Introduction

[primapride]

Hello.......my name is Ali, I'm in the UK and purchased a surface pro 3 I7 256GB 8GB Ram in September 2015.

I found this site after trawling round looking for solutions.............I have had endless problems the main one being connection issues. I have the chance to return the machine for a full refund and purchase surface pro 4 instead (I've been advised the connection issues would be resolved with this) and would like to chat through some concerns with members on here.

Many thanks for accepting me to the forum and if someone could point me in the direction of the right place to start a new thread to get some advice I'd appreciate it.

Ali

 

[leeshor]

Welcome to the forum Ali

Does your SP3 have Windows 8 or Windows 10 installed? Exactly what type of connection issues are your experiencing?

 

[primapride]

Hi thanks for your reply. I purchased the machine with Windows 8.1 installed. At that time we also had an old BT homehub 2. After a few days of having the machine I was prompted to upgrade to Windows 10 which I did. During this time we upgraded our wireless router to BT homehub 4. Since then the machine will not connect properly. The wireless connection shows it as connected but the behaviour of the browser suggests otherwise. It also gives a 'limited connection' message.
I have been trouble shooting for weeks now browsing forums and following the odd suggestion.

After speaking to my internet provider at length - BT says the wireless connection is stable (it seems so on every other device in the house) and the problem is the Surface Pro 3. I've had MS help randomly access the machine and install and reinstall Windows 10 and I've installed all updates - including the Marvell network adapter in the surface pro 3 and to date cannot resolve the problems.
Strangely I took the machine to a friend's house who had a very old type router (a BT homehub 2) and it seemed to work fine. Once home all the problems started again.

I am now at a loss - MS say they can't do anything further at this time as they have no fixes. BT say the connection is stable and fine. The machine is unusable for internet use. Thankfully I purchased from John Lewis store and spoke to their technicians.......they were unable to randomly access the machine as the internet connection kept going off so they've now told me to return the machine and they'll give a full refund. They said if I particularly liked the surface machines then try the pro 4 as it comes pre installed with Windows 10 and should 'connect' at least. I'm concerned to do this in case its an ongoing problem.
Sorry for the long ramble I was trying to give an overview.

 

[leeshor]

Yes, it was long, but I did read it. From what you explained, despite the other devices not having a problem with the router I think that's where the problem is. Especially since you didn't have an issue at your friend's house. You may want to try a public hotspot to confirm that.

You "may" be able to solve the problem by inputting fixed IP and DNS information into the connection. Do you know what channel your router is using?

 

[primapride]

I think I changed the channel at one point when BT was trying to resolve the problem. Put it onto a 'less busy' channel 11 I think. And I'm sorry I don't know what "inputting fixed IP and DNS information into the connection" means. I'm okay with some stuff and I've learned a fair bit recently but I'm not very techy

I haven't tried a public hotspot.

 

[leeshor]

You would need to know some information about your network to be able to input the fixed information. One additional suggestion would be to open the networking and sharing panel. Click on change adapter settings, (on the left). Right click on the wireless adapter then left click on properties. Uncheck the entry that talks about ipv6 and click apply/OK until you have exited those screens.

 

[primapride]

I'm on my old laptop at the moment as can't use the internet on the suface.......hang on and I'll open the network thing on the surface

 

[primapride]

strangely enough when it first wakes up it does connect but that doesn't last long.

I guess at this stage as I have the option to return the surface pro 3 for a full refund I should as its completely worn me out since I got it!! I'm just concerned that the surface pro 4 may have similar issues too. From what I've read its the Marvell Wireless adapter that is causing the issues? I'm going to have to add quite a bit of money to it to get a similar spec in the pro 4 and really don't want to go through all these problems again. Have you been getting any reports of problems with them.

 

[leeshor]

I don't feel the problem is with your Surface. If that's the case getting a 4 will not help.

 

[primapride]

I've opened the wifi properties and its got a couple of things that say that.........one is Internet protocol version 4 TCP/IPv4 - that is ticked and lower down is Internet protocol version TCP/IPv6 - and that is ticked. Is it the 6 I uncheck?

 

[primapride]

ps - I appreciate this help

 

[leeshor]

Uncheck the 6. Moving to SP3