Comment by CamperBob2

Comment by CamperBob2 a day ago

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I'm not sure I understand the entire point of the exercise. There's already an RJ45 jack on the Mini, so no need to hack the unit to get access to an Ethernet PHY. And the WiFi router can be turned off via the setup page.

Did they remove support for the Ethernet jack on the Minis available in Ukraine? It looks like it's still present on the WiFi board, next to the power jack.

dogben a day ago

They may want to make absolutly sure no wifi signal emit from the device. Turning it off in the setup page is definitely not enough.

The wifi chip may emit signal during boot. The device may get accidentally reset in the field. SpaceX may push an update that messes with the settings.

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  • CamperBob2 a day ago

    I mean, more power to them, certainly, but WiFi emissions seem like the least of your concerns when you're operating an antenna for satellite comms. There will be no shortage of side lobes at Ku band for anyone who cares to listen.

    Cutting down on mass would make sense, though.

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    • MOARDONGZPLZ a day ago

      It will still draw power with wifi turned off, though much less. The most effective way of reducing the P in swap is to remove the unit entirely

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closewith a day ago

You might imagine some use cases where mass is a critical concern.

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