Related
I love this tablet and I REALLY want to keep it, but the WIFI is ATROCIOUS. It works fine in my small apartment, but it's clear to me that it is going to be a complete and utter headache using this thing while traveling. I'm getting about 3-6 Mbps down about 20 feet away from my router, while my Galaxy Nexus gets about 12 Mbps and my crappy iPad1 gets about 20 Mbps. I can't justify keeping this thing with such lackluster WIFI performance. It's just unacceptable.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
nyijedi said:
I love this tablet and I REALLY want to keep it, but the WIFI is ATROCIOUS. It works fine in my small apartment, but it's clear to me that it is going to be a complete and utter headache using this thing while traveling. I'm getting about 3-6 Mbps down about 20 feet away from my router, while my Galaxy Nexus gets about 12 Mbps and my crappy iPad1 gets about 20 Mbps. I can't justify keeping this thing with such lackluster WIFI performance. It's just unacceptable.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I started a thread regarding this but people blow it off because their Wi-Fi is probably working just fine and don't want to bother testing..... see here
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1420886
nyijedi said:
I love this tablet and I REALLY want to keep it, but the WIFI is ATROCIOUS. It works fine in my small apartment, but it's clear to me that it is going to be a complete and utter headache using this thing while traveling. I'm getting about 3-6 Mbps down about 20 feet away from my router, while my Galaxy Nexus gets about 12 Mbps and my crappy iPad1 gets about 20 Mbps. I can't justify keeping this thing with such lackluster WIFI performance. It's just unacceptable.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you run the updates today to see if you got any signal improvements?
nyijedi said:
I love this tablet and I REALLY want to keep it, but the WIFI is ATROCIOUS. It works fine in my small apartment, but it's clear to me that it is going to be a complete and utter headache using this thing while traveling. I'm getting about 3-6 Mbps down about 20 feet away from my router, while my Galaxy Nexus gets about 12 Mbps and my crappy iPad1 gets about 20 Mbps. I can't justify keeping this thing with such lackluster WIFI performance. It's just unacceptable.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I spent quite a lot of time in hotels while travelling, and I can say that would be the real test. You never know what kind of signal you'll get in a hotel. It can depend on what room and floor you have, and in many cases, you can be on the edge of reception. Some hotels are crappy all over, and you just don't know until you get there. If the device is sub-par with Wifi, that would not give me confidence at all while travelling.
I did install today's updates, and they made no difference. The WiFi is terrible compared to other devices. And it pisses me off to no end, because I want to love (and keep) this tablet.
And the hotel analogy is a great one. That's exactly what has me leaning towards returning my Prime.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Same issues here, TP has horrible WiFi performance, even standing 5 feet from router. I get 1.5Mbps down/1.75 up. On my iPad 2 I get 16Mbps down and 3 Mbps up.
I have other issues as well...this tablet is looking more and more like a dud...
I'm kind of afraid to buy this tablet now. I wanted to buy it (for the quad core performance and all) but this thing just seems like a bad deal with all the reports of things going wrong with it.
And with some tablets working and some not, the manufacturing quality and checking must be seriously bad.
How do you have your home wireless access point configured?
Have you attempted changing your settings, like switching between G and N, going G only, or N only, dual band, disable WEP/WPA and go woth MAC filtering, etc.
There's so many factors that can cause differences in bandwidth reads over wireless. But if you done all this troubleshooting, you may very well may have ended up with a dud and you should consider exchanging for another one.
on my laptop i get about 33Mbps down. Onthe prime i get 22. Sadly it`s the same on the original transformer. Should we expect similar speeds as laptops from tablets?
the_game_master said:
How do you have your home wireless access point configured?
Have you attempted changing your settings, like switching between G and N, going G only, or N only, dual band, disable WEP/WPA and go woth MAC filtering, etc.
There's so many factors that can cause differences in bandwidth reads over wireless. But if you done all this troubleshooting, you may very well may have ended up with a dud and you should consider exchanging for another one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, I didn't mess around with my settings. This decision was intentional. My other devices perform MUCH better than my Prime with my current settings. Also, the performance difference gets worse as I move further away from my router, suggesting that the problem is caused by the WiFi radio in the Prime having weak reception.
More specifically, my main concern with the bad WiFi is getting a connection when I'm away from home, in places where I have no control over network settings. This is the real issue for me.
And I seriously doubt I have a faulty unit. It looks like the WiFi in all units is subpar, with many people not realizing it yet because they're using the tablet at home with a good signal.
I was worried that there was some truth behind those old rumors that the Prime was delayed because of WiFi problems. As usual, it looks like where there's smoke, there's fire.
Edit: I should also add that I tried the WiFi on 2 other networks at friends' houses. In both situations, as I moved further away from the router, the Prime signal seriously degraded more than my other devices, to the point where I got to a spot where the Prime had zero signal, while my Galaxy Nexus and my iPad still held a usable signal.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
nyijedi said:
Honestly, I didn't mess around with my settings. This decision was intentional. My other devices perform MUCH better than my Prime with my current settings. Also, the performance difference gets worse as I move further away from my router, suggesting that the problem is caused by the WiFi radio in the Prime having weak reception.
