I just got off the phone with the Microsoft store enquiring about the availability date of the long-awaited "Power Cover" for the Surface. A few days ago, I was told sometime in April, but today, they are telling me that they no longer even have a listing for it and that it may have been axed due so some issue! I went to Microsoft's site and sure enough, it's not even shown there anymore....Damn! Tell me it ain't so!
More Bad News on the Surface "PowerCover"
- Thread starter Sir Face
- Start date
The "fly in the ointment" could be BT interference with WiFi connection speed, at least at 2.4GHz. 5 GHz WiFi is not universally available so the BT effect is likely to be a problem.
There's been plenty of discussion around here about the BT/WiFi interaction, it's easy to find that information so I won't repeat all that now. Probably worthwhile to look for it.
It could be a variety of reasons it got axed:
-> Did not pass all certification required. Some country has regulations on how the battery should be.
-> Safety issues. Maybe if the battery expends, or burst, there rubber enclosure breaks.
-> The rubber enclose material used can catch fire easily, and not help contain the fire of the battery if it bursts
-> The Surface Pro 1 and 2 has a design issue to not support the battery properly (but I'll be surprised. I am sure they tested this).
-> Manufacture error of the Type and touch cover probably indicated that it was harder to make the battery. So they going back to the drawing board (so release with Surface Pro 3?)
And potentially more issues.
-> Did not pass all certification required. Some country has regulations on how the battery should be.
-> Safety issues. Maybe if the battery expends, or burst, there rubber enclosure breaks.
-> The rubber enclose material used can catch fire easily, and not help contain the fire of the battery if it bursts
-> The Surface Pro 1 and 2 has a design issue to not support the battery properly (but I'll be surprised. I am sure they tested this).
-> Manufacture error of the Type and touch cover probably indicated that it was harder to make the battery. So they going back to the drawing board (so release with Surface Pro 3?)
And potentially more issues.
Update: The power cover is still listed to Microsoft Store web site:
Power Cover - Microsoft Store Canada Online Store
Power Cover - Microsoft Store Canada Online Store
Wow. Thanks for the heads up. So far so good, at least I haven't noticed anything. I'm getting 14 Mbps download connected with Foxfi to my Galaxy S4, which isn't bad. But that is probably more limited by my phone than the wifi connection. I'll test it out more thoroughly when I get home. I'll keep my fingers crossed because I'm extremely happy with this solution so far...
Testing isn't hard. From the desktop menu select Network Connections, right click (or equivalent) on the Marvell WiFi connection and select Status. Speed is the key parameter. Turn off BT, and Speed readout will likely be higher.
In my case, accessing the old router I have at home varied from 65 Mbps with BT, to 130 Mbps without BT. To me, 2:1 is an impressive ratio. Of course the difference will vary but the BT effect has been reported by many SP2 owners.
If using BT is important enough, you might consider an external USB WiFi adapter. I've been using a low-end DLink model (DWA-171) which connects at 150 Mbps at home, and is immune to BT interference. Not an ideal solution, just an idea for a possible workaround.
Ahh yes I'm getting the 65 Mbps. I guess my first impression is that it is fine for what I normally do, especially on the road. I have a wired trackpoint keyboard at home. Maybe I'll use that if it becomes noticeable. Do you actually have to disable the bluetooth radio or just disconnect everything.
daniielrp
Active Member
That's why I'm glad my router does 2.4 and 5Ghz. My SP2 with Bluetooth on (which it is always for my mouse) and connected to 5Ghz gets a link speed of 270Mbps. With 2.4Ghz I get 65Mbps
Well, it looks like I'll be shopping for a dual band router, definitely needed at home, maybe one for my office too.
