Are the WIFI issues with the Surface Book resolved? (before I buy)

[Sophie007]

Hello!

I need a new laptop now (current laptop 7 years old and very slow). I require a pen (I have never liked any trackpad of any company), 1Tb SSD, small form factor (13"), 2-in-1.

The choices I am considering are the Surface Book with Performance Base, and the Thinkpad Yoga X1.

The Yoga X1 is bit larger, so for me less portable.

So I would prefer the Surface Book (Performance Base).

I'm ready to make the purchase at the Microsoft Store; but the thing holding me back are the many reports of poor WIFI with the Surface Book, which some blame on the Marvell chip.

Are the WIFI issues (slow WIFI, inability to connect, dropped connections) really that common amongst surface book owners?
Has Microsoft fixed these issues, either by upgrading the Marvell Chip or upgrading the software?

Thanks!!
Sophie

 

[mryan55]

I do believe that there have been some driver updates along the way since launch. I have had the base 128GB Surface Book since launch and have had Wifi connections on par with the other devices in my residence.

My recommendation is to use a 5 GHz network if possible as the 2.4 GHz networks seem to be the biggest stumbling blocks for the Wifi.

Only share I had was the network adapter not bring recognized once, so I had to reinstall the drivers.

 

[hopmedic]

I have the i7/16GB/1TB performance base model, and I have not had any problems with the wifi.

 

[Sophie007]

Thanks everyone for your responses!
I just purchased the Surface Book Performance Base 1 TB.
I'll post back after I receive the Surface, with how its WIFI speed compares with my current (Fujitsu Lifebook T900) 7 year old laptop.

 

[Sophie007]

So I received my Surface Book with Performance Base, and I compared the wifi on the Surface Book with that on my 7 year old Fujitsu Lifebook T900 (Windows 7).

I used speedtest.net for the tests, on my home network.
My testing is not at all scientific, I did not do the same number of readings on the two laptops.
Partly because frequently my Lifebook T900 could not connect to my 5G network while the Surface Book had no trouble.

Here are my results:

Surface Book 2.4G speeds: download: 53.78 (avg. 8 readings)
upload: 10.82 "
5G speeds: download: 74.42 "
upload: 10.93 "

Lifebook T900 2.4G speeds: download: 5.04 (avg. 4 readings)
upload: 10.91 "
5G speeds: download: 12.99 (avg. 2 readings)
upload: 11.11 "
Because of earlier reports, I was worried the Surface Book would not be as fast as my Lifebook T900, Worries were obviously unfounded.

There have also been reports of Creators Update breaking the WIFI.
So I also tested my Surface Book after the Creators Update, which I received yesterday:

2.4G speeds: download: 63.7 (avg. 3 readings)
upload: 10.99 "
5G speeds: download: 77.14 "
upload: 10.97 "

In conclusion, I don't see issues with the WIFI on my surface book. Additionnaly, Creators Update did not degrade my WIFI.

Again, thanks to everyone who responded to my initial post!

Sophie