More specifically, my main concern with the bad WiFi is getting a connection when I'm away from home, in places where I have no control over network settings. This is the real issue for me.
And I seriously doubt I have a faulty unit. It looks like the WiFi in all units is subpar, with many people not realizing it yet because they're using the tablet at home with a good signal.
I was worried that there was some truth behind those old rumors that the Prime was delayed because of WiFi problems. As usual, it looks like where there's smoke, there's fire.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually noticed depending on router you have it will make a significant difference in range specifically my older b/g router works alot better then newer dual band N router. I agree with you though taking it on vacations and business trips is what I worry about too because the signal strength generally can be expected to be weaker.
This doesn't help per se with the Prime's wifi, but if wifi perf is a problem for on-the-go, you can use a repeater to boost the signals. The repeater's antenna are more powerful than those in mobile devices, and will help with marginal (or even non-functional) signals.
It's one more thing to carry, but if that's important to you.
For the techs, an old WRT54G retrofitted with DD-WRT firmware would be a capable repeater. You can find other more compact routers that can be retrofitted.
Testing from the same router, Prime gets 2 bars while the original TF gets 3 bars, signal is definately stronger and more consistent on TF1, download speed is slightly slower on Prime too. Assuming both tablets have the same wireless adapter, the problem most likely lies within the aluminum casing of Prime.
I just ran two speed tests each, using me evo 3D, nook and my Prime. The nook was the worst with 6.6 & 7.2 dl / 1.4 up. (I need to tweak something!)
The Prime and Evo 3D performed about the same. Prime 10.8 & 10.4 dl / 1.4 up, and Evo 3D 10.9 & 10.6 dl / 1.4 up.
I think was at a friend's who's router is in the back corner of his house. Deadzones all over the place. I lost wifi connection on the Prime but barely held onto it with the Evo. I've had to "foeget" and re-add on there on the Evo before so I did the same with the Prime. It didn't work. But when I walked into the room with the router and did it, it grabbed on and I've not lost it again in the same place I lost it before and in places my phone and others struggle. (back patio, etc)
Not sure if this helps but wanted to give my test results and what happened the one time I lost signal.
My original Transformer gets 1 bar (and loses connection constantly) in a room where a laptop gets 3-4 bars. (it's a room adjacent to the one with the router)
I thought it was normal and my router is poor until I checked with the laptop. It was the same with another router and with different settings. I hope Prime isn't worse than that!
WIFI is an ahole, he stole my gf kicked my dog and took all my money!
Hey there!
my wifi connection seems to be very bad, but I don't know if its normal :-/
When I'm up to 1m-2m next to my router, i have full connection (4 bars) after that only 3 bars. In my kitchen i have only 1 bar (~10 meters, 2 Firesafety doors).
A friend with an Sgs2 has 3 bars in my kitchen, same network.
Is it broken or a general Prime issue that can't be fixxed?
Bluetooth is turned off.
Co0n said:
Hey there!
my wifi connection seems to be very bad, but I don't know if its normal :-/
When I'm up to 1m-2m next to my router, i have full connection (4 bars) after that only 3 bars. In my kitchen i have only 1 bar (~10 meters, 2 Firesafety doors).
A friend with an Sgs2 has 3 bars in my kitchen, same network.
Is it broken or a general Prime issue that can't be fixxed?
Bluetooth is turned off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had similar results with mine. The device just seems to have bad wifi connectivity :/
Pretty sure I'm returning mine.
Here's a video comparing it to the original Transformer's wifi connectivity with similar results.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzCZc3pjtrA
Nothing can be done to fix the WiFi issues, it comes down to a bad design. The outer case is causing the interference. Most people are just dealing with it because it still works its, just that the data speeds you get over WiFi are inconsistent. In my own testing , Usually once I am 10 ft or more away from my router my data speed drops from 25 megs down to 2 or 3 with occasional bursts. I do stay connected the time all around the house, its just that data speed are affected by the interference. I did get some improvement after switching my router to use wireless n over ch 1. Hope that helps
evegas316 said:
Nothing can be done to fix the WiFi issues, it comes down to a bad design. The outer case is causing the interference. Most people are just dealing with it because it still works its, just that the data speeds you get over WiFi are inconsistent. In my own testing , Usually once I am 10 ft or more away from my router my data speed drops from 25 megs down to 2 or 3 with occasional bursts. I do stay connected the time all around the house, its just that data speed are affected by the interference. I did get some improvement after switching my router to use wireless n over ch 1. Hope that helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got some different info from Asus today. I too have similar wireless problems, but it seems that not every Prime does.
I got call from Asus today, and they asked me to return my Prime so they could take a look at the WiFi problems I was having. (I had written a couple of emails to folks at Asus.) Apparently some Primes have problems with "WiFi cards".
Ride525 said:
I got some different info from Asus today. I too have similar wireless problems, but it seems that not every Prime does.
