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Stronger cell connection somehow?

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UncaNed

Active Member
Supporting Member
Apr 8, 2015
2,426
10,687
East coast
Summoning in and out of my garage - or even to move a foot or two fore and aft - sometimes requires 8 - 30 tries with the result mostly being unavailable connection just before the instant when the car seems about to move. I'm a wheelchair guy and got myself bottled in in the garage needing to back up just 6 inches so I could roll out the garage door this evening. Though I finally got the car to move for me, I had to sit there trying again and again for about 20 minutes.

My center display shows only one bar of connectivity while my cheap Sprint Android phone shows 4 bars.

It would be great if there was a way to add my Tesla as another cell phone account so it could connect through Sprint or something else with a strongest connection or maybe a better antenna or something.

Streaming music is a bit balky when I'm at home, in case this tells us anything. Summoning via the key fob has never worked either.

IS there some sort of an "or something" that might help?

March 2018 Model X
I Just missed getting MCU-2.
 
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IS there some sort of an "or something" that might help?

Yes, but you're probably not going to like it.

There are cell phone boosters that work quite well AS LONG AS THERE IS AT LEAST SOME SIGNAL. I live in the rural Sierra foothills and get one bar sometimes, if I leave the phone sitting in a windowsill. But, with a cell phone booster and antenna on the roof, I get 2-3 bars near the inside antenna on the booster.

There are lots of cheap boosters. They don't work.

I know WeBoost brand works. But, you're going to pay $500 or so. There are even pricer brands. There are probably other similarly priced to the WeBoost that work. I'm just saying I know weboost works for me, and I've tried cheaper ones that didn't do anything for me.

I have two WeBoost. One's in the house, and a 'WeBoost 'mobile'' or similar name is in my camper van. It's a godsend at campgrounds with weak cell signals. I can lay in my bunk in the van and websurf happily in campgrounds where I previously had one bar, maybe, of signal.
 
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Another, "you are not going to like it" but, I would try a different phone. I'd go to at&t (since Tesla's are using at&t) and get a Pay-as-you-go phone with a one month plan. Try it just to see if it makes a difference. I know you said, you get 4 bars on Sprint, but you are looking for anything that makes a difference. Even if it doesn't make technically sense, it might make a difference. at&t doesn't work? Take it back, they have a 30 day return policy, and you don't need 30 days.

Have a friend that can come over? Better different cell carrier. Install the Tesla app on their phone, login with your credentials. Test the summon. Better? Good. Not? Delete the app and it protects your password. Cost nothing to try.

Do you have WiFi in your garage? If you do, turn on WiFi without the SIM in both your Sprint and the at&t phone and use its WiFi connection to the internet to see if it makes a difference for Summon. Who knows? Just might.

And try the same with Verizon Pay-as-you-go. Maybe these won't work, but cheaper to try than buying a WeBoost that likely will work.

Not related to your problem: I keep a cheap burner Tracfone (no cell service) in my garage. Charge it once a week. I have the Tesla app on it, and use it WiFi wise. Use it when I don't want to go back in the house to get a fob. Its for "special occasions (emergencies)" And I created a Google Voice account, under a Gmail account for the burner. From WiFi, I can also make a WiFi phone call over Google Voice if needed. No cell service. With no cell service, I never pay a monthly bill, but have a simple smartphone and WiFi connection and can make cell phone calls whenever.
 
What’s the issue with the FOB? I use mine regularly without issue. I like it because I feel “connected” directly with the car in case it goes wrong and I want to stop immediately.
Hold the center down for a few seconds until lights on car flash then just click forward or reverse. Easy. And immediate
 
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Another, "you are not going to like it" but, I would try a different phone. I'd go to at&t (since Tesla's are using at&t) and get a Pay-as-you-go phone with a one month plan. Try it just to see if it makes a difference. I know you said, you get 4 bars on Sprint, but you are looking for anything that makes a difference. Even if it doesn't make technically sense, it might make a difference. at&t doesn't work? Take it back, they have a 30 day return policy, and you don't need 30 days.

Have a friend that can come over? Better different cell carrier. Install the Tesla app on their phone, login with your credentials. Test the summon. Better? Good. Not? Delete the app and it protects your password. Cost nothing to try.

Do you have WiFi in your garage? If you do, turn on WiFi without the SIM in both your Sprint and the at&t phone and use its WiFi connection to the internet to see if it makes a difference for Summon. Who knows? Just might.

