Slacker streaming jumping issues

[TOBASH]

Met a guy at the service station here in NYC. Said he was an attorney. He's so pissed he's considering a class action suit over this.

While that might be extreme, none of us spent gobs of cash to buy a vehicle without promised radio options. Also...the car does not even have AM, and that was not advertised or spoken of when I signed for it. AM is required for emergencies. Having lived through a couple of hurricanes, I found AM is essential! What genius at TESLA decided to CHEAP OUT and not spend an extra 30 bucks to install an AM receiver.

TESLA needs to fix this ASAP.

I'm beginning to think this is about TESLA not wanting to purchase proper bandwidth.

No matter what, this is infuriating and not acceptable any longer!

 

[doubleohwhat]

While a class action might be a bit extreme, I understand the guys frustration. This is a really stupid problem to go unfixed for this long.

 

[Racerx22b]

Same issue on my S and X. Constant streaming issues, loading errors, and occasional random center screen (unprompted) reboots.

Been like this for weeks. Ridiculous.

 

[Filter]

I agree completely, this relatively minor issue ruins my driving experience.
I hope they fix this soon....

 

[Scott-P]

I have been having the exact same issues since .32 at least. Currently on .42 and if anything it is getting worse, not better.

This is the biggest issue I have with Tesla. When I bought the car in DEC 2016, the autopilot was completely non-functional (it didn't even have meaningful cruise control), BUT it would open my garage door and close it reliably, play the music I wanted to here when I wanted to hear it (except that it couldn't--and still can't--keep the song order on an album on a USB stick straight) and kept the same station all of the time and did NOT randomly jump around from streaming to FM or XM as it currently does.

This is nothing more or less than a complete lack of version control and software design control, OR it is a complete lack of any type of Quality Control or testing (I suspect the latter, given all the delivery issues that occur...). It is one thing to have a feature which doesn't work (or doesn't work well) that is being worked on. It is an entirely different thing to have a working feature and then BREAK IT for no apparent reason. I get that at as an early adopter, I am likely to suffer through the teething pains of new and exceptional features (e.g., the autopilot), and that the company is new to this, and is trying to create a new paradigm, which is likely to have some issues during development. However, simple functions (like the audio system, or the garage door opener), should not be subject to random breakage when new firmware is deployed. These are functions that every other manufacturer got right 10-20 years ago, and hasn't really changed since that time. They should be tested thoroughly BEFORE the code gets sent to any vehicle in the wild world. Unfortunately, if this persists, the risk of legal action, and thus of very damaging press gets higher and higher.

Those who have said that Model 3 buyer will not tolerate this are absolutely correct (as a Model S buyer, I'm not sure that Model S buyer will really tolerate it much longer...), and I am afraid that this will be the death of these cars and this company. I actually LOVE my S, despite its somewhat schizophrenic personality, and I do not want to see the company or its vision destroyed by inept QC and Software Development/Deployment.

PLEASE TESLA: FIX THIS STUFF. Get it right AND LEAVE IT ALONE!

 

[Scott-P]

Met a guy at the service station here in NYC. Said he was an attorney. He's so pissed he's considering a class action suit over this.

While that might be extreme, none of us spent gobs of cash to buy a vehicle without promised radio options. Also...the car does not even have AM, and that was not advertised or spoken of when I signed for it. AM is required for emergencies. Having lived through a couple of hurricanes, I found AM is essential! What genius at TESLA decided to CHEAP OUT and not spend an extra 30 bucks to install an AM receiver.

TESLA needs to fix this ASAP.

I'm beginning to think this is about TESLA not wanting to purchase proper bandwidth.

No matter what, this is infuriating and not acceptable any longer!

More likely it is that they are so monomaniacly focused on AP and FSD that they are forgetting that we actually have to drive (or at least ride in...;-) the car while they perfect that function.

