Wifi card getting really hot?

Draeger · 1 Jan 2011 at 12:57

Dell XPS M1530 ( known for its ability to get pretty hot

).

Noticed recently while browsing online that the wifi card is the hottest part of the laptop even compared to the area where the CPU and GPU sit underneath.

Anyone else had this, wifi card getting really hot?.

thebigak · 2 Jan 2011 at 02:29

Check that the small antennae cables have not become detached. I think they are designed to withstand quite a bit of heat, but just to be on the safe side.

Draeger · 2 Jan 2011 at 11:21

I'll have a look. Detached from what though and why would the fact that they are detached have a bearing on whether they heat up more than usual?. :confused:

thebigak · 2 Jan 2011 at 19:14

Most people recommend not to run devices that have antennae connected without them connected as the signal amplification circuitry is designed to have the energy dissipated by the antennae, or something along those lines. The antennae connect to the wireless card and run up around the screen for better signal. There are usually two or three antennae depending on what wireless NIC you have.

Here is an example of a manufacturer's warning regarding removing antennae from a router:

Please make sure you disconnect the electricity supply from your Zenbu router before you change the antennas. Do not reconnect the power supply to the Zenbu router while antennas are not connected to both terminals. Failure to do this can damage the radio of your router and its ability to transmit and receive data can be severely limited.

Aod · 4 Jan 2011 at 02:33

thebigak said:
Most people recommend not to run devices that have antennae connected without them connected as the signal amplification circuitry is designed to have the energy dissipated by the antennae, or something along those lines. The antennae connect to the wireless card and run up around the screen for better signal. There are usually two or three antennae depending on what wireless NIC you have.

Here is an example of a manufacturer's warning regarding removing antennae from a router:

Please make sure you disconnect the electricity supply from your Zenbu router before you change the antennas. Do not reconnect the power supply to the Zenbu router while antennas are not connected to both terminals. Failure to do this can damage the radio of your router and its ability to transmit and receive data can be severely limited.

that's not from the power being dissipated as heat though, that's because an unterminated coaxial cable (which is basically what the connectors for antennae are) cause reflections to run back down the cable, and in this case, straight back into the device which can cause damage.

laptop WiFi cards are generally quite well designed and will simply turn an antenna off if they detect this, in my experience.