Whats your thoughts?

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7 November 2025 | by Mike VE9KK | Share | | Leave a Comment (6)

Possible RF magnet

While doing my annual pc cleaning last month, for some reason, I took special notice of my Wi-Fi SMA antenna connectors on the back of the PC. I have disconnected the Wi-Fi antennas as they are not used and get in the way of the cabling they. In my case, to get connected to the internet, I have a LAN cable from the back of the PC that goes to the hallway to a TP Link Wi-Fi extender. I find I get a better signal this way as opposed to using the Wi-Fi antennas on the rear of the PC.

Needed connectors

Back to the Wi-Fi connectors on the rear of the PC, as I was cleaning, a thought came to me that these open Wi-Fi connectors could be a nice RF magnet. In the past I have issues with RF getting into the PC and to eliminate as much as I could is a bonus. I did have a few 50 ohm SMA male connectors and I thought with that I would be good to go. On closer inspection and a frustrating experience trying to get the 50 ohm to connect to the PC, I found the SMA connector on the PC was a male and the 50 ohm connector is also a male connector. This had to be purchased, and it's called RP-SMA.Once they came in, the connection went very smoothly. So what are your thoughts on this, most if not all PCs have Wi-Fi antenna options and if you're not using it and prefer LAN connections should these antenna connections be terminated with 50 ohm terminators?

Connected and ready to go.

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

6 Responses to “Whats your thoughts?”

Vic N2PP:
9 November 2025 at 10:54 UTC
Mike, I would recommend removing the entire Wi-Fi plug-in PCB if it is not integral to the PC motherboard. If it is integral to the PC motherboard, I would research how to deactivate the Wi-Fi feature for the particular motherboard. Usually motherboards have a BIOS option to change such settings.
These recommendations remove the potential RFI source completely.
N2PP
Mike VE9KK:
9 November 2025 at 11:05 UTC
Good morning Vic and thanks for dropping by taking the time to read the post and then leave a comment. Yes that is a very good idea Vic I may head into the BIOS this Sunday and see what I can find there. As for removing the Wi-Fi from the board that is not going to happen. The BIOS is a much better option.
Have a nice relaxing Sunday Vic
73,
Mike
VE9KK
k0ebc:
11 November 2025 at 21:30 UTC
If running windows the device can be disabled from Device Manager. I haven’t crossed over to linux yet so I can’t offer any help there.
73,
John, k0ebc
Mike VE9KK:
12 November 2025 at 11:16 UTC
Good morning John and nice to hear from you. My idea was that yes I did disconnect via device manager but I was still concerned just having the open wi-fi connector may had offered my dear RFI buddy an entrance point.
73 and have a good rest of the week.
Mike
VE9KK
Dallas N4DDM:
12 November 2025 at 11:45 UTC
If you can’t unplug the WiFi module or turn it off in your Operating System(s) (for those that dual boot between Windows and Linux) or turn it off in BIOS, I’d cap them off like you did with 50 ohm terminations/dummy loads…
On my cell phone, I use an app called WiFi Analyser to see all the SSIDs in my area. Seems everything wants to use WiFi, so turning off or capping off any unused devices makes sense…
73 Dallas N4DDM
Mike VE9KK:
14 November 2025 at 11:15 UTC
Good morning Dallas, yes I did not want to get to crazy with my MSI motherboard. I felt if anything by putting the 50 ohm caps on that would not hurt. As well I turned off the WiFi in BIOS as well.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend,
Mike
VE9KK