If you are facing problems connecting to the Internet on your Surface tablet, it is more likely there are some problems with the Marvell Avastar Wireless-AC Network Controller driver. It is the main wireless interface driver in your Microsoft Surface tablet that is used to connect to wireless networks.
Surface tablet only features Wireless connectivity and there is no Ethernet port. Therefore, you won’t be able to access the Internet on your Surface tablet until the wireless connectivity issue is resolved. If you are facing a similar problem with your Surface tablet, you are in right place. Here we have discussed a few solutions to resolve wireless connectivity issue in the Surface tablet.
We have offered two options- update drivers manually and update automatically. You are free to choose any solution to resolve the issue. Let’s get started.
Solution – Update wireless drivers manually on Surface
In this solution, you will be performing all steps like downloading and installing wireless drivers from the Internet manually. If you are not comfortable or want an easy option, we suggest you go to Solution Two and follow the steps given there. For users who want to do update drivers manually, here are the steps to follow.
(Note- since wireless Internet functionality of the Surface tablet is not working, you need to connect the Surface tablet to the Internet through a wired connection. The surface tablet does not have an Ethernet port, the Docking station features an Ethernet port that can be used for a wired connection)
In this solution, we have discussed two scenarios-
- Your Surface tablet is able to connect to the Internet through a wired connection
- Your surface tablet is not able to connect to the Internet through a wired connection
Case 1 – Your Surface tablet is able to connect to the Internet through a wired connection
If your Surface tablet is able to connect to the Internet through the wired connection you can download the wireless drivers directly to the Surface tablet and resolve the wireless issue. Here are the steps to follow.
Before downloading drivers
As you know Windows 10 has different versions and the version number changes after major Windows updates. You need to know the Windows 10 version number installed on your Surface tablet. Here are the steps to follow.
- Click Start
- Click Settings(gear icon)
- Click System
- Click About and locate the OS Build number
Step One – Download Drivers
- Open a browser and go to the Microsoft Surface tablet website to download wireless drivers
- Look for your Surface model and click on the right download link to download the wireless The driver file would have Surface model number mentioned at the start in the name.
- A new tab opens, click Download
- In the next page, you will see two options which are different versions of the driver for the same Surface model. The different versions mentioned in the name are actually Windows 10 version installed on your surface.
- For example, in the above image, you can see two driver files
- msi
- msi.
In the first driver file, the 15063 number is the version number. In the second driver file, the number 16299 is the Windows 10 version number. You need to download the driver that is specifically recommended for your Windows 10 version on your Surface laptop.
- Place a checkmark for the driver file you want to download and click Next
- the drive file download starts automatically
Step Two- Extract the file
After you have downloaded the file, you need to extract the file and install the wireless driver. Here are the steps to follow
- right-click on the driver file or Press and hold and select Extract All
- Select Extract
- On your Surface tablet, follow this folder path to reach wireless drivers. Select Drivers-> Network-> Wi-Fi
- At the top of the ribbon, select View and select the File Name Extensions check box
- right-click or press and hold the INF file
- Select Install
- When the installing of the wireless driver is completed, select OK
- Restart your Surface tablet
- After installing the wireless driver, you can delete the folders and the contents to free drive space
Case 2 – Your Surface tablet is not able to connect to the Internet through a wired connection
Since your Surface is not able to connect to the Internet, you need to perform the Step One and Step Two on your PC and then transfer the extracted file to Surface tablet and then perform the last 5 steps of the “Step Two- Extract the file” on the Surface tablet.
Solution Two – Update drivers using a Driver Update Tool
Automatic driver update tools offer many benefits, the most important ones being:
- You can update device drivers automatically
- The software scans and updates all outdated or missing drivers at one go
- The tool picks the right drivers for your device and operating system, so you won’t have to worry about installing an incorrect driver by mistake
- Automatic driver updates are 100% safe
Driver Updater is one of the best driver update tools out there. Outbyte Driver Updater will give you access to a database of over 1 million drivers. It will regularly scan your PC, suggesting new driver versions to install. Driver Updater contains drivers for a variety of Windows devices. With just one click, you can update drivers in your system.
Step 1
Click here to Install and launch the app
Step 2
Scan all devices
Step 3
Install or update drivers automatically
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