I got call from Asus today, and they asked me to return my Prime so they could take a look at the WiFi problems I was having. (I had written a couple of emails to folks at Asus.) Apparently some Primes have problems with "WiFi cards".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WOW, that's some news. I will return mine and see if a new one is any better, I personally think that the symptoms are exactly what you should be experiencing based on the interference the case is causing.
thanks for the info.
Just received my TFP today. I get pretty much the same results with my phone as I do with the TFP. Also, I had just returned the Samsing Galaxy Tab but my results are pretty close to what I experienced with that as well.
I'm only basing my results using speedtest.net. Seemed like a pretty good tool for me to determine whether or not I'd be satisfied with the speed of the TFP. I did my tests in 3 different locations in my home...one just above my router which is in my basement the floor below (about 6 feet away) - 14mb...one in my bedroom which has a brick wall in the way (about 20 feet away) - 5mb...and one in my bathroom (30 feet away) - 4mb. Not too sure what type of speeds I should expect other than what my other devices get. I`m using a wireless G router at the moment but still have to set up my wireless N router soon..a Linksys E4200.
Upload speeds were all at the 1mb mark regardless of the location..I`m capped at 1mb down by my ISP.
One thing to note, I could care less about the number of bars on the wifi icon...I care about real world results.
Just my two cents...
senatorxmg said:
Just received my TFP today. I get pretty much the same results with my phone as I do with the TFP. Also, I had just returned the Samsing Galaxy Tab but my results are pretty close to what I experienced with that as well.
I'm only basing my results using speedtest.net. Seemed like a pretty good tool for me to determine whether or not I'd be satisfied with the speed of the TFP. I did my tests in 3 different locations in my home...one just above my router which is in my basement the floor below (about 6 feet away) - 14mb...one in my bedroom which has a brick wall in the way (about 20 feet away) - 5mb...and one in my bathroom (30 feet away) - 4mb. Not too sure what type of speeds I should expect other than what my other devices get. I`m using a wireless G router at the moment but still have to set up my wireless N router soon..a Linksys E4200.
Upload speeds were all at the 1mb mark regardless of the location..I`m capped at 1mb down by my ISP.
One thing to note, I could care less about the number of bars on the wifi icon...I care about real world results.
Just my two cents...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check to see what channel your router is set on. TPFs seem to like G band routers set on a low frequency..... your speeds dont seem that good try channel 1
That change made a big difference for me hope it helps
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
ilostmypistons said:
Check to see what channel your router is set on. TPFs seem to like G band routers set on a low frequency..... your speeds dont seem that good try channel 1
That change made a big difference for me hope it helps
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I defintely don't have the best set up in my house right now for wifi...when directly connected I can get around 25mbs down from my PC which is the reported speeds form my ISP...when using wifi, I seem to be capped to 15mbs regardless of the device.
I was waiting to switch routers to see what my new E4200 does. Will post those results once I make the change. For now, 14mbs down seems pretty decent to me considering all my wireless devices (PC included) get the same speeds.
I've had my Prime for about 2 weeks and have been very happy with it.
I'm posting this because I'm sure there are many other potential buyers hesitating due to all the negative discussions recently.
Initially, I was reading about WiFi and GPS issues online. The stores I asked were telling me of WiFi and GPS issues... blaming it all on the metal casing.
Even so, I took the plunge and got it based on the following:
WiFi: Anandtech's testing seemed to show WiFi performance is comparable to other tablets in his tests after he got some new retail sample units from Asus.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5175/asus-transformer-prime-followup
GPS: Will be using it at home, so no use for GPS. Also, for comparison, Wifi only versions of ipad2 do not even have GPS.
After using the Prime on WiFi at different locations, I can confirm that it is no worse than the Acer A500 or my Nexus One phone.
Alsp, please also refer to this test image done at another forum.
http://attach.mobile01.com/attach/201201/mobile01-ca742e0578a2a417e2d4ffd597722681.jpg
Notebooks obviously will have better reception so that is not a fair comparison.
Therefore in my opinion, the whole WiFi issue was just blown out by the GPS issue.
There may also have been an initial small batch of engineering samples with broken WiFi that fueled the negative publicity, which is just bad luck for ASUS.
But I believe Mass Production units should not have this issue.
Also, people should be comparing the Prime with comparable tablets/ipad and not with notebooks.
who cares about tests done in perfect conditions? if the prime can't get a signal while my sgs2 and my girlfriend's galaxy tab have no problems at all, something is definitely wrong with the prime. put a couple of walls between the router and the prime, and the prime has a significant signal loss compared to other devices.
at least that is my experience so far. maybe some transformers get good wifi signals, even trough walls. but the two i had did not.
jemz0r said:
I'm posting this because I'm sure there are many other potential buyers hesitating due to all the negative discussions recently.
Initially, I was reading about WiFi and GPS issues online. The stores I asked were telling me of WiFi and GPS issues... blaming it all on the metal casing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's great that, under your conditions, you're pleased with Wi-Fi. From videos comparing the TF1 side-by-side to the Prime you can see the Prime struggles to maintain the continuity of its signal. It gets worse the further away from the router you are. Three of my friends that travel a lot returned the Prime because, on the road, you can't play with a routers settings just to please your device. Some people are happy with the Prime's Wi-Fi performance, some aren't. It's a big YMMV based on how and where you use it.
