Try this if you have Limited Connectivity issues

[Gah]

I had the limited connectivity issue with surface on day 1, it would not stay connected to my 2.4ghz or 5ghz band for less than 15mins. I would be downloading something or streaming and it would just cut the connection. It seems though it may have something to do with the Win8 network stack rather than the actual wifi card because this issue is not limited to surface but to a lot of other regular win8 users.

Anyways, make sure you do these things things:

1. Go to the properties page of Marvell AVASTAR 350N adapter under device manager
2. Go to the power management tab and untick "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"
3. Go to Advanced tab and disable "Selective Suspend"
4. Reboot

This fixed my limited issue, I never had a single limited connectivity since. Initially I just tried the "turn off device" method but it didn't work. But in combination with selective suspend worked. I notice no change in battery life of Surface. I hope this fixes it for everyone else, if not, keep complaining to and maybe Microsoft will actually do something.

 

[johnknee]

Have you tried updating the Marvell AVASTAR driver? Somehow Windows update doesn't detect a new update for this hardware. I updated it and now able to connect to my Samsung Galaxy Nexus without limited connectivity anymore.

 

[ArnoldC]

<snip>this issue is not limited to surface but to a lot of other regular win8 users.
<snip>

Our Acer notebooks with Qualcomm chips do not belong to those "a lot."

 

[RGBell]

I started having limited connectivity issues after the updates. It also did not want to power on and required holding Volume Up +Power to turn it on. My fix was to delete the network adapter and drivers and then scan for new hardware. After a reboot I haven't had any problems.

 

[Rushino]

I will try this when i get at home! Anyone can confirm this work ?

 

[Rushino]

I started having limited connectivity issues after the updates. It also did not want to power on and required holding Volume Up +Power to turn it on. My fix was to delete the network adapter and drivers and then scan for new hardware. After a reboot I haven't had any problems.

Not the first time ive heard this. That may be the problem aswell i will try both solution.

 

[tonyz3]

I will try this when i get at home! Anyone can confirm this work ?

I tried this and today and than started having issues not coming out of sleep imed after pressing power. I put it back the way it was and all is back to normal. I did not even have limited conn probs, so I guess that serves me rt.

 

[Ruffles]

I tried this and today and than started having issues not coming out of sleep imed after pressing power. I put it back the way it was and all is back to normal. I did not even have limited conn probs, so I guess that serves me rt.

Same here. I tried it because it seems that when I get really low on battery, it powers down the wifi even though I don't get the limited connectivity notification. With the option disabled, I can't wake it up.

 

[BillJ]

Since the recent updates I too, have been having some weird wifi problems; when I use any of the search engines, I will be able to get through one iteration of search, but then the search (Bing or Google) will freeze until I disconnect and reconnect wifi. Occasionally, url's in my e-mails will not respond as well.

So I tried "unticking" the "Allow device to turn off network adapter", along with disabling the "selective suspend".

I then find that the Surface will no longer wake up from sleep, and will need to be restarted.
I tried just keeping the "selective suspend" disabled, but turned back on the "allow the computer to turn off this device..."

So far, so good. Search engines are working again, my e-mail url's are live, and the Surface wakes up from sleep...

 

[Azekecse]

Hmmm, sounds like a good plan, I'll give that a try. Definitely didn't work for me disabling both. Thanks BillJ, please keep us posted.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

 

[BillJ]

My device is working perfectly now. In essence, the only change from default was to disable "selective suspend" in the advanced dialogue of the Marvell network adapter in Device Manager. This may result in some unnecessary battery drain, and I am not certain as to how much of this to expect. However, I will gladly trade a few minutes of battery life for properly functioning internet access.

 

[Ruffles]

I replaced my router this weekend and ran into this problem. After many hours of trouble shooting, I've come to the conclusion that the Marvell driver has issues with N networks. The only way I've been able to get reliable connections is to switch my network to G.