I think that even the cheap devices these days are very good and up to the task.
Here is the page to order that device from gps warehouse.
http://www.gpsw.co.uk/cats/cl3_65.html?Skip=10&
Hi,
this morning someone sent me a link from Tom's Hardware about this tablet. The articles mentions that some people have modded their case to improve GPS signals.
I wonder why Asus don't revise this product to address this issue.
Sent from my HTC Desire using xda premium
You DONT even have to do all that anymore. Asus is offering free GPS dongles to people who purchase a prime. Offer ends in July. Just take a look in my GPS dongle test thread. Then take a look at the link in my signature THST says positive transformer thread.
Prime is a great device. Get one asap
Well first of all, I find it hard to believe that the aluminum case is causing 100% of the problem. Because, if it were then like you said, why not just change the design of the backplate? My guess is that simply adding a plastic strip to the top of the backplate would not improve GPS performance that much. And personally I think the plastic strip look is ugly as hell. What they could have done is kept the all aluminum finish and just relocated the antenna to behind a speaker grill, which is similar to what other devices with metal casings have done. I am sure the GPS still wouldn't be 'professional grade' but it would at least be better than what we currently have.
Either way, the whole GPS problem was something that was obviously not 'caught' until really late in the production process. If it were caught earlier, I am sure something more pro-active would have been done about it. But by the time they found out, they were in too deep to make a hardware change as they were most likely already in mass production. The early regions of where the device was released they had already advertised the thing as having GPS, both on the box and on the official spec sheets. Then when it was released these people found out that GPS was virtually non-functional and ASUS had to quickly back track and pull GPS as a feature from the spec list. My guess is their lawyers told them they need to do something to avoid a class action law suit and any further bad press around this whole situation. So their options were:
1) Recall the device and then modify the hardware in some way to fix the GPS problem (whether that be done via a newly designed back pate or whatever). And then any new ones produced would obviously have this hardware change incorporated as well.
2) Offer a free addon that improves GPS performance.
As we now know, they went with option 2, which I am sure was also the cheaper route. Also, option 1 would imply an admission of guilt in that they messed up. The GPS dongle option allows them to say: "Although the TF201 is not a professional GPS device, as part of our unwavering commitment to our customers we are offering all customers who purchased a TF201 system a free external GPS extension kit, called a dongle, which may help improve signal reception and optimize the user experience".
Honestly I do not care about GPS in a tablet and I will probably only ever use my dongle a select few times in the entire span that I own and use the Prime. I do think it is good that ASUS is doing something about it though. Other companies may very well have just brushed this thing under the rug and moved on with life (which is what I assumed ASUS has been doing until we found out about the GPS dongle).
jordache16 said:
Well first of all, I find it hard to believe that the aluminum case is causing 100% of the problem. Because, if it were then like you said, why not just change the design of the backplate? My guess is that simply adding a plastic strip to the top of the backplate would not improve GPS performance that much. And personally I think the plastic strip look is ugly as hell. What they could have done is kept the all aluminum finish and just relocated the antenna to behind a speaker grill, which is similar to what other devices with metal casings have done. I am sure the GPS still wouldn't be 'professional grade' but it would at least be better than what we currently have.
Either way, the whole GPS problem was something that was obviously not 'caught' until really late in the production process. If it were caught earlier, I am sure something more pro-active would have been done about it. But by the time they found out, they were in too deep to make a hardware change as they were most likely already in mass production. The early regions of where the device was released they had already advertised the thing as having GPS, both on the box and on the official spec sheets. Then when it was released these people found out that GPS was virtually non-functional and ASUS had to quickly back track and pull GPS as a feature from the spec list. My guess is their lawyers told them they need to do something to avoid a class action law suit and any further bad press around this whole situation. So their options were:
1) Recall the device and then modify the hardware in some way to fix the GPS problem (whether that be done via a newly designed back pate or whatever). And then any new ones produced would obviously have this hardware change incorporated as well.
2) Offer a free addon that improves GPS performance.
As we now know, they went with option 2, which I am sure was also the cheaper route. Also, option 1 would imply an admission of guilt in that they messed up. The GPS dongle option allows them to say: "Although the TF201 is not a professional GPS device, as part of our unwavering commitment to our customers we are offering all customers who purchased a TF201 system a free external GPS extension kit, called a dongle, which may help improve signal reception and optimize the user experience".
Honestly I do not care about GPS in a tablet and I will probably only ever use my dongle a select few times in the entire span that I own and use the Prime. I do think it is good that ASUS is doing something about it though. Other companies may very well have just brushed this thing under the rug and moved on with life (which is what I assumed ASUS has been doing until we found out about the GPS dongle).
