And today, this 6 Euro (including shipping) replacement (4cms + 20cm internal cable) get’s me 45% in the worst case. But the device now connects without issue and the data rates are fine for most purposes.
As a number of others here have, I just drilled out the existing expansion cover hole. I think I’ll move it to the back, though, as soon as I have time. I want to hack some other stuff into the expansion space.