 

[MXFan]

I'm still getting streaming issues and loading errors, both in Slacker and TuneIn. I don't think this is a software update issue, but rather a change in the Tesla's bandwidth agreements with their provider.

 

[ABC2D]

yeah, 48 did not fix the issue, still unusable

 

[AMPUP]

See here for more details

LTE Throttling since 11/3/17

For those of us that jumped on the 3G to LTE upgrade it’s been very frustrating considering 3G isn’t being throtttled. Only when you’re on LTE (99% of the time) is it really slow.

 

[Tdreamer]

For those hoping 2017.50 fixed the streaming music issues... no such luck. And don't install 2017.50 - there is a problem with it and it will likely fail to completely install.

Support confirmed it's still an issue they are working to fix. From what they said, it's "a provider issue - the provider changed something that's breaking Tesla's use of the service".

 

[rush6410]

I wanted to contribute from the stand point that I am not seeing the problems folks are representing in the post. I use Slacker exclusively with a premium account for just over a year. I am also on .44. I am not here to make a statement of opinion in any direction and certainly not here to discredit the seriousness of the problem. I have been working in the R&D technology industry for 3 decades, 2 in hardware with HP and 1 with a startup software company. I have been involved with troubleshooting new technology issues and am familiar with the techniques involved. Typically when there are firmware/hardware issues, it usually is an all or nothing work or don't work platform wide problem unless there are conditions and compatibilities of different hardware configs. This may be the case here that may not be obvious to us as clients. What I am getting at, if there was a platform firmware or hardware issues, the entire fleet would be seeing this issue. So, that makes me think that there may be local conditions in multiple areas of the Country that are impacted. The only time I have ever had load errors or streaming issues at all was during and shortly after Hurricane Harvey where the LTE bandwidth was horrible. At best I was getting max 100kbits transfer rates via fast.com. As soon as the LTE service was fixed and back running normal (for me); 1 Mbits transfer, I haven't had any issues. I guess what I am saying that this is a strange problem. Tesla clearly acknowledges that there are problems but it doesn't affect everyone. So obviously they are aware of some parameters that are not clear to us as owners that is the root cause. This makes me lead to a conclusion that there are conditions they are trying to address with new firmware vs. the current firmware is broke. Just one possibility after reading the LTE throttling thread is it is related to the LTE service. Could they be having issues with AT&T with local towers and technology that is on their end. That would address the sporadic nature of areas throughout the country that are impacted or not. Just one possibility. I am not aware of or seen anyone in my area that has reported the problem. Anyways...thought I would weigh in from an owner that is not seeing this issue and has some experience with root causing these types of problems.

 

[jdw]

I'm still getting streaming issues and loading errors, both in Slacker and TuneIn. I don't think this is a software update issue, but rather a change in the Tesla's bandwidth agreements with their provider.

Agree completely - and it's not just bandwidth, it's the formats of the streams. Tune-in stations have disappeared or become unreliable - stations that work fine from the phone app over Bluetooth or even over WiFi in the Tesla.

To me, it all points to both a network speed issue in combination with a VPN/Proxy issue on Tesla servers that blocks or slows streams formatted in a certain way.

I know that many streams have migrated to a playlist format; most of the non-working streams have changed from .mp3 or AAC to something else and I'm guessing Tesla hasn't updated or is blocking them.

Tune-In Customer Service

Slacker streams using MP3 over HTTP at up to 320 kbps, so bandwidth is more likely the problem here.

Both services work fine via a phone and bluetooth.

 

[C3XGarage]

Agree completely - and it's not just bandwidth, it's the formats of the streams. Tune-in stations have disappeared or become unreliable - stations that work fine from the phone app over Bluetooth or even over WiFi in the Tesla.

To me, it all points to both a network speed issue in combination with a VPN/Proxy issue on Tesla servers that blocks or slows streams formatted in a certain way.

