Car not connected to the internet

[Manbutter]

New Tesla owner so maybe you experts can help. My Tesla app cannot connect to the car unless I am very close to it. I cannot live view sentry mode or turn on the AC. The car is currently sitting in the garage with strong Wifi signal but nonexistent cell service (up where I live).

Does anyone know why the app cannot control anything even though car is connected to wifi? When I sit in it, I can open Netflix and stream fine so clearly, it is connected to wifi. Will remote features ONLY work if the Tesla has a cell signal and premium connectivity? (Won’t work over Wifi.)

 

[jcanoe]

See thread:

App can't connect to my Y

 

[Manbutter]

See thread:

App can't connect to my Y

Awesome, I think your post explained it best:

When the Tesla vehicle is asleep the WiFi modem is turned off. The only way to communicate with the Tesla vehicle to wake it up is via BT or LTE.


This seems to be happening to me. When the car goes to sleep and only has Wifi signal(no LTE cell service) it will not wake up. I will have to try this app connection later when the car DOES have cell service.

How did you find out how the car and app interacts with each other. (E.g. Within range it connects via Bluetooth, beyond range car only connects to cloud via LTE and not Wifi.)

 

[jcanoe]

How did you find out how the car and app interacts with each other. (E.g. Within range it connects via Bluetooth, beyond range car only connects to cloud via LTE and not Wifi.)

From reading other threads on the Tesla Model Y forums on TMC and reading the Tesla Model Y Owner's Manual.

Model Y Owner's Manual | Tesla

Also experimenting with my phone (iPhone SE2) and trying different settings such as turning off WiFi, BT.

There are times, when my Model Y is parked at home, that the Tesla app cannot wake up the Model Y and turn on the Climate Control. The Model Y is in WiFi range and has LTE service. In those cases I assume a problem with the Tesla Servers or with the LTE service.

There are other times, rare, that the Model Y will either not unlock or not detect the phone so I can start the vehicle. Sometimes togging the phone's BT off and back on helps, else restarting the Tesla app. Worst case is I have to use the physical card key to unlock and start the vehicle. This has always resolved within a short time.

When Sentry Mode is active the Tesla Model Y will not enter sleep mode, WiFi will remain active. You could experiment to see if this helps (although leaving Sentry mode active when the Tesla Model Y is parked at home will consume considerably more power (~230W all the time) than when the Model Y is in sleep mode (~25W.)

You might be able to park in a different orientation or side of the garage to see if the LTE signal/service improves. There are also LTE signal boosters available, you can contact your cell provider.

In the future Tesla might decide to enable you to choose when WiFi remains active. (Tesla is rolling out Starlink internet connectivity to Supercharger locations.)

 

[Manbutter]

When Sentry Mode is active the Tesla Model Y will not enter sleep mode, WiFi will remain active. You could experiment to see if this helps (although leaving Sentry mode active when the Tesla Model Y is parked at home will consume considerably more power (~230W all the time) than when the Model Y is in sleep mode (~25W.)

In the future Tesla might decide to enable you to choose when WiFi remains active. (Tesla is rolling out Starlink internet connectivity to Supercharger locations.)

This is a ton of useful information. Thank you. 230w is a lot of power.

Do you and most Tesla owners leave yours on when your car is parked outside of the home?
On my non-EV, I’ve noticed a significant amount of battery drain from the dashcam tapped into the fuse. I ended up turning off the dash cam’s “sentry mode.”

 

[jcanoe]

This is a ton of useful information. Thank you. 230w is a lot of power.

Do you and most Tesla owners leave yours on when your car is parked outside of the home?
On my non-EV, I’ve noticed a significant amount of battery drain from the dashcam tapped into the fuse. I ended up turning off the dash cam’s “sentry mode.”

I only use Dashcam Mode when I am away from my home location. Most of my trips are short duration. I have Sentry Mode set to be off at my home location.

With Sentry Mode set to Off and the Tesla vehicle locked the vehicle alarm is active (just not the Sentry Mode cameras.)

For home surveillance/security of your vehicle there are alternate solutions such as motion sensitive cameras and lights mounted outside the home.