Ten days after launch, Microsoft is still trying to squash the bugs in its Surface Pro 3 tablet.
As Ed Bott at ZDNet reports, some users have been complaining of connectivity problems over 802.11ac Wi-Fi networks. Complaints have also popped up on Microsoft’s support forums, with users noting slower speeds over wireless ac routers.
Bott himself has experienced similar issues on a review unit provided by Microsoft. (I’m unsure if my Surface Pro 3 is having the same problem, but Speedtest.net download results appear to be about 30 percent slower on the Surface compared to my Windows 7 laptop.)
The latest Wi-Fi issues may be related to a day one patch for the Surface Pro 3, which was meant to fix much more serious problems with Microsoft’s latest tablet. Without the patch, the Surface Pro 3 may not boot properly, can lose its connection to Wi-Fi networks and may temporarily freeze up when the user hits the power button. In fixing those critical problems, Microsoft appears to have introduced at least one negative side effect.
According to Bott, some users may be able to get relief by removing the latest Marvell AVASTAR Wireless AC Network Controller router, restoring the original driver and finally downloading and installing the latest driver manually.
This isn’t the first time Microsoft has struggled with bugs and patches for its Surface hardware. With the Surface Pro 2, battery life was worse before Microsoft issued a firmware update several weeks after launch. In December, Microsoft released a patch that wreaked havoc on some users’ machines, causing battery drain, failure to enter sleep mode and other issues with waking and sleeping. It took the company over a month to fix the problems.
With the Surface line, Microsoft has proved that it can design great hardware, with significant improvements in each new revision. Oddly enough, Microsoft’s biggest slip-ups are coming from the software side.