Not able to connect Tesla's Wifi to home network?

[dmckinstry]

I guess a lot of us got 5.8 today. Upgraded from 4.5. I have two routers (one Netgear the other D-Link) and managed to get the Model S connected to the Netgear, but had no luck with the D-Link. After a variety of different attempts (password changes, etc.) my son found that I had a time zone error in my D-Link setup. After correcting that, I connected with the second router without any trouble. Just FYI in case any others of you may have a time zone error. I've had no trouble connecting any other of my devices to the D-Link in the past.

 

[dsmith2189]

Well, I made some progress.
I was able to get my car to connect with my phones WiFi connection. trade one 3G/4G connection for another. I guess that's progress, at least I could connect to something.
Now I have taken brianman's advice and purchased a Netgear router to replace my Linksys E4200. If that doesn't work I'll contact ownership and see if they have any advice.
in the mean time... more testing. possibly start a hardware compatibility list wIki somewhere.

I finally managed to connect to my router. I guess my Linksys router was just too old to connect.
I purchased a "NETGEAR Nighthawk AC1900 Smart WiFi Router Model R7000".
My normal parking spot is still out of range but if I move my car up one floor (closer), I can connect.

 

[brianman]

Now I have taken brianman's advice and purchased a Netgear router to replace my Linksys E4200. If that doesn't work I'll contact ownership and see if they have any advice.

I think you misread me. That wasn't my advice.

This was my advice:

In your case, reading the tea leaves I'm guessing it's worth a trip to the service center to put your in-car wifi device through some diagnostics. Bummer, but that sounds like the likely culprit.

- - - Updated - - -

But while we're on the subject...

I purchased a "NETGEAR Nighthawk AC1900 Smart WiFi Router Model R7000".

I bought this and the ASUS PCE-AC68 when going through my dashcam wifi issues. They seem to be mates for life. I had such good luck with the pairing that I bought a second PCE-AC68 as well.

Last I checked I was getting something like 20MB/s (~160 Mbps) transfer from the garage (wifi) to machines upstairs (wired), and rock steady Remote Desktop to the garage box while doing it.

 

[dsmith2189]

I think you misread me. That wasn't my advice.
This was my advice:

In your case, reading the tea leaves I'm guessing it's worth a trip to the service center to put your in-car wifi device through some diagnostics. Bummer, but that sounds like the likely culprit.

I bought this and the ASUS PCE-AC68 when going through my dashcam wifi issues. They seem to be mates for life. I had such good luck with the pairing that I bought a second PCE-AC68 as well.

Yes, Exactly. the tea leaves revealed that I HAD to get a new router... (It worked... take the credit...)
fwiw the Netgear, Linksys and Asus were right next to each other on the shelf it was a coin flip to decide which one to get. good thing I had a 3 sided coin.:biggrin:

 

[LuckyLuke]

Could it be channel related? I couldn't connect from car while my iPhone (from within the car) worked fine, I logged in my router and changed the wifi channel from auto to a fixed channel (can't remember the number) and tried to connect from car and it worked right away.

 

[mitch672]

Could it be channel related? I couldn't connect from car while my iPhone (from within the car) worked fine, I logged in my router and changed the wifi channel from auto to a fixed channel (can't remember the number) and tried to connect from car and it worked right away.

I've tried Chanel's 1, 6 and 11 now, doesn't make a difference, still won't connect.
My work iPhone has tethering enabled on the data plan, when I enabled the hotspot, it can connect, but it takes it a long time to.
We need better specs on what they are compatible with, I've now tried 3 routers (FIOS provided, an older Linksys WRT54G with Tomato firmware, and a professional grade CISCO Airnet 1040), it has to be some parameter that's off.

 

[Chrigel]

I've tried Chanel's 1, 6 and 11 now, doesn't make a difference, still won't connect.
My work iPhone has tethering enabled on the data plan, when I enabled the hotspot, it can connect, but it takes it a long time to.
We need better specs on what they are compatible with, I've now tried 3 routers (FIOS provided, an older Linksys WRT54G with Tomato firmware, and a professional grade CISCO Airnet 1040), it has to be some parameter that's off.

It seems that my iPhone 5S ATT USA with 7.04 does not AUTOMATICALLY connect to the WIFI Hotspot on my Tesla once I am on the road. It works fine when I open the iphone, settings, personal hotspot.

Is this just me or everybody? Very annoying but once it's connect to LTE it's much faster than before (of course).

Any advise is appreciated.

 

[captain_zap]

It seems that my iPhone 5S ATT USA with 7.04 does not AUTOMATICALLY connect to the WIFI Hotspot on my Tesla once I am on the road. It works fine when I open the iphone, settings, personal hotspot.

Is this just me or everybody? Very annoying but once it's connect to LTE it's much faster than before (of course).

Any advise is appreciated.

The car does not create a Wi-fi hot spot. This function is not provided. it is a client only when connected to another device, such as an access point or a phone in tether mode.

 

[mitch672]

Add to the list Netgear WNDR 3800 also not working, this is only a year or two old.

Tesla: we need guidance on the WiFi, and why experienced IT people with multiple routers and access points can't get the Model S to join any of them.

 

[AC1K]

WiFi Woes...

here are the issues

Does not support WPA-Enterprise/WPA2-Enterprise (My house is running the WPA2-ENT)
Does not support 802.1x
Does not support Radius (Some companies use this w/ WPA2-ENT so forget about connecting at work)
Does not support 40MHz only width, if you are having issues, set your AP to 20/40MHz or auto, took me a while to figure this out, every single device in my house supports 40MHz only, now my AP has crippled speeds
Does not support 5GHz anything (unfortunate since 2.4GHz is so crowded nothing works reliable on this spectrum)

RSSI is worse than my galaxy note 2 (they couldn't of put a bigger antenna in?)