And try the same with Verizon Pay-as-you-go. Maybe these won't work, but cheaper to try than buying a WeBoost that likely will work.

Not related to your problem: I keep a cheap burner Tracfone (no cell service) in my garage. Charge it once a week. I have the Tesla app on it, and use it WiFi wise. Use it when I don't want to go back in the house to get a fob. Its for "special occasions (emergencies)" And I created a Google Voice account, under a Gmail account for the burner. From WiFi, I can also make a WiFi phone call over Google Voice if needed. No cell service. With no cell service, I never pay a monthly bill, but have a simple smartphone and WiFi connection and can make cell phone calls whenever.
If the vehicle's connection indoors is the problem how would a different phone help?
 
My home is also a cell dead zone. We use Verizon and installed their “4G Network extender” which acts like a bridge between cellular phones and a local network. Works great. About $200. this is not the usual eBay krap promising magically delicious cell coverage.

Before that, I’d try to make sure the phone and car were both on the same WiFi with good signal strength. It’s an interesting question - and I don’t know - if the car would summon over WiFi or only over cell.
 
I second using the fob. It's a direct connection to the car. No cell towers are involved. Using a phone is problematic.

The car, sitting in the garage, is not connected to WiFi. You activate summon and it will switch to WiFi. Then as the car backs out of the garrage the car decides the WiFi signal is too weak and switches back to cellular. The OP is on the east coast trying to control a car through a server in CA. It is no wonder that doesn't work.
 
What’s the issue with the FOB? I use mine regularly without issue. I like it because I feel “connected” directly with the car in case it goes wrong and I want to stop immediately.
Hold the center down for a few seconds until lights on car flash then just click forward or reverse. Easy. And immediate
Nope. Neither FOB has never worked with Summon. One time it turned on the lights and opened the mirrors, but thats as far as the FOB ever got me.
 
Nope. Neither FOB has never worked with Summon. One time it turned on the lights and opened the mirrors, but thats as far as the FOB ever got me.
If I remember correctly I had some issues using the FOB also when i first got the car. I had to change one of the summon settings. I think it was “Require continuous key press” or something. It was backwards of what I thought it would do. Not intuitive. but sure enough that made it work great.
you may want to take a look and try it. I think you’ll prefer the FOB itself In the long run. IMHO
 
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So, does anyone know if I install a weboost in my Tesla, will the car connect to it and have extended range on the signal? I want to get a weboost to extend my cell, but I would also like the added benefit of the car also showing a few bars too when I'm traveling in rural areas.
 
We have taken some long trips in the west where you lose the signal completely. Sometimes the car (a model X) shows a big slash in the signal icon while the phone may have one bar. This really sucks when your relying on the map to update. I was thinking of purchasing a Weboost and that would should help strengthen my phone cell signal. BTW I have an AT&T phone and I understand that Tesla also uses AT&T for the car's connection. So in my limited technical mind, it would seem that if the cell could connect to the Weboost, why not the car too? Am I missing something? Can anyone tell me if they have done this or if the Weboost would not work with the car?

On another note, I am fully aware of the signal through the windshield of the S since that's our other car. Found that out when I put a radar detector in it (only works to the right of the mirror). In the X this is not an issue. I guess it doesn't have the metal film used in the S windshield.
 
When we travel around western States, it's not uncommon to have a slash through the signal icon of the car showing no coverage. Yet in some instances my cell phone is still showing one bar (or sometimes vice versa with the car showing one bar. I understand that Tesla uses the AT&T network that is the same as my cell service. So, in my limited technical mind I was thinking if the cell phone can connect to a Weboost booster then why not the car too? Am I missing something here? Has anyone out there tried this or at least tell me why it would not work? It would sure be nice to keep the map updating in those rural areas.
 
Navigation should work no matter what your cell signal looks like.
The navigation map is stored in a micro SD card and gets updated about once a year.

I don't see how an RF booster could work.
It listens to a weak signal and rebroadcasts it on the same frequency. Its transmitter would block its receiver.

It listens to a weak signal and transmits it on a different frequency. Unless it has a huge duplexer the receiver will still be blocked.

The car may not receive all of the frequencies that are available. It is not a voice connection. It is a cellular data modem on a special contract with AT&T. What the cellphone sees has no bearing on what the car sees.