Last November, during the SharePoint Conference 2012, I bought the Surface RT and so far, I’m really happy with it (and don’t want to change for a Pro version).

But, yesterday, when I took it to read my favorites blogs, I saw that there was no WiFi connection. I was still able to see the dozens of other non-hidden WiFi of my neighbors, but, none of the 3 SSIDs (2 of them are visible, but protected) that I use. Switching on and off the flight mode didn’t help, so I tried the option to refresh the Surface, and after about 30 minutes, still nothing.

The day after, I took it and tried to connect it to another WiFi network and there was no issue. I took this opportunity to download and install all the available updates, in case one of the could fix a potential bug (knowing that many people have issues with WiFi connectivity with the Surface). Back at home, no luck. Still not able to connect my hidden SSID or the two others.

Trying again my search engine, I found this superuser.com post, about an issue connecting a Windows 7 computer on a WiFi router. One of the answer was to change the WiFi channel used by the router. Then, I refined my searches, and found this interesting thread on the XDA developers forum. Here, it says that US Surface RT can’t connect to channels 12 & 13.

Looking at my router’s WiFi settings, I saw that it was in “Automatic Mode??? and setting it to a specific channel other than 12 and 13 made my Surface finding the network again. Honestly, I didn’t checked if it was confirmed and that US Surface RT really can’t connect to channels 12 and 13, but at least, it works for me, and maybe for others as well.

So, if, like me, you bought your Surface RT in the US, check your router WiFi settings if you loose your wireless network and try to change the channel used…