A source at Asus has stated that they have no plans to replace the Tegra 3 in their upcoming Transformer tablets. In fact they were surprised that there was a rumor about this at all.

However, we can understand why there might be talk about this. The issue all centers on the wireless radio that is in the existing transformers. It is no secret that many people have reported connectivity and speed issues with the WiFi radio in the TF101 (original transformer) and the TF201 (Transformer Prime).

Although we are not 100% certain of the issue it does seem to be more about compatibility than an actual hardware or software problem. We took a look at the issue and it seems that the largest percentage of problems appear to be with Linksys wireless routers. This is not to say that there is an issue with Linksys, but it is more of a compatibility issue with the wireless controller and the way they implement their wireless handshake. We tested our TF101 with TRENDNet, D-LINK and also with a TP-Link Access point without any issues at all.

Unfortunately Linksys is a much more common brand due to pricing (and the Cisco logo) than the other three in the US so you are more likely to see this and have it reported. Most owners will also not think that their router (that works with everything else) could be the potential source (or part) of the problem.

The Tegra 3 does not have a wireless controller built into it while Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon not only has SoC’s with WiFi built in, but also have options for SoC’s with 3G Radios. This is an attractive rumor if Asus wanted to push the Transformer into the cellular world.

However, for the time being the TF301 (the next Transformer) looks like it will still have the Tegra 3 under the hood. After that things are uncertain and we could very well see a Qualcomm SoC under the hood of the TF401. Of course it is also possible that nVidia will have sandwiched their own wireless controller into the Tegra 4 by then and personally I would like to see the Transformer available on any platform like many of today’s laptops are, which could exclude the use of a single integrated 3G/4G radio (although not always).

We will keep you up-to-date on any news about the Asus Transformer as we find out over the next few days.

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