Microsoft Surface Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 23, 2012 9:01 PM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Microsoft
- Mobile
- Surface
- Windows RT
WiFi Performance
Microsoft made an unusual choice for Surface’s WiFi hardware, it uses a Marvell AVASTAR dual-band MIMO (2x2) 802.11n wireless network controller (88W8797?). Marvell tends to be one of the more cost effective players in the industry which could help explain Microsoft’s choice.
Despite the rarely used silicon, WiFi range on Surface is quite good. Subjectively I was able to hold on to 2.4GHz signals at greater distances than I could on both the 3rd gen iPad, ASUS’ Transformer Pad Infinity and even compared to the VivoTab RT based on some short time I had with the device. Surface also maintains good distances on 5GHz however the performance drop offs are far more significant.
The sweet spot for Surface’s WiFi appears to be around 40 feet away from an AP, with minimal obstructions (doors/walls are fine). Within this range in my testing I was able to maintain speeds of around 20 – 40Mbps. Add another 20 or so feet and you’ll see performance cut in half again.
Although range is good on Surface, at the outer edges of coverage you’re looking at 2 – 4Mbps, which is only really enough for casual web browsing.
The only real downside to Surface’s WiFi performance is its peak performance. I wasn’t able to get beyond 42Mbps when copying files to the device from a local server on the network. It’s possible that I was limited by some file sharing protocol overhead, but without a good suite of network performance tools for Windows RT it was the best I could do for now.
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Old_Fogie_Late_Bloomer - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
Don't get me wrong, Microsoft clearly did a lot of things right here in terms of the physical design. They made a product that part of me really wants to own. But as snazzy as the whole package is, I wouldn't be able to bring myself to buy this when the VivoTab Smart has the same price and an x86 processor.On a different note, what struck me most about this writeup was the very beginning. Contrast Sinofsky's attitude towards Microsoft's competitors to Jobs' attitude towards Android and Google. If you wanna attract me to your closed ecosystem, Sinofsky's approach is the one to take. :-P
mantikos - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
I amfaizoff - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
Just skimmed through this review and it's excellent. There is the one typo I noticed last sentence."consumption and prodcutivity device"
michal1980 - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
really? To me this review felt forced. Like Anand was forced to review it, not because he wanted too.Read some of the Apple reviews and you can feel the imagic seeping through. Here its like, bla, M$ released something, its alright, but you know thats all.
Boogaloo - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
Anand really really likes his Apple devices.N4g4rok - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
Nothing wrong with that, If anything i appreciate it. It may illuminate us to some things he notices right away whereas someone who's used a series of products for a long time becomes a tad bit more forgiving or accustomed to.For example, i'm glad he mentioned that bit about the type cover losing keystrokes occaisionally. I'll be sure to test that out before choosing between that one or the touch cover.
yourfather239 - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
Everything wrong with that and it has nothing to do with him noticing differences right away, but it definitely has everything to do with him being an Indian, trust me I have seen many Indians kissing Apple's butt for no obvious reason and after the release of the new iphone 5 they believe that this is how every phone is supposed to look like. It's shameful and biased thinking at its finest.melgross - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
What is wrong with you? Are you retarded or something?mgl888 - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
You, sir, are naive, racist, narrow-minded and pathetic.How about first searching your own comment for signs of bias?
MilwaukeeMike - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
Its not racism, its stereotyping. Racism would be if he said Indians were inferior somehow, prejudice would be if he no prior experience, but since he does and he's applying it to this example, its a stereotype. Can we ignore the fool and move on now?