WiFi/Networking issue when connected to docking station

Anonymous

Hi,

I recently bought the new Surface Pro 4 (i7, 512 GB SSD) along with the new docking station. I've experienced some of the general issues that various other people have mentioned (such as the power management/sleep issue) but I'm also seeing an issue that does not yet seem reported.

When I have the new docking station connected, if it's connected to a monitor, the network connectivity sometimes drops. I have been using it without any issues for about 2 weeks, but today I had a lot of trouble connecting to the office WiFi network. The network itself was definitely working properly as it was quick and reliable for several other users, including my own phone. Nonetheless, I rebooted the router to make sure.

Windows simply would not connect to the WiFi network (even though it has always been a saved connection). Trying to connect caused it to sometimes fail and sometimes ask for the network password (and entering it correctly would still fail - but that's another long-standing Windows bug!). Connecting to alternative networks did exactly the same; it would attempt to connect to my phone's portable hotspot, connect and disconnect in a few seconds, retry, and then stop (in a disconnected state). Intermittently it would connect to the network, but sometimes with 'No Internet' and clearly lots of DNS issues in trying to resolve google.com. It sometimes took 30-60 seconds to load google.com.

Troubleshooting steps

Tried disabling and re-enabling the WiFi adapter
Tried restarting Windows 10
Tried disabling all other network adapters (the Ethernet port from the dock and two created by VirtualBox)
Tried removing dock connection
- This is the first time the connection issues were resolved and google.com was loaded (and could be reloaded) within milliseconds
Re-attached dock and tried removing Logitech unifying receiver (the only USB device plugged in)
Tried removing monitor
- Everything back to normal, was able to browse very quickly again
Tried re-attaching monitor
- Network issues again where loading google.com would take around 20 seconds and refreshing the page would also take several seconds

Clearly there is an issue with the external display. The display is a 1080p monitor which is connected via a HDMI cable and a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter. The strange part is that this problem has never come up before, though in hindsight I would say that browsing at the office has been generally a little bit slower than at home.

Has anyone else experienced this issue? I might try to get an older pre-1.4 spec HDMI cable to see if this has an effect.

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116 answers

Anonymous

2016-12-08T23:23:50+00:00

No you are not wrong.

Setting your "Marvel Avastar Wireless Network" to 2.4 Ghz Only, does not work for everyone.

Setting it to 5 Ghz does work for everyone, but you need a Dual Band router to use its 5 Ghz band
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Anonymous

2016-12-08T21:01:11+00:00

Hi frothey75,

I have the exact same issue as you have, but like you stated above.. I don't have the same result, probably I did something wrong here.

So my external monitors connected to the Surface Dock don't allow me to have internet access on the Surface Pro laptop.

When I checked the router settings (only 2.4 Ghz Only), the WLAN wireless mode = '802.11n only', WLAN bandwidth = '20/40Mhz', WLAN Channel = 'Auto'.

Also, I changed in the Device Manager settings of the Surface laptop, the Marvel Avastar Wireless Network setting to '2.4 Ghz Only'.

But unfortunately I still don't get the internet connection to work when the external monitors are connected to the Surface dock.

Did I maybe do a setting incorrectly? Any advise?

Best regards,

Rishi
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Anonymous

2016-12-07T04:06:35+00:00

Kiwi23,

It worked for me using the '2.4Ghz Only' not the 5Ghz. So people out there having issues with having poor WiFi using the Surface Dock, try playing with these settings at see what works for you. I think I will be returning my recently purchased WiFi booster unopened. Thanks Kiwi23 for your post!
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Anonymous

2016-11-14T12:03:21+00:00
Every "update" it's a pain for SP4 !!

Now I have:
1. dock wifi issue
2. dock external HDD issue (randomly disconnecting)
3. SLOW CPU - the CPU randomly can't go upper than 1.0 GHz! (when dock attached)
4. worse dpi scaling ever on multi monitor - zoomed or smaller UI - Chrome can't go fullscreen!
Bah!
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Anonymous

2016-11-13T18:01:10+00:00

Hello fellow Surfacers

After months of being absolutely fine, I just moved and had to set my workstation up again and started to experience this problem. Essentially, as soon as I connected to my dock (2 x external monitors), my surface would no longer connect to Wifi. Absolutely freaking maddening. It was complicated by the fact that I have to use a wifi repeater as the walls in my house are apparently made of lead.

Tried a load of things from here. The thing that worked was finally to stop using the wifi repeater by dragging my router as close as possible, and then limiting the wifi to 5ghz. I realised that my wifi repeater is only 2.4ghz, and if I limited to 2.4, I still had the problem. I've now just ordered an uber repeater which can do the 5ghz.

To limit your Surface to 5ghz; Search device manager > Network adapters > Marvell AVASTAR Wireless-AC Network controller > Advanced tab > in the Property column select 'band' > in the Value column select '5GHz only' > Hit OK.

I'll try to update to let you know if I can also connect to the new Wifi repeater at limited 5Ghz.

I don't understand why this works as I'm far from a computer geek. I just want Microsoft to fix it! I hope this works for at least some of you out there.

Good luck.
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