Have I just broken my Computer's WIFI?

[tomworthington2004.tw]

So I was moving all of my PC's components into a new case and I came across a problem. There were 2 leads coming from my WIFI card: a black one that led to the antenna on my case and a white one that led to some small plastic cuboid stuck to the side of my case. I needed to get the motherboard out of the case and I saw that no one else had this problem. So I ripped the 2 cables out of the WIFI card and I think you can see the inside of the wires. I was then able to take the motherboard out but will the WIFI still work? Did I need those 2 cables? Can I replace them? Can I fix them?

 

[COLGeek]

Those "cables" are the wi-fi antenna. Yes, you need them (or replacements) for the wi-fi adapter to work (if you need a wireless netowrk connection).

 

[unclebun]

Yes, you needed those cables. Someone with technical skill might be able to repair them, but given how you got it in this situation, I'd guess, no, you can't.

What kind of wifi card was it? Did it go in a pci or pcie slot? Or does it mount flat to the motherboard?

 

[SchizTech]

Does the end of the cable look like the black one here, and does the card have little buttons like shown here:

This is how wifi antenna are attached in laptops, and many internal desktop cards too. If those metal clips are still intact on the cable ends, just gently snap them back onto the correpsonding ports on the card. It's a pain in the tush, but it will work fine once they're in place again.