Users complain about poor Wi-Fi signal on the Surface

Nov 15, 2012 09:47 GMT  ·  By
Yet another bug found on the Surface. This time, it's the Wi-Fi connectivity
   Yet another bug found on the Surface. This time, it's the Wi-Fi connectivity

The keyboard breaks down, the Windows 8 logo on the back of the tablet rubs off, the sound is randomly turned to mute and now, the Surface fails to connect to Wi-Fi networks.

A Wi-Fi bug that blocks users from browsing the web from their tablet is affecting hundreds of Surface devices.

A Microsoft Answers forum discussion is periodically flooded with complaints coming from users who report the issue, saying that poor signal strength and limited connectivity warnings is all they get on their tablet.

“My Surface has a problem in that over time, wireless connections get flagged as ‘limited’ and no internet access. I also cannot turn on or off wireless through the preference panel. Only a reboot fixes this and gives me some time before the problem comes back. Has anybody else seen this and any suggestions to overcome it. The problem makes the tablet useless for all practical purposes,” user EricLinneman writes.

There’s no workaround for the time being, but a Microsoft support engineer has already posted a message on the thread saying that the company is currently looking into the problem.

Once again, it seems like it’s all because of a software issue and luckily, the faulty devices won’t need to be replaced. An update should fix the problem, but it remains to be seen if it’s indeed a software or a hardware glitch.

“I have the same issue. My iPad works just fine on the same network. And my wireless Xbox also works just fine. Only my new Surface has issue,” Brian Peal, another user who posted on the support forums wrote, pointing out that it may actually be a hardware problem.

Microsoft yesterday rolled out the first firmware update for the Surface, alongside some other patches, without providing too many details on the fixes these bring.

It did mention, however, that they’re all supposed to make the Surface RT and the other Windows RT tablets a bit more stable and to increase performance, but still no word on potential bug fixes.