Surface Pro 3 Slow WiFi - 72Mbps Max (driver)

Looks like there is an update and another on the 16th...

• We will also issue an update on Wednesday, July 16, to further improve Wi-Fi connection and throughput scenarios.

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/install-update-activate/pro-3-update-history

July 2014 updates

I'm in the same boat, there are a few glaring issues that are keeping me from deploying these in the workplace, for the price we cannot be expected to wait months for something as trivial as basic wireless functionality to work.

Hello, I disagree about your last statement "It is ridiculous to go returning the Surface for something that is obviously going to get better." because we pay around $1,400 for a machine that at its basic level it should work.  And we can't be sure that it will get better nor we know the timeline.  This is not a no brand name inexpensive Android tablet, this is the flagship the Microsoft is trying to put out there to compete with Apple, Android and for that matter other Windows PC makers as well.

Yes you can go through several tweaks if you are a tech person (like buying an USB Ethernet card , only connect to a G router via Wi-Fi, etc) and wait for Microsoft to see if they finally decide after 2 weeks + to fix the issue (assuming it is not a hardware issue).  

I am a tech person and I really don't feel like I have to spend lots of time debugging a $1,400 product for Microsoft and then wait to see if they fix it.  You don't buy an expensive product *almost* finished and wait for the manufacturer to fix a *major* component* later.  It would be like buying an automobile where reverse does not work all the time or the accelerator pedal can only be depressed a third of the way down, etc.  

The problem with the Wi-Fi / Bluetooth card is a major flaw and makes this device unusable because I can't depend on it.  The device is awesome in every other respect, but if I can't take it when I travel and be able to depend on it 100% of the time like I do with my $199 Android tablet or my old $499 windows notebook, then my only choice is to return it at this time and look for something that is reliable since I need a new device at this time.

Just my 2 pesos...

IMHO

Here are my updated results, now using the ATT internet speed test, which I found gave me the most reliable and repeatable results.

Adapter.                     dl.            ul

Built in 2.4ghz.        18.0.          1.8Mb/sec

Built in 5ghz.           17.6.         0.2

USB 2.4ghz.             18.0.        1.8

I also tested an old Surface Pro I had since forever.

That system reported

Built in 2.4ghz.        18.0.          1.8

Built in 5ghz.           17.6.         1.8

As I would have expected.

I retested several times and got the same results (or worse) on the Surface Pro 3, so some thing is definitely amiss there.

I also discovered that the throughput on the 2.4ghz band is hampered by my use of my Bluetooth headset.  the headset keeps dropping out when the on board WiFi is used but has no trouble when the USB WiFi adapter is in use.

I remember running into this problem with WiFi and Bluetooth on the Surface Pro 2 I sold so I think that coexistence in the Marvell chip or drivers is also a problem.  please take a lookmat that one as well, Microsoft guys.

I am thinking in just a few weeks we'll get an upgrade that makes things better.

Just for the record, I HAVE NOT experienced the standby wakeup problem, so I guess not everybody has that one.

It is ridiculous to go returning the Surface for something that is obviously going to get better.

So here is what I had problems with and this is what I did.

My Surface Pro 3 is great, but the WiFi speed has gone down to the point where I cannot easily stream Netflix, and the speed on Xbox video is bad enough that the audio and the video will not remain synced.

Knowing that Microsoft is going to fix this problem, and knowing that returning the Surface is not the answer, since the hardware is great, I decided to do a workaround for the time being.

I went to Best Buy and purchased a Netgear USB / WiFi Dongle, model AE6000.  This dongle is supposed to be N and AC but on Windows 8.1, because of the incompatible driver, only works on N.  For the purposes of my test, I'm fine with that.

The results of the test show that this cheap USB WiFi adapter handily outperforms the Surface's current WiFi configuration.  I expect/hope that the problem with Surface is software/firmware/driver, and I'll wait to see.

Using the Microsoft Network Speed test app, I get 1-2MB/sec from the internet with the built-in configuration and I get over 5MB/sec on the USB dongle.  I will update my results for computer to computer tests later today.  This test is N only, because of the Dongle's driver incompatibility.

The test proved to me that, although it is a good thing to troubleshoot and optimize one's WiFi network, the WiFi network is not the problem in my case since I'm only changing the Surface's configuration

.

The proof is in the pudding, though.  Using the dongle, I have no problems with Netflix and no problems with the Xbox video app.  Another problem I had, which is with Bluetooth dropping out, is also gone, and that I attribute to the fact that, even though the WiFi and Bluetooth is the same chip on the Surface, that the WiFi portion is not being used.

To try my workaround, and prove to yourself that this is a WiFi radio configuration problem in the Surface, buy one of the WiFi Dongles and plug it in.  Let it autoconfigure.  Now, DON'T disable the onboard WiFi, (because this will also disable the Bluetooth radio).  Just go to the charms and the settings charm, and locate the first device.  The first device, called WiFi, if you don't rename it, can now be turned off.  The newdevice, which is likely to be called WiFi-2, should be turned on.  You'll only see N routers with the AE6000, but that's okay.

I'm cross-posting this here and in the WiFi limited connectivity discussion as well.

Now I hope that this firmware/driver is sorted out soon.  I think looking at the historical record that Microsoft has had nothing but problems with the Marvell parts, beginning in Surface Pro, but this could also be attributed to new power states the Surface Pro 3 uses (being the only Intel one with InstantGo).

Those comparing Microsoft's problem here to how Apple operates should understand that Microsoft can only set up standards for hardware manufacturers and driver writers to follow -- they cannot really control how companies respond to those standards.  And that is Windows advantage, and disadvantage when it comes to getting things to work, and it ISN'T easy.

The Surface Pro 3 is a great machine, and I for one will stick with it until there is something better to do all my consumption and creation, and development tasks.  I can work around little problems as above, until things are perfect, but I do want this to be fixed quickly, just like everybody else.

-thanks

-e