Solved Surface pro very short wifi range on 5GHz

[dinotle]

I just bought a surface pro 4 i5/256gb. My router is RT‑AC68U and all my device worked very well with it on 5GHz band. However, my SP4 gives me a very poor signal range, in about 7m away from the router, I would lose all signal. While at such range all my other devices work well with almost full signal on 5GHz, my phone, my ipad, my MacBook. Is anyone else experiencing such issue? Is this just how well the Marvell adapter can do?
So far I am seriously considering returning it, as so far this device is showing much more problem than any other computer I owned, poor wifi, sleep to death, randomly lose touch, randomly lose keyboard touchpad, even my self assembled one functions better.

 

[kevjli]

Maybe you have a bad Surface. My SP4 i7 gets very similar wifi signals compared to my cellphone in 2GHz and 5GHz bands. The 5GHz signals drop more quickly than 2GHz thru my walls.

 

[Omni]

I have one 5Ghz and one 2.4Ghz routers that my SP4 switches between but I haven't noticed a weak signal on just 5Ghz. Ill disable the 2.4Ghz and see.

 

[Omni]

I do get a weak signal on only the 5Ghz band but I am around 20 foot away plus a couple of solid walls so I don't think that's unacceptable.

 

[jnjroach]

Its pure physics:

From (Cheat sheet: What you need to know about 802.11ac - TechRepublic )

"First let's gets some physics out of the way (Courtesy of Attenuation of Microwave Signal and Its Impact on Communication Systems [PDF]):

• The higher the frequency (5.0 GHz versus 2.4 GHz), the greater the bandwidth which allows more data carrying capacity.
• Attenuation is the reduction of signal strength during transmission.
• RF signals are attenuated exponentially over distance.
• Attenuation is directly proportional to the frequency.

My concern rides on 802.11ac needing to use the 5.0 GHz frequency range in order to get the monster data throughput being advertised. That means — per the physics above — users will have to live with a significantly smaller coverage area, something those more familiar with 2.4 GHz devices will not expect."

5GHz is limited to about 115' indoors under ideal conditions:

 

[dinotle]

Thank you guys for replying. But I am afraid there is a mis-understanding on the issue I met. The real issue is that all my other device worked perfectly on 5GHz at 7m distance, but the sp4 gets no signal on 5GHz at this distance. It is 5GHz only comparison, no 2.4GHz involved here.

 

[jnjroach]

Thank you guys for replying. But I am afraid there is a mis-understanding on the issue I met. The real issue is that all my other device worked perfectly on 5GHz at 7m distance, but the sp4 gets no signal on 5GHz at this distance. It is 5GHz only comparison, no 2.4GHz involved here.

Give us more details please...which router are you using? Are you using 3rd party A/V on the SP4?

 

[dinotle]

router RT‑AC68U, latest manufacture firmware.
SP4, updated to the newest firmware and software, no extra software installed other than Chrome and vlc player.

 

[jnjroach]

router RT‑AC68U, latest manufacture firmware.
SP4, updated to the newest firmware and software, no extra software installed other than Chrome and vlc player.

I'm not sure which radio the ASUS is using, but my Netgear R7000 works flawlessly in my entire 2200 sq. ft. house even outdoors on 5GHz.

 

[dinotle]

Investigated a bit more, and it seems the issue is a little different than I thought. At ~7m distance, I used wifi analyzer to check the wifi signal quality, and it is at -60 dbm on both sp4 and my cellphone, which is not bad. But the cellphone internet works great, while sp4 keep dropping connection at such signal level. I have to stay very close to my AP to get stable connection.

 

[dinotle]

It turns out to be a hardware issue. After playing all kinds of tricks without success, I eventually exchanged one from Microsoft. And the new one worked as expected.