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Click to collapse
+1...although the solution of a GPS dongle really kills the idea of a TRANSFORMER prime...cant use it with the keyboard dock, and its not as flush and they said it is..you wont be able to use majority of the leather cases and etc when you are using the dongle
I have owned the prime for months. My wifi strength is fine and I dont use GPS enough to justify the problem.
proxus01 said:
I have owned the prime for months. My wifi strength is fine and I dont use GPS enough to justify the problem.
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Click to collapse
Same here.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
kwazytazz said:
+1...although the solution of a GPS dongle really kills the idea of a TRANSFORMER prime...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really - now it can TRANSFORM into a 'professional grade' GPS device! ;-)
Regards,
Dave
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2
jordache16 said:
why not just change the design of the backplate?
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Click to collapse
They are, for the 300 and 700 series, back to plastic where the radios are going. iPad tried behind the speaker grille and it still has issues. Its better than nothing but def not perfect.
Yes, the black strip doesnt always look as appealing, however you could cover it with a case or carbon fiber sticker or whatever, i'd much rather go for plastic strip over no radio reception.
And also yes, the interference can definately be 10000% caused by the metalic back plate. Both by blocking the signal and RF noise. Everything pretty much is grounded to the metal back and it, in turn, has a lot of RF noise associated with it. If i attach a lead to the gps or wifi contact inside the tablet and have the wire run outside the tab i get excellent reception. Once that wire goes within about an inch of the tablet the signal drops dramatically. Even if the access point is on the proper side of the tablet so its not blocking the signal.
Asus knows how to make killer electronics. they did an amazing job on the prime, however the demand caught them off guard. They tried to do something different with the metalic design and got caught with their pants down. They will get it right eventually and in the mean time we are at least getting SOMETHING (free dongle for gps, why not?)
The prime is a great tablet, awesome for watching movies, playing games, browsing the internet. ya, the wifi is not that great, i look forward to mods for using the dongle for wifi instead of GPS, but in the mean time this is the best we got, and its good enough. When the 700 comes out i may sell my prime for that but i got money in my pocket. if your on a budget, buy the TF101, its still better than any other tablet (aside from the 201 IMO), or wait for the 300 series which will still be a cost efficent tablet.
Asus is doing their best to remedy this situation. They are a big company and big machines move slow. Considering their track record i will still continue buying their products. I have been impressed overall by the prime, and the 101 before it, and look forward to the 700 when it comes out. Continue doing your research and determine what is going to be important for you (and if you do go Prime make damn sure to test it every way you can before accepting it).
proxus01 said:
I have owned the prime for months. My wifi strength is fine and I dont use GPS enough to justify the problem.
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Click to collapse
Same for me.
proxus01 said:
I have owned the prime for months. My wifi strength is fine and I dont use GPS enough to justify the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SoTacMatt said:
Same here.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
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texstar said:
Same for me.
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Click to collapse
same here..lmao
my wifi been been performing great where ever i go. whether at home, traveling and tethering, or some where else and hooking up to another public or private network.
The worst problem with the prime is the constant freezes it has...
It`s frustrating.
Tried all the browsers people recommend and the problem persists.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA
So, I want something to replace my TV box/free view and watch youtube
sub 90£(140 dollars)
does not matter the interface
can handle 1080p without problems
usb otg,
size does not matter
does not need a cotroller, i have some wiimote layng around...
at least ics 4.0
1 gb of ram would be nice but not a must
at least a dual core or very powerfull single core and gpu to handle the os wit no lag and play some phisics games like apparatus and bad piggies
Is there something running jb yet? Or that at least has a recovery so it would be possible run a custom ROM? That I could port a ROM for ( I dev apps but never a ROM) whatever that's not very important
Any ideas?
check out the mk802's i have a couple mk802 II's and theyre very fun to play with. theres an mk802 III being released shortly as well.
Odroid-X seems to be all you need (take a look to the PandaBoard too, more expensive and less powerful, but it's a more complete choice).
RoberGalarga said:
Odroid-X seems to be all you need (take a look to the PandaBoard too, more expensive and less powerful, but it's a more complete choice).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
those odroid and pandaboard products are pretty awesome for development and testing, but if youre looking for something under 75 bucks that will do everything. includes wifi, and hooks right up to your tv. i would go with any of the mk802's. just a bit larger than a usb flash drive, and does everything you would expect a newer android phone or tablet to do.
haxin said:
check out the mk802's i have a couple mk802 II's and theyre very fun to play with. theres an mk802 III being released shortly as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, i would preffer go with the mk808, has already jb, and now you pointed out the mk802 III, and you can already buy it here now im deciding between those 2, seems the same product to me...
