TM3 Weak WiFi Signal

[Medved_77]

Trying to work out if this is the norm...

My router is about 4 meters away from the car, separated from the car by a double glazed window. Can't pick up the network from the car, can just about connect on my phone although the signal is weak, especially with the car doors closed.

Bought a deco home mesh system so now have an access point about 0.5m from the boot of the car. Router is now in modem mode only. The mesh access point supports both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz.

I can now get a very weak signal in the car but fluctuates between 1 and 2 bars on the WiFi icon in car, meanwhile my phone shows full bars.

Anyone else experiencing the same? Just seems the range is super weak, especially for 2.4Ghz. Was tethering previously but would prefer not to have to leave the phone in the car whilst downloading updates.

 

[kevuwk]

Trying to work out if this is the norm...

My router is about 4 meters away from the car, separated from the car by a double glazed window. Can't pick up the network from the car, can just about connect on my phone although the signal is weak, especially with the car doors closed.

Bought a deco home mesh system so now have an access point about 0.5m from the boot of the car. Router is now in modem mode only. The mesh access point supports both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz.

I can now get a very weak signal in the car but fluctuates between 1 and 2 bars on the WiFi icon in car, meanwhile my phone shows full bars.

Anyone else experiencing the same? Just seems the range is super weak, especially for 2.4Ghz. Was tethering previously but would prefer not to have to leave the phone in the car whilst downloading updates.

The Wi-fi antenna is in one of the side mirrors. I’ve read the passenger mirror so that may actually be the drivers side in the UK?

My router is 2-3 meters through a wall using channel 6 on 2.4Ghz and gets 2-3 bars depending how well I park

 

[NewbieT]

The WiFi antenna is in the passenger side wing mirror (in the UK / RHD car). WiFi needs to be on Channel 1 or 6. The car doesn't see Channel 11.

 

[mpandrew]

I had the same experience, always very weak signal. Once I upgraded home wifi to a mesh system using Tenda units, suddenly the car is seeing 4/5 bars signal strength. The repeater it connects to is upstairs in the room directly adjacent to the car passenger door mirror when parked on the driveway.

 

[Russinating]

I thought it was in the driver's mirror? Like, pretty confidently so!

 

[Medved_77]

The WiFi antenna is in the passenger side wing mirror (in the UK / RHD car). WiFi needs to be on Channel 1 or 6. The car doesn't see Channel 11.

Interesting, thanks.

Unfortunately my mesh system doesn't appear to allow changing channels, it just automatically assigns the best one which is currently channel 9.

The car is connected though, even if the signal is weak.

This is the signal strength from the drivers side mirror, it's very similar from the passenger side too. Seems strong enough to me so not sure why it's appearing weak inside the car. Anyway, it's an improvement on before.

 

[Jason71]

For the record. The WiFi chip is a US one. The US only use bands 1-11. Europe uses 1-14 so if your router is on 12-14 the car will not connect at all. Don't v think this is anything to do with your issu .
I thought v the antenna was on the passenger mirror since I get a stronger signal when I park the car with b the passenger side nearer the router.

 

[NewbieT]

Twitter

 

[NorfolkMustard]

Twitter

That looks like the port side of the car, equivalent to our passenger's side. The labels also say "ANTENNA-WIFI-LHS" and 'ANTENNA-LTE-LHS" suggesting LHS = Left Hand Side

Does LHS suggest there is a RHS equivalent for right-hand-drive cars, or just that they're only made for the LHS mirror and it's a note to the factory worker - don't try to fit in the RHS mirror.

I'd say it's still inconclusive until someone opens up a right-hand-drive car's driver/starboard side mirror. I get a better signal when the starboard side mirror is facing/closer to the wifi access point, i.e. not obstructed by the rest of the car.

 

[Fraank]

It's definitely in passenger side. I parallel park and can put a WiFi extender within 5 metres of driver side and not get a signal, works fine when I park the other way (WiFi to passenger side mirror).

 

[Fraank]

Thinking about it, it's totally logical placement as it's the same side for charging. The source of your charging will normally be the source of your WiFi!

 

[Dilly]

My garage access point is hardwired to my Router and is sited in the garage roof at a height of 8 feet off the ground and directly above the car. As it happens it’s in line with the mirrors.
Here’s the ironic part; the car Only gets 3 or 4 bars out of 5 most of the time that it’s in the garage. But when I put the car in garage it connects straight away and gets 5 bars. The AP has 20Mb/s speed.
I can see no reason for the connection to degrade. I use an identical AP elsewhere and can easily get full signal on both AP’s within 15 feet with phones and tablets

 

[davidmc]

Trying to work out if this is the norm...

