Overseas Sim Cards

[3Dog20]

I have imported a Tesla X into Costa Rica (third one in the country)
Could anyone give me a definitive answer on the following:

I am using a portable modem, this gives me Tesla updates, Google Maps (with me traveling in it), and Internet Radio, however navigation and Slacker does not work.

If I installed a local sim card, would that allow navigation as well as other items that are not working with WI-FI to function?
If I installed a USA Sim Card with roaming, would that work?

Anyone have any workarounds?

 

[oliversl]

Will try to ask about that. Your's might be the red MX? Congrats!

 

[DCGOO]

I have imported a Tesla X into Costa Rica (third one in the country)
Could anyone give me a definitive answer on the following:

I am using a portable modem, this gives me Tesla updates, Google Maps (with me traveling in it), and Internet Radio, however navigation and Slacker does not work.

If I installed a local sim card, would that allow navigation as well as other items that are not working with WI-FI to function?
If I installed a USA Sim Card with roaming, would that work?

Anyone have any workarounds?

In what country did you purchase the Tesla? Since you mentioned Slacker, I presume .US, Spotify is the streaming vendor used outside .US/.CA. If you could get your modem/router to establish a VPN to a .US IP address, you might be able to get Slacker to work. But since Tesla’s are not sold for use in .CR (presumptions on my part), you are probably not going to have Nav. I doubt Tesla has bothered to make Nav maps for the country (it is a lot of work for just 3 cars). Changing the SIM would have no effect.

 

[3Dog20]

Will try to ask about that. Your's might be the red MX? Congrats!

Im the White one

 

[.jg.]

Can you create a route (within Costa RIca) in navigation, when the car is connected via WiFi?

 

[3Dog20]

Can you create a route (within Costa RIca) in navigation, when the car is connected via WiFi?

I have experienced the following

When I use a Mobile Hot-Spot with a local Costa Rica Sim Card, I get;

The Good
A complete map with traffic noted by green, orange, red, and maroon. I can see where I am moving in the map at any given time.
Tune-In Radio Stations

The Bad
Wi-Fi is very buggy, does not connect automatically
Wi-Fi disconnects fairly often (always 1-2 bars)
I cannot create a route with turn by turn navigation
No Podcasts
No Albums, songs, etc

When I place a Butterfly VPN (USA) on the Mobile Hot-Spot with the Costa Rican Sim card I get;

The Good
A complete map with traffic noted by green, orange, red, and maroon. I can see where I am moving in the map at any given time.
Tune-In Radio Stations
All songs, search by artist, podcasts, albums, colorful album logos in dash, etc. (I assume this is what Slacker is)

The Bad
VPN Wi-Fi signal seems even worse, still does not connect automatically
Wi-Fi disconnects even more often
I still cannot create a route with turn by turn navigation
The map actually degrades or disappears when signal weakens, stops working at all for short periods of time, traffic colors inside the map stop working when the signal is low sometimes with the VPN

Any technical thoughts or advice would be appreciated

 

[TaoJones]

I have experienced the following

When I use a Mobile Hot-Spot with a local Costa Rica Sim Card, I get;

The Good
A complete map with traffic noted by green, orange, red, and maroon. I can see where I am moving in the map at any given time.
Tune-In Radio Stations

The Bad
Wi-Fi is very buggy, does not connect automatically
Wi-Fi disconnects fairly often (always 1-2 bars)
I cannot create a route with turn by turn navigation
No Podcasts
No Albums, songs, etc

When I place a Butterfly VPN (USA) on the Mobile Hot-Spot with the Costa Rican Sim card I get;

The Good
A complete map with traffic noted by green, orange, red, and maroon. I can see where I am moving in the map at any given time.
Tune-In Radio Stations
All songs, search by artist, podcasts, albums, colorful album logos in dash, etc. (I assume this is what Slacker is)

The Bad
VPN Wi-Fi signal seems even worse, still does not connect automatically
Wi-Fi disconnects even more often
I still cannot create a route with turn by turn navigation
The map actually degrades or disappears when signal weakens, stops working at all for short periods of time, traffic colors inside the map stop working when the signal is low sometimes with the VPN

Any technical thoughts or advice would be appreciated

You can contact Tesla for your Slacker credentials, and use those to log into slacker.com (don't forget to select the higher quality streaming (320kbps where/when available) just for the sake of completeness) and to have handy in case the car's variant requires a login (it's happened to me twice in ~4 years). There are 3 flavors of Slacker - S/X owners at the least have the middle flavor (no ads, but can't build playlists or replay tracks).