 

[Andy Black]

Hi,

I've spent most of the weekend fooling around getting logged in and was finally successful doing the following:

1. Moved the access point closer to the car or upped the power on the access point. I could see the network but it wouldn't connect until I moved it closer. It wasn't very far away to begin with. I'm convinced the antenna in the car sucks.

2. Set the access point to allow 802.11b traffic. From what I can tell the NIC in the car doesn't support g or n.

3. Set encryption on the access point to WPA (not WPA2) and allow both TKIP and AES.

It's been pretty frustrating and I've gotten zip in the way of info from my local service center.

Hope that helps.

Andy

 

[AC1K]

i posted in another thread but those of you that have problems

change your AP to 20 AND 40 MHz channel width, the Tesla DOES NOT support 40MHz
change the protocol to Auto (instead of N only, so it connects with B G or N)

WPA2-Personal works fine, DO NOT use WPA/TKIP its vulnerable to attacks, WEP is useless, even a 128bit key can be broken in less than 5 minutes

EDIT:

here is how i set mine up

The primary 2.4GHz settings as as follows (5GHz is not supported)

allow B/G and N
have both 20MHz and 40MHz available (this will crippled your wifi speed but some connectivity is better than none)
the channel depends on where you are, choose the least congested channel, my AP automatically changes the channel when needed

i made a guest connection specifically for the tesla since WPA2-Enterprise is not supported

WPA2-Personal | AES
simple password at least 8 char

if you are wondering if the car has a good enough signal strength, just make sure your smartphone can connect from within the car, if it can and you can surf the internet, the car will be able too as well.

 

[Andy Black]

Sorry.

Also forgot to mention that when connecting, I didn't select my WiFi network from the drop down list you get when tapping the 3G icon.

I selected "WiFi settings" at the bottom of that list (or whatever it's called) and added my network manually so I could specify connecting with WPA rather than WEP or WPA2.

--Andy

 

[brianman]

@AC1K
I understand why your separate thread post was moved to here (and it probably makes sense) so let's not try to fight that.

But...

What you were building was pretty compelling as a start for a "Model S Wifi Compatibility" wiki. Can you start that wiki page?

Thanks!

 

[Klaus]

Data point: After the 5.8 (.24) update this afternoon (from 4.5), I was able to join my home WiFi without issues. This is with only 1 WiFi signal strength bar, the car outside the front of the house, the AE in a 2nd floor room at the back. It connected slowly but error-free.

I'm connecting to an Airport Extreme (non dual-band) using WPA2 Personal, 802.11n (802.11b/g compatible) with complex password including special characters.

I conclude that quite a few of the limitations stated above in the thread do not apply universally. I need to have 802.11 b/g compatible on for my iPad 2 anyway. The AE is several years old, but updated to the latest firmware. YMMV.

 

[J in MN]

I setup a guest network on my Apple Time Capsule today due to the issue with entering long passwords. Well, it appears that as soon as the car goes to sleep, or drops the wifi connection, the Time Capsule crashes. Happened twice. More testing next weekend.

 

[mitch672]

Well, I tried 2 different wifi routers in "access point" mode, within 3' of the Model S tonight. It still will not join, I am beyond frustrated. Old Linksys WRT54G running "Tomato", and a Netgear WNDR 3800 as well.

 

[Lloyd]

I bought an Asus RT-AC66R Dual -band Wireless AC1750 Gigabit router, that is closest to my garage. It connected immediately to the 2.4 portion of this unit. This unit is only several months old. I have not been able to connect to the weaker signal of the Guest network of my office which a CISCO WAP about 5 years old. I was also not able to connect to a weaker signal Netger access point about 1.5 years old. Hope this helps.

 

[mitch672]

I bought an Asus RT-AC66R Dual -band Wireless AC1750 Gigabit router, that is closest to my garage. It connected immediately to the 2.4 portion of this unit. This unit is only several months old. I have not been able to connect to the weaker signal of the Guest network of my office which a CISCO WAP about 5 years old. I was also not able to connect to a weaker signal Netgear access point about 1.5 years old. Hope this helps.

I have 2 Verizon FIOS routers (ActionTech), several old Linksys WRT54G routers, the Netgear WNDR 3800.
Everything else I have can connect just fine, I really don't see a need to spend $182 on yet another router.

Tesla needs to research why the Model S can't connect to multiple older routers, while iPads, iPhones, have zero issues connecting, or they need to fix the firmware in the Model S, as the car shouldn't have an issue connecting to a router 3' to the right of the passenger door.

Amazon.com: ASUS RT-AC66U Dual-Band Wireless-AC1750 Gigabit Router: Computers Accessories

 

[mitch672]

I have discovered the "problem/bug" in Teslas WiFi implementation, and why so many of us are having issues.

It turns out that the WiFi access point you connect to MUST supply the DCHP address to the Model S, or the car refuses to connect.

I have a large house, and my main FIOS router runs DHCP, while the other WiFi routers run in "access point" mode, just passing the traffic along to the main DHCP server.. Apparently Teslas bug is, they won't accept the DHCP IP address from a different MAC address than the WiFi access point being connected to.

This morning, I enabled DHCP on the Netgear router in the garage, and just connected the WAN port to my LAN, letting the Netgear provide DHCP for WiFi devices connected to it, the Model S connected within 5-10 seconds with all bars being lit up (the router is 3' away from the passengers door)

I'll email or call ownership and try to explain the bug to them, I'll need to talk to someone who understands networking though, to be able to write up the issue correctly.