My router is about 4 meters away from the car, separated from the car by a double glazed window. Can't pick up the network from the car, can just about connect on my phone although the signal is weak, especially with the car doors closed.

Bought a deco home mesh system so now have an access point about 0.5m from the boot of the car. Router is now in modem mode only. The mesh access point supports both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz.

I can now get a very weak signal in the car but fluctuates between 1 and 2 bars on the WiFi icon in car, meanwhile my phone shows full bars.

Anyone else experiencing the same? Just seems the range is super weak, especially for 2.4Ghz. Was tethering previously but would prefer not to have to leave the phone in the car whilst downloading updates.

Sounds like you antenna is either not been connected, became disconnected somehow or broken. Worth a ranger visit?

Best test would be to Tether your phone and place the phone over each mirror and see what signal you get, if not 4-5 bars then sounds broken

 

[Rustybkts]

Mine rarely finds a signal when parked up yet has the choice of two if I re-boot. It never fails after a re-boot which is very odd.

 

[AndyWrightUK]

For the record. The WiFi chip is a US one. The US only use bands 1-11. Europe uses 1-14 so if your router is on 12-14 the car will not connect at all. Don't v think this is anything to do with your issu .
I thought v the antenna was on the passenger mirror since I get a stronger signal when I park the car with b the passenger side nearer the router.

This comment didn't ring true to me so I tried shifting the AP that covers my model 3 to channel 13 and it works just fine. WiFi chipsets are likely to be global, with software determining what channels they're allowed to use based on location. In my case the car will happily connect to channel 13 on 2.4GHz (and also DFS channels on 5GHz).

 

[Jason71]

This comment didn't ring true to me so I tried shifting the AP that covers my model 3 to channel 13 and it works just fine. WiFi chipsets are likely to be global, with software determining what channels they're allowed to use based on location. In my case the car will happily connect to channel 13 on 2.4GHz (and also DFS channels on 5GHz).

Its been widely reported in the past in threads and on here:

WiFi Guide and Troubleshooter for Tesla Vehicles | TeslaTap
"On your router, check if the router is set to a congested or non-supported band. The Tesla hardware support bands 1-11, the standard in the USA. Some countries allow additional bands that Tesla cannot use, so if you’re outside the USA, be sure to use bands 1-11"

and seemed to tie up with my own experience where the car could not see my network at all while it was on channel 13 so I changed it to a valid US one and it worked. Maybe as you said its software and they updated it? if I can be bothered i'll check it again. I'll at least stop spreading mis-information until I have

 

[AndyWrightUK]

Its been widely reported in the past in threads and on here:

WiFi Guide and Troubleshooter for Tesla Vehicles | TeslaTap
"On your router, check if the router is set to a congested or non-supported band. The Tesla hardware support bands 1-11, the standard in the USA. Some countries allow additional bands that Tesla cannot use, so if you’re outside the USA, be sure to use bands 1-11"

and seemed to tie up with my own experience where the car could not see my network at all while it was on channel 13 so I changed it to a valid US one and it worked. Maybe as you said its software and they updated it? if I can be bothered i'll check it again. I'll at least stop spreading mis-information until I have

I suppose another possibility is that they've recently switched to different hardware that now supports channels above 11 in countries where that's allowed. My M3 was delivered in November 2019.

 

[Jason71]

I suppose another possibility is that they've recently switched to different hardware that now supports channels above 11 in countries where that's allowed. My M3 was delivered in November 2019.

as was mine.

 

[Medved_77]

Sounds like you antenna is either not been connected, became disconnected somehow or broken. Worth a ranger visit?

Best test would be to Tether your phone and place the phone over each mirror and see what signal you get, if not 4-5 bars then sounds broken

OK, tethered to phone, place phone on top of driver mirror, 4 bars. On top of passenger mirror, 5 bars.

Tried to reconnect to home network, fluctuating between 1 to 3 bars but now a new problem:

Thinking its more a network config issue than a problem with the car although it connected OK yesterday.

 

[Jonslatt]

Is worth using speedtest.net on the in car browser. I found that although my WiFi strength often only shows up as 1 bar (or even just a dot) I would still get 20-30Mb/s speeds.