Some Surfaces unable to connect to 5GHz networks following recent update

Surface Laptop 2
Surface Laptop 2 (Image credit: Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • Some Surface users can't connect to 5GHz networks following a recent update.
  • The Surface Laptop, Surface Book, and Surface Pro 5th Gen seem to be affected by the issue.
  • The update that seems to have caused the issue was supposed to improve Wi-Fi.

Several Surface users have reported that they can no longer connect to 5GHz networks following a recent update. Users on a Microsoft Answers forum and a Reddit thread say they've run into the issue (via Windows Latest). The Surface Laptop, Surface Book, and Surface Pro 5th Gen are reportedly affected.

According to both posts, a user updated their Wi-Fi driver to "Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. – Net – 15.68.17013.110." Following the update, they couldn't connect to 5GHz networks on their Surface Book. Uninstalling the driver seemed to fix the issue and reinstalling the update seems to cause it again. Other users have chimed in saying they face the same issue on their Surface devices, including the Surface Laptop, Surface Book, and Surface Pro 5th Gen.

The extent of the issue is not yet determined. It seems to only affect a subset of Surface users, even on affected devices. Microsoft has not issued a response to the issue at time of publication.

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Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com.