Ac68U broken antennas. Can it be fixed, or is aliexpress or ebay ok?

So iv got 3 older Ac68U still doing their things at around 300-350Mbps effective speed which is what I need.
But I keep knocking those antennas of, "breaking" at the famous base joint above the screw. I can offcource stick them back on, but im guesing the connection then is lost and the antenna is dead? Or are they able to pop off like that since they should be able to turn?
So is there a way to fix these, or can you trust the cheap antennas on aliexpress and ebay?

Also is it the same antennas on all these ac68U revisions, so i can swap over from one to the other, and also maybe on the AC66N?
Also is there a way to test if the antennas are ok or broken within?

Ali or ebay is fine. I got some off ebay before.

Pick them up as a set, not just a one for one replacement - need to match the radios, and yes, antennae are a set..

maraxion said:

So iv got 3 older Ac68U still doing their things at around 300-350Mbps effective speed which is what I need.
But I keep knocking those antennas of, "breaking" at the famous base joint above the screw. I can offcource stick them back on, but im guesing the connection then is lost and the antenna is dead? Or are they able to pop off like that since they should be able to turn?
So is there a way to fix these, or can you trust the cheap antennas on aliexpress and ebay?

Also is it the same antennas on all these ac68U revisions, so i can swap over from one to the other, and also maybe on the AC66N?
Also is there a way to test if the antennas are ok or broken within?

Click to expand...

I’m not sure where yours are breaking (pics?) but if it’s the brass threaded bit and you really want to get funky you can maybe replace the entire pigtail … I added (not replaced) mine to an RT-AX3000, read from here to the end of the thread.

[EDIT] Just found a pic of the weak joint you mean. Ok then my link won’t help you . You need new antennas…

How do you keep breaking them off? Can you place the router in a slightly safer location?

maraxion said:

So is there a way to fix these

Click to expand...

Replace and try not to break. Cheap 3-5dbi antennas will work. There is no much technology inside, about 5cm standard dual-band dipole. The rest of the length is just plastic for show. They are all cheap around $1 cost per piece.

So I got the new antennas and the signal is terrible. To be honest with or without the antennas are the same.
I got this one second hand, having two of the same before so I know how good they should be.
The previous owner ran only 2 antennas where one was broken. I wondering if this could have destroyed anything inside the router or what I can do to get it back to normal operation.

maraxion said:

So I got the new antennas and the signal is terrible. To be honest with or without the antennas are the same.
I got this one second hand, having two of the same before so I know how good they should be.
The previous owner ran only 2 antennas where one was broken. I wondering if this could have destroyed anything inside the router or what I can do to get it back to normal operation.

Click to expand...

First off, I’d have to say, treat yourself to a newer router, you’re a couple of generations back.

If you want to continue trying to revive it, it could be that the antennas you got were not compatible (or just junk) or maybe the wire was pulled off the connector inside the router (but if it was only ever broken at the elbow then that is less likely).

If you’ve got a couple of the same model why don’t you rule out the AliExpress antennas by scavenging a set off one of your other ones and putting it on this one? If it’s way better then you got dud antennas. If not then it might be inside the machine.

I am no antenna expert but I can’t see how running two of four antennas would stuff up the router internally.

Let us know how you get on