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.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
235 Comments
View All Comments
PeteH - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
I disagree. I think what you're seeing as "forced" is genuine uncertainty, which I think is to be expected from any reviewer when a device doesn't fit well into an existing category.I know my feelings on the Surface can be best described as intrigued, but uncertain.
Ryan Smith - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
Noted. Thank you.JumpingJack - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
"Application launch times are another thing entirely. Nearly every application I launched took longer than I would’ve liked on Surface. I can’t tell if this is a hardware issue or a software optimization problem, but application launches on Surface/Windows RT clearly take more time than on an iPad. I timed a few just to put this in perspective:"And then there is nothing after the colon -- just the next paragraph.
andykins - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
On the chassis and construction page:'A Focus on Flexibility
Surface’s design began with a simple concept: a Moleskine notebook. Microsoft wanted to emulate the convenience, ergonomics and overall feel of carrying around a well made'
then there's nothing. What is it that's well made? You're killing me haha! Otherwise enjoying the review!
Kevin G - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
Perhaps he was using the type cover?Ryan Smith - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
Unfortunately the timing of this week has been against us. Between Vishera, an Apple event, and Surface, we're stretched thinner than ever before. In this case Anand wasn't able to complete some of the charts on time, which is why it looks like stuff is missing.Anyhow, Anand is currently enjoying a well deserved nap at 35,000 feet. Once he's back down on the ground we'll get those filled in. Our apologies, and please pardon the dust.
JumpingJack - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
No apologies needed. Great review.Kevin G - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
I was wondering where the next podcast was and then everything had their NDA's lift today. AMD CPU's, new iPads, and Surface reviews all in one day? That's a lot of content all at once. Then you have Google and MS making more noise later this week too.MilwaukeeMike - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
Yeah, we know... i was very surprised to see this review today. Your intelligent readers know that there are sacrifices required to get a review out as fast as this one. The iPhone 5 review didn't come out for weeks after it was released and Surface isn't even for sale yet.Dug - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
At $699, which is the version I would want to get, it just too close to something like an 11" macbook air.As far as trying to get work done on a tablet, this is obviously a better solution than Android or Apple's efforts, as they are geared more to a consumption devices.
But I don't think the Surface will be able to snag enough users without something faster than the tegra. The killer app for it will be Office, but without full compatibility of the x86 version I don't know if this will be a hindrance for RT.