Early Surface Pro 3 users struggle with wireless network

A week after the Surface Pro 3 went on sale to the public, some early buyers are grumbling about poor performance on advanced Wi-Fi networks using the 802.11ac standard.

A reader tipped me this week with an email detailing his reasons for returning the Surface Pro 3 he had just acquired, thanks to its inability to connect reliably to a recently installed 802.11ac router (aka Gigabit Ethernet, although that name is a bit misleading). He told me that a support tech had advised him the problem was related to a "defective driver" in a recent update.

That same reader shared his experiences in the replies to a Microsoft Community forum thread titled "Surface Pro 3 Slow WiFi - 72Mbps Max (driver)." Another commenter added, "So I got my [Surface Pro 3] yesterday and it was blazing fast on wifi. I did all the new updates and after doing so every web page was loading slow or timing out. I did some searching and there [are] a bunch of people with the exact same problem…"

Read more at: Early Surface Pro 3 users struggle with wireless networking glitches | ZDNet

 

[kb7uar]

surface pro wireless problem

I had a problem with mine. I uninstalled all my network drivers in device manager and the restarted my surface pro. They reinstalled at start up and I have had no trouble connecting after that.

 

[crimson]

I installed Chrome. When I signed into my main user, everything froze for a few seconds. I didn't wait for it to unfreeze.

I just pressed the power button at on the top of the device to go to sleep. I pressed it again, but it didn't wake up. In fact, I wasn't sure if it was off or asleep. I held it down for like 7 seconds to make sure it turned off. But there doesn't seem to be a way to tell if it's sleeping or off. Anyway, after that, I was able to press the button again to power it on.

When I signed into my main user, Google was functional. While I was browsing the Chrome store, everything froze again. I decided to wait a few seconds. And everything unfroze.

Anyway, I don't use IE at all. I took it off of the Start screen, and put the Chrome tile on there. And MS, despite supposedly being a "software" company, has still yet to release a video software that can compete with iMovie, and isn't complete trash like Movie Maker.

Oh and there's a huge defect in the obscenely overpriced "type-cover" keyboard. Anybody who writes a decent amount uses ctrl+s often. Like constantly throughout writing. However, the ctrl button is on the left side instead of the right side making ctrl+s much more difficult. Most laptops and even mini-netbooks have it on both sides. My IBM netbook that I'm selling has ctrl on both sides. And Fn is on the far left.

 

[EMINENT]

I installed Chrome. When I signed into my main user, everything froze for a few seconds. I didn't wait for it to unfreeze.

I just pressed the power button at on the top of the device to go to sleep. I pressed it again, but it didn't wake up. In fact, I wasn't sure if it was off or asleep. I held it down for like 7 seconds to make sure it turned off. But there doesn't seem to be a way to tell if it's sleeping or off. Anyway, after that, I was able to press the button again to power it on.

When I signed into my main user, Google was functional. While I was browsing the Chrome store, everything froze again. I decided to wait a few seconds. And everything unfroze.

Anyway, I don't use IE at all. I took it off of the Start screen, and put the Chrome tile on there. And MS, despite supposedly being a "software" company, has still yet to release a video software that can compete with iMovie, and isn't complete trash like Movie Maker.

Oh and there's a huge defect in the obscenely overpriced "type-cover" keyboard. Anybody who writes a decent amount uses ctrl+s often. Like constantly throughout writing. However, the ctrl button is on the left side instead of the right side making ctrl+s much more difficult. Most laptops and even mini-netbooks have it on both sides. My IBM netbook that I'm selling has ctrl on both sides. And Fn is on the far left.

I think you put that in the wrong thread. This is about wifi on SP3... which is working fine for me so far now.

 

[crimson]

I think you put that in the wrong thread. This is about wifi on SP3... which is working fine for me so far now.

Surface Pro 3. I used it for a few days with nothing installed. But when I installed Chrome, I logged into the main user. Then it froze while in the Start menu. And it froze on my like 2 more times. I had to hit the home button to get it to start working.

Also I have a USB recovery zip file for SP 3 which can't be found anywhere online. If Windows crashes beyond repair, and there's no way there's no way to recover it using the built in recovery feature, MS tech support will tell you to take it to the nearest MS store to have it swapped out for a new SP3. Even though there's nothing wrong with the hardware. They couldn't just include a recovery disc or put a USB recovery file online for people to download.

