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What is the name of the nearly-flush flat antenna connector often found in laptops/tablets for its external antennas? They are very small and the antenna lead usually has a 90º male plug that snaps in.

UPDATE: now that I know the name I can find pictures of what I had in mind. A better look at the socket and cables can be found in the (presumably) rights-reserved image on this page but here is one I found on Flickr via the component's Wikipedia article:

Bare board-side component

UFLS-02-M-SMDS-01 by oomlout, CC-BY-SA on Flickr

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    \$\begingroup\$ Photo(s) seem to be missing from your question, as there are half-dozen different types of miniature coax connectors. \$\endgroup\$
    – Nick Alexeev
    Commented Jul 8, 2015 at 18:29
  • \$\begingroup\$ Sorry, I do not have any of my own photos. (I'm not sure that taking the time to find a public domain one will help others searching for this answer, as I was, either.) \$\endgroup\$
    – natevw
    Commented Jul 8, 2015 at 18:40
  • \$\begingroup\$ I just searched "Laptop wifi card" and found this: i01.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v1/539445515/… . I'm assuming you're looking for the connectors shown at the left, between the two mounting holes? If so, @natevw has your answer. \$\endgroup\$
    – DerStrom8
    Commented Jul 8, 2015 at 18:43
  • \$\begingroup\$ Yes, that's the sort of connector I am talking about, thanks for the link! I'm hesitant to inline that, though, since I don't own the image and not sure where this would fall as far as fair usage rights. And yes, I did find the answer before I ended up finishing the post here…another reason I got lazy with the image ;-) \$\endgroup\$
    – natevw
    Commented Jul 8, 2015 at 18:47
  • \$\begingroup\$ And for those downvoting, my intent here was to help people who were googling the terms I was to figure this out faster. I was not trying to figure out a specific board per se and so I was starting from the words rather than a specific picture, and it was my understanding (at least from the main StackOverflow site) that answering one's own question was useful. I will try find a picture though as I can see now it would be helpful to describe the type I was imagining. \$\endgroup\$
    – natevw
    Commented Jul 8, 2015 at 18:51

2 Answers 2

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I believe these "ultra small/sub-miniature coaxial connectors" are Hirose U.FL connectors or perhaps even W.FL. I've also seen styled occasionally as uFL instead, but the original naming convention appears to be alphabetic (U vs. W) rather than an allusion to µ for "micro" or anything. There are other similar and even compatible interconnects, for example the Sunridge MCB series claims to be "fully compatible with Hirose U.FL and I-PEX (IPEX, IPX) MHF series, 100% Equivalent.".

The receptacle on the board is actually considered the male component as it contains the center pin, contrary to my understanding in the original question. (This is also the case with e.g. SMA connectors as well, where the relevant "protrusion" is not consider the connector and its shielding as a whole, but rather of the main pin.)

Note that the durability of these connectors is typically low; I've seen data sheets specifying only 30 cycles of mating/unmating rated.

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    \$\begingroup\$ In my relatively anecdotal experience, it's the mating female cable that is the weak point for repeated matings, not the male connector. \$\endgroup\$
    – scld
    Commented Jul 8, 2015 at 19:32
  • \$\begingroup\$ Some people called them IPEX connectors \$\endgroup\$
    – njh
    Commented Jun 15 at 15:52
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The name is UMCC. Short for Ultra Miniature Coax Connector

https://www.mouser.com/Connectors/RF-Interconnects/_/N-89mc7?Keyword=umcc&FS=True

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Not sure why the downvotes on this, although it would be interesting to hear more about this similar connector and how/if it differs from the u.FL one. \$\endgroup\$
    – natevw
    Commented Aug 11, 2020 at 17:31

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