If you need some 3D printed parts I can print &ship them to you.
2 Likes
Sounds great. Or if you wanted to experiment with the design yourself, I could send you the other prototype PCBA for testing.
yeah for sure! once i have it, iāll try sketching a case for it.
Iāll use Onshape as the CAD tool, so anyone can edit the file later if needed.
Just shoot me a pm where I can pay you for the prototype board.
1 Like
Cool! Seems there is definitely at least enough interest for a meaningful EU(rope) production run. Iād probably wait a while for some more real-life testing with the prototype unit.
Leaving case work to @FelixL for now.
3 Likes
Regarding antennas: this seller seems to have a decent selections of MHF4 4G PCB/FPC antennas, including various cable lengths from 3cm for fitting into expransion card to 20cm for routing it all the way to the top of the display.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008131732495.html
One option to consider might be to have the main antenna in the bottom bezel next to the wifi antennas and the diversity antenna inside the expansion card at the bottom side.
The GNSS antenna, if present, would just stick out of the expansion slot, which it needs to anyway to get a good view of the sky.
My provisional testing setup 
Interesting that this antenna placement tanked upload performance but did not affect download much.
4 Likes
Great job on the progress! Antennas are the biggest struggle for me rn as well as the long lead times on JLC for the EG95. Looking into Aliexpress but theyāre more expensive there. Still, another few weeks should see a sample arrive. And agree on commercialization, though maybe thatās a bit easier in North America? I guess Iāll find out 
1 Like
The EU version cannot be even ordered there, so I had only one option. Otherwise Iād probably also just wait for the sake of simplicity.
The same seller on Taobao has an antenna that is 29mm x 9mm, barely fits within the width of an expansion card. My EG912U assembly above was tested with this exact antenna. You might need to contact the seller on Aliexpress to buy it though, since it isnāt in the product variants in this listing.
2 Likes
Been using the module for a day to browse internet and watch videos. Seems stable so far.
4 Likes
Interesting, but I am a bit dismayed by the difference in gain to the larger antennas. This pushes me more toward placing the antenna elsewhere. The āFPC 80X21 D 8DBIā seems hopeful as it has the cable attachment at the side, which could hide in the bezel ābulgeā and the flat part would fit under the bottom bezel flat surface.
1 Like
Based on current interest it seems there could be two order groups. One for Europe (incl. UK) - facilitated by me, one for North America. Rest of the world (currently Australia) could possibly join Europe if I figure out how to mix two module types in one PCBA order.
For North America, someone else please take the lead. (Probably should be someone outside the US, e.g. Canada, which could maybe stand a chance to send packages to the US while avoiding China tariff levels but really not sure about that. But if you order from JLC to the US, you pay the full tariff rate right away.) I can help with technical parts of the order process if need be.
4 Likes
Iāve assembled an EG95 board, and it can connect to the internet. Tested the same antenna as before but it doesnāt work well with the EG95, performing worse than EG912U. Using a different set of main and diversity antennas (SMA antennas) it can achieve ~24 Mbps downlink and ~7 Mbps uplink though. I can also confirm that the EG95 heats up considerably during usage.
4 Likes
In the meantime, if anyone wants to double-check my design before the big orders, that would be greatly appreciated. E.g. look for any potential issues I may have overlooked, double-check impedance calculations and trace widths etc. So far been using it day-do-day since I got it and seems fine but that does not mean there are some non-obvious issues lurking somewhereā¦
Looks okay to me. A few tracks have a questionable routing, like the RXD/TXD lines here, which could be more straight and parallel to each other:
But that probably doesnāt matter much. The VCC lines are probably much thicker than they need to be, but also not an issue.
2 Likes
The EG95 Hardware Design guide says The width of VBAT_BB trace should be no less than 1 mm, and the width of VBAT_RF trace should be no less than 2 mm. But of course in reality, it depends on length etc.
2 Likes
Using this without a case is dangerous. Just managed to break off the USB-C connector from my prototype.
If anyone feel confident they can fix that (I donāt), I can provide the board on a pay-what-you-want basis.
The pads seem undamaged.
1 Like
Yeah, USB-C connectors are amazing, but the small bridge of board that holds them is often a POF. Happened to me with my original DongleHider+. Canāt fix it, but would be nice to see progress on a case+antennas, so the project can be wrapped up! Go guys! 
1 Like
Probably would be also a good idea to fix it in place with epoxy. I actually meant to do that but did not get to it in time.
Iāve already prepared a 3D model for the case, will finish it up as soon as I get the prototype board.
Maybe we have to reinforce the connector with some 2 component glue?
1 Like