Re: Zaurus and Dlink CF WIFI

On Friday 11 August 2006 07:43, Mark Duckworth wrote:
> The first one broke, started coming up as anonymous memory sometimes or
> sometimes it would come up as DCF-660W but garbled in some way.
> Sometimes the light wouldn't come on, sometimes it would come on and
> stay on.  Sometimes it would appear to work but simply not.  I figured
> out that by applying gentle pressure to the antenna downwards it tends
> to work.  The first card I was rough on.  I carried the zaurus around in
> my pocket all the time.  I always positioned the zaurus so the card was
> facing up and was careful about how I walked but it broke.
>
> So I got warranty replaced figuring I had a defective card.  Same thing
> happened in only weeks.
>
> So I got another one, this time being ever so careful with it.  Always
> removing it when carrying the zaurus in a pocket, keeping it in a case,
> etc.  2 months later it's toast.  In a fit of anger, I busted the case
> open to the DCF660W and came to find that applying pressure between
> where the metal shielding meets the antenna and the top of the board
> causes the card to work again.  I hate the external antennas on these
> cards.  They're completely zaurus incompatible (from a holding it and
> thumb typing perspective).  I ended up getting by for a while with no
> casing around my antenna (lots of questions that resulted in), and a
> heavily folded piece of paper wedged between the metal and the board.
> The paper was thick enough that the top of the CF slot on the zaurus
> caused downward pressure on the board in this spot, this made it work
> pretty reliably, but from what I can tell there's no way to open up this
> card withotu doing some damage like I have.

This is almost exactly what I have been through with my netgear MA701. The 
first one, which lived in a bag on my belt while in the Z, lasted 18 months 
or so. Then it started failing, coming up as anonymous memory, or working 
intermittently. Netgear replaced it under warranty. The second one I have 
been more gentle with, and it has lasted me another 18 months. I'm now a 
month out of warranty and it's playing up again - like you I had found that 
inserting some card into the slot gave enough downward pressure to make it 
work, so I am convinced that there is a component that has developed a dry 
joint or there will be a hairline crack on the pcb. I have yet to try 
disassembly to see if it can be repaired.

Since I got my new phone and mobile internet plan though, I am pretty much 
converting to bluetooth for day-to-day use, so I might not have as much use 
for wifi, although it would remain handy for when at client sites if they 
have wifi etc.

-- 
Regards,
	Ashley J Gittins
	web: 	http://www.purple.dropbear.id.au
	jabber: [email protected]

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