So I made a zip file that contains all the recovery information needed to create a USB recovery installer. You transfer the files from the folder inside the zip file into a blank USB. And you can plug the USB into the Surface Pro 3, and have it boot into the USB. This will recover the SP3 to factory default. I just don't know where to post it online so people can download it if their Windows crashes beyond repair. Especially since not everybody is going to have time to make a recovery USB. So if W8 in their SP3 crashes beyond repair, their screwed.

 

[MrBill]

While I don't have an SP3, I had a Surface RT that appeared to have wireless router issues when I first got it. In fact I returned it for that reason. However, now I am not convinced it was Microsoft.

I've had issues with the internet for awhile now, even though I run 50/5. To shorten this story, I did some research on how the wireless routers work, beyond protocols. Not all routers are equal, especially when it comes to session connections. This should not be confused with a network connection. Think of a TCP or UDP session as a thread on a CPU. You may have one network connection, but your PC, or other device, could be running multiple threads(sessions), 10's, maybe over 100, at any given time. Also, a session does not equal bandwidth. So you could have a relatively benign session with regard to bandwidth, but have say 100 of those.

Now if you have a family like mine, everyone one with their own PCs, smart phones, multiple gaming consoles, Roku, and I work from home, you can create a LOT of sessions. My 5 year old router was rated for 832 sessions. When it would max out it would drop something in favor of another. At the time I didn't know why. Now I have a new router that has up to 32K sessions at a time, suddenly all issues with connecting to anything are gone. it was definitely the router.

Moral of the story, if you start having connection issues, look up the session limits on your router, especially if it is older. Oh, and protocol doesn't matter, mine was a dual band N protocol, still 832 max sessions. So do your homework there. I used a site call small net builder. You can look it up if you are interested in the link, I do recommend it though.

 

[EMINENT]

I think you put that in the wrong thread. This is about wifi on SP3... which is working fine for me so far now.

Surface Pro 3. I used it for a few days with nothing installed. But when I installed Chrome, I logged into the main user. Then it froze while in the Start menu. And it froze on my like 2 more times. I had to hit the home button to get it to start working.

Also I have a USB recovery zip file for SP 3 which can't be found anywhere online. If Windows crashes beyond repair, and there's no way there's no way to recover it using the built in recovery feature, MS tech support will tell you to take it to the nearest MS store to have it swapped out for a new SP3. Even though there's nothing wrong with the hardware. They couldn't just include a recovery disc or put a USB recovery file online for people to download.

So I made a zip file that contains all the recovery information needed to create a USB recovery installer. You transfer the files from the folder inside the zip file into a blank USB. And you can plug the USB into the Surface Pro 3, and have it boot into the USB. This will recover the SP3 to factory default. I just don't know where to post it online so people can download it if their Windows crashes beyond repair. Especially since not everybody is going to have time to make a recovery USB. So if W8 in their SP3 crashes beyond repair, their screwed.

I'm sorry you're having issues using Google's Chrome browser. I don't have a need for anything Google except Youtube. IE works fine and is much better at touch. However, I don't see how that has anything to do with wifi.

 

[crimson]

I haven't even opened IE. It's a waste of time. Like anybody that doesn't suffer from cognitive dissonance, I took the IE tile off of the front Start menu, and put the Chrome tile there. Chrome is far superior than IE in every way. Other than freezing a few times yesterday, everything has been working fine.

It's a really great device. Especially now that they have a screen large enough to work with. I'm perfectly fine doing everything on the 12" screen that has better resolution that I even wanted.

But I still don't know where to put this zip file.

 

[jimbo45]

I haven't even opened IE. It's a waste of time. Like anybody that doesn't suffer from cognitive dissonance, I took the IE tile off of the front Start menu, and put the Chrome tile there. Chrome is far superior than IE in every way. Other than freezing a few times yesterday, everything has been working fine.

It's a really great device. Especially now that they have a screen large enough to work with. I'm perfectly fine doing everything on the 12" screen that has better resolution that I even wanted.

But I still don't know where to put this zip file.

Hi there

Browsers all have their own virtues and vices -- you can't really say chrome is superior in EVERY WAY -- it *might be* for you but I do hate all this "Pontificating" about Browsers.

For example Chrome doesn't work properly (and usually fails after a Silverlight update) if you try and run SKY GO -- SKY TV's "On the move" TV platform. Now if you run this application then CERTAINLY Chrome is NOT superior in every way.

