Isn't a mousepad supposed to improve the performance of an optical mouse?

[VitoBotta]

I recently switched from an Apple Magic Mouse first generation to the Logitech M330, and at the same time I got a mousepad as I thought it would make the mouse work better since the Magic Mouse sometimes behaved weirdly on my wooden desk, perhaps due to some pattern on the surface.

The Logitech was kinda "jumping" randomly every now and then and also the scrolling would stop working for a couple of seconds at times. It's connected with the unifying receiver instead of Bluetooth so I don't think it's a problem with the wireless connection, also because my keyboard (Logitech K780) is connected to the same receiver without any issues.

Out of curiosity I started using the mouse without the mouse pad, it's been an hour and I haven't seen any jumps or problems with the scrolling so far.

Could it be possible that the mousepad is actually making things worse?

 

[coffeemilktea]

A mousepad is good if you're using an optical mouse on something like a glass table, or a reflective metal surface... but for most other surfaces, they're not that helpful, I think.

 

[VitoBotta]

I am suspecting that the problem was not the mousepad actually, but the microphone. It seemed to work better without mousepad for a while but the problem returned. However since I moved the unifying receiver away from the microphone it seems more stable.

 

[Fishrrman]

I use Logitech mice.

I've found a plain, CLEAN table top works as well as a mouse pad.
In fact, it works better.

Hint:
"Clean" is the key here.