Hack brings WiFi to Sprint Palm Pixi courtesy of Verizon Pixi Plus radio board swap
By Donald Melanson 
posted July 26th 2010 3:31PM
posted July 26th 2010 3:31PM
We can't say it's the most practical of hacks, but it looks like Sprint Palm Pixi users eager to add some much-needed WiFi to their device do have at least one option. As demonstrated by PreCentral forum member gitit20, all you have to do is find a Verizon Pixi Plus somewhere, pull out its radio board, swap it with the one in your Sprint Pixi, and run the Sprint webOS Doctor application to get everything back in working order. As you can see above, the two radio boards are identical apart from the missing WiFi chip, and there's apparently no extra fiddling with serial numbers or anything required. Head on past the break for the whole thing on video.
Why these things didn't SHIP with WiFi is beyond me. Even a year ago WiFi was standard issue smartphone equipment.
@BigJayDogg3
it does seem kindof sad that you have to pay for two phones to get one.
@BigJayDogg3 It was Sprints decision. They thought the specs would be to close to the Pre if it had wifi.
On a similar note, some Sprint users are now rocking the Pre Plus main board through a similar, albeit more difficult, main board swap and software tricks.
@vstican
if you can find a busted one on ebay....
I hope whoever made that decision over at Sprint was handled accordingly. That was the reason I never got one for my wife. I wonder how many more sales they lost because of that?
@BigJayDogg3 yeah and with the looks of it, I think it doesn't even cost a dollar to make.
@BigJayDogg3
wait... so you gutted a Verizon Pixi in order to make the Sprint Pixi fly... something does not really add up here. I only wish manufacturers would care for their loyal customers enough to offer a small upgrade fee to add WiFi as an option. Nowadays everyone is looking for the next phone so they can jump the boat, whatever happened to rewards for the loyal ones.
@GN1 Maybe Sprint should pay your bill for you too.. It's simple math.. How do you guys expect Sprint to compare to VZW in every category when the plans are so much cheaper...
The TP2 is released comparable to the VZW TP2 but is priced at $350 everyone screams bloody murder..
The Evo is released comparable to the Droid X but with an added $10 fee per month which is still alot cheaper than the Droid X is per month and people scream..
And the Palm Pixi is the same phone minus wifi, and most people on a budget phone won't even use wifi and people still scream..
Option number 4 is just say F it and raise the monthly rates to AT&T and VZW levels.. Who the hell would even use wifi on that tiny screen..
How did they make a smartphone in 2009(?) And not include wifi? That's. Just sad. ..
@j2daake
Wasn't the Pixi marketed towards elderly woman?
Does WiFi matter much to them?
@j2daake
the pixi does not require an everything data plan, as in since it does not have wifi, it is not a smartphone. It was designed to be a centro replacement so people could stay on their same plans. As in a bad ass feature phone, but without calling it that or any kind of marketing what so ever. It's a shame too, it's a freaking great phone. Possibly the best keyboard of 09.
@toyotast165
Yes the pixi does require an everything plan. Try to learn before you post.
w00t
Why not just change carriers? Seems a lot easier than said procedure.
@vansmack Not when you consider Verizon's prices.
@Eric H How much did a Pixi off contract cost? I'm all for hacking for the sake of hacking, but in real world application, this particular hack leaves logic in the wind. Plus, nobody likes the Pixie THAT much to justify this cost and work. But hey, he did, so good for him.
@vansmack Well you can usually find a working unlocked or bad ESN Pixi plus for around $100, or you can look and find one with a broken screen for $30 to $50. As you can see from the video the switch takes roughly 10 minutes, so let’s just say an hour for arguments sake. Ok so you have on a high estimate $100 dollars invested in adding Wi-Fi to your free phone, this is of course assuming you have to have Wi-Fi. To get a plan with 450 anytime minutes and unlimited text/picture messaging and unlimited internet it will cost you $69.99 with Sprint, if you are on and individual account, and it will cost you $89.98 so that’s $19.99 more with Verizon, on an individual plan, the price per phone per month moves to $24 more and on up according to how many people are on your plan, I believe we have 5 people on our account and we par roughly $36 per phone a month for our phones. But based on those numbers if you were to stay with Sprint vs. Verizon assuming the normal 24 month period you would save $479.76, so if you really have to have Wi-Fi, $100 bucks doesn't seem too illogical, and hey my wife loves her Pixi, I don't think we will be messing with this hack anytime soon, but if she does want Wi-Fi this hack is still way cheaper than moving to Verizon.
I have a feeling this is the only person on the planet that will do this.
Leave it to Sprint to not include a feature that was made popular thanks to the iPhone in 2007, and became a standard in all the major brands. Good job Sprint
@GregMahan
please kill yourself
@GregMahan Yeah cuz blackberries never used wifi b4 the iphone.
/sarcasm
@GregMahan I'm an apple fanboy myself but when I click on a PIXIE article I don't expect anyone to be talking about the iPhone. But then again I WAS born yesterday afterall.
@GregMahan Err... The phone I was using prior to 2007 had WiFi. BlackBerries, WinMo, and Nokia's all did. Smartphones in general. The iPhone included it because other smartphones had it.
@angelnilo06 Happy Belated!
@Diggler Not defending the iPhone or anything, but wasn't the first blackberry model with wifi released after the 1st iphone?
If you are talking about smartphones with wifi, there were plenty that had them before even the iPhone or blackberry did.
@GregMahan
Haha...I bought an HTC touch a few months before the iPhone was even released and it had wifi, a touchscreen, and an OS that was arguably much more powerful and versatile than any new one (although admittedly slow and visually archaic).
@Narutogrey
No.
The BlackBerry 7270 released february of 2005, had a wifi radio.
The fact you have access to the internet, essentially the most vast and easiest to navigate compendium of knowledge in human existence, and didn't bother to check this yourself is... well, kinda sad.
At the very least, you could've have simply querried google with "first blackberry wifi" and stumbled upon an answer within 5 minutes.
Easier to disassemble and reassemble than my HTC G1, when I made the big decision to change the case from black to white...
THAT was one heck of a job.
This seems more like my old Blackberry Pearl - disassembling and reassembling that was cake.
I hope they mention to take ESD precautions - at least drain/ground yourself frequently.
seems pointless in 2009 2 make a phone without wifi. Kind of like making a camera phone in 2010 without a flash, Samsung! And it took long enough for some1 2 finally do that!
Why is it taking HP so long to make new hardware! The Pre and Pixi are really outdated.
This videos bring back memories when I use to change housings for phones... always a big hassle
Hey, would this work with slightly less similar phones? Does anyone think I could cram the radio board from an HTC desire(or an N1) into a Droid Incredible and use it outside of the states?