[Renthal]

jrz5024, 802.11 wireless comes from an access point, not a router. In other words, it makes no difference how close to the router you are at your office.

[Pronixx]

my wifi sucked before the update. Now it works fine.

[movielover76]

I had a lot of problems with wifi, which caused me to return the tablet, range wasn't so much the problem but the speed dropped off like a brick when I moved away from the router, based on reports that the speed is fine regardless of distance, I suspect that the problem was all of the interference, I can see 7 aps which aren't mine from my bedroom in an apartment, but all of my other devices handle it much better so it didn't cut it for me. I went from 20mbps in the same room as the router, to 5 in the next room and 1 - 3mbps 2 rooms away.

[Kmcferrin]

jrz5024, 802.11 wireless comes from an access point, not a router. In other words, it makes no difference how close to the router you are at your office.

Kinda pedantic there. Many people have broadband routers (basically a NAT device) that incorporates a wifi access point. People generally refer to them as "routers", and since they are technically the gateway that routes between two networks (public and private) the term is accurate.

Anyway...after picking up my TP I did a quick test around the house. My router with integrated wifi is on the second floor on one end of the house. I've got strong signal across both floors and even in my basement lab on the opposite end of the house from the router. I compared it to my Moto Droid 2, and the TP generally shows the same number of bars or one fewer than the D2 does. However, the D2 shows several other APs in the neighborhood with very weak signals and the TP doesn't see them.

GPS signal seems non-existant, even outdoors. I couldn't see even a single satellite. That being said, I may be missing an update. After unboxing I got the ICS update, then a firmware update for the camera. It doesn't show any other updates available.

[phoneturf]

I was about to return mine to Best Buy yesterday after having it a little more than a week due to the poor wifi performance. All over my house, I can stream netflix with my old Nook Color but the Prime stuttered so badly it was unusable in most of the house. But, when I went to Best Buy I instead got a wife extender to see if that made a difference and give it one more chance before returning it since I love it otherwise. Luckily, the extender works beautifully. Full wifi (and netflix streaming) all over the house, so all is good. The extender cost $70 so that stinks, but it does give me better performance on a couple other computers in the house, too.. As far as GPS, mine was marginal until I got the latest update, which made it completely useless.

I wish Asus would just hurry and release the bootloader unlocker so we can get some tweaked roms since I have much more faith in xda devs to get the best performance out of a device than any manufacturer. I bet that once this happens we will have a rom which provides decent GPS within a few weeks.

[jrz5024]

Ran some further tests, and I can happily report zero issues with Wi-Fi at home. My apartment is tiny, so I couldn't test any real distance, but sitting 10-20 feet away from my router yielded speeds of nearly 20MB down / 10mb up with latency of ~10ms on Verizon Fios. No noticeable issues with connection I can see.

I have a theory that the supposed connection issues may be more perceived than actual. I did notice that I would randomly lose 1-2 bars even when I didn't move and was sitting close to the router. But when I opened up wi-fi settings, it would uniformly read as an "excellent" connection, and my speed didn't seem to be affected.

The BB salesman said he heard the wi-fi problems were only in the first production batch, and that Asus has fixed the problems. FWIW it sure seems like mine works just fine. Doesn't make the GPS any less worthless though =P

jrz5024, 802.11 wireless comes from an access point, not a router. In other words, it makes no difference how close to the router you are at your office.

Uh, there are these things called wireless routers. They transmit a wi-fi signal. Perhaps you've heard of them. They look like this:

[jayhawk2366]

Yes, I was thinking that the wi-fi issues were with the first batch that they sent out. I received my prime yesterday from BB and noticed no wi-fi issues at all. I didn't run any physical tests or anything, but the speed of web browsing was up to par for me and running netflix and youtube videos I had no stutters.

[Kmcferrin]

But, when I went to Best Buy I instead got a wife extender to see if that made a difference

Sounds like an interesting product. What does it do, exactly?

[Rogue58]

I'm happy with my Prime.

[totfit]

No major issues here at all. I get decent performance and reception and even get pretty decent bars at times from neighbors wifi's. Granted, it is not the best I have ever seen, but by no means the worst either.

