I'd much rather have a clean single SSID network. Is there a downside to making the Surface prefer the frequency with better bandwidth like the rest of my computers?
Surface Pro 3 Slow WiFi - 72Mbps Max (driver)
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Anonymous
I have an Apple Airport Extreme 802.11ac wireless router at home and am only connecting at a max of speed of 72Mbps (usually closer to 11Mbps if I'm more than 20 feet away from the WAP). I have two other 802.11ac laptops at home (Samsung AB9+ and rMBP) and my two other computers are connecting up at 800Mbps+ and pulling down the same on Internet speed tests; yes, I have real GigE connectivity. Is anyone else having these problems?
Surface | Surface Pro | Network
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Anonymous
2014-09-11T19:35:12+00:00 -
Anonymous
2014-09-11T11:16:14+00:00 Could you post the same picture but using different SSID for both bands? I'm just curious.
Sure thing. Here's the same setup except the 5 GHz band has a dedicated SSID, and both machines are closer to the router.
So much better...!
That's why other OEMs like Netgear or Asus use different SSID.
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Anonymous
2014-09-11T03:54:08+00:00 Could you post the same picture but using different SSID for both bands? I'm just curious.
Sure thing. Here's the same setup except the 5 GHz band has a dedicated SSID, and both machines are closer to the router.
So much better...!
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Anonymous
2014-09-11T01:36:18+00:00 Hello. After 18 hours of applying the patch the network card decided to stop working and required a reboot to get it working so I guess this is not fixed yet. It is better than every 4 hours but by far not fixed yet sorry. this is what happens. See image.
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Anonymous
2014-09-11T00:53:59+00:00 Hello, reporting in with the latest after applying the Sept 9 firmware update.
Short version: Although the Surface Pro 3 still consistently shows a lower link speed than my MacBook Pro, it now seems to be performing at a comparable speed when an actual file transfer is taking place.
Longer version:
As you can see in this photo (Mac on the left, Surface on the right, sitting next to each other), the MacBook Pro reports a link speed of 527 Mbps vs the Surface's 144 Mbps. Both are connected to the same 802.11ac network, broadcast on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz using the same SSID from an Apple Airport Extreme.
First thing to note is that 144 Mbps is the highest link speed I've ever seen the Surface report in this configuration. Before the 9/9 firmware, I never saw it go above 72 Mbps.
Next, I proceeded to download a large (2 GB) file from my home server over my local network. After giving it a little while to settle, both computers reported a transfer speed of about 10 MB/s (megabytes, not megabits). This is also a notable improvement. Before the firmware update, the Surface would rarely achieve 2 MB/s.
So, although they still report very different link speeds, the actual throughput of a file transfer seems to have equalized between the two. At least, for now. This is good news, and is definitely new behavior since applying the 9/9 firmware update.
I will continue to keep an eye on it and report back if I notice anything else.
Could you post the same picture but using different SSID for both bands? I'm just curious.