Public WiFi Options?

[shadownddust]

Now that Nav on Autopilot has been rolled out, the lack of having wifi access at home is more relevant. For prior updates, the fact that the map was out of date didn't really matter, and I could wait a few weeks/months to connect to service wifi with little to no impact.

However, after recently updating to 42.2, the Nav on Autopilot was nowhere to be found. I did some reading and supposedly the fact that my maps are 'probably' not up to date is why it's not showing up in the settings. I say probably because there's nothing in the car that will tell you whether or not they are, just that since I don't have Nav on Autopilot settings, this is my bet. I know future map updates will show a notification once completed, but that doesn't help me know beforehand if they're out of date (poor choice on Tesla's part).

For those that live in condos or park away from wifi access, where are some of the locations you've been able to find open public wifi? Since it appears that it needs to be the case where there's no login interstitial page, that limits the pool dramatically (eg. Starbucks won't work).

So far, I've relied on my phone hotspot from time to time, but it's not particularly helpful since I'm not leaving my phone in the car to download a map update at some point, not to mention the size of the updates is not great for keeping my phone from being throttled by AT&T. And I've tried Burger King and McDonalds, both seem to work, but not really somewhere I'm spending more than a few minutes (though I have parked outside a McD a few times to take calls and hope that something comes through). I did try a local coffee shop that has a secure wifi with a password and that seemed to work, but I need to find a spot to park right in front to get a little signal, which is usually occupied.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Tam]

...suggestions?

It seems to be unpredictable when an owner would get the turn for a download.

Currently, Tesla doesn't offer owner's download at will so we can drive to an available wi-fi when ready.

So, there's no guarantee you'll get an upgrade even if you leave your car in a wi-fi area for 8 hours at any given time.

My guess is you can call Service Center for an appointment if they are willing to manually push the software for you.

 

[shadownddust]

It seems to be unpredictable when an owner would get the turn for a download.

Currently, Tesla doesn't offer owner's download at will so we can drive to an available wi-fi when ready.

So, there's no guarantee you'll get an upgrade even if you leave your car in a wi-fi area for 8 hours at any given time.

My guess is you can call Service Center for an appointment if they are willing to manually push the software for you.

True, though I imagine, if I'm able to get on wifi for a few hours a week, that would increase the likelihood that I'd get the map update. Heading to the service center is pretty inconvenient, and depending on how often they update the maps, unsustainable to keep nav on AP working.

 

[Tam]

...pretty inconvenient...

I guess you could try to befriend someone who's willing to provide wi-fi access and you can even offer to buy an extender to reach from inside a house to the outdoors.

You might want to join a place of worship that provides wi-fi for its members and offer to donate an extender to reach from the inside to the outdoors.

 

[drklain]

You might consider buying a mobile hotspot/mifi-type device and keeping it in your car, turned on all the time. Of course there is expense associated with that, but not that much (relatively speaking) and your car would then "always be on wifi"...

 

[Muellerj]

Don't you get free public wifi through ATT? Maybe find a friend who has Comcast home internet and ask for their log-in? What about parking near a Starbucks / Panera?

 

[shadownddust]

Don't you get free public wifi through ATT? Maybe find a friend who has Comcast home internet and ask for their log-in? What about parking near a Starbucks / Panera?

In general, public wifi through internet providers requires you to sign in to your account through an interstitial page that the Tesla browser doesn't support. Same with Starbucks and many others (but haven't tried Panera yet) where you need to agree to terms of use through a page before you have access to the internet.

 

[shadownddust]

I guess you could try to befriend someone who's willing to provide wi-fi access and you can even offer to buy an extender to reach from inside a house to the outdoors.

You might want to join a place of worship that provides wi-fi for its members and offer to donate an extender to reach from the inside to the outdoors.

You might consider buying a mobile hotspot/mifi-type device and keeping it in your car, turned on all the time. Of course there is expense associated with that, but not that much (relatively speaking) and your car would then "always be on wifi"...

Interesting ideas. In both cases, I had been trying to find free options, but I may need to spend a few dollars.

 

[Alset4S]

Your SC should have wifi. Some have reported they seem to get updates more readily at the SC. Like maybe Tesla gives it preference.

 

[shadownddust]

Your SC should have wifi. Some have reported they seem to get updates more readily at the SC. Like maybe Tesla gives it preference.

True, though the challenge is to find other options since the SC isn’t always convenient and no guarantee that it’s going to push when you’re there. If there’s an alternative, say a store or restaurant that someone visits a few times a month for extended periods of time, that’s preferable.

 

[nc88]

I have been following this thread as I live in a townhouse complex and have underground parking too far from my unit to pick up a WIFI signal. I tried the above mentioned trip to Starbucks that predictably did not work. Here is how I managed to get around the issue.

Since I used to do a lot of travel before Covid-19, I have a travel router that I use on trips - it was about $35 on amazon and is a cheap Chinese travel router called the GL iNet 300M. As devices go its pretty simple. I usually use it in a hotel room to connect the ethernet cable to it (WAN port) so all my devices can run off its WIFI network. The device can also run in repeater mode and in that mode will connect to a WIFI network while creating its own WIFI network that you can connect to. I usually use a Power bank to power this router so I can place it on the dash or even outside the car to get a better signal.

The process is pretty simple.
1. Set up the router to create a WIFI network SSID. remember the SSID and password.
2. Set the router to repeater mode. Also make sure you go into Custom DNS Server settings and disable DNS Rebinding Attack Protection.
3. log into the router from a browser on your mobile - you will be presented with a page that allows you to scan for WIFI
4. Scan and select the Starbucks network. Your phone will be presented with a splash page to accept terms of the connection.
5. Once logged in connect to the router WIFI network from the car using SSID and password in step 1.
6. You should now have access to WIFI in the car.