Hi.
Am I missing something here. Surely you just need a new wifi cable and off you go with a working laptop?
It looks like there are some sharp metal edges that have cut the white wire a bit, so maybe someone needs to invent a tool that can connect wifi cables more easily.
I have done a few in the past and they are always very fiddly. One needs to exert the right pressure in exactly the right angle. I use a spunger tool so that my fingers do not touch the connector at all as one cannot get the angle right with fingers alone.
From that picture, I would also put another spunger under the cable, protecting it from the sharp metal edge.
Interestingly, there are no instructions on the Framework support pages on how to replace the wifi card on the Framework 16. There are instructions for the Framework 13, but that is arranged differently.
Also, in the Framework marketplace, although the spare parts cables are listed, one cannot actually purchase them yet.
Right, but what you are missing is that you can still repair or replace a lot of the parts without ever interacting with those connectors, and you can always pay someone else to handle that part which would still be a lot cheaper than buying new.
For me, I absolutely get that. I also donāt upgrade to new hardware all that often. For MarkRendle though, it appears that he values upgrading at a cheaper price over the repair-ability aspect.
Also there are still some components (mainly motherboard, wifi card, antenna, hinges, possibly lid, possibly screen) that you likely would not be able to repair without having to fiddle with the antenna connectors.
Of course there are things that you canāt change without messing with those wires. Again you can always pay someone, like a computer repair shop (there are plenty of them around if you look) to deal with that for you, and that still gives you the upgrades cheaper than buying a new laptop each time. Sure, you still have the up front cost, but Mark seemed ok with that otherwise they wouldnāt have bought the laptop to begin with.
To me this post reads very much like someone who had no idea what they were getting into, getting frustrated with it, and blaming framework for that.
EDIT: To be clear I get the frustration, I have been there plenty of times, and I get the desire to place blame somewhere other than yourself. Completely understandable reaction.
Clearly I didnāt know what I was getting into. But I have opened up and repaired or upgraded tens of laptops and PCs over the last 30 years, so it wasnāt entirely ridiculous to think Iād be able to manage this.
I blame Framework for the little plastic shield that makes it so much worse.
Tell you what: get a Framework 16 and make a video of you completely removing the WiFi module and reinstalling it. Thatāll show everyone what an idiot I am.
Also please letās not forget that if Iād opened the laptop, installed my SSD and my two perfectly standard RAM modules from one of the biggest manufacturers in the world, closed it up, powered it on and installed Windows, then Iād be here banging on about how great everything is.
I didnāt say the blame was misplaced, I donāt have mine yet, so canāt comment on that part.
It does seem like you should have known enough, but then again you talked about no display with RAM issues, which has been the case with every PC compatible since the first IBM PC, and you talked about RAM compatibility which has been a common problem for the past 20+ years, it has varied from generation to generation and among CPU and motherboard manufacturers, but it has been discussed many, many times in tech media for at least a couple of decades. All of that indicated to me a lack of experience with PCs.
Looking at this I have to say that you are not the idiot people are making you out to be.
There is no wifi repair/replace guide in the framework support section so there are essentially no instructions available from Framework on how to do it correctly.
With the added plastic shield that is not normally on other wifi cards, it adds a complication.
Thank you for highlighting a problem, it might cause other users to pause before trying it themselves.
I have sent a support request to framework suggesting they might wish to add safe instructions on how to replace the wifi card on a framework 16 without damaging the cables.
Absolutely, I would love to see at least some internal pigtail to a better connector, but there are a lot of complications there and I think Framework has better things to tackle first.
Like I say, Iāve built PCs and upgraded and repaired laptops, and this is the first time in my life Iāve had a mainboard reject compatible, working RAM modules. Maybe Iāve been lucky. I certainly donāt remember reading any tech media articles saying ājust keep buying different makes and models of RAM until you luck into one that happens to work.ā
I also havenāt had issues like that, but I have also typically checked compatibility lists before ordering parts. I havenāt had issues even with RAM that is not on the lists, but I have read plenty of articles on the subject to know that is absolutely an issue to watch out for, and is getting worse, especially with laptops due to pushing the limits of the RAM and memory controllers.
EDIT: The media never said to just keep buying different modules, they have always said to check the QVL (Qualified Vendor List) which lists everything that has been tested and verified to work with the hardware.