Here's what Anand said after he got a replacement for the first defective device he received. To get decent speeds, he had to change the wireless environment to suit the Prime. He didn't on the TF1.
At the same time, I had test data from both ASUS and NVIDIA that show the Prime is capable of reasonable WiFi speeds. Yesterday morning I received a replacement Prime which was tested prior to being sent my way. The good news is the 2Mbps cap and poor range are both gone, the new sample is much faster on WiFi. Clearly there was something wrong with my original unit and it's being sent back to ASUS today for an autopsy. The bad news is I was still getting numbers around half of the original Transformer.
Using Ookla's Speedtest.net web app I get a consistent 34 - 37Mbps on the original Eee Pad Transformer (our actual WiFi performance tests involve downloading a file from a local server, but Speedtest was a quick and easy way to verify the problem). My original Prime review sample averaged around 0.5Mbps, while the replacement Prime got around 10Mbps - all in the same test location. Fiddling around with location I could get the replacement Prime up to 16Mbps. My test area is riddled with challenging interference so I setup a separate test area in another room. Even after buying the same Netgear WNDR4500 wireless AP that ASUS verified 31Mbps+ operation on, I wasn't able to break 16Mbps.
I have four other APs covering my house, I turned all of the radios off as a last ditch effort. Boom - 36Mbps on the Prime.
Good that you are happy with WIFI under your condition. However, judging from my experience and few others:
1.) WIFI performance will vary on where you are, or your environment. For example.. My router is in the basement of my house, but if i take it to 1st floor, I lose about 1 or 2 bars depending on where I am. If I take up to my 2nd floor.... I either have one or none. Now, I did the same experiment at my friends house and at work.. depending on the structure of the building and thinness of the wall, WIFI performance of PRIME really varies (and much more noticeable over other devices I have or tested).
Now, I also travel often for work. Recently returned from a trip.... and I tested the WIFI performance at the Hotel I was staying. More or less, I was stuck in 1 bar with constant disconnect or no WIFI at all.
Considering that the appeal of "tablets" are for ease of portability... based on my experience, I cannot recommend Prime to those who travel often. Btw, mine is more or less a "perfect" prime without any issues.
PRIME's WIFI can certainly be adequate but it does have its issues with "range" (especially when the setting or environment changes often).
2.) Can we please stop comparing Prime to iPad 2? If you are comparing the overall performance (such as graphics, speed.. blah blah blah).. I understand.. but stop comparing Prime's GPS and the non-existent GPS of iPad 2.
I have used my prime in my girlfriend's house where the router is 20+ yards away and has to go through 3 walls, 2 of which are external because the house is U shaped, and have had no issues with wifi signal. Of course I get half bars, but the speed test is still good (sorry don't remember exact numbers) and I use YouTube and browsing consistently and without issue.
I must add that I am getting a good wireless connection from here at work where I normally got poor signals and had to rely on my mifi device.
To top that I'm at lunch watching X-Men over Netflix with my Bluetooth headphones paired, and the streaming haven't stopped. The quality hassn't depleted much either.
I would have to agree with the original poster, for my machine, the WiFi is a non-issue and works just fine. It works well for me in the following varied locations/conditions:
1. My home wifi with the router in the living room. Tablet works in every room of the condo.
2. Vancouver airport - Free Wifi
3. Narita Airport - Free Wifi
4. Haneda Airport - Free Wifi
5. Beijing Airport - Some strange pass-through wifi
6. Every hotel in the 3 countries I have traveled to since getting my prime.
7. WiFi at work whose main router isn't even located on my floor and browser pass through login.
8. Every coffee bean and starbuck's wifi that I've been to
9. The wifi hotspot on my verizon phone.
The list could go on and on as I always take my prime everywhere I go and there is usually free or cheap wifi wherever I go. I have never had a problem with my wifi signal not being great enough for me to surf the web, watch netflix, or log into/use my web dependent apps. It is not always full bars, but my suspicion is that the bars indicator on the prime isn't all that accurate.
At any rate, it works for me, but I understand that the build quality may not be consistent across all primes and that I just maybe one of the lucky ones.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
That's what I've always said OP. good post. my wifi strength,stability, n range has always been great. n I have one of the earliest batches from 12/22. Anandtech said it right. Said wifi on par with OG transformer. its all about people setups. they need to understand the various contributing factors that can cause wireless issues. Some are determined not to budge from 5Ghz N speed although its not supported by prime anyways and that frequency has been proven to be marketing b.s. because 5Ghz doesn't guareentee faster speeds and the range is alot less than 2.4Ghz range. here is an example of the debunked 5Ghz myth and some tips also if your network seeming slow for a particular device.
http://smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-basics/30664-5-ways-to-fix-slow-80211n-speed
For the record, I've had no wifi problems with my Prime, anywhere in my house or yard.
I must be one of the unlucky ones.
