WiFi/Networking issue when connected to docking station

Anonymous
2015-12-16T10:29:24+00:00

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.

Surface | Surface Pro | Power and battery

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-01-12T14:12:38+00:00

    I have same problem with my pro 4 and docking station.

    if you want to use the wifi so you cannot use the dual screen option and you have to use only 1 screen and connect it directly to the pro 4

    so why do we need the docking ???

    the question, is it hardware or software issue ??? 

    no respond from Microsoft for over a month !!!

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-01-12T13:22:28+00:00

    Disabling the Surface Ethernet Adapter didn't work for me, the SP4 see the 2.4 band wifi but cannot successfully connect to it.

    Also, I updated everything with the "Surface Diagnostic Toolkit" (no updates other than some printers!) and I have already the lastest dock firmware (updated 2 month ago with the "Surface Dock Updater").

    No chance!

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-01-11T17:14:22+00:00

    I have a SP4 with a SP3 dock.

    I recently replaced my faulty dual band router with an Asus single band one - 2.4 only. I still however have a dual band Devolo extender.

    On installing the new router I found that I could only access the Internet via my Devolo extender. I could connect to the Asus router but couldn't get to the Internet or to the rest of my network. The only solution was to connect to the extender which by definition was located in another part of my flat. So still not ideal.

    Despite lots of research - including this forum - I couldn't resolve the problem.

    Then I stumbled on the answer (for me anyway).

    I found that disconnecting the SP4 from the dock allowed me to connect to the Asus router normally with full functionality.

    For whatever reason the dock was obviously interfering with the 2.4 band connection.

    Having realised this I reconnected my dock then went into Control Panel to look for suspects. My first thought was to disable the Surface Ethernet Adaptor. Immediately my Internet sprung into life. I had found the "solution" - though "work-around" is probably a more accurate term.

    So to summarise my experience.

    The dock was interfering with my 2.4 band wifi connection. Disabling the Surface Ethernet Adaptor allowed me to have my SP4 docked AND still have access to 2.4 band wifi.

    Your needs and experience may differ but hopefully this will help some of you.

    And Microsoft if you're listening. I'd like a proper fix sometime and not a workaround it took me a week to stumble upon.

    Dear Gerry,

    Please use Surface diagnostic toolkit ( https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=46703; specifically for the docking station vs. wi-fi compatibility problem).

    Run the toolkit completely and do all the tests. Let it update your surface as well.

    See if that helps.

    Regards,

    Dr. Debatosh Das.

    Using the link provided I installed the Surface Dock Updater Setup tool and rebooted. This has properly sorted my wifi issue.

    I've also saved the link for future reference.

    Thanks for your help.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-01-10T10:04:35+00:00

    I have a SP4 with a SP3 dock.

    I recently replaced my faulty dual band router with an Asus single band one - 2.4 only. I still however have a dual band Devolo extender.

    On installing the new router I found that I could only access the Internet via my Devolo extender. I could connect to the Asus router but couldn't get to the Internet or to the rest of my network. The only solution was to connect to the extender which by definition was located in another part of my flat. So still not ideal.

    Despite lots of research - including this forum - I couldn't resolve the problem.

    Then I stumbled on the answer (for me anyway).

    I found that disconnecting the SP4 from the dock allowed me to connect to the Asus router normally with full functionality.

    For whatever reason the dock was obviously interfering with the 2.4 band connection.

    Having realised this I reconnected my dock then went into Control Panel to look for suspects. My first thought was to disable the Surface Ethernet Adaptor. Immediately my Internet sprung into life. I had found the "solution" - though "work-around" is probably a more accurate term.

    So to summarise my experience.

    The dock was interfering with my 2.4 band wifi connection. Disabling the Surface Ethernet Adaptor allowed me to have my SP4 docked AND still have access to 2.4 band wifi.

    Your needs and experience may differ but hopefully this will help some of you.

    And Microsoft if you're listening. I'd like a proper fix sometime and not a workaround it took me a week to stumble upon.

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  5. Anonymous
    2016-12-30T11:38:11+00:00

    Thank you for the great solution.

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