3G Question - new-to-us CPO P85

[northWETwa]

Recently took delivery of 2014 P85 and have a question about the internet/data access??

We're having trouble just pulling up websites, any site, on our car. Most recently......after several tries, we finally were able to pull up Weather Underground, but when we went to input and pull up a specific zip code the screen goes black and we get "web page not available" error.

Background - When we noticed that the car was set up with 3G (did not know prior to order/pickup), I called Tesla in Seattle and questioned it. (87 year old father-in-law had 3G cell phone which AT&T told him they were no longer going to support. We had to upgrade him ). Tesla service people told us "not an issue," "should work fine" and to "send us a screen pic" when this happens (why?). And..... the kicker......"if you'd like to upgrade the service to LTE, we can do that for $500." What?? We just paid you guys a lot of $$ for ____??

So bottomline.....are we missing something?? Is there a Tesla MS For Dummies somewhere?? We have full 3G bars and no useful internet. Help!!??

 

[AEdennis]

Recently took delivery of 2014 P85 and have a question about the internet/data access??

We're having trouble just pulling up websites, any site, on our car. Most recently......after several tries, we finally were able to pull up Weather Underground, but when we went to input and pull up a specific zip code the screen goes black and we get "web page not available" error.

Background - When we noticed that the car was set up with 3G (did not know prior to order/pickup), I called Tesla in Seattle and questioned it. (87 year old father-in-law had 3G cell phone which AT&T told him they were no longer going to support. We had to upgrade him ). Tesla service people told us "not an issue," "should work fine" and to "send us a screen pic" when this happens (why?). And..... the kicker......"if you'd like to upgrade the service to LTE, we can do that for $500." What?? We just paid you guys a lot of $$ for ____??

So bottomline.....are we missing something?? Is there a Tesla MS For Dummies somewhere?? We have full 3G bars and no useful internet. Help!!??

The browser isn't very useful on the car... if you get navigation and music streaming, the Internet is working... many earlier cars only had 3G modems, LTE added later. The upgrade is $500.

AT&T has abandoned 2G, not 3G. So, 3G works...

Check to see if you can stream music from TuneIn or Slacker or navigate and map redraws. If it does that, it's working. Do not rely on the browser, it's pretty useless. (And I upgraded from 3G to LTE for $500)

 

[HankLloydRight]

It's not you.. The in car browser is woefully outdated and barely works for most current websites.

A good test is to go to fast.com for a 3G and browser speed test.

If that works fine, then 3G is working.

 

[northWETwa]

Husband is streaming music via whatever streaming service is pre-loaded on the car. So confirms that the 3G is working, right? Will switching browsers fix the issue?? Or make it less bad?

 

[jelloslug]

You cannot switch browsers.

 

[northWETwa]

Ugh..... that stinks......

 

[Az_Rael]

The browser is pretty useless IMHO.

I did the LTE upgrade and it was worth it for me. Google Map tiles now load faster (I used to out drive them fairly frequently)

 

[jbcarioca]

The browser is pretty useless IMHO.

I did the LTE upgrade and it was worth it for me. Google Map tiles now load faster (I used to out drive them fairly frequently)

Me too. They also change the wiring harness when they upgrade to 4G which allows slightly improving signals for streaming. I have what my spouse refers to as "annoyingly sensitive ears" and I found the improvement well worth the $500. It does not improve the poor internet usability, but it does improve NAV tile loading and streaming. This upgrade is the only one currently available that is worthwhile for most owners. I exclude software enabling or battery and/or autopilot upgrades.

 

[northWETwa]

(I used to out drive them fairly frequently)

Oh! Same here! We resorted back to the Maps function on our (tiny) cell phone screen as a result. Thought it was operator error......

 

[northWETwa]

On a related note -

I listen to FM radio. We were (again) told by Tesla service that the car has an FM antennae, but service cuts out in the same places in town where our XM radio used to cut out. Is this somehow crazily connected to the 3G service concern?? .....Please be kind...."Dummies" here.....

 

[jbcarioca]

On a related note -

I listen to FM radio. We were (again) told by Tesla service that the car has an FM antennae, but service cuts out in the same places in town where our XM radio used to cut out. Is this somehow crazily connected to the 3G service concern?? .....Please be kind...."Dummies" here.....

I was told that the wiring harness change when upgrading to LTE improves FM reception also. Mine did improve. Some tell me I have the 'placebo effect', which is possible, but I don't think so.

Disclosure: I have not seen the harness. I am not an expert on the subject. I think the original connections might have been faulty and the connections were more firmly made during the installation of LTE. That is possible too.

 

[Az_Rael]

I was told that the wiring harness change when upgrading to LTE improves FM reception also. Mine did improve. Some tell me I have the 'placebo effect', which is possible, but I don't think so.

Disclosure: I have not seen the harness. I am not an expert on the subject. I think the original connections might have been faulty and the connections were more firmly made during the installation of LTE. That is possible too.

I noticed a harness as well on my service invoice for the LTE upgrade, so I do think a harness is part of it. However, I still get XM cutouts in the same places as before, so no improvements on that end for me. But I have a classic, and I think my XM antenna is not in the same place as the newer cars.