House: Large Bungalow (2000 sq ft)
Router: Cisco e4200 using 2.4Ghz
Router Location: up on a rafter in the basement (i.e. right up against the first level floorboard)
Internet Connection: 30Mbps
Test 1: Right below router in the basement - 29Mbps
Test 2: Main floor, standing right above the router - 20Mbps
Test 3: Great Room (approx 15ft from router) - 16Mbps
Test 4: Kitchen (approx 30ft from router) - 2Mbps
Test 5: Dining Room (approx 40ft from router) - 2Mbps
In the latter two tests, my kid's iPad still gets 16Mbps. I may RMA later in the year, hoping ASUS will have had time to decide on a fix.
This tablet is absolutely gorgeous and my wife would never let me return it.
jemz0r said:
Wifi only versions of ipad2 do not even have GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lmao this is the worst argument i have ever read on xda really.
Lol
I use my prime at work and home all the time. At home my router is in my living room and obviously there are no issues, but I also have a home gym upstairs and on the opposite corner of the house. I have no issues streaming Netflix during my runs, How I met your mother is a great distraction!
At work my office has the router through many walls and doors, I get 2 bars where my phone gets 3. Speedtest though is identical, and my phone is also on a custom rom that has its wifi tolerances increased. Stream music all day on my tablet with no issues/drops.
Also travel a lot for work around the country, no issues in the Indy Airport with free wifi or my hotel on a recent trip to Nashville. Will want to test it on some more upcoming trips but so far everything is coming up aces.
I've had 2 Primes, both purchased retail (not review units).
Prime 1 from the first batch made had fine WiFi with no signif drop when 20 feet away from Office N routers. It worked well.
Prime 2 (latest batch, C serial number, 64 gig) drops from 25Mbps next to router to 7 Mbps when 20 feet from router (one partial obstruction, interior wall of wood beam and sheetrock). At 30 feet, it gets 2Mbps. This is far worse than Prime 1 and most other devices in our office.
Variability between two Primes leads me to believe this is a hardware issue (antenna connection?). Neither have any problems streaming when also connected to a BT device.
I have a perfect example of the Prime's WiFi fail that I experienced just 20 mins ago at lunch:
-Parked right outside of a McDonalds
-My phone (a subpar LG Optimus T) picks up all of 3 of their public networks, connects to them all and maintains a stable internet connection
-My Prime can only see one and cannot connect to it... just gives me the option to "Save" or "Forget"
Prime wifi = fail.
I respect that the OP may not have WiFi problems with his specific use cases, but the WiFi problem is real. Take a look at my test results from this thread and explain to me how there's no WiFi problem in light of them.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=21413105&postcount=15
So after looking at the tear down images of the Prime, I decided to give mine a little flex (just a little) and press along the top edge where the two antenna contacts live (idiotic pogo pin connectors and copper tape contacts).
Result?
Prime 2, the wirelessly challenged tablet, now sees 15 to 20 db better signal over WiFi and does not drop throughput AT ALL 20 feet from router. Wow.
GPS under ICS was a no-show and now gets 13 sats in view with 8 in use outdoors in 20 seconds. Indoors it sees 4 or 5 sats but doesn't get a fix. Before the love-hug? Nothing nada, zip.
Screenshot please
Send the workaround to ASUS devs, so we can all be blessed.
Regards
+1
I was just about to ask for a screenshot of where you exactly pressed too. This would be awesome.
edit: Maybe this is why ASUS says they can "fix" the weak wifi?
I pressed, both front and back, along the top bezel area (black zone above display). I didn't squeeze the heck out of it, but put just enough pressure to see a little temporary light bleed.
I chose that zone based on the teardown phone that I think came from Annandtech and is posted in an XDA dev thread.
See the two pogo pins (spring-loaded push connectors that stick up a bit). That's the area.
bimbobo said:
Screenshot please
Send the workaround to ASUS devs, so we can all be blessed.
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hab1 said:
+1
I was just about to ask for a screenshot of where you exactly pressed too. This would be awesome.
edit: Maybe this is why ASUS says they can "fix" the weak wifi?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pdagal said:
I pressed, both front and back, along the top bezel area (black zone above display). I didn't squeeze the heck out of it, but put just enough pressure to see a little temporary light bleed.
I chose that zone based on the teardown phone that I think came from Annandtech and is posted in an XDA dev thread.
See the two pogo pins (spring-loaded push connectors that stick up a bit). That's the area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just sent Gary key a very detailed PM and link to that thread showing teardown n talk about the pogo pins. Said this is info he will want to pass along to Asus engineers asap as it could be a real fix made from this info. these pogo pins not having a good connection will influence wireless performance more than anything else including backplate. if issues are caused from loose connections then fixed, backplate really won't be an issue anymore.
Asus official stance on WIFI is... well... more or less...."Prime's WIFI performance meets Asus standard".
So, this got me thinking. In my opinion, due to metal backplate in all Transformer Prime (even with the double WIFI antenna & few other design flaws)... we have more with WIFI issue/problem compared to those who don't. As in, I believe that those with WIFI issues are the majority... & not the minority.