haxin said:
those odroid and pandaboard products are pretty awesome for development and testing, but if youre looking for something under 75 bucks that will do everything. includes wifi, and hooks right up to your tv. i would go with any of the mk802's. just a bit larger than a usb flash drive, and does everything you would expect a newer android phone or tablet to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
360porcento said:
Yeah, i would preffer go with the mk808, has already jb, and now you pointed out the mk802 III, and you can already buy it here now im deciding between those 2, seems the same product to me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow... the MK802 III looks pretty awesome, dual core for $66 (and free shipping to MX :highfive
I'm thinking about purchase a RaspberryPI, but this is a better choice to convert my LCD to a smart TV
one bit of warning, when you first get one of your mk802's youre going to be very surprised how terrible the wifi signal is. the reason for this is that they cram the wireless dipole antenna inside the little plastic case right up next to the wireless chip, and other internal connections (that dont have any rf shielding). theres a couple things you can do to solve this. #1 drill a small hole in the case and let the wireless antenna through. #2 take it out of the case completely. #3 you can de-solder the stock antenna and solder on a pigtail of your choice. I soldered an rp-sma female right o the wireless chip and mounted it through a hole i drilled on the case so that i could attach any type of antenna i like.
Any chance of a tutorial?
Hello,
I think what you did with the antenna is sheer genius! Based on what I've been reading on various forums across the net, your solution is the only sure fire cure for the wifi ills of the MK808.
Due to the delicate and potentially disastrous nature of the procedures you alluded to, do you know where to find the information needed by a layman such as myself, to be guided step by illustrated step in how to perform, say option #3 you mentioned, (de-solder the stock antenna and solder on a pigtail of your choice)?
Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated by myself, and I dare to speculate, many more people looking for the same solution.
Thank you.
Paul
haxin said:
one bit of warning, when you first get one of your mk802's youre going to be very surprised how terrible the wifi signal is. the reason for this is that they cram the wireless dipole antenna inside the little plastic case right up next to the wireless chip, and other internal connections (that dont have any rf shielding). theres a couple things you can do to solve this. #1 drill a small hole in the case and let the wireless antenna through. #2 take it out of the case completely. #3 you can de-solder the stock antenna and solder on a pigtail of your choice. I soldered an rp-sma female right o the wireless chip and mounted it through a hole i drilled on the case so that i could attach any type of antenna i like.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MK808 with working wifi
haxin said:
one bit of warning, when you first get one of your mk802's youre going to be very surprised how terrible the wifi signal is. the reason for this is that they cram the wireless dipole antenna inside the little plastic case right up next to the wireless chip, and other internal connections (that dont have any rf shielding). theres a couple things you can do to solve this. #1 drill a small hole in the case and let the wireless antenna through. #2 take it out of the case completely. #3 you can de-solder the stock antenna and solder on a pigtail of your choice. I soldered an rp-sma female right o the wireless chip and mounted it through a hole i drilled on the case so that i could attach any type of antenna i like.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an MK808 that originally had extreme problems keeping a steady connection to wifi. I tried installing Finless 1.5a ROM to no success, however, after installing Finless 1.6 ROM, everything works perfectly. I didn't have to make any changes to the antenna and I now have a strong, steady wifi connection that enables me to play internet videos, Android games, music, whatever.
mk808 remote control app
Hi, does any body know an app that I can use to control my mk808 from my SGS2? the one that they have on play store is for mk802iii and it's not working with mk808 . Thanks
Hello
I have a question about DIY-ing a larger screen for my Android.
Years back I had a Padfone device, I really liked how versatile it was for long haul travels and the functionality it provided.
The device is now very much old-tec and there’s no plans for Asus to keep up to date with the current flagship phones in a similar format.
My question is how could this be replicated? Specifically plugging a current Android device into a touch-screen, with a battery and speakers.
I’ve got as far as the following two ideas:
1. Buy a Padfone screen / Dock and open the back up, re-soldering the connection from Micro USB to Type C (to fit my current Samsung). This seems most sensible as all of the components are in place and minimal invasive re-work would be required.
2. Obtain a touchscreen (likely intended for a Raspberry Pi or similar) and then fabricate a frame that could fit a battery, speakers and the required wiring to fit all together.
Guidance, suggestions and critique are definitely welcome here.
Thank you in advance
Renz
Hey guys im wanting to improve the wifi antenna on older devices, is it possible to buy something i Can plug into phone, i was also considering building a external antenna but id really need to know what material can transmit wifi signals, i read online that copper can do that, but id rather know for sure before I start buying stuff, my budget is very limited. And i saw someone put aluminum inside his phone could that actually work? Also i have a bunch of androids, could i take out the wifi antenna from broken phones and attach it to make a bigger antenna?