did you try using your phone as hotspot and the telsa connecting to the phone's wifi as a client (& uses phone's LTE for uplink)? We could eliminate a potential actual router issue (if you have a firewall rule somehow impacting the VPN from the car to Tesla cloud, it might be causing some issues - like what @chillaban mentioned up above). Currently, I think all your wifi networks finally connect back to your home cable modem/DSL router which could be the issue (firewall rule, DHCP/IP issues, DNS issues...).
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Do you have auto-folding mirror when exiting car?
I noticed that if I fold the side mirrors my car gets the wifi connection back. Since the wifi antenna is in the side mirror perhaps there is some issue there.
Yup. In car, door closed, watching for 15-20 minutes. Connects, disconnects, connects, disconnects....constantly. 5 ghz doesn't connect because the Tesla uses a 2.4 ghz only chip. I've tried a dedicated 2.4 network and no joy. I've disabled the firewall, security and anything that could interfere and no change. Yes, my mirrors autofold. I've folded them in an no change but Kudos because that is the first new thing I've thought to try in almost three months!!!!! I have great signal, everything else connects....just not my tesla.
boonedocks
MS LR Blk/Blk 19”
Retired
Member
I have only had the car a couple of weeks. At first it connected on wifi and got the 11.3 download. Since then it has only one bar and reverts to LTE but that is also low.
My router is 25 feet away with one wall. So on a lark, I unfolded the mirrors in the garage and got a solid wifi signal. I suspect I did not fold the mirrors the first few times I parked it. The wifi antenna is obviously in one of the side mirrors and is somewhat directional or the folded mirror makes for a partial Faraday cage.
My router is 25 feet away with one wall. So on a lark, I unfolded the mirrors in the garage and got a solid wifi signal. I suspect I did not fold the mirrors the first few times I parked it. The wifi antenna is obviously in one of the side mirrors and is somewhat directional or the folded mirror makes for a partial Faraday cage.
GHammer
Dark Star
Sounds like a bad wireless chip to me. The fact that it once worked and now doesn't and all other options have been exhausted. I've had wifi cards go out in laptops before.
I was thinking the same thing orinally but now we have two Teslas, both less than 4 months old and both have the same problem. They both connect to a phone's wifi hotspot and stay connected without problems.
There was some thread where a SC did some special reset to view and flush out all stored WiFi networks. I'm surprised that wasn't one of the things tried with Support. Because since your old car worked, and now neither of the new ones do, perhaps they both got a bad SSID/password/something stuck in the list. I know you said you changed the password and all...
But resetting the whole list I have seen work elsewhere here... this is one of the most insane issues that this is such a common issue with no clear answer.
But resetting the whole list I have seen work elsewhere here... this is one of the most insane issues that this is such a common issue with no clear answer.
I had a terrible time getting my Model S connected to WiFi myself, it probably took a week of experimentation. I tried 5 different routers and countless physical configurations (including router antenna orientations). In the process I discovered some silly things, such as the fact that extending or retracting the side-mirror affects your connectivity, indicating that it's probably changing the orientation of the car's antenna. I tried 3 different WiFi extenders. One of them was completely worthless, rebroadcasting on the same channel on which it receives. The first just didn't work well enough.
In the end, I found a configuration that works for me:
I don't recall whether I needed to tune the channels used, or whether the Orbi just took care of that. If you have a lot of neighbors, you might have more challenges than I.
Pay special attention to "xfinity" access points. If you use Comcast, and you see one in the air, it might be yours. You actually need to login to the xfinity website to configure your router to disable that feature--that's the only way to keep it from spamming valuable wifi channels. If you have neighbors, you might need to let them know about this, too.
In the end, the Orbi mesh network (with 2 repeaters) I wound up with is the most reliable wireless network I have ever used: it's not even close. I've only had to reboot it once in 4 months to force attachment after a firmware update, and I've never seen a client have problems connecting. I can't say these things about any other router I've ever connected to. But there's a good chance that this alone wouldn't have been enough for the car without eliminating the other signals. In my case, whereas it failed constantly before, my Model S connects with flawless consistency now.
In the end, I found a configuration that works for me:
- Netgear Orbi mesh network, with at least one (Orbi) repeater within 30 ft of the car with no heavy obstructions (mine penetrates two outside walls, including a garage, but no heavy equipment)
- Kill all other wifi signals that you possibly can. Get a wifi scanner app for your phone, and make sure none of the signals it finds are yours except for the one you intend to keep.
I don't recall whether I needed to tune the channels used, or whether the Orbi just took care of that. If you have a lot of neighbors, you might have more challenges than I.
Pay special attention to "xfinity" access points. If you use Comcast, and you see one in the air, it might be yours. You actually need to login to the xfinity website to configure your router to disable that feature--that's the only way to keep it from spamming valuable wifi channels. If you have neighbors, you might need to let them know about this, too.