However, considering that we all have different "standard" & expectation on WIFI performance.. and heck, it's difficult to exactly gauge the situation as the settings are different for everyone.....
I would like to know...
What exactly is the standard for WIFI performance for Asus??? What exactly qualifies "satisfactory" for Asus??
My WiFi in prime works perfectly but gps is working "not so poor and not so good".
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium HD app
The WiFi on my Prime works flawlessly.
By "flawlessly" I mean that it has greater range than my Galaxy S2 phone with faster speeds. The range of WiFi on my Prime is very close to that of my Dell laptop, and speeds are comparable. WiFi never drops off anywhere in my house, and has worked very well at several restaurants and 3 airports. I can be outside my apartment and sitting in my car down the street a ways (~150-200 ft) and I can still see and use the WiFi router in my 3rd floor apartment.
WiFi slows down a little bit when using bluetooth headphones, however WiFi speeds are still acceptable for web browsing or streaming Netflix or Hulu+ with no stuttering or drop in video quality.
I am pretty sure that these are the levels that Asus finds "acceptable." If you have a Prime and the WiFi doesn't work as well as mine, you should return it or send it to Asus for repair.
I also have no complaints about my wifi....
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium HD app
I am not questioning that there are Primes with "acceptable" WIFI performance. However, if I were to break it down in percentage.. it could be.. 51/49.. or 49/51.
AnandTech's review on Pad 300 for example.... on WIFI:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5756/asus-transformer-pad-300-review/5
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5688/apple-ipad-2012-review/18
For the record, my Prime is close to AnandTech's finding.. but slightly worse on most given day.
shinzz said:
As in, I believe that those with WIFI issues are the majority... & not the minority.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is absolutely no basis for this Large %age of people that bought the prime wont even realize that wifi on their prime might be different from other products And in my case (and i guess many others) it isnt different.
If i run into any problems with wifi reception in places where i cant optimize stuff like router settings (my bet is that router settings are what's causing most peoples problems with wifi - not only with the prime but in general), i just activate hotspot on my phone... Thats what i have my phone contract for
Also try moving your routers. Today i moved my router about half a meter around a corner and now i have perfect wifi on my balcony where I couldn't really get a signal before with none of my devices
I can stream youtube all over my place in HD without buffering. These are my "standards" in case of wifi signal strenght
[e] uh guess i'm in "smiley-mode"
clouds5 said:
There is absolutely no basis for this Large %age of people that bought the prime wont even realize that wifi on their prime might be different from other products And in my case (and i guess many others) it isnt different.
If i run into any problems with wifi reception in places where i cant optimize stuff like router settings (my bet is that router settings are what's causing most peoples problems with wifi - not only with the prime but in general), i just activate hotspot on my phone... Thats what i have my phone contract for
Also try moving your routers. Today i moved my router about half a meter around a corner and now i have perfect wifi on my balcony where I couldn't really get a signal before with none of my devices
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a lot of annoyance for one device. Btw, just an opinion.. but with some base..
1. metal backplate
2. 2 wifi antenna to overcome the metal backplate issue but with more design flaws that were found & ones that we might not know yet
We have no stats or breakdown of WIFI performance... so, I don't think we can assume that those with WIFI problems are minority either. So, in the end.. it is a toss up... & even if those with WIFI problems are the minority.. I seriously doubt it is 1 to 5% (industry standard).
Yeah thats what i'm saying. Its all just speculation. There are some people with wifi issues, thats all we can say.
I really dont mind optimizing my router placement/settings, as i said my phone didnt have steady wifi either on the balcony.
Btw its fascinating to me how people can take the one (minor - in my case its none at all) issue a great device has and call it a ****ty product because it, while the whole world is praising some other similar devices that are only half as good as the prime...
clouds5 said:
Yeah thats what i'm saying. Its all just speculation. There are some people with wifi issues, thats all we can say.
I really dont mind optimizing my router placement/settings, as i said my phone didnt have steady wifi either on the balcony.
Btw its fascinating to me how people can take the one (minor - in my case its none at all) issue a great device has and call it a ****ty product because it, while the whole world is praising some other similar devices that are only half as good as the prime...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it's sad that we have to speculate who the minority or majority is on WIFI performance/problem.
I have to guess that WIFI is a major issue to many (if they are having such problem) for WIFI only tablet. Tablets in general are luxury device & are used mostly for browsing & light gaming. Take out stable WIFI & you are left with a device to do WORK (those with dock) & for gaming/media.... but even for work, without stable WIFI, you lose the ability to email & etc... =/
Some have legit issues. Others just crappy routers and cable modems. My apartment is 1250 square foot. My router is on one corner on 1st floor. I get 2 to 3 bars from the other end of my apartment on 2nd floor corner bathroom. Yet I can stream hulu/Netflix with no issues while going number 2 in that same bathroom.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium App
square feet and making numbers in the bathroom... Americans..
But then they have netflix and i'm jealous again...
sorry for being pretty much offtopic
In areas where my signal drops, it drops with other devises too. It just drops a little more with the Prime.
