Workaround for Dell Venue Pro 11 5130 resume from sleep issue and wireless flakiness

I've had the Venue Pro 11 for a few days now and this tablet has several major bugs Microsoft, Intel, Atheros, and Dell need to address. I have experienced the same issues with wireless becoming inactive and stating Limited Connectivity and the other issue of resuming to a black screen after the tablet is in sleep mode. I really want to like this tablet since when it is very functional when it does work. 

I have tried uninstalling the 3 hotfixes that others have mentioned in other threads. This did not solve either of my 2 main issues. After several hours of research and trial and error, I have discovered the workaround for the black screen from sleep issue is to disable the TPM in the BIOS. One of the 3 hotfixes mentions an issue with Windows 8.1 and TPM.

I have successfully resumed from auto and manual sleep for the past 2 days with TPM disabled. In order to disable TPM, you will need to follow the steps in order. This involves disabling Bitlocker. Bitlocker is used to encrypt your drive and works with the TPM chip. If you have a valid need for drive encryption, do NOT move forward with this workaround. You will also need a USB keyboard to fully disable the TPM chip so have a USB keyboard to proceed forward. Another benefit to disabling bitlocker is to increase disk speed by almost 2x. Some other poster in http://forum.tabletpcreview.com ran benchmarks before and after and it was significant after bitlocker was disabled. Sorry, but I do not recall the link. 

Follow these steps in order:

1) Control Panel>Bitlocker Drive Encryption

a) Click "Turn off Bitlocker. Once you click on this it may take between 15-30 minutes to fully decrypt your hard drive. After decryption has been completed, restart the tablet and hold the volume down button to go into the UEFI settings.

2)  Once in the UEFI settings, expand Security>PTT security and deselect it, then click Apply

3) Click on TPM Security and enable TPM Security, TPM ACPI Support. Make sure the Deactivate button is selected. This effectively disables the TPM. Select Apply!

4) Now select Exit. You will need the USB keyboard for the next few steps. The tablet should power off at this point.

5) Power on the tablet and let it boot into Windows. The Dell logo should appear and the spinning dots below it.

6) Login to Windows. Press the power button to put the tablet in sleep mode. 1-2 seconds should be enough.

7) Hold the power button down for 1-2 seconds until you feel the tablet vibrate and you should see the following:

?A configuration change was requested to enable, activate, and allow creation of an operator authentication value that permit temporary deactivation of the TPM, etc." Plug in the USB keyboard if you already haven't. Press F10 to continue disabling the TPM.

8) The tablet will reboot and the Dell logo will appear with the spinning dots and you should be in Windows. Go ahead and login

9) Test resume from sleep by holding the power button down for 1 second. You should see the LED by the front camera turn on briefly and the tablet should be in sleep mode. Press the Windows button bottom center to ensure the table is in sleep mode. You should not receive a response if in sleep mode. Hold the power button for 2 seconds. You should see the Dell logo and you should be back in Windows. Try opening several apps and repeating step 9. All your apps should remain open. 

Wireless workaround:

I have found enabling Maximum Performance for the Power Plan has stabilized the wireless NIC.

1) Go into Control Panel>Power Options

2) If you have stayed with the Dell power plan, select Change plan settings.

3) Now select Change advanced power settings

4) The power options dialog box should open. Expand Wireless Adapter Settings>Power Saving Mode

5) Select the pull-down and select Maximum Performance and then click on OK and Save changes. 

Dell has a really <ADMIN NOTE: Substitute character removed as per TOU> QA process if they didn't see these basic issues prior to shipping. I am guessing it will take Dell and the other OEMs to figure this out, possibly 1 to 2 months: either firmware, driver or MS hotfix update or a combination of all three. 

Good luck!