Updating without WiFi

[Kevy Baby]

All

I've done all sorts of searching, but I can't find a couple of details.

I am unable to get WiFi service in my separated garage. I tried moving both the base and the satellite of my Orb mesh system yesterday to various places (including taking the satellite out to the garage with no luck.

I know I can tether to my phone, but how long does the updating take? Even though I picked up my M3 new 11 days ago, I am on 2019.15.107, so it appears that I have a long way to go.

I know it won't INSTALL the update while I am driving, but will it download while I am driving if I set up tethering before I depart on my 1/2 hour commute?

 

[towndrunk]

Someone suggested that wi-fi established while parked, will disconnect when you start moving. So you'd probably need a mobile hotspot that you re-connect while in drive. Possibly just putting your car in drive and connecting would be good enough.

 

[Watts_Up]

I am unable to get WiFi service in my separated garage.
I tried moving both the base and the satellite of my Orb mesh system yesterday to various places
(including taking the satellite out to the garage with no luck.

If you have any electric line (bulb light or electric plug) going to your garage, why don't you try installing a WiFi Range Extender.

I found one very cheap on eBay, and works great. You connect the transmitter to your rooter and put the receiver in your garage.
Just use the default SSID and Password listed on the device for testing and then you can easily change the SSID and Password.

NETGEAR PowerLINE 1000 Mbps WiFi, 802.11ac, 1 Gigabit Port - Essentials Edition (PLW1010-100NAS)​

 

[Kevy Baby]

Someone suggested that wi-fi established while parked, will disconnect when you start moving. So you'd probably need a mobile hotspot that you re-connect while in drive. Possibly just putting your car in drive and connecting would be good enough.

Sorry - I should have been more clear in my post. I am aware that I would need to do this. Thanks for adding this valuable tidbit.

If you have any electric line (bulb light or electric plug) going to your garage, why don't you try installing a WiFi Range Extender.

Good idea, but our garage is the responsibility of the condo association and is on its own separate circuit. Good news in that I don't need to pay for the electricity (until they catch on), so that isn't an option. Thanks for the good info though - I'm sure someone will benefit from your info.

 

[brkaus]

If I recall, an update is around 250-450mb and takes an hour or so to download.

the car also has to be selected for the update, something no one understands.

The newer firmware versions will tell you when the car is “ready” for an update so you know when to connect to WiFi.

Hiw far away is the garage?

 

[Kevy Baby]

the car also has to be selected for the update, something no one understands.

Can you expand on this please? Where would I see this?

The newer firmware versions will tell you when the car is “ready” for an update so you know when to connect to WiFi.

Since I am on 2019.15.107, I don't if that is a "new" enough to pick this up

Hiw far away is the garage?

Far enough that I couldn't make a connection despite my best efforts. :-(

 

[brkaus]

Can you expand on this please? Where would I see this?

No one really has any idea how a car knows it's eligible for an update. It doesn't work like apple or Microsoft where an update is posted and everyone starts to pick it up. They are much more staged, likely due to the risk of killing a fleet of $40k+ cars that people are actively using.

Generally, they push a release to a small group. Then a larger group. Then, depending on how things go the group gets larger OR the people that received that first release start getting more releases. Presumably bug fixes until they decide it's good enough to go wide.

An individual car can also have issues and not be able to accept a release.

Anyway, the car doesn't do any downloading until the mothership says its ready. And then it needs to be on wifi.

Since I am on 2019.15.107, I don't if that is a "new" enough to pick this up

I agree. I think it was more recent feature.

I also agree, your release is pretty dated in Tesla terms.

Far enough that I couldn't make a connection despite my best efforts. :-(

A few hundred feet of ethernet cable is pretty cheap

Finally, I wouldn't worry too much about delayed releases. There really isn't enough that's worth panicking over at the. moment.

