Stopping wireless static in Sony SZ series (after upgraded wireless)

Note, if you have an older SZ and want to add a 3rd wire, this will show you how and where to put it.


So a while back I upgraded the the 4965AGN in my SZ750N to an Intel 5200, since that day, B&G has been noisy. I managed to arrange the antenna connections in such a way as to minimize it to within tolerable limits. I also talked to some experts and they said it wasn't going to hurt anything if there was a bit of static so I left it.

I have known for a while that is was the white antenna lead that was causing the static. Unfortunately disconnecting it caused a drop in signal. While working on my Windows 7 guide I had a problem and had to open the laptop. While doing so I noticed the white lead and the antenna it attached to. I hadn't ever really noticed where it sat before. Sony couldn't have hardly chosen a worse place for it.

Sony decided the best place for it, and I assume this is because they merely upgraded the old 2 wire wireless to 3 by adding this, is almost under the power button. Right next to... a speaker. The lead runs along a Speaker wire and puts the antenna right next to it. See pics 1 & 2.


How to fix it.
Things you will need (to do):
Ground yourself.
A thin flathead screwdriver
A phillips scredwriver
About 1.5 inches of tape, the type doesn't matter. Scotch, duct or electrical will work, even masking tape will work.

First remove the power and battery.
Under the battery is 4 screws, you need to remove them.
You also need to remove the keyboard screw.

Now remove the keyboard.
If you haven't done this before, there is a tab at each end along the top, between the keyboard and the top plastic containing the speaker grill, power button, switches and such. They are about 1inch from each end. Place a thin flathead into the gap and press on that locking tab. With some luck, that side will pop free. Flip the keyboard over and lay it on top of the palmrest, there is no need to disconnect the wire.

Now remove the power button/speaker grill panel.
First lean the LCD back as far as it will go. There are 3 tabs, one at each end and one at the middle, in the same places as the keyboard locking tabs. Pop those and the panel should lift straight up.

You should see a small circuit board,
Before you touch it, again, make sure you are grounded. If you don't have a grounding strap, touch the nearest electrical socket, or light switch, the screws holding the cover plates on are grounded. Just don't touch them and walk across carpet again. While not perfect, you should be okay. Don't complain to me if you zap something.

Remove the screws holding it down.
You also may need to disconnect a few small connectors. If you do, VERY carefully and gently, pull the wires in a smooth motion, the connector should slide apart. This is UNSAFE, so don't blame me if you break one. They are very delicate, but trying to unplug them in other ways is a nightmare.

Tilt the board towards the palmrest and you will see a gold/copper piece of metal with a white wire attached. See the pictures. That is the white antenna. Carefully pull it up, not by the wire, it's held by double sided tape. I found working from the left to right side worked best (while sitting as you normally would at the laptop).

Once you have that out, you will notice it has 3 different section. Fold it up tight on those bends. Mine ended up as a triangle. Now put tape around it to hold it this way. Make sure to cover the solder point on the wire, that is the primary reason for the tape. You MUST insulate that. See pic 3.

Now, if you look on the right side of the notebook, just above the closest USB port, you will see a rectangular cutout in the tray. Stick the antenna into this hole. This may take some fiddling. See Pic 4.

Re assemble everything.
Make sure not to pinch any wires while putting the upper panel back in place.


Enjoy your static free wireless.
I haven't done much testing but I don't seem to have lost much, if any range, but the silence is golden.


Sorry for the poor cell phone pics. The spotlight added a nice effect though.

 

i have a question, so the SZ 6/7 Europe Models didnt come with 4965 meaning no 3rd antenna, so i had to buy and add my own, now the problem is that its the long one that fits on the the side of the webcam board its not the short pudgy one you have and it wont fit in the hole on the top right middle chassis where you put yours, since this is my 1st time added a 3rd antenna i was wondering if i can just put it anywhere it fits in? or does it have to be near the top/or front of the laptop rather than in the middle or near the palmrests?
your help is really appreciated, plus my laptop is open right now so hopefully a quick answer

UPDATE: 2 1/2hrs later....well that didnt go so well, I put in the card and when i booted up it wasnt showing up so i downloaded the latest drivers off of the intel website from another pc and copied the file and installed it, and rebooted and nothing, it shows up working properly in device manager, but when i click the wifi button on the taskbar it says no connection found, with a red X through a greyed out signal bars...so i uninstalled the drivers connected via ethernet cable and let it install itself and it did and came up as 5300 AGN #2 but still same problem and the whole time the Sony network utility didnt even show WLAN as an option as if Wifi isnt available at all so after all that i just took it out and put in my 3945 and everything works fine as it should, so ill stick to this........................there are two things im suspecting...........one, is that the card i had was a half mini so i had to tape it down w/ electrical tape to the MB and #2 maybe i needed to use the Newest intel utility as well along with the driver maybe that would of helped.........well anyways it was worth a shot. Ill give it back to my brother and take his extra 4965 since thats a full mini and see how it goes.

 

Some 5300's are bios locked.
Did yours ever run? If not was it an error Code 10? That is the code for bios lock but also another error. And you do not need a 3rd antenna.


Also, I found that location while silent, created another issue, it made the system pause now and then. I think it was too near the bluetooth maybe. I'm experimenting now with taping it to the very right edge, of the dvd-rom. between the palmrest mounting tabs. I Bent one ear up and the rest flat, the up slides up under the plastic sidepiece so the signal isn't degraded.

If it works, I will post pics. (better ones)

 

thanks that would really help, but I thought you need the 3rd antenna to get FULL N capabilities.I know you can run it with 2 antennas but then its like using a 5100, anyways yeah i took off the plastic sidepiece and bent it. Oky, so I didint get any type of error code, bios locked meaning to certain manufacters? cuz my brothre has a Dell 1330 and i THINK he has used it, so it would be working in his Dell, thats awkward, now that i think of it i think the IBM and HP 5300's must be bios locked but i didnt think other ones would be bios locked as well.
Damn I've run into a problem, every since i reinstalled windows, I cant access the BIOS, its F8 right? well i tried pressing all the buttons but it just goes on about to the windows starting screen, how can i have access to my BIOS again?

 

Bios is usually Delete, F1, F2, or F10, occasionally F12.

The third antenna helps reception a little, but it's primary use on N is to allow for 450mbit transmission. Each antenna carries 150.

You are correct on the 5300 it was HP, and IBM/Lenovo (that are locked to a bios code), there are rumors of some Dells. It hasn't been confirmed, but Dell seems the main one using the half height. It also may be needing one of the ears grounded in order to work.