Surface RT wifi connection issue

[Marco]

I have used my Surface with about 5 different Wi-Fi spots. I have noticed the following issue:

When connecting to the Wi-Fi, even one I used before with no problem, I get "limited connectivity".
After troubleshooitng the Wi-Fi and the Surface, I have found it to be a Surface problem.
If I restart the Surface, it then immeadiately connects to the Wi-Fi with no issue.
It appears the Surface is buggy and after leaving the tablet on for awhile, the Wi-Fi connection gets "corrupted".

Is anyone else experiencing this?

 

[dvdcatalyst]

I have used my Surface with about 5 different Wi-Fi spots. I have noticed the following issue:

When connecting to the Wi-Fi, even one I used before with no problem, I get "limited connectivity".
After troubleshooitng the Wi-Fi and the Surface, I have found it to be a Surface problem.
If I restart the Surface, it then immeadiately connects to the Wi-Fi with no issue.
It appears the Surface is buggy and after leaving the tablet on for awhile, the Wi-Fi connection gets "corrupted".

Is anyone else experiencing this?

Same here.

It seems to have something to do with sleep mode. Last week, I had it with Netflix and Youtube (i've been using it mostly with local video from an SD card). Pausing and getting back from a fridge-run resulted in a lost connection. Going to desktop mode and opening IE also no connectivity. Disconnecting from my router and reconnecting made things work again.

 

[TeknoBlast]

I usually get the "Limited" status when I tether to my phone, but that status only last for a few seconds. I guess it's going through the process of fully connecting. At the house, I have my main router and then a repeated in the middle of the house. I have no issues swityching over. Of course, I have to switch it manually since the first connection isnt completely lost, just has low bars.

As for the phone, I have it conncted all day but like I mentioned, I get that "limited" status when it first connects to my phone. If it continues for a long while, I turn off the sharing on the phone and then turn it on again. That usually takes care of it.

 

[Br1an_g]

haven't seen this issue and I was switching between wi fi spots a lot today out an about. tethering, starbucks, work...never saw limited status.

 

[dvdcatalyst]

switching I didn't have issues at all, but staying connected for a day on the same router/accesspoint, with the Surface going to sleep a few times, thats when I run into limited (as in no) connection.

 

[NehemiahAdon86]

I have seen similar issues as well. My home WIFI works most of the time, with an occasional limited connection issue. I usually just reconnect or restart, and that fixes the issue. However, I have tried to connect to 4 other WIFI networks away from home, and none of them connect except for one. I either get Limited Connection, or no connection at all. The one that did work was a Mcdonald's hotspot, which appeared to use AT&T, which happens to be the type of WIFI I use at home. I wonder if there is an incompatibility issue with certain brand routers? Nevertheless, this issue is quite annoying since my Surface doesn't seem to work well at all when it is not connected to WIFI, even with apps that don't necessarily need WIFI all the time. The only thing that seems to function normally with no WIFI is the desktop.

 

[JXM]

I've been running into this issue constantly with both my home router and my phone hotspot. I've tried everything I can think of, but my connection normally lasts less than 15 minutes to either of my two networks, then I have to restart. I tried to disable the wifi device's ability to be switched off due to low power, but that seemed to cause Win8 to stop unexpectedly when I had the unit suspended (it crashed 7 times in the day and a half I had that turned on, versus no crashes in the previous 10 days). I may buy a new router to see if it's the brand or age of my router...or I may return the Surface and let it mature. Any ideas on how to fix this would be appreciated.

 

[leeshor]

Another moderator on the forum mentioned that there is a fairly widespread problem with the WiFi. The suspicion is that the problem is OS related and should be fixed with a patch. Just an fyi.

 

[JWNR]

Having the same problem. Have a netgear extender in the middle of my house to extend the signal from my wifi at one end of the house and accordingly the signal is weak. the Netgear extender comes up on the Surface wifi as "limited", which means no internet. therefore , i can only connect to the internet via the original wifi, which has a weak signal and is the reason i got the extender in the first place. I do not have this problem with any other device in the house, 3 PCs, WP and an Iphone.

Obviously there is something wrong with the surface operating system. Why is MS hiding and not taking care of this widespread problem. Anyone who purchased a surface at this time is obviously a dedicated MS customer and this is no way to treat your best customers.

 

[J515OP]

Why is MS hiding and not taking care of this widespread problem. Anyone who purchased a surface at this time is obviously a dedicated MS customer and this is no way to treat your best customers.

Why do you say they are hiding it? What evidence is there that is the case? I am sure they are taking care of all of these things behind the scenes and some issues will have priorities over others. You'll just have to wait until the fix comes like everybody else.

I can't think of any case where the early adopters of a product, especially a first generation hardware and software were rewarded with flawless devices because they were loyal customers and the first to adopt. Instead a loyal early adopter should have the attitude of "I like and trust this company, therefor I am willing to accept certain early issues and trust they will be ironed out over time." If this is not the case then maybe you are not really one of their best customers.

No personal offense intended but in general early adopters should have the correct outlook and accept the issues that come with being an early adopter as it seems most here are. It is ok to point out flaws so they get fixed but non-constructive criticism doesn't help anybody.

JP

 

[Thunder7]

I had the issue with LIMITED connectivity right out of the box with the Surface. It just plain refused to connect to my home network. I messed with it alot and looked at the router properties. Found some interesting info:

1. The Surface was getting a "local" ip address so basically couldnt go anywhere. Just wouldn't grab an DHCP address from the router.
2. The router was showing it assigned a proper DHCP address to the Surface (weird -- the Surface wasnt using it).

Nothing I did would make this change, not reserving an address, not rebooting, messing with the surface settings.

Finally, I assigned a STATIC ip address to the surface, and BOOM on the network and working.

Looks like MS needs to look into why the surface is having issues with DHCP addressing.

 

[jnjroach]

I would be interested in seeing if a pattern emerged on Router Type and Age. I use mine on a 3Com Enterprise Grade
Dual band "N" AP and get 270 mbps on 5GHz and 72-130 mbps on 2.4 GHz, we also have a Linksys Dual Band guest network where I get 300 mbps on 5GHz and 56-120 mbps on 2.4 GHz. At home on my Belkin N900 Dual Band I see the same as at work 270 mbps. I haven't experienced the limited connectivity (I do but it is when I need to reboot the Router at work and everyone is experiencing the same issue).