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Why not updates OVER-THE-AIR?

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Soul Surfer

Cancervivor, tech geek & musician
I'm sure that this has been covered a million times. To be honest, I'm just too lazy. But why? I am perfectly will to pay for premium connectivity after my trial runs out. I am certain that the software update payloads cannot even rival video streaming. So why not? What is the rationale? For us living in apartment buildings where the management won't allow us access to their network in the garage, it makes getting the updates, somewhat of a challenge - not impossible, but we have to get creative.
 
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To elaborate on what @Tam wrote, Tesla software updates are fairly big. I don't recall the precise size, but they're big enough that they end up costing Tesla money, based on the data plan that Tesla has with AT&T (in the USA; presumably other carriers in other countries). It'd be like downloading a major iOS or Android update over your cellular data plan, vs. WiFi.

Some people who live in apartments or condos get around this by using free public WiFi at restaurants, libraries, etc. That's a bit of a pain unless you happen to go to such a place frequently, but you might look into it -- find local places with free public WiFi where you wouldn't mind parking for a while as an update downloads. Once it's downloaded, you don't need to stay there to install it; you can drive home (or to some other location) and install it there.
 
I'm sure that this has been covered a million times. To be honest, I'm just too lazy. But why? I am perfectly will to pay for premium connectivity after my trial runs out. I am certain that the software update payloads cannot even rival video streaming. So why not? What is the rationale? For us living in apartment buildings where the management won't allow us access to their network in the garage, it makes getting the updates, somewhat of a challenge - not impossible, but we have to get creative.
If you are not on WiFi, you will still get updates over LTE, just not nearly as many. My car has been off WiFi since December 2020, and it has downloaded (not just notify, but actually downloads) an update about 3-4 times a year so far. I do still have premium connectivity though, can't comment on the situation without that.
 
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I was on a three week road trip last month and got notification of an available update a couple of days in. I ignored it and after a couple of weeks of not being connected to WiFi I got notification that it had been downloaded and was ready to install.
 
If you are not on WiFi, you will still get updates over LTE, just not nearly as many. My car has been off WiFi since December 2020, and it has downloaded (not just notify, but actually downloads) an update about 3-4 times a year so far. I do still have premium connectivity though, can't comment on the situation without that.
I've heard, but can't verify from definitive sources, that Tesla will push safety-related updates via LTE, but not other updates.
 
You know, wifi is "over the air" too... :) and with your cell phone as a hotspot, you're doing it over LTE if that's what works best in your situation.
Yup. Good point as I have been doing it over my phone. Hmm, now I get why my "data usage" skyrocketed. My 20gb plan would get diminished quickly as a result of this. I'm now going to the service centre down the street from me, when I need an update. I connect to their WiFi.

Thanks for the point, it made me clue into a few anomalies.
 
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