Supercharger idea - Hidden WiFi Access and video permitted while supercharging

[jamieb]

I've never seen this promised anywhere.

You're right, I just went back and researched it - I mis-interpreted the hardware 'upgrade' (3g to LTE) posting headers as implying that it was something that could be swapped out at a service center. Would be nice if that turns out to be the case...

But back to my recent post - where does the mother board of the onboard computer live, and is it accessible enough to think that motherboard upgrades are going to be possible?

 

[rlang59]

You're right, I just went back and researched it - I mis-interpreted the hardware 'upgrade' (3g to LTE) posting headers as implying that it was something that could be swapped out at a service center. Would be nice if that turns out to be the case...

But back to my recent post - where does the mother board of the onboard computer live, and is it accessible enough to think that motherboard upgrades are going to be possible?

It's in the main screen but I wouldn't get your hopes up about upgrades on it.

 

[iffatall]

You're right, I just went back and researched it - I mis-interpreted the hardware 'upgrade' (3g to LTE) posting headers as implying that it was something that could be swapped out at a service center. Would be nice if that turns out to be the case...

But back to my recent post - where does the mother board of the onboard computer live, and is it accessible enough to think that motherboard upgrades are going to be possible?

I doubt it is going to happen. Besides, why would you need LTE? 3G (and potential upgrade to HSPA+) is sufficient for web surfing, fetching maps, and streaming music. And as I mentioned before, I do not believe the hardware is capable of handling video anyway. So I don't see any compelling reasons for having LTE. Future models will probably have it, but I doubt the current cars are going to be upgraded.

 

[bob_p]

I've had several previous cars that had build-in DVD drives and displayed video on the car's displays while the car was parked - which was a nice feature, but very rarely used.

With large display smartphones and tablets - there are other options now for displaying video. On my last trip, when I was at the supercharger, I watched a video on my tablet - and had the audio paired with Bluetooth to the car so I could listen to the audio through the car's better audio system. While not as convenient as using the large 17" display - it's good enough for a 20 to 30 minute wait at the supercharger. And if I wanted to stream something, I could have done the same with my smartphone with the smaller (but still usable) display.

 

[jamieb]

Looks like they're testing this idea

I stopped in to Supercharge at the Fremont factory today (I'm sitting in the visitor center as I write this) and was surprised to see an SSID for 'Tesla Supercharger Wi-Fi' pop up. I chose it instead of Tesla Guest Wi-Fi and got this log-in screen:

So it appears that Tesla is beta-testing the concept of Wi-Fi at the Superchargers after all. Cool. Folks should give feedback at [email protected]

As you can see from the header on the welcome screen, the service seems to be coming through Aruba networks.

Using speedof.me to test network speed, I got 8.1 Mbps download and 6.9 upload on the Supercharger wifi compared to 44 Mbps and 62 Mbps (!) upload on the Tesla Guest wifi network, so the Supercharger wifi is either heavily throttled or based on some version of an LTE hotspot for implementation at remote sites. Adequate for downloading email but not much else if you're at a supercharger with 10 other cars all surfing on the local WiFi network.

 

[supratachophobia]

What's the deal with everyone still wanting WiFi? Tether to your phone that has 4g and call it a day. We can all afford unlimited data or at least the plans with 10gb.

 

[Pete90D]

We'll, some thoughts on that...

Now it's got a Nvidia chip, which I'd hope would support video, but I doubt it's fast enough without serious optimization. just use the browser on the car to go to a graphically heavy page, such as a page on TmC that someone's posted a lot of pictures. no let the page load fully, then try to scroll and maneuver in the page. it will all but lock up. It's possible their might not be enough horsepower to do netflix(I hope I'm wrong!!!!!). I was surprised tesla didn't go with something like a dual core atom processor with onboard intel graphics. proven, capable, and very low power consumption.

I don't know the specs of the touchscreen, but a lot of small devices can do a great job with video because the video is offloaded onto the GPU. I have a couple machines that are really weak for anything useful, but they can play 1080p because video is offloaded. The browser may be weak, but if the GPU is anything decent then the CPU isn't as important. Most of the functionality that lags would be powered by the CPU.