 

[Watts_Up]

Good idea, but our garage is the responsibility of the condo association and is on its own separate circuit.
Good news in that I don't need to pay for the electricity (until they catch on), so that isn't an option.
Thanks for the good info though - I'm sure someone will benefit from your info.

In fact the transmitter and the receiver don't really need to be on the same circuit, like your own metered line.
As long a both are on the lines coming from the same transformer, the system is strong enough to send signal over different circuits.
I tested using various plugs inside the garage of my apartment. It's why it is good to be able to set your own SSID and password

 

[Kevy Baby]

In fact the transmitter and the receiver don't really need to be on the same circuit, like your own metered line.
As long a both are on the lines coming from the same transformer, the system is strong enough to send signal over different circuits.
I tested using various plugs inside the garage of my apartment. It's why it is good to be able to set your own SSID and password

That's good to know - I will give that a try.

 

[Rottenapplr]

I’ve gotten updates via lte. I took off my WiFi. Not sure why your are not getting updates though.

 

[gcmak]

I was in a similar situation as you. Two things that help.
1. Chat with an online Tesla agent. While they didn't say they'd push an update to my car, it seems rather convenient that the same day my car pinged me for an update; I had only been on LTE through that point.
2. If you're near a service center, stop by and talk with an agent but also connect to their wifi. The second update I got was pretty immediate once I was at the SC.

As others noted, Tesla's not transparent about which cars get updates and as users we don't have a GUI that lets us force the car to check. Perhaps that'll change some day.

 

[AustinPowers]

I've got a strange phenomenon too. My Model 3 told me an update is available and I should connect to my WiFi. It usually autoconnects when in our garage so that was the first strange thing. I had to connect manually which worked without problems, but whenever I tried to update since it always tells me to connect to WiFi first, even though the WiFi connection symbol is clearly showing I already am connected and at full strength too.

 

[gcmak]

I've got a strange phenomenon too. My Model 3 told me an update is available and I should connect to my WiFi. It usually autoconnects when in our garage so that was the first strange thing. I had to connect manually which worked without problems, but whenever I tried to update since it always tells me to connect to WiFi first, even though the WiFi connection symbol is clearly showing I already am connected and at full strength too.

You may want to reboot the infotainment system. But before doing that, open the web browser while connected on wifi, and google "speed test" and run the standard google speed test to see if there's actual data throughput. I wonder if it's connected but for some reason data isn't being reliably transmitted. Would seem odd but could happen. A reboot will be helpful if you've not done one in a while.

 

[AustinPowers]

You may want to reboot the infotainment system. But before doing that, open the web browser while connected on wifi, and google "speed test" and run the standard google speed test to see if there's actual data throughput. I wonder if it's connected but for some reason data isn't being reliably transmitted. Would seem odd but could happen. A reboot will be helpful if you've not done one in a while.

Unfortunately it still doesn't work. I can browse the web using WiFi without any problems as well as play songs on Spotify. But when I return to the update page it still tells me to connect to WiFi in order to be able to start the update. Strange.

 

[gcmak]

Unfortunately it still doesn't work. I can browse the web using WiFi without any problems as well as play songs on Spotify. But when I return to the update page it still tells me to connect to WiFi in order to be able to start the update. Strange.

Dangit! If you are near a service center, it's probably a quick chat. Otherwise you could schedule service via your Tesla app. I see you may be in Germany, so I don't know how it works over there. Good luck!

 

[Watts_Up]

Using the Tesla browser inside your car you should run speedtest, speedcheck, fast,...
Check both the Download and the Upload speed.

I was using the Xfinity hotspot often available in my area
I didn't have any problem with my smartphone, but when using my Tesla browser then the Upload was hanging.
May be the signal level was too weak?

However, after installing a WiFi range extender in my garage, I immediately started to received Tesla updates.

 

[Kevy Baby]

It only took four sessions (round trip to work over two days), but the navigation update is in. We'll see how soon I get updated from 2019.15.107

 

[AustinPowers]

Today it worked. No idea why. But the important thing is that it worked at all.