X51 R2, severed white wire

Question

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There is a component in my Alienware X51 R2 that says WLAN, which indicates to me that it might have something to do with WiFi. There a black wire and a white wire attached to it, but the white wire has been severed. This hasn't seemed to affect my computer in any way that I can discern. My main problem is the loud heat sink, but that's always been a problem. What is this component, and should I be worried about the white wire being severed?

speedstep · Accepted Answer

Soldering coax together after being severed is not likely to work well if at all.

speedstep · Accepted Answer

On some MODELS one wire is WIFI and the other is BLUETOOTH. So if the cut wire is something you are not using it wont matter.

r72019 · Answer

That's one of the two antennas for your wifi card.  You can resolder the wire together and cover with shrink tube.  The other end goes to the top of the pc case.

TharosTheDragon · Answer

Thank you both. Sorry for not replying sooner since I apparently wasn't getting email notifications.

So if there are two antennas, does that mean I only need one of them? Is that why my WiFi is still worked despite the severed wire?

Since it was a white and black wire, I thought it was positive and negative like on a car battery or speaker wire and it had to have both to complete the circuit or something.

r72019 · Answer

Having more than one antenna helps improve the wifi signal quality.  https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005714/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking.html

Alienware Desktops

X51 R2, severed white wire

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