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Post Your SP3 WiFi/Internet Issues Here

riley2323

Member
I've had a different WiFi problem. I've had 2 SP3s and they both have had the identical problem. My SP3 always connects at home (which is why I don't want to bother switching it again) but at work we have a WLAN covering 5 buildings over several acres. It connects at some locations but not others. Some of it may be a problem with it coming out of sleep (I close the type cover when I go from location to location).

But here's the thing. The head of our IT put me on a list that keeps the same IP address, gave me a certificate from MS to install on my SP3, gave me a Linksys USB NIC and I uninstalled the Marvel driver and installed the Linksys driver and still had the problem. That says to me it is not the Marvel network adapter or it's driver. So what is it?

BTW, Win10 is not 100%, but noticeably better at connecting at work that Win8.1.

My WiFi connectivity problems at work have been solved, and it wasn't the SP3 at the cause. The head of our IT upgraded all the WiFi access points over the holidays last month and every since I connect just about everywhere. Still I occasionally get the limited connection coming out of sleep but resetting the wireless adapter fixes that every time (a known SP3 problem).

Ironically, our head of IT told me that after the upgrade the Surface RTs had trouble connected and he had to run a patch on each access point to fix.

Ditto on your post. I have the same exact issues. I believe this has to do with access points and mac addresses and/or the filtering of mac addresses. There are MS KB articles on access point issues, but not really sure how long until the issue gets solved or how they impact the Surface Pro 3

I have the SP3 fully updated. I work at a major corporation and originally thought this was a mac address blacklist issue. Got the Mac address changer to test this theory, and immediately connected up to the GWLAN. I thought I had cracked the code, but alas after a several minutes the wifi crapped out.

My next bright idea was to combine a usb wifi adaptor with the mac address changing software thinking that would solve the issue. I change the mac address and get connected up on the USB wifi, and the same thing happens after a sleep or 30 minutes or so pass by, the wifi craps out.

So I don't believe this is a Marvell issue either; I think it has something to do with mobile device mac addresses versus the dreaded octet mac numbering system that windows has baked into the OS or the Surface Pro's dual nature...mobile and desktop. Some sort of security check somewhere along the line in either the OS or access point is killing some token/certificate or something along those lines which is preventing reauthentication. After a while some cache clears somewhere and you are able to reconnect; perhaps a synchronization issue between authentication packets...something along those lines. I am not and expert as you can tell, but this is what I believe and wanted to add to the conversation.

BTW, my SP3 works flawlessly at home, or using my phone as a hot spot.

Until the updates you mention above occur at my company I think I am out of luck and have to use the dreaded Lenovo T430, which weighs a ton and the processors and drives are surrounded by molasses in January.
 
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ScottyS

Active Member
Yeah, I'm still connecting everywhere at work and can close the cover, walk to another area, open the SP3 and am still connected with the network software still running (unless I'm off it long enough for it to log me off). It was their network wide upgrade that fixed it for me.

I still occasionally get that no network mostly when I come home with it left in standby (it may be when it switches from connected standby to hibernate) where I have to click the Fix Problem button on the web page that says I'm not connected to a network and it resets the wireless adapter and then it works again. I'm told hitting F5 to refresh on the setting's Network Connection page (at least in Win10) also works.
 

riley2323

Member
Not sure what happened, but I received a Windows update today, and have not been disconnected from WiFi at work all day today. I was in our IT HQ for half the day and thought maybe that office had updated firmware or software on the access points or something, but then I when back to the business HQ and have not been disconnected at all....very strange.

So either the MS update solved this issue, or something else has fixed the problem for at least a day.

Can anyone in a similar corporate environment with similar issues confirm?

If this is fixed, now I can truly start tooting the horn of the Surface Pro 3.....I have always been afraid to truly tout this device because of the wifi not behaving like a mobile device issue, but with this fixed I can leave the 100 pound laptop in the desk drawer. Crossing my fingers for tomorrow.
 

jackhamby

New Member
I have had many of the same issues listed above. randomly i'll lose connection from my wifi (on college campus). i have an old laptop that has been using my schools wifi perfectly well without issue for last 2 years. i begin to use the surface pro and find it nearly impossible to use the internet for more than 20 minutes without encountering loss of wifi connectivity, limited access to internet, etcetera. can we get an update or a recall to fix this issue? was satisfied with the surface pro and microsoft up until i discovered this omnipresent issue
 

bits

New Member
Even with the latest updates still having consisten WIFI problems here. What I noticed: when you try to switch off WIFI connection in order to connect to another WIFI the system hangs for minutes. All you can do is do a cold boot an restart. This is quite annoying. I thought I could rely on Microsoft delivering a fully functioning product.
 

kidpiglet

New Member
After owning this unit for a couple of weeks I only started experiencing wifi issues today. It kept failing to connect to the network even after reboot. Right now it's connected but I have a feeling it's going to disconnect randomly through out the day. Other devices work so the issue is isolated to the SP3. Not sure what to do...
 

ssrrchase

New Member
I've had my SP3 for 5 or 6 months. "No Networks Found" started a few days ago - 3/18 - after a wake-up. Cannot get the system to connect at all to the internet so had to buy a usb wireless stick :( I've tried all the typical solutions that I can find on the web like uninstalling the driver, change the band to only 2.4 or 5GHz . Is there anything else that I can try?

Thanks!
 

fella5

New Member
I purchased a SP3 to replace my laptop and also for wireless testing. I had my SP3 for only less than a week and noticed that the wireless was not stable. Windows update did have updates available for the Marvel Avastar and I updated the firmware. I noticed the stability to stay connected was poor and one test I always have done is ping the gateway. When I see high latency or lost of pings, it usually means an issue with the driver or a bug on the wireless network. I work on Cisco enterprise wireless equipment and that is what I run at home. From what I can determine, open and pre-shared key seems to work fine with the latest Marvel,, but if using 802.1x, it doesn't work at all. Most of my customers implement 8021.x and I have seen many of them move to the SP3's which right now there is no real fix to this issue.

Workarounds like changing channels or bands, doesn't work in the enterprise world as you can associate to an SSID that we have disabled 2.4ghz or 5ghz and if you have your card set as one and not the other, you will not see the SSID. The Intel AC 72xx also have issues that are known, but there are some good workarounds that is easy to implement on the wireless side of the house and not having to change things on the client end. Using a USB wireless NIC is really the only good fix for reliability but will add additional cost.
 

eyz

New Member
Hi guys, I recently encounter router disconnection whenever I connect my sp3 wifi to my router, causing my all other mobile devices losing its connections as well.

after the router reboots itself two or three times when my sp3 keeps connecting to the router after each reboot, the wifi connection will then stabilise.

i am not sure whether this is a wifi issue that is discussed over here, but thought i give it a try.

my router is a asus ac66 and i had tried both auto/manual ip assign, but to no avail.

hope someone can help.
 

malberttoo

Well-Known Member
Hi guys, I recently encounter router disconnection whenever I connect my sp3 wifi to my router, causing my all other mobile devices losing its connections as well.

after the router reboots itself two or three times when my sp3 keeps connecting to the router after each reboot, the wifi connection will then stabilise.

i am not sure whether this is a wifi issue that is discussed over here, but thought i give it a try.

my router is a asus ac66 and i had tried both auto/manual ip assign, but to no avail.

hope someone can help.

Welcome to the forum eyz!

Have you updated the router to the latest firmware?
 
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