In the bathroom going number 2 I sometimes have to tether to my phone to keep the WiFi going. It's the one spot in my house where I get the worst signal
Last night I downloaded a ROM for my Atrix and put the Prime side by side with my laptop so I could time the download to each device. Downloaded from dev-host on each and my Prime beat my laptop by 239mb to 108mb downloaded for my laptop in the same time. I think about 5 minutes but I forgot to time it. laptop is older dual core, 1.6 GHz, XP but was somewhat surprised.
Not to sure if it's a real test but it probably means I need a new laptop
@shinzz
Anecdotal evidence suggests satisfactory performance depends on the product at Asus with both the 101 and 700 variations having higher standards than the prime.
Good luck getting your question answered - fans and the blissfully ignorant will be more vocal and will far outnumber those with any real insight into your question.
Asus standards aside, my prime has the weakest wifi at distance from the router of any device in my household (2 smart phones, laptop and ipad2). I have stopped *****ing and bought a second router to enhance the signal for my prime, but the misalignment between Asus standards and my expectations means my next tablet will likely be branded differently.
jwe222 said:
@shinzz
Anecdotal evidence suggests satisfactory performance depends on the product at Asus with both the 101 and 700 variations having higher standards than the prime.
Good luck getting your question answered - fans and the blissfully ignorant will be more vocal and will far outnumber those with any real insight into your question.
Asus standards aside, my prime has the weakest wifi at distance from the router of any device in my household (2 smart phones, laptop and ipad2). I have stopped *****ing and bought a second router to enhance the signal for my prime, but the misalignment between Asus standards and my expectations means my next tablet will likely be branded differently.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Transformer Prime is becoming iPadish. Problem with WIFI.. purchase a new router or 2nd router... Problem with GPS (before the GPS dongle).. purchase Bluetooth GPS or tether to your Phone. Do you travel & have WIFI issues? Tether to your phone & use up your phone's data plan....
When you accumulate these cost just for tablet to function to your "need" (obviously, some don't at all as it meets their requirement).... it feels like I'm entering iPad territory & the ridiculous cost of iPad accessories.
shinzz said:
Transformer Prime is becoming iPadish. Problem with WIFI.. purchase a new router or 2nd router... Problem with GPS (before the GPS dongle).. purchase Bluetooth GPS or tether to your Phone. Do you travel & have WIFI issues? Tether to your phone & use up your phone's data plan....
When you accumulate these cost just for tablet to function to your "need" (obviously, some don't at all as it meets their requirement).... it feels like I'm entering iPad territory & the ridiculous cost of iPad accessories.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. I've owned two Primes and the WiFi on both was equally terrible. I have a TF300 on order right now, and when I get it I'm going to compare in equal environments. The screen and the sleek design on the Prime are both nice, but the fact is that I can't use it how I really need to use it because the connectivity is so poor that I lose over 90% of my throughput in some rooms of my 2-story house (where my laptop and phone both still get strong throughput). I shouldn't need a new router, and an external GPS accessory, and a cellphone hotspot to make a $500 tablet usable. I'm tired of making excuses and I'm tired of waiting for a WiFi fix that's never coming and I'm tired of being scared to RMA because of continued reports of damage and ineffective repairs that take a month or more. I'm sincerely happy for people whose experience has been better, but the fact is that many of us just haven't gotten the performance and usability that we expected when we first purchased this tablet.
shinzz said:
I am not questioning that there are Primes with "acceptable" WIFI performance. However, if I were to break it down in percentage.. it could be.. 51/49.. or 49/51.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've personally used ten different Primes, across almost every serial number range and with different routers at different locations. Every one of the ten Primes outperformed or equaled the connectivity of my laptops.
While I've seen a few other issues with quality control that makes me a little disappointed with Asus, WIFI hasn't been an issue in my experience with the tablet.
My prime gets the same and even a little better range than my bionic, slightly less than my laptop (But hey I have an envy 17) the only difference is signal degradation (ie speeds) at those distances are lower on the prime after about 20-30' from the router.
My wifi sucks on my prime. I have a Xirrus WAP, 10 feet away from me and i still cant get full bars.... When i am away on business, i cant get a strong enough signal from hotels to even check my emails... i travel with the prime and an ipad. The ipad gets connects without issues. I'm not sure because the ipad supports 2.4 & 5ghz band and the prime only 2.4, but there is no doubt it has a wifi issue. Like i said, 10 feet from the access point and still no full bars.
That's it, I'm done! Lol, I'm cleaning the inside of my Prime out and getting it swapped for another by ASUS. That's too many comments in a row saying that WiFi is better than or on par with their laptops and other mobile devices, my Prime consistently does worse.
And yes, I've optimized my router settings and everything, my other devices will easily reach the road and keep decent connectivity (~-75 dBm) while my Prime can't even keep connectivity a handful of feet (a meter for you clouds? ) from the front door. And the closest router is ten feet from that door!
That being said though, I generally never need or want my Prime to connect all the way into me front yard
My prime gets exactly the same db reception as my sensation. Although it does show a bar less it gets the same throughput as well.
