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So I have been waiting for the upgrade to the transformer since I got the transformer. The GPS issue is irritating, but the speakers on these devices blow by design, so I always have a trusty pair of bluetooth headphones with me that I can't use with my device as it destroys the wifi connection.
Now that I have my beautiful manufacturing mistake, I wonder what's next. What tablet is most likely to capitalize on the market share left open by the **** design that is the FULLY aluminum ATP back panel. I am a fan of the device but I'm worried that after they washed their hands of the GPS issue, they might do the same thing to the bluetooth issue. Currently I've been e-mailing Gary Key at ASUS who has thus far been unable to reproduce the issue. I can't get them to fix it if they can't track it down. Unless some of us have been saddled with substandard radios, I can't see how this problem can't be present in ALL ATPs.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1423180
They can't wash it as bluetooth and wifi is a standard on all devices. Plus most people have said that their GPS worked before the first firmware update (one that came out in December) so I believe that it is both h/w and s/w related. The wifi and bluetooth should work no matter what, which again worked before the first firmware update. So I believe they need to release new firmware, which might come out with the ICS update next week, to get GPS partially working and wifi/bluetooth simultaneously working together.
I'm unsure. From what I've read the ALL-ALUMINUM back will cause problems for everything. They tried putting antennas near the glass but that doesn't work if you look at the GPS performance. It works a little better for WiFi due to the technology but currently, at least for my BBO Grey 32GB ATP, BT + WIFI = Death.
I recall someone making a stray comment about HC not being tested and that ICS will solve this. I will hold on to my ATP until ICS. If the problem persists I'm packing it up, sending it back and waiting for the next great Android Tablet to replace to Original Asus Transformer.
I like the performance of the ATP. The Flash performance(which I use 80% of the time) is loads better than the already acceptable Original Transformer Flash performance. And ICS on my Samsung Galaxy Nexus is better still than both Transformers due to ICS being so much smoother so I look forward to a Tegra3 Tab with ICS.
The problem seems to be that EVERY OTHER COMPANY has some sort of plastic bit to free the RF from their tablets. ASUS decided to forgo that altogether and we are paying the price for this I think. It's too bad they didn't find a way to make the back into an antenna.
EDIT: And no, for me the BT killing WiFi issue was there from the original rootable shipping ROM. It has, however, gotten exponentially worse with each update. Originally the problem took 4-5 minutes.. or 60ish megs of data. Then it went to about 2-3 minutes at 20-30ish megs and with the latest revision I get less than a minute at like 8 megs . By the time ICS comes out turning on bluetooth while streaming Netflix on WiFi will make my tablet spontaneously combust.
well, i am not sure what to do.
i have sn: BCOKAS005XXX, and i am exhibiting some of the issues. GPS was non-existent before the ICS update. it seems that it improved a little bit with ICS as it picks up 1 or 2 satellites without wifi, but nothing to work with. my samsung galaxy s 4g gets 10 satellites within 2 seconds using GPS TEST.
had a bunch of issues after ICS upgrade with sluggishness and touchscreen lag until i did a factory reset. i do not see a way of clearing the cache as when i do VOL-DOWN and POWER gives me the option to reset using VOL-UP. if i do that, i get sort of the the android with the gear rotating for a couple of seconds and then i get an exclamation mark in a big orange triangle above the android and nothing happens. i have to power down from the button. i am not sure what that is all about. maybe somebody has an idea. by the way, it seems the touchscreen lag improved (still happening sometimes)
wifi still seems crappy. it works, but very slow. i have it sitting next to my computer and i get around 30mb while my computer gets 350mb. i am not sure why the wifi is slow in this tablet. didn't check it on my phone to see what i get. i have only supperficially looked at the bluetooth interfering with wifi issue, as i ran a speedtest with the bluetooth off and with the bluetooth on and does not seem to affect wifi, but i did not have anything connected through bluetooth.
decisions, decisions. i think i have until tomorrow to return it. hope someone can help me with my decision.
so, no inputs?
I hope not......... farrk these threads are getting boring!
I don't know where to begin to test GPS.
Yeah despite weeks of seeing some of you folks make thread about it, I never bothered to check when I got my Prime.
I did come across the Bluetooth paired + streaming over Wifi issue. I can deal with it because it's not so bad since ICS update, crap to marginal quality is better than no stream, which is what I got before the OS update. I'll have to stop pairing BT to obtain high and optimum quality from Netflix steaming though. But oh well.
I can live with it, primarily because the TFP is soon to be on the rare block as the only tablet made of metal, and with ASUS quickly trying to replace it with that ugly plastic TF700T.
I rather deal with the minor pain than to depart from my device so quickly.
I seem to be 1 of the lucky ones with no problem except GPS. If you NEED GPS then this tablet is not for you, or if you can wait few months you'll find some nice tablets. I have few issues but nothing that bothers me. I had a choice ipad2 vs this.... although I think ipad is better (ipad1 owner still) I love the android UI. Mine is not lagging only once in a while... if your freezing all the time exchange it or wait a month...
Seems like your going into recovery mode there with the Vol & power button....here's what you do to wipe....press down VOL- first then POWER for couple seconds (simultaneously) then when you see the writings appear let go then you should be on a screen with Android bot/data wipe box thingy...at this screen press VOL- then press VOL+...wipe should begin....
Return that *****!
