Horrendous Wireless Performance

[jrapdx]

Is anyone NOT showing a performance drop on 2.4GHz wifi when Bluetooth is on? Also are you guys seeing the drop in speed just having BT turned on or is it only when you are actually paired to a device?

Well, yes and no. As I found out, the Marvell adapter speed was reduced by half with BT "on", compared to BT "off". You are correct: when no BT devices are connected, Marvell WiFi speed increases, in my case, double vs. BT device connected. (That is, 130 vs. 65 Mbps.)

However, an external USB WiFi adapter isn't at all affected by BT on/off status. (And it also connects at a higher speed == 150 Mbps.) The Marvell BT difference must have to do with the way the Marvell is constructed--AFAIK WiFi and BT are handled on the same chip, and BT "steals" from WiFi transfers. The USB adapter being completely independent of BT activity does not show the effect.

The only conclusion is that the Marvell WiFi/BT adapter is inadequate. Since it can't be replaced in our SP2 machines, unless/until there's a firmware fix, we're compelled to find workarounds--not a really satisfactory situation.

Perhaps a future SP model will have better WiFi/BT hardware, but then again, I can't afford to buy another device just to fix the bugs in this one.

 

[gerg]

I've found the little PPA 5 in 1 connection kit (Microsoft Surface Pro, RT and Surface 2 Connection Kit) to be a handy way to slap a Logitech external mouse receiver onto the SP2. A Bluetooth receiver should work as well.

Furthermore it has SD and microSD card slots (only one of which can be used at a time) and, when a card is in there, the dreaded 30% CPU utilization bug does not occur.

Does not work with the Incipio Feather case unless you add a USB extender, the plug does not seat well enough for the data pins to make contact, even though the power LED lights.

As an inexpensive cure for several issues, it is quite handy.

 

[jrapdx]

I've found the little PPA 5 in 1 connection kit (Microsoft Surface Pro, RT and Surface 2 Connection Kit) to be a handy way to slap a Logitech external mouse receiver onto the SP2. A Bluetooth receiver should work as well.

Furthermore it has SD and microSD card slots (only one of which can be used at a time) and, when a card is in there, the dreaded 30% CPU utilization bug does not occur.

Does not work with the Incipio Feather case unless you add a USB extender, the plug does not seat well enough for the data pins to make contact, even though the power LED lights.

As an inexpensive cure for several issues, it is quite handy.

Nice form-factor to the kit, but sadly has only USB 2.0 slots. I needed a hub with USB 3.0 because I intended to use it with backup disks and the higher data rate mattered.

Not cheap, but I did find a compact USB 3.0 hub with 4 slots--enough for a mouse, WiFi adapter, external disks. The only disadvantage is the hefty USB 3.0 cable required to link it to the SP2. If I can find a short enough cable, or a solid plug/adapter for USB 3.0, I'd have a more elegant setup. Not complaining though--it's functional and allows working around some of the deficiencies of the SP2.

 

[InkyRag]

Nice form-factor to the kit, but sadly has only USB 2.0 slots. I needed a hub with USB 3.0 because I intended to use it with backup disks and the higher data rate mattered.

Not cheap, but I did find a compact USB 3.0 hub with 4 slots--enough for a mouse, WiFi adapter, external disks. The only disadvantage is the hefty USB 3.0 cable required to link it to the SP2. If I can find a short enough cable, or a solid plug/adapter for USB 3.0, I'd have a more elegant setup. Not complaining though--it's functional and allows working around some of the deficiencies of the SP2.

I bought this one and it works great and it is tiny: Amazon.com: HooToo® HT-UH005 USB 3.0 4-Port Hub Ultra-Slim (5V/2A Power Adapter, Latest VIA VL812-B2 Chipset & 9081 Firmware, 2.3 feet USB 3.0 Cable, Free Magic Velcro Stickers), Backward Compatible with USB 2.0 and Supporting Windows / Mac / Linux O

 

[jrapdx]

I bought this one and it works great and it is tiny: Amazon.com: HooToo® HT-UH005 USB 3.0 4-Port Hub Ultra-Slim (5V/2A Power Adapter, Latest VIA VL812-B2 Chipset & 9081 Firmware, 2.3 feet USB 3.0 Cable, Free Magic Velcro Stickers), Backward Compatible with USB 2.0 and Supporting Windows / Mac / Linux O

Thanks for the tip. It looks and has specs similar to the hub I have, except the HooToo was much less expensive. Now I know where to go if I need another one, not a farfetched possibility at all.

The problem is the cable. I have a much shorter one (came with a disk enclosure, I think) about 40 cm (16 in), but it's still on the longish side for the purpose. Not a crisis--just a small issue to deal with some time.

 

[gerg]

ReTrak makes some USB 3.0 retractable cables.

 

[JayL]

I have the microsoft bluetooth comfort mouse
I connect my Surface pro2 to my router using 2.4G

my internet is 12Mb/s

the speed I get at speedtest.net is 12Mb/s with the mouse connected or with bluetooth turned off SAME SPEEDS, in fact I got 12.8Mb/s this morning after I read this thread using the bluetooth mouse

I wonder if it is the bluetooth device or the fact that I use 2.4G and not 2.4N etc??

 

[CrippsCorner]

To be fair using a mouse makes little difference, if any. Where it really shows up is transmitting to a Bluetooth audio receiver connected to my amplifier. Obviously there's a lot more data there as it's a constant stream... that's why I end up with the fantastic speed of 0.01Mb/s! The same set up works perfectly well on my girlfriend's iMac

 

[jrapdx]

To be fair using a mouse makes little difference, if any. Where it really shows up is transmitting to a Bluetooth audio receiver connected to my amplifier. Obviously there's a lot more data there as it's a constant stream... that's why I end up with the fantastic speed of 0.01Mb/s! The same set up works perfectly well on my girlfriend's iMac

Yes, but the BT mouse did make a difference on my SP2. With 2.4 GHz signal, BT ON -> 65 mbps, OFF -> 130 mbps.

Double (or half) isn't trivial. And there was no other BT device in use except for one mouse (a MS product at that). I guess it doesn't take much to impede WiFi.

Your observation is no surprise considering the data transfer rate you're talking about.

 

[kevinlevrone]

I use the Surface Pro 2 with Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speakers. My download speed was 1 megabyte / second when there was no music playing through the speakers, and like 20 kilobytes/second (almost stalled) when music was playing. I paused the music several times and the problem is very apparent and easy to reproduce. I have a Cisco EPC 3925 ABGN router with no simultaneous 2.4 and 5GHz bands (you can select one or the other). I only use the 2.4GHz N band and I get this problem.

I am quite pissed off about this. I can buy a dual-band router at home (and I probably will), but what if I go somewhere else where there is 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. I can't use the speaker and the Internet at the same time.

I wonder if there would be any improvement if witching the "channel" setting on the router. It's set on Auto now. I will try several different 2.4GHz "channel" values to see if anything improves.

 

[CrippsCorner]

I've tried every conceivable option as regards to router settings... different channels, different standards etc. basically if it was a variable, I've tried it! Nothing works