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Force WiFi 5GHz

drolem

Active Member
If there were such an option, it would be part of the driver, but I'm fairly certain that feature is not exposed, and with everything else being equal, the default is most certainly 2.4 GHz. Marvell doesn't seem to have real datasheets available for download so hard to be certain, but looking at the block diagram in this brief: http://www.marvell.com/wireless/assets/8787.pdf there is a separate 5 GHz RF path, so there must be a way to select one or the other somewhere, probably at the driver level.
 
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netplumbers

New Member
well going into "devices" and looking at the card itself, or maybe perhaps in the wifi settings, not sure but YOU would have to look around in there to find it, but I suspect you wont...

Not sure what I did to earn this snarky comment but I did look around there before starting this thread; whatever it was, I apologize. Thanks to all for your comments, it looks like if this can be done, it isn't documented anywhere and hasn't yet been discovered. If someone does figure this out or find an appropriate technical reference, please point it out. Thanks again.
 

beman39

New Member
Not sure what I did to earn this snarky comment but I did look around there before starting this thread; whatever it was, I apologize. Thanks to all for your comments, it looks like if this can be done, it isn't documented anywhere and hasn't yet been discovered. If someone does figure this out or find an appropriate technical reference, please point it out. Thanks again.

How was my remark snarky? lol was in no way meant to be snarly... was just making suggestions on where you might had to go
 

MrTPN

New Member
Hey All,

Not sure how or why this thread has devolved from a "how can i get my product to use 5Ghz wifi" into wifi architecture standards and dishing out unnecessary comments making assumptions on what people will or wont do. It all just seems a little unnecessary and off topic in my opinion. I was under the impression this forum was to help one another, not put them away or make them feel insignificant... :confused:

Anyway, back on topic. I though that @netplumbers original question was genuine and something i would like to know the answer to myself. As he mentioned, all the other products i have seem to manage the distinction just fine and will connect to the fastest band as appropriate. However the surface will inherently (in my experience) connect and operate much slower than the alternative devices in our house (MacBook, iPhones, Android Tablets, etc) even when next to each other.

Saying that, If the surface cannot do it for whatever reason (which would be an awful shame and very surprising) then we have to accept that is it a limitation of the product. However we should remain mindful that people have brought up the topic of Wifi previously in other threads so if something can be done to help i believe its worth exploring :)

Cheers,

MrTPN
 

Omni

Active Member
The way the Surface chooses a WiFi network is not something we can configure. Its Microsoft that needs to change it. I choose the simply have a separate WiFi network for the 5GHz band and only connect my 5GHz devices to it. Works great.
 

beman39

New Member
Hey All,

Not sure how or why this thread has devolved from a "how can i get my product to use 5Ghz wifi" into wifi architecture standards and dishing out unnecessary comments making assumptions on what people will or wont do. It all just seems a little unnecessary and off topic in my opinion. I was under the impression this forum was to help one another, not put them away or make them feel insignificant... :confused:

Anyway, back on topic. I though that @netplumbers original question was genuine and something i would like to know the answer to myself. As he mentioned, all the other products i have seem to manage the distinction just fine and will connect to the fastest band as appropriate. However the surface will inherently (in my experience) connect and operate much slower than the alternative devices in our house (MacBook, iPhones, Android Tablets, etc) even when next to each other.

Saying that, If the surface cannot do it for whatever reason (which would be an awful shame and very surprising) then we have to accept that is it a limitation of the product. However we should remain mindful that people have brought up the topic of Wifi previously in other threads so if something can be done to help i believe its worth exploring :)

Cheers,

MrTPN

What are you talking about? No one said anything to make anyone feel insignificant and all posts from what I see and read is relevant in some form or way... also your post about unnecessary comments is also unnecessary lol and calling a device limited because it doesn't connect to the "faster" bandwidth automatically is a little harsh because ALL devices connect the same way, and even my friends iPad connects to the lower bandwidth when he comes to my place, so what does that say about your statement?
 

MrTPN

New Member
What are you talking about? No one said anything to make anyone feel insignificant and all posts from what I see and read is relevant in some form or way... also your post about unnecessary comments is also unnecessary lol and calling a device limited because it doesn't connect to the "faster" bandwidth automatically is a little harsh because ALL devices connect the same way, and even my friends iPad connects to the lower bandwidth when he comes to my place, so what does that say about your statement?

Hey Beman - Let me try and explain what i am talking about, sometimes when people say things, they don't think about how it can come across...for instance:

well going into "devices" and looking at the card itself, or maybe perhaps in the wifi settings, not sure but YOU would have to look around in there to find it, but I suspect you wont...

Not sure what I did to earn this snarky comment but I did look around there before starting this thread; whatever it was, I apologize. Thanks to all for your comments, it looks like if this can be done, it isn't documented anywhere and hasn't yet been discovered. If someone does figure this out or find an appropriate technical reference, please point it out. Thanks again.

However coming back to your statement/questions...

[...] and calling a device limited because it doesn't connect to the "faster" bandwidth automatically is a little harsh because ALL devices connect the same way, and even my friends iPad connects to the lower bandwidth when he comes to my place, so what does that say about your statement?

I understand and agree with this when the device would be in a low power mode, or say it was defined in the power plan. So coming back to your point what this "says about my statement" is...if the device -always- connects to 2.4 as you are alluding to, then it begs the question why does it even have the 5Ghz capability in the first place? It being adaptive, sure, but by default it always connects to 2.4 seems a little limited/poorly designed maybe?

Low powered devices (e.g. iPads) connecting at 2.4 makes far more sense than a "Laptop Replacement" device like a Surface Pro. I think the point here is that if those low powered devices connect at the higher bands (e.g. iPhones, Android Tablets, etc) then why does a powerful device like the Surface Pro not.

MrTPN
 
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beman39

New Member
Hey Beman - Let me try and explain what i am talking about, sometimes when people say things, they don't think about how it can come across...for instance:





However coming back to your statement/questions...



I understand and agree with this when the device would be in a low power mode, or say it was defined in the power plan. So coming back to your point what this "says about my statement" is...if the device -always- connects to 2.4 as you are alluding to, then it begs the question why does it even have the 5Ghz capability in the first place? It being adaptive, sure, but by default it always connects to 2.4 seems a little limited/poorly designed maybe?

Low powered devices (e.g. iPads) connecting at 2.4 makes far more sense than a "Laptop Replacement" device like a Surface Pro. I think the point here is that if those low powered devices connect at the higher bands (e.g. iPhones, Android Tablets, etc) then why does a powerful device like the Surface Pro not.

MrTPN

the first point of your posts with quoting from my posts does not make sense to me, have no idea what your trying to say...

second part of your post here is my response;

that's why routers allow you to differentiate names between the 2 bands as so you can connect to the one you want in favor, don't forget that although the 5.4ghz band is stronger it isn't as stable as the 2.4ghz range, because the 2.4ghz range goes through walls better than 5.4ghz band...BUT 5.4ghz works on LONGER ranges better than 2.4ghz, so that is why MS probably sets it up to connect to the 2.4ghz for more "stability" continuity. makes sense no?
 

Ruffles

Active Member
Out of curiosity, does your 2.4 band radio show a stronger signal? Mine does. My 5.0 GHz band is just a couple dbs higher. Maybe the Surface is picking the strongest signal. Check it out with the InSSIDer app.
 
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