I live in a condo with underground parking. No WiFi and when using cellphone, signal strength is not the greatest. Just ordered a Model 3 and just wanted to get some feedback on owners who are in the same situation. Would the overnight update be done in the underground parking or would I need to park, say, at Starbucks to get a Tesla update?
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Underground Overnight Parking
- Thread starter Konea
- Start date
WiFi is definitely preferred. Even in the garage of our detached home the car will generally only download the update over wifi. While it has used 3G in the past, I'm pretty sure they try to avoid it.
pcons
M3 AWD+
Best solution IMO would be to see the notification in the car and then just tether your phone on the next drive. It will download refund you drive, or do Starbucks as you suggested.
Here on the west coast we've plenty of Shaw Open WiFi hotspots. I've a Tesla friend who is a Shaw customer, and he's kind enough to add my car's MAC address to his Shaw account, so that my car is able to connect to those hotspots automatically whenever I park near one. Usually takes less than an hour to download an update.
I've also tried mobile phone tethering; I think most updates are under 1 GBytes. I park outdoor to download the update, then drive inside underground to install it.
I've also tried mobile phone tethering; I think most updates are under 1 GBytes. I park outdoor to download the update, then drive inside underground to install it.
Yeah thats pretty much my plan. Just park outside somewhere and tether from my phone. Possibly when I go shopping or something. Or just park on the street for a bit and leave my phone in there and go back after an hour or so and move it into the underground. Shall see how things go once I actually get my car.
Whisky
Member
I have between one to two LTE bars. That's enough to get a download when tethering. Sometimes I hit 3G, and that's definitely not enough. Otherwise, yeah, I just tether whenever I'm at a restaurant or go to the mall. I do often have an issue (I have a MX, so this might work differently in a TM3) where the car needs a secondary download after doing the version download, and the car doesn't tether on the reboot, and the single strength is not strong enough to download that over it's LTE. It will download that secondary patch over LTE, so a drive will do it also.
It's actually a sort of painful process in comparison.
The car isn't able to join WiFi networks that present a login page (e.g. a hotel, Starbucks, etc.). ShawOpen does this as well, but if you log in to the Shaw account (not ShawOpen WiFi) on another device it lets you register the "MAC address" of the car and will no longer present the login page (you'll just have full access after it's registered this way). This address is visible somewhere when you open WiFi settings in the car. Shaw doesn't register it immediately though, took a few attempts from the car before it would reliably connect.
The upside is that you only need to do this once.
JamstationP85D
Member
I wonder if anyone has used Cell extenders/amplifiers for weak areas. We use them in cottage country areas where there is little to no service. They work well. Of course powering them would need to be considered. Also - What Cell network does Tesla use in Canada? I am on Rogers and the car seems to be on a different service? Maybe Telus or Bell?
I live in a condo on parking level 5. My car has service down there so i can get notifications on my phone. For instance, latest software updates now give you notifications on your phone prior as well as in the car.
Once you get a notification on your phone, you can go down to your car and go to ground to get a better sign where you can then turn on a hotspot on your phone to download the update.
Also Starbucks or any other WIFi SSID for that matter that has a captive portal will not work with the car for downloading updates.
Once you get a notification on your phone, you can go down to your car and go to ground to get a better sign where you can then turn on a hotspot on your phone to download the update.
Also Starbucks or any other WIFi SSID for that matter that has a captive portal will not work with the car for downloading updates.
M3BlueGeorgia
Active Member
Fortunately updates only occur every 4 to 6 weeks, and usually the car tells you it needs WiFi to complete to download.
So yes, you need a plan for when that occurs, which could be to drive over to the Tesla service center to pull down the download, or use a hotspot on your phone when you park somewhere with good coverage, or just have a friend with Wifi and take them a pizza while you use their Wifi (new definition of friends-with-benefits).
With premium internet, everything but map updates will eventually download anyway.
Having some coverage is good, because it means you can get tell the car to warm up in the morning.
Just got my model 3. Parked in underground garage of condo. I plan to subscribe to monthly premium internet once my free trial ends in mid April. This morning, I got a scare when my screen suddenly went blank when I turn on the car while in the underground garage. Luckily, I locked and unlocked the car and the screen rebooted with the Tesla logo. I’m too scared to park the car in the garage now, it’s still sitting in the above ground open air visitor’s parking.
I’m on the bottom level of my condo garage with 0 signal available. My update solution was to go to the local Tesla service centre and park at one of their destination chargers. The car automatically binds to the SC’s wifi (no password required) and I got a free juice top-up while I waited.
@Stargazer_ivy why do you think that your Model 3 display going blank is related to being parked underground? Every Tesla I’ve owned has occasionally had the display blank out and then it reboots itself or I force a reboot.
@canphan your approach to receiving updates is a good one. In a few months I am going to be moving into a building with underground parking and am sure I will have the same issue; no wifi signal and probably no cell signal either. Getting updates is going to be awkward as driving to the Vancouver SC will be inconvenient. After over 7 years of Tesla ownership in a house with the wifi router in the garage, underground condo parking is going to be a big change.
@canphan your approach to receiving updates is a good one. In a few months I am going to be moving into a building with underground parking and am sure I will have the same issue; no wifi signal and probably no cell signal either. Getting updates is going to be awkward as driving to the Vancouver SC will be inconvenient. After over 7 years of Tesla ownership in a house with the wifi router in the garage, underground condo parking is going to be a big change.
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