Introduction: Hawking 7dBi Wifi Antenna Free Boost

I discovered the Hawking 7dBi Wifi Antenna has a flaw. By removing the flaw I got a signal boost for FREE.
the part number of the antenna is HAI7SIP.

Before this modification I had one bar of signal that sometimes dropped died completely. After the modification I now have two bars of signal. Most importantly no dropped signal anymore!

Step 1: Dissasembly

Peel back the rubber on the bottom and remove the 4 screws. Now use a putty knife or thin flat tool to pry the two parts of the actual antenna apart.

Step 2: Remove Guts and Dissaseble

Take the PCB(printed circuit board) and the wires out of the shell. The green PCB is the flaw! We must remove it. The wires are designed to be used for 802.llg/b signal of 2.4Ghz. The PCB may or may not be. More importantly every time a splice is made in a signal wire, signal gain is LOST.

The "Engineering" behind the green PCB is to make the mast of the antenna fit together with the thinner grey wire in it. It simply does not assemble with the thick white wire.

Step 3: Resolder and Reassemble

Now resolder the white wire directly to the antenna element. Be careful not to let the wires get too hot when soldering. This will melt and short out your wires. Also be careful so you don't solder both spots on the antenna element together.

Route the wire through the base. Then reassemble.

Step 4: Finished Product a Little Bit Fatter

After the modifications I was able to get some of the antenna to snap back together. It doesn't look perfect but you could glue it back together. You can see In the picture that the mast is a little fatter now.

Before the mod I had one bar for reception, now I have two bars very consistently.