Should I Upgrade to LTE?

[bareyb]

Been getting a TON of Slacker errors and slow load times on my Radio. I was thinking of upgrading to LTE from 3G, but from some of the posts I see, it looks like 3G may actually be faster. Has anyone who has upgraded found the LTE experience to be a lot better than the old 3G experience?

 

[bmah]

Been getting a TON of Slacker errors and slow load times on my Radio. I was thinking of upgrading to LTE from 3G, but from some of the posts I see, it looks like 3G may actually be faster. Has anyone who has upgraded found the LTE experience to be a lot better than the old 3G experience?

I upgraded earlier this year, but that was mostly to get better reception in marginal coverage areas on my daily commute. Subjectively, that did seem to help matters slightly. Tracks might be a little faster loading, but I wouldn't say it was a life-altering change. BTW I've also noticed an uptick in Slacker-related issues the past few months even with LTE.

Bruce.

 

[AEdennis]

Been getting a TON of Slacker errors and slow load times on my Radio. I was thinking of upgrading to LTE from 3G, but from some of the posts I see, it looks like 3G may actually be faster. Has anyone who has upgraded found the LTE experience to be a lot better than the old 3G experience?

I upgraded. And I think those issues are firmware related. The infotainment system and BT has been acting up since last time I accepted FW upgrade and the last forced FW from the service center.

 

[bareyb]

I'm thinking I'll probably hold off on it until Tesla decides what they are going to do about this. I'm getting really good speeds on fast.com with 3G right now (got 4.5 mbps tonight) and I'd be pissed if I upgraded and then ended up worse off.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Hi Barry!

Yeah, wait until they fix the Slacker/BT issues.

But once fixed, yes, go for the upgrade. It made a huge difference for me in two different cars when I did the upgrade. Songs load a little faster, but the biggest noticeable difference was that Nav map tiles load really fast compared to 3G.

The browser still sucks and you won't see any improvement there. But who uses the browser anyway?

 

[3mp_kwh]

I dropped the car w/o LTE off tonight, for other reasons, and they suggested the upgrade (LTE $500). When home, I tried the one with and its browser is still no good on news pages, like WSJ. Bad lag, "unavailable" messages and unable to sign-in. Won't be doing it, after all.

 

[HankLloydRight]

I dropped the car w/o LTE off tonight, for other reasons, and they suggested the upgrade (LTE $500). When home, I tried the one with and its browser is still no good on news pages, like WSJ. Bad lag, "unavailable" messages and unable to sign-in. Won't be doing it, after all.

Please don't decide on LTE based only on the browser! THE BROWSER IS HORRIBLE ALL BY ITSELF! It doesn't matter if you're on 3G or LTE, the browser will fail on most current websites. It kinda worked in 2012 when the Model S first was launched...but now, it's like driving around in a horse and buggy.

Also, there are currently LTE throttling issues on the network/server side making LTE cars significantly slower/laggy. Wait until this is fixed, and then you will likely see significant improvements with LTE over 3G.

 

[AB4EJ]

I have LTE (at least, that's what shows on the user interface), but reception (especially podcasts) is spotty. Some podcasts never get past the loading stage. I end up accessing many of the podcasts via my cellphone and bluetooth.

 

[Canuck]

I did the upgrade to LTE. I tell myself things load faster. Whether it's true or not is another issue.

 

[bob_p]

Our "classic" S P85 (VIN 3xxx) has 3G and our new S 100D (since March) has LTE.

Don't really see much difference in performance between the two.

Perhaps there'll be a difference with new software updates - but at least as of now, doesn't look like upgrading our P85 to LTE would have much benefit...

 

[Barry]

I vote no. I've had a loaner with LTE and the difference was negligible. it won't help the browser or the loading errors with Slacker.

If it were $50, I'd do it. For $500, no way!

 

[bak_phy]

As others have mentioned it makes no sense to make that decision right now as LTE is currently running 90% SLOWER than 3G due to some software/throttling/hardware/interaction of the 3 issue for the last 6 weeks.

 

[Kbra]

I never had a problem on 3G with my prior S and slacker. Newer car has LTE and its not much of a change... So id say no

 

[Texas]

I upgraded to 4G LTE. No noticeable difference.

 

[HankLloydRight]

I upgraded to 4G LTE. No noticeable difference.

In which apps?

Also it appears the there are throttling problems with LTE currently, so now might not be the best time to test .

 

[Kbra]

In which apps?

Also it appears the there are throttling problems with LTE currently, so now might not be the best time to test .

Don't expect throttling to go away and time soon, or more likely ever.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Don't expect throttling to go away and time soon, or more likely ever.

Willing to wager on that?

To charity, of course.

 

[Kbra]

Willing to wager on that?

To charity, of course.

I'll wager 2 likes for the winner and 2 disagree for trying loser.

What's your time line?

 

[HankLloydRight]

I would say one month to fix the LTE issues, but since this is Tesla time, 2 months.

 

[Kbra]

I would say one month to fix the LTE issues, but since this is Tesla time, 2 months.

So you think it's unintentional and on Tesla's end