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

2016-09-27T08:46:05+00:00

Thankyou!

Maybe also the Boris564112 solution has to be checked and referenced if true...

Because mine solves the problem if you have a 5ghz Wi-Fi connection, but if you have an oldy 2.4ghz the only chance is try to invert cable connection like did spectralvortex (and me too with hit and miss results before finally founding the 5Ghz trick) or try the Boris564112
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Anonymous

2016-09-27T12:40:10+00:00

In fact I discover it because I tryed to uninstall ethernet drivers, so after it, my external screen (2) was not working anymore trough the dock station, so my dock station was connected with all my others usb stuff and my wifi was working well ... bug on my small surface pro screen .... I was thinking that was an other problem. But since I can't use my screen anymore, I was think ing i've uninstall too many drivers include display-port .. so I reinstall all and my external screen come back and wifi doesn't work again ... so, i switched my screen into display setting to 1 (surface pro) and wifi work again ... yes, this bug is software and really so stupid, so I don't find yet how to fix it using external screen and wifi together, but we're so close to find the solution now :)
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Anonymous

2016-09-27T12:54:33+00:00

Thanks for the tips Boris564112. WIFI seems to be working now.

Still have a problem with surface dock just shutting down or loosing power (no light on connection that goes into surface pro). When I plug it out and then plug back in power is restored and it works for a period, then drops again.

Have you ever had this problem?
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Anonymous

2016-09-29T13:35:34+00:00

I had this issue with wifi and the Surface Docking Station (model 1664 - which is the large unit that holds the SP4 in a frame) when I bought my SP4 when it was first released in the UK (I pre-ordered). I worked around the problem by connecting to my monitor's HDMI rather than DP or mini-DP sockets. I then forgot about the issue as all worked fine...

...until I updated my Win10 with the Anniversary Update yesterday. Now the issue has returned. I can no longer connect to wifi when my SP4 is in the docking station - irrespective of whether the external monitor is connected or not. If my SP4 is out of the docking station then I can connect to wifi. I can browse to the web. If I replace in the dock then the web stops working. If I remove from the dock the web starts working again immediately.

I don't understand the solution that is mentioned above of inverting the cable connection. I guess that is in relation to the latest SP4 "Surface Dock" which is connected via a cable rather than having the SP4 sitting in the frame?

Any fix from Microsoft to this flaw with their premium product would be gratefully received.
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Anonymous

2016-09-29T15:15:20+00:00

Yes we are speaking about the new Dock, but your problem seems correlated...
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