OP means that some WiFi antennae are soldered to the motherboard and cannot be easily removed.
When building my PC, I got a PCI WiFi card but it turns out there was also a direct WiFi network interface built into the motherboard somehow
When building my PC, I got a PCI WiFi card but it turns out there was also a direct WiFi network interface built into the motherboard somehow
But I don't the GP comment was talking about that; I have also used WiFi without an antenna (PCB or otherwise), and it was also slow for me.
A dummy load is probably the best idea: an impedance mismatch would obliterate any chance of anything working (including Bluetooth fwiw).
Unlikely, as Wi-Fi is flea power (not high enough to do damage). Moreover, Wi-Fi chips have an inbuilt power limit so as to comply with spectrum management regulations.
Anyway, why wouldn't you want to fry the Wi-Fi chip if possible, that'd solve everything? If I had that problem I'd simply stuff the chip or short out its RF output (bridge solder across its antenna pins).
There are multiple ways of fucking the chip, likely the easiest is shorting B+ to the high side of its antenna pins (that'll likely do the trick). Another method is to hold the tip of a hot soldiering iron on the center of the chip until it fails.
Of course, you shouldn't do this unless you know what you are doing. The Wi-Fi chip may also control Bluetooth so if you still want that risky comms pathway then consult the chip's datasheet first.
The TV might throw an conniption over loss of this critical functionality.
And for WiFi a simple 50 ohm resistor of 1/4 watt should be more than enough.
If you know what you are doing and have explicitly disconnected/cut all antennas including entire MIMO arrays (many people miss one or more antennas) in the motherboard then the only remaining explanation is "accidental antennas".
This is only possible if the WiFi-chip has dangling metal pins/traces/joints whose length is comparable to that of its wavelength, in which case these will act as makeshift antennas. These will pickup ambient WiFi RF, but for this to work at all you need lots of RF power i.e. a very strong signal strength which means you have to be very close to the WiFi router.
The whole thing works because of Physics and not Engineering (the "accidental" part) and hence very iffy (may not work at all) and should not be relied upon.