Good luck with the rest. If Costa Rica ends up being a destination of choice in about 5 years, I wouldn't mind importing a Tesla. Thanks for helping to blaze that path.

 

[.jg.]

I still cannot create a route with turn by turn navigation

I would think this means Tesla have not included Costa Rica in their navigation maps. My understanding is that the maps used for turn by turn navigation are separate from those displayed on the big screen. You can sometimes see this when the map on the big screen is up to date but the turn by turn navigation is giving directions for an old junction, that has been changed.
What happens if you enter latitude and longitude coordinates for some Costa Rican destination in the navigator?

 

[xyeahtony]

navigation will not work. The software for navigation is designed by tesla, thus will only work in countries tesla has designated as supported.

 

[3Dog20]

I would think this means Tesla have not included Costa Rica in their navigation maps. My understanding is that the maps used for turn by turn navigation are separate from those displayed on the big screen. You can sometimes see this when the map on the big screen is up to date but the turn by turn navigation is giving directions for an old junction, that has been changed.
What happens if you enter latitude and longitude coordinates for some Costa Rican destination in the navigator?

I will try entering latitude and longitude coordinates for a Costa Rican landmark and see what happens.

 

[.jg.]

I'm in the UK and therefore have European navigation maps. I tried entering "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC".... The big map showed me the area, with landmarks, traffic and the pop up showed me a distance and offered the possibility to add the address as a favourite - but the "Navigate" button was greyed out. I suppose you are seeing the same for Costa Rican addresses.

 

[oliversl]

Looks like the wifi antena is in the "Passenger side mirror" as noted in:
Undocumented | TeslaTap

Try putting the wifi hotspot near the passenger window, there are also hotspots (the size of a book) with bigger antenas, but they don't have baterry:
kölbi | Personas

 

[Rupy98]

I have imported a Tesla X into Costa Rica (third one in the country)
Could anyone give me a definitive answer on the following:

I am using a portable modem, this gives me Tesla updates, Google Maps (with me traveling in it), and Internet Radio, however navigation and Slacker does not work.

If I installed a local sim card, would that allow navigation as well as other items that are not working with WI-FI to function?
If I installed a USA Sim Card with roaming, would that work?

Anyone have any workarounds?

Have you been able to make any progress on this over the last year or are you still using the hotspot?

 

[nsiluferreira]

I have imported a Tesla X into Costa Rica (third one in the country)
Could anyone give me a definitive answer on the following:

I am using a portable modem, this gives me Tesla updates, Google Maps (with me traveling in it), and Internet Radio, however navigation and Slacker does not work.

If I installed a local sim card, would that allow navigation as well as other items that are not working with WI-FI to function?
If I installed a USA Sim Card with roaming, would that work?

Anyone have any workarounds?

 

[nsiluferreira]

I have imported a Tesla X into Costa Rica (third one in the country)
Could anyone give me a definitive answer on the following:

I am using a portable modem, this gives me Tesla updates, Google Maps (with me traveling in it), and Internet Radio, however navigation and Slacker does not work.

If I installed a local sim card, would that allow navigation as well as other items that are not working with WI-FI to function?
If I installed a USA Sim Card with roaming, would that work?

Anyone have any workarounds?

Hi, i am so looking forward for this answer, i was planning to replace the SIM, as i am also tired of turning Wifi Back on, whenever i put the car in reverse or in drive.

Having the SIM with data working would just make it simple to have the car connected and available to the app all the time.