Personally I emailed ASUS and told them they have 9 days to either fix my wifi/backplate or I am returning. Plain and simple it does not work in my Apt (wifi) the router is right outside my door and it is a small apt (probably under 500sqft). The building provides Wifi as part of the rent and well it sucks my computer can 10mb/s down and 15 up (I know pitiful). My TFP can connect and get 500kbs in the living room about 15ft from router with a door in the way and drops the signal about every 2mins and in my bedroom about 30ft away with another wall away from the router (2 walls total) I cant even see the ****ing router on my TFP. That performance is bull**** for $600. If they dont fix it I dont want it. I need wifi plain and simple and I am not getting it.
If you are in a similar situation I say return it!
Oh and sorry for the piss poor grammar I am slightly inebriated
Return it while you can, unless you can afford to use it as a paperweight when you get the next droid tablet.
Just chime in and tell me how your WiFi/GPS is, and how your prime is operating.
If you don't have anything positive towards this thread GET OUT. I'm trying to get a better understanding of how everyone with a BCOKAS model is doing.
My wifi is decent/crap, I have to be within 10 feet of any router for a good connection. GPS is worthless
I'm waiting on "Gary Key" to come out with his amazing solution of fixing this. That's why I haven't RMAed or Unlocked yet.
Besides the WiFi, I LOVE THIS DEVICE. I could use the GPS on my phone.
Sooo hows your BCOKAS Prime ???
WIFI: Range is horrible
WIFI + BT: Recently tested this feature.... performs extremely poorly. Will do more test.
GPS: I can get few birds (including inside of the house) & few will lock with pathetic signal. However, everything disappears once it starts to move...
That's including aGPS... horrible.
Browser: Adequate once Chrome browser was deleted. However, still getting the "wait" pop-up window or force close on occasion.
Games: Don't really game on my Prime but it works well when I do (games look good as well).
Streaming Media from Network(movies): Due to poor WIFI range, it doesn't work well once I am 15+ ft away from the router.. however, if I am within 10ft range.. it works well. Also, if my Prime is idle for few mins. (5+).. & if I wake up my Prime... screen flickers & I see screen tear... & when I unlock it.. it'll freeze/lag & Prime will reboot. (This continues even after soft reset.. haven't done factory reset yet)
eReader: Probably the main reason why I continue to use Prime. MyLibrary from Asus is my fav. eReader app. Yes, I mainly use Prime for reading eBooks... (not exactly the reason why I purchased but it works well).
WIFI:
My wifi range is very similar to my GNex so it's not terrible. I just ran a Speed Test and was getting around 4-5D and 4-5U on the wireless here at my work which the signal strength is around -70dB.
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GPS:
2-3 birds outside, nothing inside and I never get a lock.
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BT:
I have a lot of trouble getting things to connect to it but it can be done. Performance with wifi on is poor.
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OS:
Been getting launcher crashes of late so I installed GO HD and that seems to have helped, but I will say that apps in general are not very stable.
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Other than that, I'm in the same boat David. Waiting to unlock based on what I hear from RMA's. I started a thread a couple weeks ago to try and gather info from those who RMA'd for BT/WIFI issues but at that point no one really had. Maybe we can get some results now...
My bcokas
I have had this one since late Feb or early March (my 2nd one).
Only one or two uncommanded reboots--I am not a heavy user--I do not know enough about it to be a serious user, YET.
I am pretty computer knowledgeable, though.
I just took my prime outside (Anchorage, Alaska at the International Airport)
I have a wireless G network at our office. It is on the second floor inside a wooden frame building-close to, but not visible through a window. I connected with the WiFi Analyzer using the speedometer style gauge and received -73 to -75 DB at approximately 300 feet away on our ramp (aircraft parking area). I did not attempt any downloads--pretty chilly outside today.
Next, I loaded the GPS test app from Chartcross, and while outside (completely wide open), got no birds. This did not surprise me. I have found that if no birds are visible, a complete shutdown & restart will usually bring the GPS back to life. IT DID!!
Within 30 seconds of starting the app (after the complete restart), I had 12-14 birds visible and 10-11 in use. Signal strength never exceeded 31 on the graph. The usability remains poor, even though numerous birds in view. The coverage drops off to none frequently but reconnects quickly. As a commercial pilot, I am very familiar with GPS usage. This one cannot be classified greater than "Very Poor". I have the Dual xgps150a that I use via Bluetooth and it works flawlessly.
I have not attempted to use Bluetooth & WiFi at the same time, and therefore cannot comment on that aspect.
Overall, I am not dissatisfied with the Prime. I had no expectations of using the built-in GPS when I purchased it. The WiFi could be a bit better; but I consider it to be usable.
My biggest complaint with the Prime is not the hardware, it is the software. Specifically, the crappy browsers that I have tried (5 or 6). I absolutely hate "TABS" I refuse to use them on my PCs. I am not saying that they are bad, I just don't like them. The only browser that I even remotely can tolerate (thus far) is Dolphin. It still uses TABS, but at least it has a home button. Doing anything on a tablet browser (to me--so far) is like flying from Anchorage to Seattle via Tokyo, Manilla, and Santiago. I guess I am saying that I find all of them to be very user-unfriendly.
I guess I have whined enough.
Jerry In Anchorage, Alaska
Wifi is perfectly fine, no problems with it.
I've only gotten a lock with GPS once, and that was while I was sitting outside.
Haven't tried bt+wifi.
