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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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 had no prior experience with Indians and Apple devices, but since he does and he's applying it to this example, its a stereotype. Can we ignore the fool and move on now?Mumrik - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
Why don't we have a report function?I don't even care if it's racism or trolling, he just needs to go away.
Sufo - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
Downvote him? Yes. Report him? No, that's ridiculous.kevith - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
Where is the downvote button when you need it?damianrobertjones - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
"but it definitely has everything to do with him being an Indian, " - Possibly the stupidest comment I've ever read. Ever.seapeople - Friday, October 26, 2012 - link
I know... isn't Anand French-Canadian? Pretty silly comment.yourfather239 - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
Yeah, He really likes his Apple devices and so does every Indian pos out there, it's nothing new. Moreover, in that part of the world cast system is at its finest, and if you think that Apple devices are a status symbol in America then multiply that shit thinking with at least a 1000 and you have the Indian mind set at work. So whether its Anand or Patel or any other Indian pos, just keep this in mind that they love their Apple devices for a reason.magreen - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
What you have written is disgusting. You are not wanted here. Please leave.Sivar - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
An intolerant racist on the Internet, with such gems as "Indian pos" and "the Indian mind set" (because there's only one).As user "magreen" said, this is not welcome here. If you continue to spew vacuous racist drivel, neither are you.
PrajithNair - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
Well said sir, well said.