Okay, long story. I found a Desire in 3 parts run over on the road. Pretty busted up, screen cracked and cover broken, but when reassembled the unit worked. SIM card locked so can't find owner. Everything seemed to work except wifi. Just couldn't connect. I rooted it, installed Cyanogen ROM, but when I tried wifi it went into loop. I tried oxygen ROM, and did the same thing. I flashed the kernel and radio. No good. I suspect there may be a hardware problem, given that it was run over, but is there any app or way I can determine for sure that the problem is hardware?

 

Thanks Harry. The antenna explanation would make sense. Both the cover and the battery are damaged. Is this antenna located on the battery itself, or the phone's cover for the battery? Cheers

 

Hmm. I think that is the Desire HD. Seems a little different. Cheers