[ouchyoung]

I bought the prime from BB the day before yesterday, and find it is really a tab in good performance and happy to use except I browse the web with it. I can hardly get connected to WIFI when I am sitting in my office, the signal drops to only one bar or zero, webpages are hard to be opened. While at the same position, my laptop (apple) and cell phone (Samsung) can both connect to the router without any problem. The laptop show full to 4 bars and the cell phone shows 1 to 2 bars, they can both open webpages smoothly. Moreover, I got lost on road because of the bad GPS equipped on this pad. It lost connection with the satellites suddenly and can not connect to them again. I have to get out the car in the chilling wind to get the pad re-connected to satellites and then sit back into the car watching the PAD lost the connection again. Finally I used the google earth on my cell phone to navigate when I finally find the celluar signal. I've decided to return this pad tomorrow.

[totfit]

I have had no issues with wifi. It is not the greatest reception I have ever had on a device, but about average. Does much better than my new work phone a Motorola Commander.

[Bamm83]

I bought the prime from BB the day before yesterday, and find it is really a tab in good performance and happy to use except I browse the web with it. I can hardly get connected to WIFI when I am sitting in my office, the signal drops to only one bar or zero, webpages are hard to be opened. While at the same position, my laptop (apple) and cell phone (Samsung) can both connect to the router without any problem. The laptop show full to 4 bars and the cell phone shows 1 to 2 bars, they can both open webpages smoothly. Moreover, I got lost on road because of the bad GPS equipped on this pad. It lost connection with the satellites suddenly and can not connect to them again. I have to get out the car in the chilling wind to get the pad re-connected to satellites and then sit back into the car watching the PAD lost the connection again. Finally I used the google earth on my cell phone to navigate when I finally find the celluar signal. I've decided to return this pad tomorrow.

Forgive me if I come across as an ***, but what are you doing relying on GPS with your tab when you have a "Samsung cellphone?" Just asking. Yes, I wish the Prime had exceptional GPS like it was advertised to have, but honestly, most everyone with a tab is techy enough to have a sufficient cellphone. And most if not all phones have reliant GPS. TeleNav for example has a feature which allows for GPS to still work even without a cell signal. Sprint phones have it preinstalled. Not sure if the market has it available.

[theduke]

My wifi is real bad....if i leave out the room with my rooted bionic plugged in the wall to charge i lose my connection...but with my ipad1 i can go outside and still have a connection. Luckily i have my wifi on my phone so it go wherever i go. Asus need to get this together ASAP...
Also i only get two bars when i have my prime and phone next to each other....never had full bars yet.

[scottysize]

My wifi is real bad....if i leave out the room with my rooted bionic plugged in the wall to charge i lose my connection...but with my ipad1 i can go outside and still have a connection. Luckily i have my wifi on my phone so it go wherever i go. Asus need to get this together ASAP...
Also i only get two bars when i have my prime and phone next to each other....never had full bars yet.

Maybe you got one of the first ones that shipped. I've heard that those had WiFi problems.

[False_Aesop]

I don't seem to have any problems, while the wifi signal display always has fewer bars than my phone or laptop going into settings and checking the link speed always shows them at the same link speed.

[mikenzinbfe]

i had average signal strength when i first got mine a couple of weeks ago then with the update two, three days ago i forget, but i have since had all bars indicating optimum signal. i've taken it outside about 25' distant from the modem and was able to get my mail no problems this afternoon. side note i am so happy i tried the beta chrome, haven't used the others, opera or "browser" since.

[Pandawg]

It's better with the new update.

[Kmcferrin]

side note i am so happy i tried the beta chrome, haven't used the others, opera or "browser" since.

I liked the Chrome beta well enough, but like the other Google browser it still doesn't have an option to set the user agent to a desktop browser. I don't think it even has the option to request the desktop page on a page-by-page basis like the stock browser does. Is Dolphin the only one that has this simple feature? Dolphin is OK, but the menu bars on the sides that you slide to reveal suck. They always pop up when I'm scrolling on a zoomed page.

[scottysize]

I liked the Chrome beta well enough, but like the other Google browser it still doesn't have an option to set the user agent to a desktop browser. I don't think it even has the option to request the desktop page on a page-by-page basis like the stock browser does. Is Dolphin the only one that has this simple feature? Dolphin is OK, but the menu bars on the sides that you slide to reveal suck. They always pop up when I'm scrolling on a zoomed page.

