I would even buy one of those brackets. Mine from PLA is way too flexible.
P.S. looks like this antenna upgrade is very popular 
pcbway can print in aluminum, and they have very reasonable prices.
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The antenna wires are micro coax. Crimping them are stupid fiddly. The tool is also about $2000 US.
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I wouldn’t use any of those, get a u.fl to SMA cable.
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If I unstick the original antena, and restick it, will it hold on the original glue/tape, or do I have to reapply new glue/tape?
Depends on how careful you are in removing the adhesive. There isn’t much material applied on the antenna from the outset, so you may need to apply double-sided tape on your next application.
Not sure if I am just getting lucky or something but a friend of mine gave me some really old laptops to recycle. Just for the hell of it I ripped them apart and pulled out their wifi antennas, which used the same mini coax connection as the uConsole.
Coiled one of those up inside the console and I have vastly improved wifi performance despite the antenna being completely enclosed within the aluminum body.
It doesn’t look quite as cool as a nested folding antenna but it was significantly easier for me to do, and cost me nothing. I have since removed and discarded the stock antenna. Previously I had it attached to some foam to separate it from the body, which was better than stock but not as good as this laptop antenna.
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@hsavior I am currently using this:
uConsole micro antenna 0.2 mount by m3x | Download free STL model | Printables.com
I also have these on hand for mounting things that require longer screws:
(multiple lengths available - select what you need)
The 6mm are basically the stock ones, the 8mm work with the antenna, and I use the 10mm for the hinge mounts on this screen cover:
I printed both the antenna mount and the hinged screen cover with SUNLU PLA+ 2.0 Black at a .15mm layer height and variable layer heights turned on for the curved surfaces, and they look great, like stock parts that should have been included.
Also for reference, the pigtails and antenna I went with:
All supplied links are stripped of any reference to be as basic as possible and not affiliated to anyone, or any tracking data.
@Philip You might just be getting lucky. I think the case is actually a aluminum-manganese alloy, which does not make as good of a Faraday cage as straight aluminum, copper, or steel, it will still attenuate the signal quite a bit. Any holes, gaps or seams can allow signal to leak in and out, but they need to be large enough for the signal to pass through, and honestly, looking at the device I don’t see anything that would allow that leakage. The USB A connector hole is sizable, but it is filled with a steel USB port shield. The screen hole is massive from this perspective, but the screen itself has a back on it that is either steel or aluminum and completely fills the opening.
So, yeah, just lucky I guess.
I see conflicting info. For this print: uConsole micro antenna 0.2 mount by m3x | Download free STL model | Printables.com do I need 6mm or 8mm screw?
Thanks.
6mm are the stock length. You need 8mm to reach the threads.
the stock screws are M4x4 not M4x6.
The ones I got were 6mm. I measured them with my digital calipers and everything.
EDIT: Just confirmed the one I used for the mentioned Wi-Fi mount mod is M4x8
The M4x6 I purchased are a little longer than the stock ones. However, the length of the stock ones was 5.3mm and the conventions are to round up to the next mm, that it is the total length and not thread length, and that it is typically only even numbered lengths. So perhaps the ones I got don’t exactly meet the “standard”?
This one is even a little bit longer than the last one I measured:
You measure the length of a bolt from the underside of the bolt head to the end of the shank.
[sarchasm] You mean ChatGPT made up fake facts and lied to me? Not possible [/sarchasm]
Ended up doing what @Machito AND @Philip did
I decided to store the antenna of an old laptop before taking it to the recycling center.
Looks ugly but damn, the change in quality is incredible.
I still had to stick the antenna outside the body or the signal would drop significantly.
Laptop antenna inside body gives me same strength as stock antenna outside body + plastic buffer+ doubleside tape.
Laptop antenna outside body = excellent strength. I was even able to see my close neighbors ssid.
If anyone reading this can get a laptop antenna before getting his/her uConsole, do so and don’t use the stock antenna. Save it for an emergency.
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Interesting development
As of yesterday, the laptop antenna started to act just like the uConsole stock antenna.
65% strength near the modem, 45% in the kitchen (3 meters away) 0% near the stove (other 2.5 meters away)
And I can’t see other SSIDs (I was able to when I switched antenna) other than the two inside my house (modem and router. Router in the second floor is connected to the modem in the first floor)
The antenna has a double-sided tape buffer (can’t stick it securely without it) so it’s not touching the metal body. Still, no reason why it would change from one day to the other.
At first, I thought it was because the OS change. I switched to Bookworm 6.6 yesterday, but when I put the stock SD card with the stock OS, the problem persists.
I’m trying to figure it out what could have happened… I don’t remember fiddling with anything else besides the antenna parameter in the config.txt so… Who knows.
Maybe it’s my home?
Did the antenna get loose at the CM4 connection?
Is the antenna or the cable damaged?
I can’t see any damage in the antenna… I am not a fan of removing the backplate constantly, I feel that it will make the thermal pad loose effectiveness… But I guess I’ll have to.
Has anyone else experienced this behavior?
Pull the cable slack out a little and check to make sure the cable didn’t chafe on the chassis. That’s about the only thing I could see happening that wasn’t extremely apparent beside software issues. Do you have another device you can try the antenna in? Is it time to attach an SMA connector and screw an antenna on? I have a couple different small antennae and uFL to sma sitting at home waiting for me to decide how I want to do that.
For right now the stock antenna foil with the double think tape is working, so I’m going with it. Signal levels are not great on 5ghz, but enough that I can work in our small home. At work I’m always going to be wired because that’s the need I have for my device, wired and often a serial cable attached.