Have been getting some not responding messages with the browser occasionally when opening it.
I don't really game on it, but from the small amount of time I've used N64oid it certainly wasn't unacceptable.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA Premium.
I have had mine since mid January. No obvious issues with wi-fi and I'm able to stream music from my NAS drive to my bluetooth headphones while using the internet. I don't know if it's relevant but my broadband speed isn't exactly stellar (8mb max) whereas I notice that many of those with drop out issues when using bluetooth seem to to have a much higher speed normally.
GPS works in that satellites show indoors and out but the strength doesn't appear to be that great (I get locks but the values in GPS Test have never got near 30). Having said that, I probably would never use a tablet for satnav because of the size - it's far too big for my car whereas my Galaxy S2 phone is much more suitable and less distracting!
I've used most browsers but now mainly use either ICS+ Browser. I've (very) occasionally seen the 'wait' message but other than that everything is good and overall I'm (touch wood!) happy with my Prime.
Bcokas here. Wifi is fine and same as my old Droid charge and now my gnex. GPS got locks the one time I tried it months ago, been off since and never tried navigation with it so can't help with that. I've only tested bt with wifi using a sixaxis controller, seemed fine about 30 ft from router but didn't do a speed test to see if and how much it affected signal strength and speed.
I just got a BC0KAS TF201 back from RMA in Texas. My original complaint was black screen (nothing shows up on LCD), GPS nonexistent (ordered 12/28), and weak wifi. After all the parts replaced (GPS foil, conductive sponges, etc..), screen finally works but thats about it. No satellite locks still indoors or outdoors and still weak wifi.
junrider said:
I just got a BC0KAS TF201 back from RMA in Texas. My original complaint was black screen (nothing shows up on LCD), GPS nonexistent (ordered 12/18), and weak wifi. After all the parts replaced (GPS foil, conductive sponges, etc..), screen finally works but thats about it. No satellite locks still indoors or outdoors and still weak wifi.
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That's a lame story bro.
I'd RMA until they got it right. It sucks that you have to sit there and just take it, while Asus adds you to the satisfied Prime owner statistic.
Overall I have been happy with mine and would compare to some of the more favorable responses here.
Wifi: I initially thought that the .21 made a difference but have re-evaluated. At the furthest point in my house from the router (several walls, 1 floor, 40 ft) I get about 3-4 times slower speeds than other devices. It is still fast enough to surf, stream videos etc.
BT: don't use it much. Wifi speeds are the same whether it is on or off.
GPS: The patches in the dev section actually made some difference. I get a few sats inside with no lock. Outside, I get 11-12 with a lock. GPS test says the accuracy is 30 ft which I doubt would be enough to navigate, but who cares??
Regarding crashes when browsing and so on, I was getting a lot before I unlocked. In the end I just figured screw it, unlocked and installed a rom. I did that about 6 weeks ago and I could count the number of crashes on one hand. Maybe a factory reset would have had the same effect but where's the fun in that
skygunner27 said:
That's a lame story bro.
I'd RMA until they got it right. It sucks that you have to sit there and just take it, while Asus adds you to the satisfied Prime owner statistic.
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Its not really mine. Its my friend's prime, but i used my creditcard to pay for it. Its his first tablet so hes pretty new to the game. As long as the prime works he can deal until there is a real fix for it, then Ill tell him. I have the receipt (ordered well before the GPS announcement) and all the paper work for the RMA (so there is history that I have complained about the GPS and weak wifi), so they cant deny me the GPS. Couldnt tell if the bluetooth+wifi works since I dont have any bluetooth headphones to test it. I wanna give it a few more months to see if there is any development in the prime.
Thats why I refunded my money, I had few B0CKS and where all the same GPS and weak wifi. Im holding out for something that I can be happy with.
wifi works great. better than my Ipad & atrix phone as far as download speeds, reception strength, and signal stability goes.
wifi/BT works fine. I'm able to transfer big movie files from my phone to prime while prime is hooked up to wifi internet and streaming movie at same time. no slowdown of speeds and movie plays just fine streaming while BT in the background transferring big file.
Gps- never tested outdoors yet. plus I hook up my phone to prime through BT GPS. works great.
overall my early BC model from 12/22 has been performing great for me. no real issues what so ever to complain about really. I'd easily purchase this again if i had to do it over again. my Ipad has nothing on my prime. No comparison to Prime & Android experience. Very pleased with device and its performance. IMO, Asus did a great job on it as mines works as expected and more.
Thanks for the responding!
My wi-fi performance isn't stellar, but it isn't horrible either. I can get better signal than my, older, hp laptop in some areas of my house. I'm happy enough with it to not want to RMA.
I rely on my phone any time I need GPS so I have never actually tested it on my Prime. Seems like redundant use of technology for me. For the same reason, I haven't loaded any music onto my Prime--I have it all on my, more portable, phone.
I love ICS. Sure, I have some difficulty with the browser some times, but I expect Google will be continually making this better. I usually just check in with FB with it anyway. For any serious browsing I use a computer.
One of the things I love the best about my Prime is the dock. I've had zero issues with it and love the short-cut buttons. I'm currently writing a book, completely on my Prime, and it and Polaris Office have been wonderful.
I've been using my BC0KAS TF201 from Best Buy since mid January, and I'm pleased with it overall.
Wifi is nothing to be proud of, but acceptable. Downstairs is not a problem, but upstairs I get slower speeds, which is to be expected.
