I might’ve done the same thing. I had a lot of trouble getting the black wire on but eventually got it. I’ve noticed that in Fedora, my signal strength is not as good as my iPhone, even when less than 10ft away from my 802.11ax router. The iwconfig command says my signal is 63/70, and I’m down a bar. I get full bars on my iPhone.
Could something be wrong, or does it seem to be functioning properly?
This probably won’t fit or perform well, since the antenna module is custom to the system both for mechanical fit and to have the antennas placed clear of metal parts. It’s possible it will function though until we’re able to get replacement antenna modules into stock.
Could you share which router you’re using?
Sure, it’s a Netgear Nighthawk RAX40.
Could you check if disabling OFDMA on it improves performance? This isn’t something we have tried, but another AX210 user found that it resolved the issue they had.
I basically did the same thing, and I also thought I was being very careful! So we have quorum for a support group. 
I was having a hard time fitting the black wire into its channel, and the connector kept popping off when I nudged the cable. Eventually I must have applied pressure at an angle. It was hard to tell without magnification, but I think I smooshed the inner part of the connector on the cable, just slightly.
After some meditation and a final careful click, it seems to be holding. I’m getting a good wifi signal, at least! I’d like to remove it to inspect it again with a magnifying glass, but I’m leaving it alone for now. Just in case that’s the proverbial straw.
What worked well for me was to take the cables out of a couple of rungs, lay the card down on a hardcover book next to the machine, line up the connector to the chip, and use the spudger to apply force to the top of the cable connector. Don’t think I damaged anything since I’m getting pretty good wifi so far but didn’t check it with magnification or anything. Spudger seemed to do a good job distributing the force equally to get it to snap into place nicely without breaking it. From there, it was easy to put the chip into the receptacle and adjust the angle of the cables so they didn’t hit anything.
Connecting the wires on a hard surface with the spudger is a pretty great workaround! Will do that when mine arrives in the mail
THIS, just THIS… this is why we love the Framework! Okay, so a couple of days ago, I screwed up the wireless install. Oh, I did it well, so that I needed antennas and the card. NJP cautioned about antennas and the two that arrived yesterday were indeed a bit large for the nonmetal space. Two that arrived today (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DB6ZG3B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) are about the size of the original Framework antennas. I’d like to order the original for the more flexible wires when the marketplace opens.
Anyway, the replacement wireless card also arrived today. This time, I installed under a magnifier (thank you brother for the lit magnifier) and no problem with the connections.
Here’s where it pays to read the instructions. Saw no wifi when Windows was starting its install thing, so I figured I had gotten the wrong antennas or screwed up again. After a little break, I remembered something about a Windows driver bundle. BAM! Got wireless, and the system is going.
Now, it’s time to go into the BIOS to boot from USB. (K)ubuntu 21.04 is running off of the 5.11 kernel, and I’m just not a big fan of Windows outside of a few games.
I have to say, the support team at Framework really is top notch, and it made my day to actually get responses from NJP. Someone mentioned a support group, and we definitely have it!d
Yeah. This laptop is everything I wanted and more! Although I normally hate the mousepad, I really like the Framework better than others. Maybe I already said this. If so, I apologize, but maybe we can blame it on the bourbon.
Happy with the sound, and been watching music on Youtube. Yes, I know I should pursue dual-boot with Windows 10, but life is too short.
I felt pretty stupid as I broke my antenna connectors as well. The problem was I was trying to do it at home without the proper lighting, and without any kind of magnifying glass.
I just didn’t think anything of this as I’ve dealt with this connector before on a Jetson Nano without much issue. So I don’t know why it was being so difficult this time. Then I did something really dumb by trying pliers. I can still remember my dad telling me “always use the right tool for the job because you’ll regret wasting a week to save a day” or something like that but I still don’t have any patience.
Anyways, I sent support a message because I’d like to order the exact part number for the antennas to replace them. In the meantime I’ll order the amazon part number that the OP mentioned, and probably another wifi adapter. I have other devices I can use them on if the wifi adapter is actually good.
I know we’re stuck with this ridiculous connector so maybe the DIY edition should come with a spare antenna spare. Or to make it quick/easy to order, and perhaps an amazon front end.
I’m a little surprised that the replacement part aspect wasn’t setup before shipping the very first laptop. The biggest selling point of the laptop is its repair-ability, and yet when I scan the QR codes it just takes me to information which is nice, but I don’t see a parts ordering page.
Hi Jason, sorry to hear that. We staged replacement parts for the Input Cover, Display, and a couple of other modules, but not the antenna. That was our miss. We have just had these come into our warehouse and are preparing them to be able to ship out.
I just got my laptop tonight, fumbled a little with the antenna install, but I “guess” i got them installed. I have wifi.
What speeds are we SUPPOSED to get with wifi? I never use it tbh. At my house I’m always connected thru cat5.
Heres the result from a speedtest on the laptop with the Intel WiFi 6E AX210 vPro:
14ping 25.59Mbps download 39.62Mbps upload
On my pc with cat5:
10ping 346.82Mbps download 40.96Mbps upload
Should my wifi on laptop be faster than that?
**EDIT : nvm, I think I figured it out, my router is only 802.11g
Time to upgrade my router lol.
I made a quick video here on how I install the WiFi card. https://twitter.com/FrameworkPuter/status/1433320060429373440
We’ll do a better video to add to the guide.
I had this exact same issue. I’m not a novice at this sort of stuff but even though I hate these clips, this was the most difficult experience I’ve had with U.FL connectors.
Thanks for the video @nrp! I think I need to order some replacement cables because I never was able to get a satisfying snap (no matter how many times I tried) and barely got it in an attached together with the cover on. It isn’t cable managed at all because moving the antenna even a smidge dislodges the connection.
If I could make a suggestion: consider making the cables a little bit shorter. They are too long right now. I would splice and re-solder the ends myself but I don’t have a good connection as it stands so I’ll wait until I have a backup.
I just got my laptop today and had this same issue.
I was able to connect the black cable with no problems, but trying to connect the white one broke off the outer ring on the card. So I am pretty sure I will need both a new Wifi card and antenna once those are in stock.
For now, performance seems ok, I am writing this on my new Framework over Wifi, and it has seemed stable and fast. So only having a single antenna doesn’t seem to be the end of the world, although I will still replace it once parts are available.
We regret the cable lengths. We’re somewhat stuck with them at the moment, as changing the length would trigger needing to recertify on RF. We’re actually adjusting the speaker module instead to leave more room for antenna cable routing in the future.
Sorry to hear that! You may be able to carefully pull the ring out of the antenna cable with tweezers to only need to replace the card.
I’ve ripped the connectors of Wi-Fi antennas off of iPhone flex cables while repairing them.
I echo all these sentiments.
I’m only getting a “1” on my NSS in wavemon, so I think one antenna isn’t working. I’ll most likely end up needing a new one. Which one, I still need to figure out. I’ve been too busy to open up the machine.