A recent example of this is the new 12" MacBook. It lags soooo bad, and can't play anything on Vimeo... unless the hardware acceleration is used. Then it plays flawlessly.

 

[Nigel16494]

I stopped in to Supercharge at the Fremont factory today (I'm sitting in the visitor center as I write this) and was surprised to see an SSID for 'Tesla Supercharger Wi-Fi' pop up. I chose it instead of Tesla Guest Wi-Fi and got this log-in screen:

View attachment 93180

So it appears that Tesla is beta-testing the concept of Wi-Fi at the Superchargers after all. Cool. Folks should give feedback at [email protected]

As you can see from the header on the welcome screen, the service seems to be coming through Aruba networks.

Using speedof.me to test network speed, I got 8.1 Mbps download and 6.9 upload on the Supercharger wifi compared to 44 Mbps and 62 Mbps (!) upload on the Tesla Guest wifi network, so the Supercharger wifi is either heavily throttled or based on some version of an LTE hotspot for implementation at remote sites. Adequate for downloading email but not much else if you're at a supercharger with 10 other cars all surfing on the local WiFi network.

Maybe I missed something, there have always been 2 wireless networks at Fremont in the last year I have been going there. One is the Visitor Center that is next to the superchargers, another is a tesla guest supercharger I think. That annoying pop up started a few months back. I had assumed that wireless was present at all superchargers. The visitor center folks are more than happy to give out the key for that network, in fact I think it used to be openly displayed

 

[Dborn]

Well, the supercharger at the Sydney service centre has internet access. So, even after hours, there is something to do when hanging around accumulating electrons...

 

[HHHH]

Maybe I missed something, there have always been 2 wireless networks at Fremont in the last year I have been going there. One is the Visitor Center that is next to the superchargers, another is a tesla guest supercharger I think. That annoying pop up started a few months back. I had assumed that wireless was present at all superchargers. The visitor center folks are more than happy to give out the key for that network, in fact I think it used to be openly displayed

This is such a great concept, it's really cool how Tesla listens in on these forums if that's how they got the idea.

 

[beeeerock]

While I can appreciate some value in the wifi, I think there would be more benefit to drivers if plugging in to the Supercharger updated the node information on the GPS to show '3 of 4 Superchargers in Use' or similar - in real time. This would be more valuable as they become more crowded.

This could also be extended to an automated email to the driver to inform him (or remind him) that the charging is done AND there are only X Superchargers available for incoming cars... i.e. "you're done, get the heck out of here...!" Given the whole email debacle over misuse of Superchargers, this would seem to be a logical start at a solution.

 

[Pete90D]

While I can appreciate some value in the wifi, I think there would be more benefit to drivers if plugging in to the Supercharger updated the node information on the GPS to show '3 of 4 Superchargers in Use' or similar - in real time. This would be more valuable as they become more crowded.

This could also be extended to an automated email to the driver to inform him (or remind him) that the charging is done AND there are only X Superchargers available for incoming cars... i.e. "you're done, get the heck out of here...!" Given the whole email debacle over misuse of Superchargers, this would seem to be a logical start at a solution.

+1

The superchargers I visit aren't that busy when I'm there, but knowing how busy they are in advance would be nice.

It would also be nice if in the event the SC is super super busy it let the car "take a number" so if you happen to be on the other end of the section waiting and someone pulls in as someone pulls out it won't charge for them unless you didn't respond in 5 minutes or something. Not sure how often that happens or how people behave in a situation like that, but eventually it will be like any other queue.

 

[In2oil]

+1

The superchargers I visit aren't that busy when I'm there, but knowing how busy they are in advance would be nice.

It would also be nice if in the event the SC is super super busy it let the car "take a number" so if you happen to be on the other end of the section waiting and someone pulls in as someone pulls out it won't charge for them unless you didn't respond in 5 minutes or something. Not sure how often that happens or how people behave in a situation like that, but eventually it will be like any other queue.

lucky bastard, you have a P90D L sweet, congratulation, I have the same car except P85D, I will upgrade to ludicrous when available..