GPS is absent. I'm lucky to get a lock anywhere, and I've never seen more than 3 sats while driving.
I haven't used bluetooth much.
I use chrome browser and it works fine.
Battery life is somewhat of an issue for me; I keep it on about 50% brightness most of the time, and the battery goes down quite fast at times. Fast charging makes up for it though.
My wifi is usable. I even connected once to free mcdonalds wifi from the parking lot (slow, but checked my email which is what i needed to do). I will have a weak signal upstairs, but netflix worked fine.
Wifi + bt. Again, usable, but signal drops when i feed my stereo bt music and try to watch netflix (really real world?)
No reboots till two updates ago. Way better with .21
Gps is completely useless. I was one of the few who wanted this to replace my aging gps as a nice bonus. Tried all the gps patches from the thread, 1.0rc seems to make things more stable in gps test, but i no longer get locks whatsoever. Also, no skymap fun as its twitchy.
Screen goes through fits with tearing along the left side. Sometimes need to reboot to fix it. Minimal backlight bleeding, didnt even notice till the 3rd time i turned it on, and i was looking for it at that point.
I love this thing enough to have kept it since early jan (bb.com fiasco unit). Not unlocked. Still scared even though i reallllly want to...
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
My WiFi slightly beats out the Galaxy Ace and Wildfire in terms of range and the DL/UL speeds are still pretty good at the furthest away point in my house.
GPS is non existant as far as I can tell, not really got the patience to test it properly though.
Never really use BT+WiFi together so can't comment on that.
My Rear camera doesn't work, just a green glitchy mess. Not sure if it's hardware or software though.
Gaming is good on it, got plenty of emulators working very well and games like Shadowgun run and look great.
Wifi-up to par with my Droid x
Wifi+Bluetooth- no issues
Gps - not so great, its picky about location and view of the sky
Sent from my DROIDX using xda premium
Wifi matches Droid X in speed and signal strength.
I don't use BT on my tablet.
GPS - outside, 10/10 lock/view, vs. droid x 10/16. Inside, maybe 1 in view, no lock. Droid X will get 6/8.
OS, no issues. I did have to wipe going from HC-->ICS, but I wasn't expecting apps to survive anyway,
*edit*
I had issues with triangles appearing on overlays and random bars on the edge of the screen, but those have gone away with the .21 update. The triangle tearing thing was always fixable by just swiping apps off the recent apps list.
Wifi is fine my E4200 version 1 is in the center of the house and I get a decent connection both on the front and back steps and I use the prime to watch network streamed tv show replays with no problems or stuttering in the house. Gps is good in the house at times and non working at other times same outside. Location and weather effect this I believe. My browser hasnt given me any problems to speak of, overall I'm pleased.
When will ASUS provide us a fix for our poor WIFI instead of ignoring the issue? They have all these new devices but fail to take care of our issues. Is this how they treat their early adopters? How can you sell a Wifi only device with poor wifi? They need to replace the back cover or replace new hardware or just have a recall. This is unacceptable. If you buy a car and you only get 5 mpg when you should get 30mpg, i'm sure they would recall that car. My luck, first ASUS device and i get first reboot issues and poor GPS & Wifi.. I love the device as far as looks and game performance but, what what good is that if i cant get online to read my emails and browse?
While I agree with you I think Asus put themselves in a tough spot. Short of taking every Prime sold and doing hardware changes of whatever type, they can't fix this problem. Someone mentioned that they probably did the gps dongle and quick because a suit was filed against them for it. It was a universal problem with probably every unit. I could be wrong but I don't think they have admitted a problem with the internal gps, just the metal backing possibly blocking the signal.
This wifi/bt thing, it technically works. It may not function ideally but it functions. They may not be under the legal pressure as the gps, it being advertised, etc. It would be great for a solid solution to be found for this but I'm not going to hold my breath over it. The company knows the f* up exists.
Don't take this the wrong way... But speak for yourself. I have no issues with my Wifi. Its just as strong as my Galaxy Tab 10.1 using Wifi analyzer. I am also an early adopter SN#BC
jjdevega said:
Don't take this the wrong way... But speak for yourself. I have no issues with my Wifi. Its just as strong as my Galaxy Tab 10.1 using Wifi analyzer. I am also an early adopter SN#BC
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So you say... I thought the same thing also before going thru the WiFi/BT fallout thread.. pair some bluetooth headphones with your TF201, play some music or run netflix and run speedtest while its going and I dare say you'll be disappointed..
NeoMagus said:
So you say... I thought the same thing also before going thru the WiFi/BT fallout thread.. pair some bluetooth headphones with your TF201, play some music or run netflix and run speedtest while its going and I dare say you'll be disappointed..
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I've been through this before I even created a video just to prove Wifi/BT works fine when both are used for streaming. Just check out my Youtube video.
I did this late at night. Didn't want to wake the wife so I'm pretty quiet. My internet connection is caped at 10mbps
What was a little strange about the Speed test was that when I ran the test for the first time it yielded only 1mb but after running the test several more times after that it coincided with the wifi strength of it having full bars so I was getting 7mbps and more. I made the video on the second floor in my bedroom. The router is located on the first floor opposite corner of the house.
Edit: Besides. The OP is talking about Wifi and I was responding to his claims of everyone having weak wifi which is false since I have no problems with wifi.
jjdevega said:
I've been through this before I even created a video just to prove Wifi/BT works fine when both are used for streaming. Just check out my Youtube video.
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Seeing how no one has posted a video showing anything but a huge dropoff in bandwidth Id be willing to watch if you link it - but yours is probably like everyone elses including mine. If it isn't then feel lucky its adequate to you.. going from 30m/b down to 2m/b is not to me
**from what I'm seeing its just like mine most of your tests your losing half your bandwidth when its on ..2-4mb occassionally with a spike ..2mb really is all you need to stream both so if it works for you great but I wouldn't say theres no issue we should not be losing that much bandwidth (its alot more for me personally)
Nothing will be done because nothing is wrong.
Welcome to the wireless spectrum and the laws of physics. Inconsistent speedtest results? Drop-offs? Turn on a microwave, kill your stream? Yeah, welcome to wifi.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2387493?start=0&tstart=0
Deal with it.
Whats also important to note, the prime is not at all the only Tablet that is in this "wifi situation". Especially the best known Tablet on the world, the ipad, suffers from about the same issues.
Wifi is a radio signal, its the same thing with FM radio stations... In one room you always get interference with Station X while in the other room its perfectly clear. One day it might work well while the next one you cant hear a thing. Its similar with wifi and there are alot of factors involved.
As for me i did several "tests" with wifi analyzer and speed test and my tablet and 2 smartphones (DHD & SGS II) all around my house and in the garden. There is simply no consistancy in one spot the prime has the best signal and the best throughput in another it has the worst, in the end all devices performed more or less the same.
But thats just my situation, there is always the possibility that your device is defective in some way and if you feel somethings wrong i suggest you try RMA or just buy a wifi repeater But i guess thats about the only things you can do.
Btw: there was an intersting article i read a while ago about a Parisienne Hotel where some nerds (some of them actually invented wifi) had a convention/meeting. Everyone was using the wifi heavily and soon the system wouldnt work at all. They started talking to the tech guys of the hotel and... The wifi was set up totally wrong, all routers and repeaters worked on the same channel with wrong settings. The guys then shut down half of the repeaters changed the channels and tweaked the settings and voila wifi was amazing. I thought that was a pretty funny
Can someone with more technical experience chime in on this. Its obviously clear that the wifi signal on the Prime is subpar, which is a shame because we paid a pretty penny for this device, and the reason for this sub performance is due to a blatant oversight by the manufacturer. Which, has been resolved, but only in the new tablet model, which in my opinion is even more of a slap to the face, especially (again) considering how much the tablet costs. Now, I am not complaining much about this because while a crappy old phone can get 70mbs a wifi connection my Prime can only get, usually, around 30mbs, though I have seen it hit 70.
But here is my main concern, and I am sure ALL OF YOU can feel the pain of this. It appears that due to the weak signal, the device overly excerpts its resources to try and attain more signal, HOWEVER because of this it seems like the battery suffers quite extensibly, which is what leads me to believe the reason my battery usage shows wifi usually 100% as the top most used butter sucker-upper and it's usually by a landslide. This, if it is the case, really upsets me. Because, while I can live with an average 30mbs wifi connection (because cmon thats more than the ISP even provides), I would not be happy knowing that due to this manufacturer oversight the battery drains an addiotal 20-30% quicker than it would if this were not the problem.
Am I wrong here? Is wifi really not a problem for the battery? It is just odd to me that wifi shows up as using sometimes 50% of the battery!... And OMFG im NOT even joking, just checked battery usage and wifi is showing 94% of the battery.. that seems like a bug there is no way that could possibly be correct! 94%! lol wtf!
Jep i've been seeing that as well. It started with .21 when ever you use wifi the battery drains noticably faster. I also wrote a PM to Gary about that with screenshots and everything, i really hope they can change it back to the way it was before .21 because my wifi didnt improve, but my battery life did get worse.
robproctor said:
Can someone with more technical experience chime in on this. Its obviously clear that the wifi signal on the Prime is subpar, which is a shame because we paid a pretty penny for this device, and the reason for this sub performance is due to a blatant oversight by the manufacturer. Which, has been resolved, but only in the new tablet model, which in my opinion is even more of a slap to the face, especially (again) considering how much the tablet costs. Now, I am not complaining much about this because while a crappy old phone can get 70mbs a wifi connection my Prime can only get, usually, around 30mbs, though I have seen it hit 70.
But here is my main concern, and I am sure ALL OF YOU can feel the pain of this. It appears that due to the weak signal, the device overly excerpts its resources to try and attain more signal, HOWEVER because of this it seems like the battery suffers quite extensibly, which is what leads me to believe the reason my battery usage shows wifi usually 100% as the top most used butter sucker-upper and it's usually by a landslide. This, if it is the case, really upsets me. Because, while I can live with an average 30mbs wifi connection (because cmon thats more than the ISP even provides), I would not be happy knowing that due to this manufacturer oversight the battery drains an addiotal 20-30% quicker than it would if this were not the problem.
Am I wrong here? Is wifi really not a problem for the battery? It is just odd to me that wifi shows up as using sometimes 50% of the battery!... And OMFG im NOT even joking, just checked battery usage and wifi is showing 94% of the battery.. that seems like a bug there is no way that could possibly be correct! 94%! lol wtf!
