Should I leave wifi off by default

[moj66]

Sorry if this is a dumb newbie question but wondering if there is much downside to leaving wifi off most of the time and only connecting when updates are available or you want to watch netflix etc. I’ve read that weak wifi signals can lead to the car hunting for a connection resulting in phantom battery drain.
What do folk generally do with their wifi settings when their car is parked at home overnight?

 

[NorfolkMustard]

I leave it all on and (successfully ) try not to worry about it.

 

[ewoodrick]

Keep it on. The car is designed for little or no maintenance, turning Wi-Fi off an on is high maintenance.

If you don't worry about the features of the car or the battery, life will be much happier.

 

[Rooster6655]

Sorry if this is a dumb newbie question but wondering if there is much downside to leaving wifi off most of the time and only connecting when updates are available or you want to watch netflix etc. I’ve read that weak wifi signals can lead to the car hunting for a connection resulting in phantom battery drain.
What do folk generally do with their wifi settings when their car is parked at home overnight?

as long as your WiFi connection is strong then shouldn’t be a problem, if it’s low it may keep the car awake longer than needed

 

[Christiez]

Sorry if this is a dumb newbie question but wondering if there is much downside to leaving wifi off most of the time and only connecting when updates are available or you want to watch netflix etc. I’ve read that weak wifi signals can lead to the car hunting for a connection resulting in phantom battery drain.
What do folk generally do with their wifi settings when their car is parked at home overnight?

I originally left mine on but found it trying to connect to my home wifi which was a weak connection, due to this the car didn't sleep. Since switching it off the car will sleep within 45 mins of idling.

When updates are available I use my phone as a hot spot to download.

Like Rooster said though, as long as your wifi connection is strong you shouldn't have an issue.

 

[Andrew_SE23]

When updates are available I use my phone as a hot spot to download.

I also use my phone hotspot to update - the updates so for have been relatively small so very easy to do.

 

[SouthSeas]

Sorry if this is a dumb newbie question but wondering if there is much downside to leaving wifi off most of the time and only connecting when updates are available or you want to watch netflix etc. I’ve read that weak wifi signals can lead to the car hunting for a connection resulting in phantom battery drain.
What do folk generally do with their wifi settings when their car is parked at home overnight?

I leave wifi off and let it update over the cell connection built into the car. The wifi works so poorly I can't get a reliable connection with the access point even 20 feet away. I don't know what they did to the wifi in this car, but it barely works.

 

[Spacey73]

Good info, might be why my car isn’t going to sleep. Will turn off WiFi and use phone to update with hotspot

 

[MrBadger]

The car not sleeping a couple of times a day seems to be perfectly normal behaviour whether on wifi or mobile. At least once a day, the car seems to go through an extended idle phase, which can last several hours, irrespective of whether it is connected to wifi or not. Lots of speculation as to what is going on during this period. But don't worry about several hours or so of idling before sleep. Doesn't help that there are many different things that can prevent a car from sleeping, including some method of checking if car is asleep or not! What is abnormal is the car never sleeping when sentry is off, app remains closed and third party apps if used such as TeslaFi have been properly configured.

 

[Rooster6655]

I originally left mine on but found it trying to connect to my home wifi which was a weak connection, due to this the car didn't sleep. Since switching it off the car will sleep within 45 mins of idling.

When updates are available I use my phone as a hot spot to download.

Like Rooster said though, as long as your wifi connection is strong you shouldn't have an issue.

Agree, it happens when there is a software update available to download but unless you have full bars the software won't download so the wifi signal can keep the car awake in my experience. If there are no updates then it doesn't seem to experience the same problem

 

[MrBadger]

We normally run 1 to 2 bars of wifi, downloads complete and car sleeps as expected.

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

Good info, might be why my car isn’t going to sleep. Will turn off WiFi and use phone to update with hotspot

There are bigger issues to chase down if the car isn't going into a deep sleep
1) Sentry mode
2) Summon Standby (on by default)
3) Third-party applications

 

[Adopado]

Agree, it happens when there is a software update available to download but unless you have full bars the software won't download so the wifi signal can keep the car awake in my experience. If there are no updates then it doesn't seem to experience the same problem

I have to say that this is not my own experience. I have never had full bars of wifi signal but have always been able to download software updates.

 

[NorfolkMustard]

There are bigger issues to chase down if the car isn't going into a deep sleep
1) Sentry mode
2) Summon Standby (on by default)
3) Third-party applications

#2 is not relevant in U.K. Only relevant in US/CAN I think

 

[Thumpernator]

Today was the first day driving to work and the first time using Navigate On Autopilot. Three minutes after pulling into the garage, my son comes out and tells me the home WIFI has slowed to a crawl and the YouTube video he was watching stopped loading. I turned the car WIFI off and his connection went back to normal.

The car was not downloading a software or navigation update, so my question is this. Is the car sending data to Tesla for possible improvements to the Autopilot? I've only had the car since Friday and this is the first time our internet connection has been effected.

Any ideas?

 

[mswlogo]

Leave it on. Your car is primarily on LTE when it sleeps.

 

[mswlogo]

Today was the first day driving to work and the first time using Navigate On Autopilot. Three minutes after pulling into the garage, my son comes out and tells me the home WIFI has slowed to a crawl and the YouTube video he was watching stopped loading. I turned the car WIFI off and his connection went back to normal.

The car was not downloading a software or navigation update, so my question is this. Is the car sending data to Tesla for possible improvements to the Autopilot? I've only had the car since Friday and this is the first time our internet connection has been effected.

Any ideas?

There is an option to upload data that you can turn off. Careful there are two options. One is needed for NoA/Ap/NAv (I forget which and must be on). The other option to upload logs/videos as it sees fit. I forget the names of each switch but it tells you what they do. It could have been downloading maps.

 

[SouthSeas]

Today was the first day driving to work and the first time using Navigate On Autopilot. Three minutes after pulling into the garage, my son comes out and tells me the home WIFI has slowed to a crawl and the YouTube video he was watching stopped loading. I turned the car WIFI off and his connection went back to normal.

The car was not downloading a software or navigation update, so my question is this. Is the car sending data to Tesla for possible improvements to the Autopilot? I've only had the car since Friday and this is the first time our internet connection has been effected.

I've been told the car will only send data when specifically asked for it. I've used the "bug report" feature many times and you have to ask the service center to download the data or it disappears in two weeks.