I've never liked the Dolphin browser. You are correct. If Chrome comes out with a desktop always button, it will be my browser. Right now I'm still using the stock because I can go check the box for desktop site.

[WallaceD]

I liked the Chrome beta well enough, but like the other Google browser it still doesn't have an option to set the user agent to a desktop browser. I don't think it even has the option to request the desktop page on a page-by-page basis like the stock browser does. Is Dolphin the only one that has this simple feature? Dolphin is OK, but the menu bars on the sides that you slide to reveal suck. They always pop up when I'm scrolling on a zoomed page.

You know you can turn off those "menu bars on the sides", right? It's an option under "Dolphin settings" and once unchecked, swiping does nothing.

[danan]

What constitutes no problems with WIFI?

I ordered one and it has consistently slower download speeds and weaker signal, and weaker range than my hp touchpad but it works. So it isn't in anyway non-functioning but it is very clearly worse than every ipad, original transformer and hp touchpad that I have compared it to. It is also just simply a less consistent signal.

So if enough others could verify to me that the prime is getting download speeds as fast as the average good tablet out there, then maybe I would consider just exchanging it rather than returning it but from what I have seen, although most of them work fine, they don't seem to work great reception wise.

Am I wrong?

[Irix]

I found the WiFi reception to not be satisfactory. The lack of a plastic window on the aluminum screen backing causes the device to mostly radiate it's signal from the screen facing side. If you have the screen facing towards the base station it will get better reception. (There are some circumstances where you might find some multi-path reflections that are better than direct to the BSE, everyone's environment will differ)

Another major problem not discussed is the interference the Prime causes. Because it is not receiving well the prime will turn up it's transmit power causing it to walk over signals from other wireless devices. Ruining the SNR of your WiFi network.

A good analogy here is to picture 3 people standing in a room. All equal distance from one another, lets say 20 feet. Label person number 3 as the transformer prime. Persons #1 and #2 start in a conversation with one another talking quietly because they can hear one another well. Well #3 Mr. Prime can't hear well so he starts shouting back! Saying he can't hear. However now he's talking so loud #1 and #2 can't hear one another. So they too have to talk louder to hear one another. What started as a quiet conversation has turned into a shouting match because one person has hearing (reception) problems.

My point here is the degraded WiFi causes more than just bandwidth problems. It causes interference issues with other devices. I noticed my notebook would completely drop off the WiFi network when the Prime was anywhere near it. Interference like I described above where it just hammered the WiFi network's SNR. For that scenario I was 35-40' from the base station and 1 story away so lots of walls in-between. However the notebook was locked in at 39Mbit with good SNR, and the Prime was at 5mbit with the screen facing the base station.

EVERYONE has a prime with poor radio reception..... EVERYONE. Just because you can't perceive it (say you live in an apartment) doesn't mean the issue isn't there. It just means that your perception is it doesn't effect you, yet. But the question is will it ever? Hotel WiFi can have poor signal on even devices that get excellent WiFi reception. Do you want to be able to sit outside? I asked myself those questions and decided to return it.

If people continue to accept companies releasing products that are shoddy you will continue to get shoddy products rushed to market. It's pretty sad they announce the next generation prime that's basically the same with the proper WiFi plastic window less than 2 weeks after the Prime's official launch in late December.

Unless you cut a hole in the aluminum on the back side of the screen you'll never get proper reception. The way they designed the prime is equal to living life with an ear plug in one of your ears. You can still hear, but not as well as you should be able too and if you know anyone that's losing their hearing it's life altering in ways you might not expect (like I explained above in the analogy).

I returned mine... I do not support quantity over quality for something I plan on using every day and traveling with. I'll wait a few months and get the properly designed one...

[totfit]

No, not EVERYONE. My wifi is no issue at all and comparable with any device I have. I work in IT in a major school system and use mine on the wireless network at multiple schools and use it at my primary school to control imaging sessions from remote desktop. At home my router is upstairs and I have good reception from anywhere in the house and I don't have a fantastic router by any means. Just the standard one from the cable company which I recently switch to. No problem here.

[enthuz]

It's posts like these that give me hope. Thanks for posting a positive review.