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you do bring up a great point but wifi will always be the biggest battery drainer. along with display brightness. its a good theory THST if wifi was so poor, it would waste extra power trying to maintain or always look for a signal. Thing is, I don't consider wifi performance THST bad across devices to warrant that. what you saying is like if wifi barely even had a signal and was always connecting and disconnecting the signal. then yeah, extra power is being used to try to maintain it. but that's not the case with majority of primes. some primes have great wifi strength, others have decent strength, others have huge dropoffs in speeds after moving so far away from the router. But i haven't heard of anyone not being able to really pick up their home signal or even barely. wifi in prime good enough across the board to properly see and maintain signal. some peoples issues are when you move far away from the router and the dropoff in speeds.
like I said before, wifi will always be biggest battery drainer. I leave my wifi on 24/7 and I'm overclocked and I still get great battery life. maybe in last update Asus did increase the power signal output of wifi. but nothing so drastic to drain battery dramatically faster. we have an update coming so we will have to see how battery life is after it. whether it improves, gets better, or gets worse.
---------- Post added at 06:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:32 PM ----------
DONT make duplicate threads of exact same question. I will request for the other one to be closed if it hasn't already.
@ OP, there is no need for duplicate threads posted within a minute of each other. I have deleted your other thread named the same. If this was done in error, please contact a Mod to request correction.
Also, if this thread starts to turn into another complaining/whining thread, it will be locked. Almost everyone is aware of the limitations of this device (or lack there of), and there are more than enough threads already posted discussing wifi/gps issues.
My battery drain is only when Im docked. The wifi kills the battery in the dock pretty fast as it's constantly trying to charge the tablet. If I set wifi to turn off during sleep then theres no drastic drain and acts normal. Just like if it was undocked. When undocked even with wifi always on even on sleep it doesnt drain fast. Maybe 1-2% an hour. This issue has been mentioned before on another thread regarding battery drain during docked.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
kabrutus said:
When will ASUS provide us a fix for our poor WIFI instead of ignoring the issue? They have all these new devices but fail to take care of our issues. Is this how they treat their early adopters? How can you sell a Wifi only device with poor wifi? They need to replace the back cover or replace new hardware or just have a recall. This is unacceptable. If you buy a car and you only get 5 mpg when you should get 30mpg, i'm sure they would recall that car. My luck, first ASUS device and i get first reboot issues and poor GPS & Wifi.. I love the device as far as looks and game performance but, what what good is that if i cant get online to read my emails and browse?
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I consider myself a huge prime fanboy...with that said I'm also realistic. Short to the point answer regarding wifi and will they fix it? NO. They cant fix it, if they could have they would have done it by now. In fact they don't believe you even have a wifi problem but if you care refer to this link http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/ipad-and-tablets/asus-transformer-pad-infinity-700-review-50007211/ Also note the backplate on the infinity-thats your fix it will cost you to get it, sorry but it is what it is. If anybody on here tells you they can fix the wifi with an update think, why are they even attempting to fix a problem they wont acknowledge even happens?... Wifi performance among primes is not consistent, some may do well some may not. I knew this when I bought my prime but I can live with it. I had the original transformer and the prime cant hold a candle to the wifi performance it had. But overall the the OG transformer can't hold a candle to the prime.
Secondly, as far as reboots it's pretty much the same thing. They can't fix it and it's not just the prime simply google ICS and reboots and you will see. Again the performance will not be consistent some may reboot others may not. But whatever is causing the reboots up to this point is A: not exclusive to the prime and B seems to happen on devices updated to ICS or currently running ICS. I know these are bold statements but unless many people out there across a varying rage of devices are imagining reboots while running ICS then there must be an issue. That said I hope they fix both problems I just wont hold my breath. I am however very happy with my prime "limitations" and all.
My Prime was purchased the second week of February, C1 serial. My Wi-Fi is great actually. My router is in my office on the second floor, in the back of the house. If I am in the office, I actually top out my connection...as fast as can go. However, I'm in the basement 70% of the time (basically the living room) and I can still top out my speeds, or very close to it. That means I have the first floor between us, with 2 ceilings/floors between us also. There is one spot in the house ( basement, directly below the router) where I get maybe half my speeds, but I believe it's just a dead spot and not the Prime. It also works fine at work, and when running on my phones wifi hot spot. I realize all Primes are different as far as GPS and Wi-Fi, and I'm very lucky to have gotten a problem free device.
in my opinion to the wifi problem the problem isnt really the prime most of the time the problem is interfiernce or poor signal from the router, i have a c3 model and really cant complain about the signal if anything the only problem i can see with the prime is the stock browser, i find it impossible to browse through this forum with the stock browser at first i thought it was down to wifi connection but then soon realised that it was down to the browser as i have no problems with downloaded browsers.... so as to the will they fix it, i say you need something to be broke before you can fix it and i dont see anything broke, i just see sh*t happens so deal with it radio signal problems lol
jjdevega said:
I've been through this before I even created a video just to prove Wifi/BT works fine when both are used for streaming. Just check out my Youtube video.
I did this late at night. Didn't want to wake the wife so I'm pretty quiet. My internet connection is caped at 10mbps
What was a little strange about the Speed test was that when I ran the test for the first time it yielded only 1mb but after running the test several more times after that it coincided with the wifi strength of it having full bars so I was getting 7mbps and more. I made the video on the second floor in my bedroom. The router is located on the first floor opposite corner of the house.
Edit: Besides. The OP is talking about Wifi and I was responding to his claims of everyone having weak wifi which is false since I have no problems with wifi.
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I may be missing it but don't see the bluetooth streaming part... I see that it is connected but are you actually playing something through a bt headset or bt speakers?
My wifi is ok enough, but for example when I play spotify over bluetooth speakers things start to crap out and stutter. Not right away, but give it a minute or 2 and it will. Which sucks... No bt streaming and it works fine. This is what people are referring to when they speak about the bt/wifi issue.
dagrim1 said:
I may be missing it but don't see the bluetooth streaming part... I see that it is connected but are you actually playing something through a bt headset or bt speakers?
My wifi is ok enough, but for example when I play spotify over bluetooth speakers things start to crap out and stutter. Not right away, but give it a minute or 2 and it will. Which sucks... No bt streaming and it works fine. This is what people are referring to when they speak about the bt/wifi issue.
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Yes when I turned the bt on I also showed myself turning on my bt headset. Once it paired and the bt icon turned blue I started streaming then continued on with speedtest. I guess its a little hard to see it in the dark. Ill have to make another video during the day.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
mikeyxb said:
in my opinion to the wifi problem the problem isnt really the prime most of the time the problem is interfiernce or poor signal from the router, i have a c3 model and really cant complain about the signal if anything the only problem i can see with the prime is the stock browser, i find it impossible to browse through this forum with the stock browser at first i thought it was down to wifi connection but then soon realised that it was down to the browser as i have no problems with downloaded browsers.... so as to the will they fix it, i say you need something to be broke before you can fix it and i dont see anything broke, i just see sh*t happens so deal with it radio signal problems lol
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It is not a router issue or interference. For example, today i sat a coffee shop in China. I had my phone and laptop and Prime sitting on a table. My laptop and phone both showed 6 wifi connections available where I was sitting with signal showing a consistent 3 to 4 bars. My Prime got consistently just 1 connection, and that was only 2 bars for a pizza restaurant across from where I was. The tablet could not once sniff out the coffee shops connection, and only showed every 5 minutes for a second or two 1 of the other wifi connections available in the building. I've repeated and done this test in other places, the Prime struggles with wifi signals, it can't hold or them very well, runs slow, and drops connections. If I moved to a different seat I might have a perfect line to catch the signal of the coffee shop, but it is maddening the radio doesn't seem to be multidirectional in any way.
Btw, my wifi didn't used to be bad till .21. I attempted a factory reset, which did not improve things. I never had complaints about my wifi until then, so I am crossing my fingers a future firmware will improve it, but it seems rather hopeless.
i know this have been discussed before but there is still no solution.
here s my problem: wifi signal drops suddenly when i hold my phone. ive done sevral speed tests. These tests confirm that holding the phone results in a really bad wifi quality. I ve tried eveything.
does anyone have any ideas? even if its hardware moding
thx
+1
Sad to say, in my tests, by tightly holding the phone, especially at the bottom right, the signal strength reduced by about 20dBm.
Sent from my XT910 using XDA
this really sucks since this phone is pretty good and so far its the only BIG problem i found. and no solutions....
Must be a random problem. I have the RAZR and RAZR Maxx and neither has this problem.
For me, on 2.3.6 wifi signal was low, especially taking phone by bottom, but on ICS, both t-mobile ics and latest eu ics, wifi signal is very improved. Hand issue remains, but signal is for me stronger.
well i guess im just going to wait for stock ics update and hope it improves but im guessing the problem wont disappear since this is clearly a hardware issue. and if this is random then im very unlucky
When software fixes a radio that software usually just makes the signal-strength meter show signal that's not really there.
There are apps on Play that "fix" all kinds of radio problems by installing signal-strength icons with the low-strength indications set inaccurately. It *looks* like more signal, but it's the same low signal you had before.
Signal strength has almost nothing to do with reception anyway. Signal/Noise ratio is what's important, and there's no meter for that. One bar of signal in a very RF-quiet area, is much better than five bars in a computer data center.
"Caveet emter, I reckon!"
- Mark Twain
I have no wifi issues with this phone. The GNex however was unusable at 30 feet from a high-powered Hawking WAP, or an Apple Airport Extreme WAP.
If you have a plastic case, try removing it. Some cases are made with recycled plastic and are infused with conductive material that can act as a Faraday Shield, blocking part of the signal. Easy test, costs nothing but a few seconds...
yea i already knew about the plastic thats why i bought a rubber case. I have to say it helped a little but didnt fix it. the problem is still there.
thx
Haven't seen any problems with my wifi, although I mainly use the 3G simply because I have 4 GB of data a month and I will never use that much when I'm out around town.
If the problem occurs when holding it a certain way wouldn't the simplest solution be to not hold it that way, also be very aware of any metals between you and the router as metals block radio signals, how old is your house, if old enough maybe lead paint, unlikely but just throwing all possibilities out there.
thx for your help. i didnt only test this at home and as for holding the phone im used to hold it like i hold all phones and its pretty annoying if i always have to hold it differently if i want to use the internet
Have you tried the free Play Store app, WiFi Analyzer?
This will help you find out what works/doesn't as it provides more sensitive strength measurements from the chip. It's handy anyway, since it shows WAPs that you aren't connected to. yet.
It's quite possible that your antenna wire bounced off the connector. An insignificant drop of an inch could do that if it was never seated correctly. It would likely operate in a degraded capacity as a result. If you're OK with cracking the case open, that's something quick to check.