Just picked up the HTC One Max from Verizon yesterday. I have not rooted it or done anything other than set up email. As soon as I brought it home I noticed that it was having trouble with my home's WiFi that my Gnex didn't have. I placed my Kindle, my Gnex, and the HTC One on the table next to each other. The router shows the signal from the Kindle as -35 dbm, the Gnex as -37 dbm and the HTC One Max as -60 dbm. Considering that it's 12 feet from the router with no walls in between, that's an awful signal. It causes the Max to be limited to about 11 Mbps. When I take the Max into another room it just drops the WiFi altogether.
Is there some setting I might be overlooking? I tried turning off WiFi optimization, but that didn't change anything.
Here's a picture of WiFi Analyzer running on the Gnex and the Max side by side to illustrate.
Nexus = cheap plastic frame while One Max = metal frame and dual stereo speakers (aka stereo interference that affects reception).
I still choose the Max.
GNRDuncan said:
Here's a picture of WiFi Analyzer running on the Gnex and the Max side by side to illustrate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What router ?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
Jiggity Janx said:
Nexus = cheap plastic frame while One Max = metal frame and dual stereo speakers (aka stereo interference that affects reception).
I still choose the Max.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with your assessment of the build quality of Samsungs (I went from a Gnex to a Max for a reason), but working WiFi is a must. I can't get 4G or even 3G most of the time at home and I don't have unlimited data anyway. The Max won't even connect to the WiFi in the next room. I can't believe this is how all Maxs are, so I'll exchange it tomorrow and check it out.
dottat said:
What router ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is a Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 running Tomato, but I don't know what's running on the other routers the Gnex is picking up. The router model won't matter in a side-by-side comparison of signal strength anyway - the router only broadcasts one signal and each phone receives that signal. As long as they're in the same place, the power of the signal reaching them will be the same. You can see that in this example where the Gnex is picking up three other routers that are presumably different models than my own, and that don't even register on the Max. If WiFi analyzer is anything close to correct, the Gnex is 1,000 times more sensitive than the Max. The Gnex registers about the same as my Kindle and the wife's Droid X2, so I don't think Samsung has anything special going on. I can see having some difference between designs and WiFi chips, etc., but I really don't believe Samsung's WiFi circuit is 1,000X more powerful than HTC's. That's about what I'd expect to see if the antenna weren't connected or some such.
On the other hand, my cellular reception is phemomenal compared to the Gnex. I just hope it's this particular Max with a problem so I can just exchange it and use WiFi.
I don't have any issues with wifi connectivity on my Max. I haven't run any analyzers because I haven't had the need to. I would take it in.
GNRDuncan said:
Mine is a Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 running Tomato, but I don't know what's running on the other routers the Gnex is picking up. The router model won't matter in a side-by-side comparison of signal strength anyway - the router only broadcasts one signal and each phone receives that signal. As long as they're in the same place, the power of the signal reaching them will be the same. You can see that in this example where the Gnex is picking up three other routers that are presumably different models than my own, and that don't even register on the Max. If WiFi analyzer is anything close to correct, the Gnex is 1,000 times more sensitive than the Max. The Gnex registers about the same as my Kindle and the wife's Droid X2, so I don't think Samsung has anything special going on. I can see having some difference between designs and WiFi chips, etc., but I really don't believe Samsung's WiFi circuit is 1,000X more powerful than HTC's. That's about what I'd expect to see if the antenna weren't connected or some such.
On the other hand, my cellular reception is phemomenal compared to the Gnex. I just hope it's this particular Max with a problem so I can just exchange it and use WiFi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only reason I ask is there had been a couple model routers that have had issues with HTC ones. What you describe has not been my experience. Exchange it.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
GNRDuncan said:
I agree with your assessment of the build quality of Samsungs (I went from a Gnex to a Max for a reason), but working WiFi is a must. I can't get 4G or even 3G most of the time at home and I don't have unlimited data anyway. The Max won't even connect to the WiFi in the next room. I can't believe this is how all Maxs are, so I'll exchange it tomorrow and check it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am pretty sure you have an hardware issue on your phone. Please go and exchange it. i speak from my experience of my One MAX dis-assembly. i used to get stable/ Full WiFi signals when it was stock, but when i re-assembled it i noticed a drop in WiFi signal and it was also not stable. i opened it up again to tweak the WiFi antennas a bit and tightened the screws properly and then it was good again.
I would suggest you to slightly tap / press on the top left of the phone(the speaker area the light sensor & top LCD bezel) a little and see if you WiFi improves and that would help to confirm the issue. You could place the phone on a firm table and press the area with your thumb and look at the WiFi bar's to check if you notice a difference.
Either way, you need to get the phone exchanged.
pradeepvizz said:
Either way, you need to get the phone exchanged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks to everyone. I exchanged today and the WiFi reception is better than the Kindle and the Gnex. I hope that was an isolated issue and won't be something we see a lot of with the Max.
GNRDuncan said:
Thanks to everyone. I exchanged today and the WiFi reception is better than the Kindle and the Gnex. I hope that was an isolated issue and won't be something we see a lot of with the Max.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know! :good::good: