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Bluetooth phone key inconsistent

Discussion in 'Model 3' started by XPsionic, Mar 5, 2021 at 10:12 AM.

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Bluetooth key

  1. Works all the time!

    4 vote(s)
    44.4%
  2. Works sometimes...

    5 vote(s)
    55.6%
  1. XPsionic

    XPsionic Member

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2021
    Messages:
    50
    Location:
    los angeles
    Wondering if you guys also have issues with the Bluetooth phone key being inconsistent? I'd say 70% of the time it works great, then 30% of the time the door remains locked as I try to open it.

    Got an android LG v50 and put the Tesla app on the list of apps that ignores battery optimization... is there anything else I could do to make it work better? Car's a 2021 SR
     
  2. VeryRealPerson

    Joined:
    Dec 10, 2020
    Messages:
    49
    Location:
    Vancouver BC
    S10 here. I had issues when I first got the car and did a bunch of research on it. Found a single comment that asked if the phone was in the back pocket and to try with the phone in your front pocket.

    Tried that, and its been working perfectly for me since. I was surprised its that sensitive to distance. Had to change a habit of where I put my phone, but the freedom of not having a car key is totally worth it. I really felt how worth it it was when I was driving a rental. ICE sucks!
     
  3. Mark57

    Mark57 Member

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    Location:
    Oklahoma City, OK
    #3 Mark57, Mar 5, 2021 at 10:27 AM
    Last edited: Mar 5, 2021 at 10:35 AM
    You didn't say what software version your car is.

    My 2021 Model 3 LR AWD was flaky in the beginning. I have a Galaxy S20+ 5G. It would always auto lock when walking away, but the opening was 70/30 like yours. I went into my phone power management settings and turned off the ability to put apps to sleep. That helped a little but the problem did not go away until the car software version went above version 2020.48.30. It's worked perfectly since then and I'm on 2021.4.6 now.
     
  4. antoinearnau

    antoinearnau Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 14, 2018
    Messages:
    1,192
    Location:
    Montreal
    Mine was never 100%.
    It is a MR 2018.

    Sometimes also, i can't wake up the car when i am not close to it.
     
  5. XPsionic

    XPsionic Member

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2021
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    Location:
    los angeles
    Same version here, still having issues.
     
  6. UncertainTimes

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2020
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    482
    Location:
    USA
    Milne only acts up when opening a rear door. Probably like 69.420% of the time
     
    • Funny x 1
  7. Mark57

    Mark57 Member

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    Location:
    Oklahoma City, OK
    After excluding the app from being put to sleep, did you power cycle your phone?
     
  8. XPsionic

    XPsionic Member

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    Location:
    los angeles
    yep
     
  9. Mark57

    Mark57 Member

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    Location:
    Oklahoma City, OK
    Also to be clear, I tried adding "just" the Tesla app as an exclusion to being put to sleep, but ultimately, I turned off the whole battery management "feature" of putting any apps to sleep. It's easy to turn off and back on if it doesn't help.
     
  10. GtiMart

    GtiMart Member

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2019
    Messages:
    532
    Location:
    Quebec City, Canada
    The pocket vs which door you open is critical. Seems the phone needs to be close to the B pillar for it to work. It's Bluetooth LE I think, and that doesn't have much range. When I want to open a rear door first, I rotate my hips (my phone is in my right pocket) so the phone gets close to that pillar. It seems to work, like 99.2% of the time. There will always be glitches. Yes, preventing the Tesla app from sleeping is critical.
    Now for the person that talked about the car not waking up from the cell phone app, that is a completely different issue. When the car sleeps, the only way to wake it up remotely is via an SMS. Your cell phone app talks to the Tesla web server and that server arranges for an SMS to be sent to the car. The car needs good cerllular signal. Doesn't matter if it's in wifi range of your house, SMS only goes through cellular. Sometimes even that will fail, SMS are not a perfect system either. Just walk to the car and pull a handle, that'll wake it up
     
  11. f308gt4

    f308gt4 Member

    Joined:
    May 21, 2020
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    Location:
    SoCal
    I keep my phone in my left pocket, and ever since I’ve started approaching my car with my left pocket turned towards the car, my key has worked 100% of the time. I think the phone needs a direct path to the car.
     
  12. drtimhill

    drtimhill Active Member

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2019
    Messages:
    1,533
    Location:
    Seattle
    it's pretty much 100% correct for me, to the point where I would be baffled/surprised if I tugged the door handle and it didn't just open.

    A couple of things: I have an iPhone, so can't comment on what special tweaks you might need on Android. Also, I keep my phone in a belt holster on front hip, so its likely that the car sees a clear signal as I approach (bluetooth has trouble getting through humans since it uses 2.4GHz which is the same frequency as a microwave oven, which use that frequency because water and fat absorb that radiation well, and human bodies are mostly .. water and fat!).
     
  13. stopcrazypp

    stopcrazypp Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2007
    Messages:
    9,830
    It's actually not the range of the Bluetooth. I think you can find that your phone can remain connected to the Bluetooth of the car from quite far away. It's more Tesla purposefully implementing limits to how far away from the car it would unlock (likely to prevent the issues of the car locking and unlocking constantly when near the car that people complained about). It's likely based on detecting the signal strength or some kind of time/signal based method and only unlock when it estimates you are a certain distance from the car.
     

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