1src Forums - Tungsten C - Only Half Dead. Wifi broken.

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arson

11-20-2007, 02:42 AM

My bargain basement Tungsten C purchased for $20 and working for 9 months has suddenly stopped working in the wifi department. Everything else is functioning fine except the wifi which unfortunately is its best feature. No MAC address is displayed in the prefs box. I've taken it apart and reseated the wifi module, but no luck. Has anyone around here ever revived the wifi component on their Tungstend C? Thanks in advance!

alegra

11-20-2007, 07:58 AM

I think my has also something like a loose contact. Sometimes it went, sometimes not. I opened it and checked the module (if it seats correctly) and after that it seems to work a little bit better now.

But some T|Cs have problems to "remember" their MAC address. I also had such a model, which always showed "00:00:00:00:00:00".

alt236

11-20-2007, 08:36 AM

AS I recall, the only solution was to send it to Palm Support and they would have sent you another one...
The last rom version fixed that problem, although you had to install it before it happened.

montecristo1

12-09-2007, 03:20 AM

Arson, try a hard reset, use your wifi- don't hot sync.

arson

12-09-2007, 05:08 AM

I've already done several hard resets and reseats on the wifi module. The wifi option in prefs refuses to be selected no matter what I do. Hotsyncs wont help and I'm actually confused by why this suggestion might help. Unless anyone has a miracle solution, I'm probably going to list this Tungsten C for Parts on craigslist.org soon (accepting offers from any 1src readers too... :)

Nice PDA while it lasted. A lot more useful than I originally thought. Great screen. And probably the fastest CPU palm ever made.

arson

01-08-2008, 03:56 AM

Just an update. I found a place in Kansas that had a wifi module. I made a trade for the part, and just replaced it. Now, my beloved low cost el cheapo Wifi PDA is working again. Woohoo!

alt236

01-08-2008, 10:51 AM

Dont forget to apply the latest rom update to make sure it doesn't happen again! :)

arson

01-08-2008, 07:11 PM

It always had the latest rom update, so that wasn't the problem. I think wifi radios just seem to wear out. Like the wifi components on home routers. The wired component work, but the wifi capabilities tend to fail after a few years (speaking of my own personal netgear MR814 experience only)

Anyway, the swap out of the wifi module went fairly easy, so if anyone else has this problem, don't throw anyway your T|C. It may be very salvageable.

JoeCubNC

01-22-2008, 05:20 PM

I'm having the exact same problem with my T|C. Is there a link to the place in Kansas and maybe a part no.?

Thanks
Joe

montecristo1

01-23-2008, 02:16 PM

I recently bought a used TC on craigslist (SF) for $60. I have three now, giving one to my sis- next week. Having three C's also gave me a way to experiment with the wifi updates. On one I have the Update 3.0, and the other update 2.0, and the one I bought- no update- just the way it came out in 2003. I used wifi finder- to search for access points, Net Chaser- to reset palm's corrupt wifi files and the TC's wifi set up to log in. I also tried out Opera v2, web pro v3.5 and xino341E web browsers to surf the net. After walking around my apartment complex, drinking lots of coffee at coffee shops and using my own router for a week- I will say the TC, with no updates, was able to connect faster, find more wifi access and offer a more reliable connection. The worst was update 3.0- this also cause my wifi radio module to malfunction- had to replaced it with an extra one I had. Unfortunately, the motherboard has update 3.0- so that TC will not have a good wifi experience. So, in my opinion, don't upgrade to 3.0. And the web browsers, opera v2 is good (v4 doesn't work for me)- but not fast. Xinno was another great contender- fast, easy to use- but the interface isn't that attractive. So, I will have to go with web pro 3.5, fast, easy and attractive- way better browser than the TC's version 2.0. The downfall to the TC- you can't log on to wpa protected routers (as I have it at my home).

montecristo1

01-23-2008, 02:23 PM

Sorry, I forgot to post a site that has alot great stuff for the TC at great prices http://www.usedpdaparts.com/TungstenC.html

They have the wifi card for $30 (used)- I found this site a while back, someone from 1src recommended it to me. Good place to buy...

arson

01-24-2008, 01:21 AM

Ditto. I can recommend the company as well. They supplied the wifi module that brought my T|C back to life.

JoeCubNC

01-25-2008, 05:56 PM