These Browser wars are Oh so TEDIOUS and totally pointless. However this thread was about WIFI and Surface 3 Pro -- not about "Stinkin' Browsers". I'm glad though you like the surface pro 3 -- great device.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[EMINENT]

I haven't even opened IE. It's a waste of time. Like anybody that doesn't suffer from cognitive dissonance, I took the IE tile off of the front Start menu, and put the Chrome tile there. Chrome is far superior than IE in every way. Other than freezing a few times yesterday, everything has been working fine.

It's a really great device. Especially now that they have a screen large enough to work with. I'm perfectly fine doing everything on the 12" screen that has better resolution that I even wanted.

But I still don't know where to put this zip file.

Hi there

Browsers all have their own virtues and vices -- you can't really say chrome is superior in EVERY WAY -- it *might be* for you but I do hate all this "Pontificating" about Browsers.

For example Chrome doesn't work properly (and usually fails after a Silverlight update) if you try and run SKY GO -- SKY TV's "On the move" TV platform. Now if you run this application then CERTAINLY Chrome is NOT superior in every way.

These Browser wars are Oh so TEDIOUS and totally pointless. However this thread was about WIFI and Surface 3 Pro -- not about "Stinkin' Browsers". I'm glad though you like the surface pro 3 -- great device.

Cheers
jimbo

Buys MS device to run a horrible for touch browser from a competing platform and complains about it not working good in a WiFi issue thread.

I think we aren't helping.

 

[jimbo45]

I haven't even opened IE. It's a waste of time. Like anybody that doesn't suffer from cognitive dissonance, I took the IE tile off of the front Start menu, and put the Chrome tile there. Chrome is far superior than IE in every way. Other than freezing a few times yesterday, everything has been working fine.

It's a really great device. Especially now that they have a screen large enough to work with. I'm perfectly fine doing everything on the 12" screen that has better resolution that I even wanted.

But I still don't know where to put this zip file.

Hi there

Browsers all have their own virtues and vices -- you can't really say chrome is superior in EVERY WAY -- it *might be* for you but I do hate all this "Pontificating" about Browsers.

For example Chrome doesn't work properly (and usually fails after a Silverlight update) if you try and run SKY GO -- SKY TV's "On the move" TV platform. Now if you run this application then CERTAINLY Chrome is NOT superior in every way.

These Browser wars are Oh so TEDIOUS and totally pointless. However this thread was about WIFI and Surface 3 Pro -- not about "Stinkin' Browsers". I'm glad though you like the surface pro 3 -- great device.

Cheers
jimbo

Buys MS device to run a horrible for touch browser from a competing platform and complains about it not working good in a WiFi issue thread.

I think we aren't helping.

Hi there.

Agree -- If you buy a Ferrari and want to run it on Wood alcohol or methanol then I'm sure you won't get the best out of it -- same with Ms surface pro 3. Nothing wrong with trying 3rd party apps but if they don't perform as well as the native ones then you can't blame Ms.

Some things like Wifi are always going to be a problem due to certain well known companies "branding" their hardware as say Brand X but then using totally different suppliers for the chips. I have to say though using a commercial (not consumer) router I haven't had (nor would I expect to have) any issues with this -- and in any case Ms has recognized a problem for some users and will be releasing firmware for affected users -- my advice though IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT. A firmware update going wrong can "Brick" your device.

Btw Linux runs Mega super fast on the surface pro 3 !!!! - the only drawback is the on screen touch keyboard doesn't work on Linux (yet) - but it still works on a Windows VM (W8.1 enterprise using VMware workstation 10.0.3 on the Linux host).

Mind you with an i7, 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM anything should run pretty fast !!!

Cheers
jimbo

 

[crimson]

Chrome should be able to run on Windows without any problem. It might be something with the browser and the device. But my Windows PC runs it flawlessly. It's still a far far superior browser to IE. As much as I've wanted IE to get their act together since Chrome was released, they never do. And since they've never made improvements enough to come close to Chrome, it's pretty much unusable overall. Which is why when getting any Windows computer such as the Surface, the most natural thing for anybody that doesn't suffer from cognitive dissonance to do is install Chrome, and do away with IE. Until they get their act together, IE is worthless period.

The whole draw of SP3 is that it's not some cheap net tablet. It's built to run Windows software. It's warped to think that a Windows computer shouldn't be able to run Windows software such as Chrome and other Windows Programs.

 

[Brink]

Update: http://www.eightforums.com/windows-...schedules-surface-pro-3-update-fix-wi-fi.html