Do I need premium connectivity if I'm always tethered for Tidal now?

[Zacster]

I signed up for premium connectivity when I got the car last year at this time and I still wonder how much I'm actually using it. At first all music was streaming on my phone and then played via bluetooth, but since Tidal was released I've used it instead, and I always try to remember to turn on the tethering so that I get "hifi" on Tidal (which would be considered the bare minimum for any home system with CD quality.) Is there any reason to keep the LTE in the car? Will live traffic maps still work? I guess when I turn on wifi when driving and connect the phone everything is still working but does it also mean LTE is turned off? The phone tethering is much faster than the LTE too. Oh, would all of the theater and game stuff work too? It is only $10/month but why even spend it if it doesn't bring anything.

 

[jjrandorin]

I signed up for premium connectivity when I got the car last year at this time and I still wonder how much I'm actually using it. At first all music was streaming on my phone and then played via bluetooth, but since Tidal was released I've used it instead, and I always try to remember to turn on the tethering so that I get "hifi" on Tidal (which would be considered the bare minimum for any home system with CD quality.) Is there any reason to keep the LTE in the car? Will live traffic maps still work? I guess when I turn on wifi when driving and connect the phone everything is still working but does it also mean LTE is turned off? The phone tethering is much faster than the LTE too. Oh, would all of the theater and game stuff work too? It is only $10/month but why even spend it if it doesn't bring anything.

Tesla specifically says what premium connectivity includes:

Connectivity | Tesla Support

Connectivity is an important part of all Tesla vehicles, further enhancing the driving experience by providing access to features that require data usage. Find out more about Standard and Premium Connectivity.

www.tesla.com

You will not have live traffic visualization, however from what we understand traffic is still used for routing, you just wont see it.

 

[Zacster]

Hmmm. I haven't been out all that much in my car in the last month or two since Tidal was released, but I usually have the car tethered when I do. When I'm tethered, do I still have the LTE connected? I thought it was one or the other. I'm pretty sure though that I saw the live map when tethered but maybe it still uses LTE. And the live map is important because, well, traffic in Brooklyn is just miserable most of the time and I never use the NAV in Brooklyn except when going to the SC so it conditions the battery.

Maybe I'll find out by just trying it.

 

[Kimmi]

Since you can’t make the map go away 100%, premium connectivity is worth it just for the pretty map.