Ian
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I bought an Intel NUC a long time ago to use as a media player, but it has since been re-purposed and positioned far away from our router. The WiFi signal strength is extremely poor - so bad that is must be the only thing in our house that can't get a reliable signal. I can place my Samsung S7 right next to it, and that will have a full signal - whereas the Intel NUC adaptor struggles to maintain a reliable connection.
Instead of resorting to homeplugs or a high gain USB wifi adaptor, I wanted to make use of the onboard WiFi card... so I made a few modifications! I bought a pair of external WiFi antennas, plus a pair of tails to connect them to the existing onboard card.
In my case, the onboard WiFi was an Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165, a small M.2. card which required MHF4 antenna cables. If you have a mini-PCI WiFi card, you may need U.FL cables instead. Please check which connections you require before buying a cable, as they look very similar - I made the mistake of buying the more common U.FL at first.
The images were only taken as a last-minute thought, as I realise it may help someone else, so please excuse the poor quality.
The tails will look a little like this, which allow you to clip on to the existing wifi card and attach external antenna somewhere on the case:
My particular model Intel NUC has a couple of screws on the back of the case, which looked like they could be widened a little and then the external antenna connection poked though (whilst the nut would also secure the case in the same way the screw did).
Here are the screws on the rear, which will soon be replaced:
You'll need to remove the base of the NUC case, then separate the hard drive and connecting cables (easily re-attached at a later date). If you have a different model NUC, please check that the connection placement fits when the case is closed.
I checked the antenna tails fit the onboard mini coax connections (2) and removed a reinforcing bar from the case (1). The reinforcement bar holds the VGA connector and contains threaded holes for the two screws. This bar will also need to have the holes drilled wider to accept the antenna connections.
Before drilling, I knocked up a bit of wood to prevent the case from bending too much - as I didn't want it to snap. I'd recommend doing the same if possible:
Here's the bar which had the existing holes widened:
Once you've widened both sets of holes, re-attached the bar and feed the antenna connections through (then tighten with a nut):
Be sure to insulate the old Wifi connections once detached - they could short out components if you don't do that. Here's what it looks like inside:
Once the aerials are attached, it looks like they were always meant to be there
:
I managed to get an unstable 10-20Mbps connection (before) up to a very stable 120-150Mbs connection (after). The difference in performance is huge! This NUC is very far from the router, so if you have it positioned sensibly, the speed improvements should be much larger (although perhaps not as unstable and slow to begin with).
I hope this helps anyone else with NUC wifi problems. Post a pic if you give it a go too
.
Instead of resorting to homeplugs or a high gain USB wifi adaptor, I wanted to make use of the onboard WiFi card... so I made a few modifications! I bought a pair of external WiFi antennas, plus a pair of tails to connect them to the existing onboard card.
In my case, the onboard WiFi was an Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165, a small M.2. card which required MHF4 antenna cables. If you have a mini-PCI WiFi card, you may need U.FL cables instead. Please check which connections you require before buying a cable, as they look very similar - I made the mistake of buying the more common U.FL at first.
The images were only taken as a last-minute thought, as I realise it may help someone else, so please excuse the poor quality.
The tails will look a little like this, which allow you to clip on to the existing wifi card and attach external antenna somewhere on the case:
My particular model Intel NUC has a couple of screws on the back of the case, which looked like they could be widened a little and then the external antenna connection poked though (whilst the nut would also secure the case in the same way the screw did).
Here are the screws on the rear, which will soon be replaced:
I checked the antenna tails fit the onboard mini coax connections (2) and removed a reinforcing bar from the case (1). The reinforcement bar holds the VGA connector and contains threaded holes for the two screws. This bar will also need to have the holes drilled wider to accept the antenna connections.
Before drilling, I knocked up a bit of wood to prevent the case from bending too much - as I didn't want it to snap. I'd recommend doing the same if possible:
Here's the bar which had the existing holes widened:
Once you've widened both sets of holes, re-attached the bar and feed the antenna connections through (then tighten with a nut):
Be sure to insulate the old Wifi connections once detached - they could short out components if you don't do that. Here's what it looks like inside:
Once the aerials are attached, it looks like they were always meant to be there
:I managed to get an unstable 10-20Mbps connection (before) up to a very stable 120-150Mbs connection (after). The difference in performance is huge! This NUC is very far from the router, so if you have it positioned sensibly, the speed improvements should be much larger (although perhaps not as unstable and slow to begin with).
I hope this helps anyone else with NUC wifi problems. Post a pic if you give it a go too
.
