Increase the sensitivity of Asus WL-500gP Hardware mod.

[rampage]

If u are just not so skillgull with soldering than i suggest the 1st method.


Method 1.
Shortcut resistor R17 next to your braodcom wifi mini pci (the shielded thing with the barcode where the antenna connector is)
This increases sensitivity by alot because the receiver (rx amplifier) is not powered at all (its a mystery why). By shortwiring this resistor u alwasy give power to the amplifier , receive sensitivity increases a lot.
To shortwiri it simply use an iron and just cover it with pb. Dont use to much though.
The downside of this method is that the noise gets amplified too, thus u dont have the same performance like method 2.


Method 2.
Open up the wireless broadcom mini pci shield. The small shield with the barcode on it. U will see a cross shield underneath, cut it away just to have more space to work. Its not going to harm anything anyway.
locate and find c93 and c94. U will see that there is a small space next to them, so by unsoldering them u could resolder them again by rotating by 90 degress. Do that and there u go.


I have no responsibility if u damage this thing. Do it by your own risk.

After the mod my link speed almost tripled, with a parabol reflector (u know the paper ones, like windsurfer from techanvil are very good) i could pick up ap from over 5 km.
Overall i measured an increase of up to 4-5 times in sensitivity by using the wl-500 gp as a client.
Also i noticed an dramtic linkspeed increasing when wl was used as a ap.

rammy

[Oleg]

Shortcut resistor R17 next to your braodcom wifi mini pci (the shielded thing with the barcode where the antenna connector is)

NEVER shortcut this resistor! Your pre-amp would die. This resistor should be replaced with 62 Ohm.

And also, post original link to dd-wrt.com, to respect the original author of this mod.

[rampage]

i dont know the original post of ddwrt, because a friend of mine showed me this trick.
if u have the link please post it. im interested too, cause i have done some mods with the resistor shorted.
I dont want ma friends to have thei mini pci killed too,
but so far it works

edit: found it
h**p://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=26178&highlight=&sid=00b97253e0405 df048ffaa66c02e83fa

[al37919]

the idea originated from here:
http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtop...er=asc&start=0

however, within the last couple of days this topic was thoroughly discussed here: http://wl500g.info/showthread.php?t=13261 (in Russian).

[Arnie-75]

So what is the final verdict of the ressian discussion?
I translated it with google but did not get all.

Has R17 been used by error or not? Is there any prooven benefit of replacing it with 62 ohms?

[Oleg]

Yes, it looks like a ASUS fault, i.e. they should use 62 Ohm instead of 62 kOhm resistor. We've found reference schematic for the transistor in question, which clearly states 62 Ohm (and other parts are the same).

And yes, replacing R17 with 62 Ohm gives about 15-20 dBm sensitivity increase for weak signals.

Shortcuting R17 will cause overcurrent for this transistor, causing it's death.

[Arnie-75]

Yes, it looks like a ASUS fault, i.e. they should use 62 Ohm instead of 62 kOhm resistor. We've found reference schematic for the transistor in question, which clearly states 62 Ohm (and other parts are the same).

And yes, replacing R17 with 62 Ohm gives about 15-20 dBm sensitivity increase for weak signals.

Shortcuting R17 will cause overcurrent for this transistor, causing it's death.

OK, thank you.

[skyraven]

Hello all,


Don't know if this is the right place to post but..

My Asus serial number starts with 77 => July 2007.

The Asus official communicate stated that the problem existed for units manufactured before July 2007 => my unit needs the mod or not ?
I'm not very sure if it gets on the good side

Also, what txpwr should I use or what else can I change (I already placed an ANT-150 antenna from Asus instead of the default one) ?
With the default setting I get full signal in my room, but only 1 line of signal in the kitchen and 1 / none sometimes in the living room (small 2 room apartment).

Thanks,
Mihai

[skyraven]

I just removed the cover from the unit and saw:

WL-120G V2AE R1.00 and WL-120G V2A R1.01 on it.
serial begins with 77 => July.

On another thread here I saw that the board it I mentioned above is the right one.

Do I require the change of the resistor ?

(the only indication to this is the wl noise command which gives average -96 and Oleg said that with the right resistor it should be -87 or close to).

[aridan]

Hi, today I got my Wl-500gp made in june 2007. A normal (not SMD) 68 Ohm resistor soldered paralel with the original r17 did the job.
Noise before: -99. After: -86.
Thanks.

[sorin]

Hi,

I have 2x wl500gp bought before August 2007 that are showing "noise is 0 (off)" for wl noise command. What does this mean? How can it be "enabled"?

Thanks.

P.S. I am not sure if it is related or not, but both are performing quite bad in terms of coverage.

[Cowgoesmoo]

Hi,

I have 2x wl500gp bought before August 2007 that are showing "noise is 0 (off)" for wl noise command. What does this mean? How can it be "enabled"?

Thanks.

P.S. I am not sure if it is related or not, but both are performing quite bad in terms of coverage.

My router is also giving this reading. Can someone tell us why?

[P Still]

My router is also giving this reading. Can someone tell us why?

Same question !
With a router marked/from 67 I also have this reading on "wl noise".
noise is 0 (off)

Anyone ?

Good - bad - don't worry - don't bother ?

[skyraven]

Hello,


This disappears if you upgrade firmware.

This was how I solved it

But I also changed the broadcom wifi with atheros and I have much better signal.

-
Mihai

[goraith]

Same question !
With a router marked/from 67 I also have this reading on "wl noise".
noise is 0 (off)

What does it mean? How to turn it on?

Goraith