How long have you had this phone?
I have never heard anyone complain about the Razr's WiFi reception, so I suspect this is something unique to that phone right there. What is your idea of poor reception? 100 feet, inside, is the practical limit. 300 feet in an open field. Metal wall studs, sheet metal siding, all of these will stop radio waves dead.
marawan31 said:
thx for your help. i didnt only test this at home and as for holding the phone im used to hold it like i hold all phones and its pretty annoying if i always have to hold it differently if i want to use the internet
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I get that, just trying to "cover all the bases" as they say.
Giblet535 said:
I have never heard anyone complain about the Razr's WiFi reception,
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Click to collapse
Then you haven't been listening. The RAZR is universally acclaimed to have the worst WiFi reception of ANY device since 1999.
im ok with opening it... i actually opened it a couple of times and removed the battery but idk what to look for since nothing is labeled i dont even know where exactly is the wifi ship and antenna. i tested this as close as 6 feet from my router when i leave it on the table i get full wifi signal and speed test at max then i hold it and try... wifi signal goes down and speed test at 3/4 max speed...
thx
It's possible that I have an extraordinary phone then. I decided to compare.
My phone is seeing -60dbm from the Hawking extender that I'm closest to, which is about 20 meters away, behind three stick-frame (pine 2x4 studs, sheetrock) walls. The reading varies dramatically, depending on where I put it on my desk. So let's see what some other WiFi devices do...
My MacBook reads -58dbm. My iPad2 reads -59dbm. An HP Envy 15 reads -65dbm. And a Moto Atrix2 WCS (With Cracked Screen) reads -61dbm.
A transfer of 200MB ("random" data created via linux: 'dd if=/dev/random of=200mb.dat bs=1048576 count=200' so that compression algorithms don't skew the results):
Razr (6.12.79 ICS Black Widow): 9s
MacBook (Lion): 6.5s
iPad2: 10s
HP Envy 15 (Ubuntu 11.10): 7.5s
Moto Atrix2 WCS: 10s
I didn't repeat the test, and that is a busy WAP, but the results are what I expect for battery-operated devices. I also expected the ipad, atrix and razr to lose the race, since they have relatively slow storage systems, which have inherently poor write performance on files of this size (200MB won't buffer at all).
The WiFi cable will look like a white or black wire with a gold junction on the end where it meets the motherboard. I would expect that if you've had the phone open, you would definitely notice a wire hanging loose! I doubt that's the problem, but that wire is a coaxial shielded cable - like on cable TV only really tiny - and you can do all kinds of DIY replacement antenna stuff eg, adding an external jack so you can "beam" WiFi a mile away using a hacked Pringles potato chip can.
I actually think the problem might be RF noise in your environment. Florescent lights (CFLs), computing equipment, HVAC compressors, and motors can effectively "jam" WiFi signals, causing packet transmission failures to increase rapidly as the distance from the WAP increases.
We have a Fluke RF analyzer here, and our WiFi setup is quite good as a result.
Does anyone know if the Razr is unusually susceptible to RF noise? Maybe noise that the Razr generates from the motherboard/CPU/radios/BT? I'm not equipped to test that.
---------- Post added at 09:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:29 AM ----------
Do you have other devices to compare the Razr to?
Did you try pointing all the rubber duck antennas on the WAP straight up?
I just checked an iphone, another ipad, another Razr, and a Dell laptop, and my boss's Razr was technically the winner on signal strength and transfer speed, but let's call it even. There are too many variables, and statistically significant benchmarking is beyond the scope of a forum comment.
The Razr has typical WiFi performance in this environment.
Thank you very much for your post. I did try with the desire z and the evo 3d which are doing jist fine wheather i hold them or leave them on the table: both signal and speed test are amazing compared to the razr (if i hold it). If you could tell me where the wifi ship and antenna are located (a pic maybe) it would be great because when i open the razr all i can see are metal plates everywhere probably for cooling. I dont understand what you mean by pointing all the rubber duck antennas on the WAP...
Thx again
I haven't had a Razr open yet. Even after dropping mine from a motorcycle and watching it slide into a ditch with an inch of water in it. Tough li'l bastards...
The WiFi antenna cable and connector are probably under one of the metal shields.
Most WAPs have 1, 2, or 3 "rubber duck" antennas that you can move to maximize the signal lobe pattern. You can use the WiFi Analyzer app to adjust them, but be prepared to walk a lot...
Others are just a box. The only one of those that *I* know of that works well is the Apple Airport Extreme. The Netgear Wireless-N HD, which is very highly rated, is a P.O.S.: it has a narrow, elongated lobe pattern, and if you're in that narrow lobe, it works REALLY well. If not, you'll be lucky to connect to it. Two people standing 10 feet apart, and one can have great service while the other can't even get an IP address.
The fact that you have other devices working well, and you sound like you've done this quite a bit, I'm guessing you have a problem inside the phone itself.
I manage about 200 phones here, and I haven't heard one word of complaint about WiFi. 3G/4G service? Yeah, lots of complaints about 3G/4G from people out in the woods or working in a valley.
These also work well as a WAP (tethering). We have a few of the Personal WiFi devices - a handheld that converts 3G/4G to WiFi for up to five users - but most people prefer this phone for that.
My old DroidX has a better WiFi antenna, but that's an exceptional phone with only one core: I spit on it. Ptui.