Why is Miracast such a drag? - On a Surface Pro at least

[Loki]

I recently upgraded to the latest SP2 firmware and drivers (June 2014) a week ago and I am completely unable to connect to my TV using a WiDi/Miracast dongle (Netgear PTV3000).

The exact same problem happens when connecting from my SP1.

My SP2 goes into limited connectivity after trying to connect to the Push2TV. I have to toggle wifi and airplane mode randomly to get WiFi back up and running.

I also upgraded to a newer version of the PTV3000 (v2.4.46), but only after the problems began.

Are other people experiencing the same issue?

btw: It has worked before (not flawless,but it worked).

 

[benjitek]

I've had very spotty connectivity with my SP2 and a new Samsung SmartTV with Miracast built into it. To get any sort of connection without constant buffering, I have to to turn off Bluetooth. The ability to connect often 'disappears' until I delete and re-add the TV from Devices, and at times connecting just doesn't work. Screen Mirroring isn't worth the effort, most of the time just disconnects mid-session. Playing audio/video from the native Audio/Video players is my best bet, the least amount of buffering-pauses during audio; watching & waiting during video playback can be disruptive.

The most recent round of firmware/driver updates were listed as 'improving Miracast performance', however, it's even worse now. Oddly enough, I have a 3 year old ASUS laptop that does it all instantaneously, consistently and with virtually no re-buffering or stutter. Stranger still is Netflix on my iPhone -- it apparently has Miracast functionality and can 'see' the SmartTV without my doing any sort of configuration or setup, streams without stutter or buffering and the iPhone turns into a Netflix remote.

Wireless connectivity pretty much sucks on a SP2, and it's beginning to sound like this has been passed on to the SP3 :-(

 

[jnjroach]

I recently upgraded to the latest SP2 firmware and drivers (June 2014) a week ago and I am completely unable to connect to my TV using a WiDi/Miracast dongle (Netgear PTV3000).

The exact same problem happens when connecting from my SP1.

My SP2 goes into limited connectivity after trying to connect to the Push2TV. I have to toggle wifi and airplane mode randomly to get WiFi back up and running.

I also upgraded to a newer version of the PTV3000 (v2.4.46), but only after the problems began.

Are other people experiencing the same issue?

btw: It has worked before (not flawless,but it worked).

Go to Intel's site and download the latest Intel Drivers for HD4400 (make sure you get the .zip not the .exe) and update makes Miracast work much better....

 

[Loki]

Go to Intel's site and download the latest Intel Drivers for HD4400 (make sure you get the .zip not the .exe) and update makes Miracast work much better....

I did, and it works exactly the same. That is: NOT.

After trying to connect, both the Wifi in my SP2 as well as in the PTV3000 becomes completely unusable. The only reliable solution to fixing that is rebooting both devices.

I tried the same on my wife' s SAMSUNG ATIV 7, and I cannot connect either. It keeps saying "Follow instruction on the screen", but nothing happens and it eventually times out.

I am at a total loss here.

Sent from the SurfaceForums.net app for Windows 8

 

[jnjroach]

Weird...I have 2 Pro 2's, an S2 and SP3 all connecting to a PTV3000 without issue, maybe your PTV3000 is acting up....bad Firmware Update??? I'm running the same firmware as you BTW.

 

[jollywombat]

Mine is working as well, latest FW update to the PTV3000

 

[Loki]

Seems there is some progress...

The problems seem to occur only when I am connected to a 5GHz (802.1a/an) network. If
I disconnect Wifi and then reconnect to a 2,4GHz (802.1b/g/n) and connect to the PTV3000 then, it works after a couple of tries.

My Surface Pro is connected to a NETGEAR WNDAP350 access-point in either case (it's dual band AP).
To my knowledge the PTV3000 should work on both bands.

Has anyone seen this happen?

Sent from the SurfaceForums.net app for Windows 8

 

[jnjroach]

Miracast should work no matter what you're connected to, even without a WiFi connection you can still attach to Miracast Devices, I've done this in Conference Rooms at customer sites.

 

[Loki]

Miracast should work no matter what you're connected to, even without a WiFi connection you can still attach to Miracast Devices, I've done this in Conference Rooms at customer sites.

I totally agree, but it just doesn't.

Sent from the SurfaceForums.net app for Windows 8

 

[beq]

FWIW, our SP2's are usually connected to the router on 5GHz, and generally no problem connecting to two Netgear PTV3000 and three Actiontec ScreenBeam Pro (SBWD100A) receivers I'd bought.

The problem I am having with the Netgear (even on the latest v2.4.46 firmware), is that the overscan adjustment doesn't seem to do anything. Does it work for anyone else?

When switching the unit to setup mode and connecting to the "Push2TV" Wi-Fi, I see that the overscan level seems to be set by default to 10 (from a range of 1-15). But changing that to any other number then rebooting the unit, doesn't seem to actually zoom in or zoom out the display on the TV screen.


Whereas with the Actiontec, the metro config utility shows a default overscan level of 15, and reducing that number shows the zoom-out effect on the TV screen in real time.