something_fishy
New Member
I have an hour commute into and out of central London by train and work on the inward and outward journey.
Most of the time this is clearing emails, checking news feeds (Bloomberg) and newspapers.
My device of choice for this has been a 4G ipad 2 and Logitech keyboard. This has worked well but I missed the ability to edit MS word documents properly (word for iPad is pretty but isn't sufficient).
I've been waiting for the LTE Surface 3 as the perfect device, however after 2 weeks trying to use it I have to declare it as unfit for purpose because the radio performance is so poor.
I live in the UK where 4G coverage is spotty. On a moving train if the Surface loses signal or the signal falls back to non-4G it breaks connectivity (signal comes back with no internet connectivity) around 50% of the time. Only a full reboot will then sort it (disabling the modem and re-enabling it doesn't work). Performance is even worse if the Surface is coming out of sleep or hibernation (won't connect at all) so a complete shutdown and cold start is a prerequisite.
I should add that the wifi performance is also flakey using my (Sony z3) phone as a hotspot - I don't know or care if this is the Surface or the phone (FWIW the Surface is fine connected to my house wifi) as I would prefer a working inbuilt modem.
Part of the problem is that its a computer and computer apps seem to be expecting an always on connection (ipad apps handle going on and offline more graciously) but this doesn't excuse the real world performance of the LTE modem; the ipad has no issues dropping out of and into signal on the same journey. I regret to say that its a relief to go back to the ipad, it just feels more robest (meaning that I am now carrying two devices).
Does this chime with other peoples' experience. The Surface is running Win 10 but radio performance was no better on Win 8.1 (though at least it told me what sort of connection it had). I've tried three.co.uk's and ee's 4G networks but no-one has 100% coverage and any gap and it breaks.
Most of the time this is clearing emails, checking news feeds (Bloomberg) and newspapers.
My device of choice for this has been a 4G ipad 2 and Logitech keyboard. This has worked well but I missed the ability to edit MS word documents properly (word for iPad is pretty but isn't sufficient).
I've been waiting for the LTE Surface 3 as the perfect device, however after 2 weeks trying to use it I have to declare it as unfit for purpose because the radio performance is so poor.
I live in the UK where 4G coverage is spotty. On a moving train if the Surface loses signal or the signal falls back to non-4G it breaks connectivity (signal comes back with no internet connectivity) around 50% of the time. Only a full reboot will then sort it (disabling the modem and re-enabling it doesn't work). Performance is even worse if the Surface is coming out of sleep or hibernation (won't connect at all) so a complete shutdown and cold start is a prerequisite.
I should add that the wifi performance is also flakey using my (Sony z3) phone as a hotspot - I don't know or care if this is the Surface or the phone (FWIW the Surface is fine connected to my house wifi) as I would prefer a working inbuilt modem.
Part of the problem is that its a computer and computer apps seem to be expecting an always on connection (ipad apps handle going on and offline more graciously) but this doesn't excuse the real world performance of the LTE modem; the ipad has no issues dropping out of and into signal on the same journey. I regret to say that its a relief to go back to the ipad, it just feels more robest (meaning that I am now carrying two devices).
Does this chime with other peoples' experience. The Surface is running Win 10 but radio performance was no better on Win 8.1 (though at least it told me what sort of connection it had). I've tried three.co.uk's and ee's 4G networks but no-one has 100% coverage and any gap and it breaks.