I know that many streams have migrated to a playlist format; most of the non-working streams have changed from .mp3 or AAC to something else and I'm guessing Tesla hasn't updated or is blocking them.

Tune-In Customer Service

Slacker streams using MP3 over HTTP at up to 320 kbps, so bandwidth is more likely the problem here.

Both services work fine via a phone and bluetooth.

Just a guess but from my understanding, Tesla’s agreement with AT&T ends in January 2018. Perhaps they ran out of agreed data usage over the length of contract and have already agreed to move to another service provider like T-Mobile so are unable to add more without a contract extension. Regardless of the reason, I’m fairly certain it’s related to that contract expiration because there are no hardware or software problems since streaming works fine in other countries and it’s not a problem with the service providers signal because mobile phones in the same location stream fine. There has to be some kind of throttling going on with Tesla’s.

 

[C3XGarage]

Met a guy at the service station here in NYC. Said he was an attorney. He's so pissed he's considering a class action suit over this.

While that might be extreme, none of us spent gobs of cash to buy a vehicle without promised radio options. Also...the car does not even have AM, and that was not advertised or spoken of when I signed for it. AM is required for emergencies. Having lived through a couple of hurricanes, I found AM is essential! What genius at TESLA decided to CHEAP OUT and not spend an extra 30 bucks to install an AM receiver.

TESLA needs to fix this ASAP.

I'm beginning to think this is about TESLA not wanting to purchase proper bandwidth.

No matter what, this is infuriating and not acceptable any longer!

For what it’s worth, my last few BMWs have not had AM either.

 

[TOBASH]

Just a guess but from my understanding, Tesla’s agreement with AT&T ends in January 2018. Perhaps they ran out of agreed data usage over the length of contract and have already agreed to move to another service provider like T-Mobile so are unable to add more without a contract extension. Regardless of the reason, I’m fairly certain it’s related to that contract expiration because there are no hardware or software problems since streaming works fine in other countries and it’s not a problem with the service providers signal because mobile phones in the same location stream fine. There has to be some kind of throttling going on with Tesla’s.

Sorry. They signed a contract with me,, so I don't care about A T and T or Tmobile. Their job is to keep their promises.. If this is not dealt with soon I will join the class action suit.. Enough is enough

 

[jdw]

Just a guess but from my understanding, Tesla’s agreement with AT&T ends in January 2018. Perhaps they ran out of agreed data usage over the length of contract and have already agreed to move to another service provider like T-Mobile so are unable to add more without a contract extension. Regardless of the reason, I’m fairly certain it’s related to that contract expiration because there are no hardware or software problems since streaming works fine in other countries and it’s not a problem with the service providers signal because mobile phones in the same location stream fine. There has to be some kind of throttling going on with Tesla’s.

Could be, but I'm in Canada where Rogers is used, not AT&T. That leads me to think it is more of a problem with Tesla's servers.

 

[Racerx22b]

The list of software related problems Tesla has had over the years that only affects a portion of the fleet is extensive. It has been proved many times over that it doesn't have to be an all or nothing situation.

 

[TOBASH]

For what it’s worth, my last few BMWs have not had AM either.

My 2016 X6 had AM. Not sure where u got ur info

 

[C3XGarage]

My 2016 X6 had AM. Not sure where u got ur info

I didn’t say they all didn’t have it. I said mine didn’t. I’m my own source so I gave myself the information by having the cars. But here you go BMW i3 electric car quirk: no AM radio offered, but why? (update)

 

[Racerx22b]

Made a visit to a service center yesterday for an unrelated item and mentioned this ongoing Slacker streaming issue and was told they now know what the issue is.

It is being blamed on a software issue on Slacker's side (of course). And the remedy requires Slacker to update the software to resolve. The kicker is that there is no platform wide software update that can fix it. The tech at Tesla told me that Slacker actually has to go to every individual channel on the entire Slacker platform and make the update one channel by one channel at a time. I would suggest not holding your breath if this explanation is true.