Locate & Disable Wifi Transceiver on Modem Circuit Board

[Matt1]

Does anyone know how to locate the wifi transmitter on a modem circuit board, is it the "Radio Transceiver"? Once located, is it possible to remove it or disable it. Wifi is enabled on my modem, and disabling it via software doesn't work.

 

[.Scott]

Yes, it would be the radio transceiver.
Disabling it may be tricky. Simply cutting the wrong wire might cause the board to report a failure and the driver software may treat the entire board as failed.
Without doing anything that cannot be undone, I might try disconnecting the antennae or antenna circuitry from the transceiver.
Also bear in mind that you are dealing with ESD sensitive circuitry - so any changes you do should be at an ESD-safe workstation with a wrist strap, etc.

 

[Bandit127]

While it is not elegant, a Faraday cage would do it. Any metal box connected to Earth with holes for the wires that are not too big and that would contain the modem. Maybe you could show off your new "biscuit tin modem" to your friends...

 

[berkeman]

Does anyone know how to locate the wifi transmitter on a modem circuit board, is it the "Radio Transceiver"? Once located, is it possible to remove it or disable it. Wifi is enabled on my modem, and disabling it via software doesn't work.

Have you tried calling their tech support?

 

[Matt1]

Another option is getting a modem that does not have Wifi, but the simplest solution may be the Faraday cage - I just didn't know if such a cage would shield the majority of the signal.

 

[berkeman]

Another option is getting a modem that does not have Wifi, but the simplest solution may be the Faraday cage - I just didn't know if such a cage would shield the majority of the signal.

Can you post pictures? We can suggest some Faraday Cage options. How are your soldering skills?

 

[russ_watters]

What is the make and model of this device?

 

[f95toli]

Another option is getting a modem that does not have Wifi, but the simplest solution may be the Faraday cage - I just didn't know if such a cage would shield the majority of the signal.

Don't underestimate how difficult it is to make a good Faraday cage when you need to have cables going in/out of it. The cables really need to be low pass filtered for it to work well which obviously doesn't work in this case since you still need to have LAN cables going to the modem (it won't be of much use otherwise). RF signals can travel along the wire and out of the shield meaning it is not enough to just make the hole as small as possible.
In "real" shielded rooms we try to use fibre optics whenever possible for this very reason.

Wifi/telecom systems use all sorts of tricks to maximize their reach, meaning the electronics will actively try to counteract anything you try to use to block it.

 

[lastfsdfsd23]

at first you close your modem. and reset your wifi setting and reconnect it. i think it will work.