Adding bluetooth to 7805u + Wireless antenna questions

Right now I am trying to avoid tearing apart my laptop (too new) but want to add bluetooth to it. The model has 2 mini-pcie slots. One is a full-height mini-pcie and the other is a half-height. I can easily get a half-height replacement for the wifilink 5100. However I am having trouble finding any mini-pcie cards that are bluetooth only. The only ones I am finding so far are full-height and are wifi+bt combos. So here are my questions.

1) Would the bluetooth require an antenna hookup?

2) Can the wireless adapters work fine with just a main antenna connected (leave aux disconnected)?

I will note that my ASUS router has a Mini-PCI card inside with only the main connected.

I'm still searching for a bluetooth only adapter.

 

From personal experience and knowledge you have 2 logical choices. buy the internal bluetooth module that was made for the computer which involves opening the computer (there is a dedicated spot for the bluetooth its like right next to the mouse pad on the right side.); or you can buy a usb bluetooth adapter.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260407527450&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

or

http://us.kensington.com/html/14409.html

maybe someone else will chime in

also the bluetooth most likely would not require an antenna

 

I already have a usb dongle but I would like it internal. I might go and pop off the aux antenna and see if there is a performance difference for me. I only use G right now anyways.

 

The bluetooth module Eboogie linked on ebay works perfectly and the antenna is built into the unit itself. About half way down the page is a link to instructions I wrote up when I did the install on my 7805, but some people have had ok luck just loosening up the palm rest and popping it up without removing the screen.

 

Yea. I'm just trying to avoid voiding the warranty by completely tearing it down. If someone was willing to do it for me and take responsibility then I would be more likely to do the actual real internal one.

 

Honestly there's no "seal" or anything, as long as you don't break anything doing the job they'll probably never know.

 

Hey shinji257, I think this might be what you want:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=430-3164&cs=19&c=us&l=en&dgc=SS&cid=27530&lid=627063

I remember seeing in another thread where some1 else put one of these in his 78xx 'cause he didn't want to get too deep into the disassembly involved with that dedicated BT module you see on eBay.
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P-7805u FX (TD Refurb) | P8400 CPU | (2) Hitachi 320GB 7200 RPM Raid 0 | HL-CT10N Blu-Ray BD-ROM | 8GB RAM | 9800M GTS (no O/C) | LG 1920x1200 WUXGA | Vista x64 Home Premium | 9C.17.00 BIOS | (T9800 CPU upgrade pending)

 

yes.

BTW, bluetooth only uses the usb pins on the mini PCIe port.
FYI miniPCIe port a 1x PCI bus and a USB.

You could just use a usb bluetooth adapter and take it apart. then solder it's four pins directly to a USB port or the usb pins on any miniPCIe port.
That would make it possible to install the thing internally.

 

The break part is what I am worried about. There is alot of parts to "pry" apart. Don't want to break a tab or something.

That would likely work perfectly. Thanks for the find!

Ok. I'll probably use what the guy posted above and just replace the 5100 with a b/g card or run it with only one antenna. I tested with just one antenna and saw no loss in performance. The worst that could probably happen is that either N networks won't connect or they will only connect at 144Mbit due to the loss of the Aux antenna.

 

That module from the link I just posted doesn't need an antenna and it seems to be cleanest, most hassle-free way to add bluetooth. I can't think of any better use for that extra mini-pcie slot - I plan on ordering one for my own rig when I get around to it. Those cheap USB bluetooth dongles you see on eBay are useless.
__________________________
P-7805u FX (TD Refurb) | P8400 CPU | (2) Hitachi 320GB 7200 RPM Raid 0 | HL-CT10N Blu-Ray BD-ROM | 8GB RAM | 9800M GTS (no O/C) | LG 1920x1200 WUXGA | Vista x64 Home Premium | 9C.17.00 BIOS | (T9800 CPU upgrade pending)

 

Yep, I saw the internal bit. I guess the additional antenna socket is just to extend the range for the WPAN bit since that is what it is marked for. This should allow my (soon to own) half-height mini-pcie 5100 to work with both antennas.

EDIT: Oh Windows 7 should support the adapter natively so I won't need to mess with drivers. It supports those dang Soyo adapters that you need drivers for even in Vista.

 

What are you talking about? That's negative. The BT module your provided in the link needs antenna. This one doesn't need antenna, and the F6 works, too. Btw, with your module F6 is useless.

 

Well I'm going to check it out. As far as F6 goes... I'm not worried about that one right now.

 

Capper5016 uses the same Dell bluetooth module in his 7811 and he doesn't have an antenna hooked up to it - heck he doesn't even have it screwed down! As for being negative, I wasn't trying to hurt anyone's feelings, but the guy who started this thread said he didn't want to tear into his laptop to install the module you recommended. Who cares about F6, that's just a toggle for on/off. Personally, I like the idea of it being active all the time (no significant drain on battery) - which is a positive, no tearing into the laptop - that's a positive, and no antenna needed, that's a positive. So who's being negative here?! (BTW, I wasn't referring to your recommended module as being useless - it's those cheap 2 dollar USB bluetooth dongles you see on eBay that in my opinion are a waste of time and money.)

 

Come on Effexx, you didn't hurt my feelings, just commented on your post. But seems like, I hurt you with my post, if so, I'm sorry. The "negative" is just the statement that the module doesn't need antenna. I had such module in my machine. I can assure you, it was useless until I attached the one of the wifi card antennas to it. The range without the antenna was just few inches around the lappy, so if you can live with it, that's ok with me.
Once again, I'm really sorry if I hurt you with my comment.

 

I've taken mine apart probably 4 times messing with it, didn't really think it was all that hard if you do it in the right order carefully. But a mini-pcie card will be easier.

 

I just got and installed a half-height mini-pcie wifilink 5100 adapter. They are running on one antenna each quite happily at the moment. They are also picking up networks ok. Looks like both the Fn+F2 keystroke and the wireless switch handles the radio on both adapters at the same time. If my hunch is right then the bluetooth may be switchable with Fn+F6. If not then Fn+F2 may very well do it for me which would be how my old Dell laptop did it.

EDIT: I'll let you guys know how the bluetooth adapter works out. I'm still waiting on Dell for the part.

EDIT: Turns out the adapter order never made it in. No confirmation and their system acts like the order never got in. Glad that happened anyways for 2 reasons. One I could get it for half the cost on ebay. The second is that it looks like a wireless adapter has to be in the main slot for it to even allow me to turn on and off wireless on the half-height adapter. I tried it with just the half-height adapter and Fn+F2 did nothing. I may try one of those combo cards though and see what happens. The worst that can happen is that it doesn't work.