Windows Surface 11 Qualcomm Adapter Does Not See MR33

[PacketPaul]

Good afternoon

We purchased a Windows Surface 11 to test and found that it is not seeing our MR33 APs at all.  Other versions of Surfaces that have intel chipsets do see and connect, but for some reason, the Qualcomm is not seeing the AP.

I have done some searching and found others who have had this issue in the past with Qualcomm wireless adapters, but I haven't really found a solution.  I did try to make a secondary SSID profile, but that did not work as well.

Has anyone run into this sort of issue before with Qualcomm wireless adapters?

[BlakeRichardson]

So the device won't see any SSID's? Are you running both 2.4 and 5Ghz?  

Are there any wifi adaptor driver updates available?

[PacketPaul]

It sees other SSIDs.  It just won't see the MR33.  If you connect a wireless USB adapter, that adapter sees the MR33.  It's just an issue with the Qualcomm adapter and the MR33.

We did update the driver to make sure it wasn't a driver issue.

[BlakeRichardson]

I would open a support ticket. The MR33 is EOL but is still supported until 2026.

[thomasthomsen]

What exactly is the wireless NIC chipset ? model ?

Does it "see" your SSIDs on other of your APs (if you have other models of AP).

Historically I think the only times I have seen clients not being able to "see" a SSID has been if the drivers where old, and they did not support newer technologies like 802.11ac / ax and so on.

You can still disable for example .ax in your RF profile, but your MR33 is not a .ax AP, so I dont think that is the issue.

I have also seen some clients having issues with hidden SSID (and hidden SSID is "NOT a securityfeature(tm)" ) ... so start sending those beacons containing the name if you have disabled that 🙂 )

Also, a little related, the band steering feature can cause problems, basically for the same reason.

Just my thoughts.

/Thomas

[PacketPaul]

All of our APs are MR33 and have the same SSID.  Our SSID is hidden.  Its sent to the devices via GPO and the clients have certificate authentication.  This works on all other devices but the surface with the qualcomm adapter.  

I will test your suggestions.  Thank you.

[PacketPaul]

I have also seen some clients having issues with hidden SSID (and hidden SSID is "NOT a securityfeature(tm)" ) ... so start sending those beacons containing the name if you have disabled that 🙂 )

This may be the issue.  When I unhide the SSID, its pops right up and I can connect.  When it is hidden, it isnt seen for connections like our other devices via the GPO.  How do I force it to send the beacons?

[thomasthomsen]

By doing as you did "unhide" the SSID ?

Wireless -> SSID availability -> Visibility = Advertise this SSID publicly.

Or perhaps I do not fully understand your question ?

[PacketPaul]

Correct.  When I advertised the SSID publicly, its visible and I can connect.  When its hidden, the SSID is not able to be connected to.  The wireless GPO lets PCs in the GPO security group see the SSID and connect based on computer certificates.  

This works as intended for all other devices except Qualcomm network adapters.