In the end, the Orbi mesh network (with 2 repeaters) I wound up with is the most reliable wireless network I have ever used: it's not even close. I've only had to reboot it once in 4 months to force attachment after a firmware update, and I've never seen a client have problems connecting. I can't say these things about any other router I've ever connected to. But there's a good chance that this alone wouldn't have been enough for the car without eliminating the other signals. In my case, whereas it failed constantly before, my Model S connects with flawless consistency now.
Thanks for your detailed post, @NeoDog. There are only a few houses in my neighborhood and the lots are all half an acre or more so the houses are pretty spread out compared to some neighborhoods. There are maybe a dozen Wi-Fi networks found by the cars when they are in the garage but there's nothing I can do to change that number.
I actually ordered the Orbi earlier this week and it should be here by Tuesday. I'm hoping it solves my problems!
I actually ordered the Orbi earlier this week and it should be here by Tuesday. I'm hoping it solves my problems!
Wonder if y'all have seen this Testatap article on the wifi? Couple of things I hadn't seen before, including that " is a bad character; if still true, usual faulty programming where all special characters aren't escaped!
https://teslatap.com/articles/wifi-guide-and-troubleshooter-for-tesla-vehicles/
If you use a randomly-generated password, that's apt to bite you. I can't see anything else that applies to your case since Teslas had connected in your garage before!
https://teslatap.com/articles/wifi-guide-and-troubleshooter-for-tesla-vehicles/
If you use a randomly-generated password, that's apt to bite you. I can't see anything else that applies to your case since Teslas had connected in your garage before!
I gave up and it is at the service center. Was only going to be for this, but then got an update notification, initiated the update, came back later to find an "update not successful" message and the unwelcome news that my car would no longer charge. It had been plugged in and charging before the update, but after the failure, the car said "charging complete" at 75 miles. Tried unplugging and replugging, every variety and stripe of resets, drove the car around, etc... but no luck. When I would plug in it would say charging started and immediately charging completed and I would have a green ring. Looks like the SC updated me to the new .34 though and I can see that the car is now charging. If they can only fix the wifi too.....
The other interesting thing in that article is that the wifi antenna is in the 'Right side mirror'. Passenger for USA, etc., Driver for UK, etc. Useful if the right side of the car is close to a wall, near metal, etc.
Also worth checking the signal wth and without the mirrors folded. I get little more than 50% of signal strength when they are set to auto-fold. Guess they aren't omnidirectional!
Exactly. If you look at the tear-down photo in that article, it looks like a flat/plane antenna. I would assume this means your wifi AP could be in the worst orientation possible. Mirrors folded and open would at least give you 90 degree changes!
Jlwine
Member
Ditto, this started for me in October last year the night I upgraded to 8.0. A Tesla Ranger came to my home and recreated the issue. He spoke with Tesla engineering and they open a ticket. It's been six months, still no fix. As recently as toast my Tesla rep told me, they are working on a resolution". I won't hold my breath on this one.
8.0 Wifi issues?
MS Dropping Wifi Connection in Garage
Firmware 8.0
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It's weird how flaky this is. For a data point, I tested my wifi with the overnight demo X I have today and it connected with no problems. Using Apple AirPort Extreme, WPA2 personal, very long alphanumeric password, and the AirPort is about 30 feet away, up two floors. No issues with mirrors folded or not.
I believe I have it figured out. My car connected fine at the service center, so I went back to my own set up. Saw in the above article that Tesla uses a VPN connection using port 1194. So I tried to port forward 1104 to the Tesla but it came back occupied. How could that be, I asked, as I didn't have a VPN service active. Port Mapped the UPnP connections and saw that my NAS was, for some reason, reserving port 1194. Went into the NAS settings and it had two NAS services turned on by default. That likely occurred when I updated my NAS firmware in Mid-January, which is when, coincidentally, I started to have connection problems. My 4500 lb car was muscled out of the way by a tiny little cute 4 bay NAS. Man up, Tesla...man up!!
Got most of the way to troubleshooting this, and will confirm tonight that this correct. But I make the point again that you shouldn't have to be a network expert in order to be able to use your car. The average person isn't going to go into the bowels of their router and root around to troubleshoot connection problems. Geesh!
Got most of the way to troubleshooting this, and will confirm tonight that this correct. But I make the point again that you shouldn't have to be a network expert in order to be able to use your car. The average person isn't going to go into the bowels of their router and root around to troubleshoot connection problems. Geesh!
Mirlen
Member
Definitely not a signal issue, I have the AP 5 feet away and it connects full strength and then drops. I have a sonicwall firewall and I'm suspecting they are requiring UPnP or something as I have my car set to get a specific IP and I also have all security services disabled including all deep packet inspection. Will try the basic FiOS router tonight. I've been thru 3 access points and it works properly via my phone as a shared hotspot.
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