Wi-Fi Connection on M3 SR+ Nightmare

[metropolis]

I know this subject has been discussed many times on this forum, my M3 (March 20) Wi-Fi is getting worse, I cannot connect at all now, outside house, have tried Mobile Tethering, Extender, parked 2 Meters from indoor Router still no connection.

Can see Wi-Fi network just get message 'cant obtain IP address' even tried disabling firewall on router.no luck.

The Wi-Fi chipset must be the worst feature of the M3, other than resetting the M3 to factory defaults, anyone have any other tips? I'm at a loss and can't download the latest update this morning.

 

[Dilly]

Mine’s a March 20 LR. Car is in the garage with wired AP about a metre above the passenger mirror.
Before I put it there it would pick up the house router about 10 feet away. Poor signal but would connect.
Not obtaining an IP address suggests it goes beyond signal.
Maybe a job for mobile ranger visit. Could be a poor connection in the mirror.

 

[rotor2k]

There have been mentions on this forum of cars with the wifi antenna completely disconnected. Easy mobile ranger fix.

 

[KennethS]

If it is "seeing" the WiFi it doesn't sound like an antenna disconnected problem to me (but I am an amateur on things related to networking). I had a similar problem with my car obtaining an IP address a couple of firmware versions ago. All I can suggest (and apologies if these seem obvious/basic) is to try both a brake pedal and both buttons on steering wheel reboot and also the power off reboot. But before the reboot I would tell the car to forget the WiFi networks it has connected to in the past. It is a highly annoying problem and, my apologies, I don't recall the precise steps I took to resolve it but I am fairly sure it was a combination of removing all memorised WiFi logins and reboot.

 

[Drew57]

I know this doesn't help but I'm at a loss to understand why my car manages to get every software update (currently 28.6) through LTE & never wifi (3 of the last 4 were in remote carparks miles from any buildings)

 

[CMc1]

I know this subject has been discussed many times on this forum, my M3 (March 20) Wi-Fi is getting worse, I cannot connect at all now, outside house, have tried Mobile Tethering, Extender, parked 2 Meters from indoor Router still no connection.

Can see Wi-Fi network just get message 'cant obtain IP address' even tried disabling firewall on router.no luck.

The Wi-Fi chipset must be the worst feature of the M3, other than resetting the M3 to factory defaults, anyone have any other tips? I'm at a loss and can't download the latest update this morning.

What channel is the WiFi on? The American made chip doesn’t like certain UK channels IIRC.

also I assume you’ve rebooted the car. Or even completely powered it down for 10-15 mins

 

[MrBadger]

I know this doesn't help but I'm at a loss to understand why my car manages to get every software update (currently 28.6) through LTE & never wifi (3 of the last 4 were in remote carparks miles from any buildings)

I once read that certain safety/functionally critical updates do not require wifi.

 

[rotor2k]

What channel is the WiFi on? The American made chip doesn’t like certain UK channels IIRC.

also I assume you’ve rebooted the car. Or even completely powered it down for 10-15 mins

The OP mentions trying lots of options including phone tethering so seems unlikely it’s a channel issue.

 

[metropolis]

Thanks for some of the suggestions, tried the reboot method, connected for 1 minute then would not connect via Wi-Fi Network or Mobile Hot Spot, my Wi-Fi is all good, have 2 Routers and 3 Access points throughout the property and about 60 devices that all connect fine, even 3 outdoor Wireless IP Cameras all connect without issue, can only really put it down to the M3 hardware, maybe worth a Ranger callout?

 

[NewbieT]

Yep, I’d log a ticket. They may even do remote diagnostics.

 

[animorph]

One of the old problems used to be coexistence with some media protocols that might be on the LAN. The solution was to put the Tesla on a guest network that only had access to the Internet, not the rest of the LAN.

I just got a new ASUS Zen Wi-Fi mesh system. It tries to steer clients to different frequencies or different AP's by refusing connections or forcing a disconnect. I've never seen so many problems getting an IP address. If you have something like this it might help to turn off all the fancy mesh features of the router. And I didn't see that the router had been reset, which might also be helpful.

 

[metropolis]

One of the old problems used to be coexistence with some media protocols that might be on the LAN. The solution was to put the Tesla on a guest network that only had access to the Internet, not the rest of the LAN.

I just got a new ASUS Zen Wi-Fi mesh system. It tries to steer clients to different frequencies or different AP's by refusing connections or forcing a disconnect. I've never seen so many problems getting an IP address. If you have something like this it might help to turn off all the fancy mesh features of the router. And I didn't see that the router had been reset, which might also be helpful.

Thanks for suggestion, I may enable the Guest Network on my router and try that, I finally managed to connect, took hours to download as it keeps dropping connection, so much for a 500 mb Fibre line in. At least I have the newest update now.

 

[KennethS]

See if it's any better on the updated software. I was having the same problem and at some point it seems to have resolved itself. When I was having the issue the thing that seemed most troublesome to me was it wasn't just my home router but also trying to connect to a hotspot on my phone. On both connections I was seeing a failure to obtain IP address message and the connection would never establish (or would establish a connection and then quickly drop out with the same IP problem).

 

[darkNstormy]

See this thread: Great Portable Router for M3

I bought one of these and it's a godsend. I don't use it in exactly the same way as the original poster outlined. I have a network switch in my study, the window of which looks out onto the driveway. I have the mini router plugged in via ethernet and it has its own wifi SSID separate from the main house router's wifi SSID. I used to get an awful experience connecting with wifi, even on access points close by. I have this mini router up against the window and the M3 has no problem connecting. Speed test suggests 30Mb/s download speed. It's a good 10m line of sight from the window to the passenger side door mirror but Tesla still sees 3/4 or full signal from this little thing.

 

[metropolis]

See if it's any better on the updated software. I was having the same problem and at some point it seems to have resolved itself. When I was having the issue the thing that seemed most troublesome to me was it wasn't just my home router but also trying to connect to a hotspot on my phone. On both connections I was seeing a failure to obtain IP address message and the connection would never establish (or would establish a connection and then quickly drop out with the same IP problem).

Thanks that is exactly the same issues I am having, I resolved it temporarily by a hard reset, only lasted about half hour then the connections issues resumed.

 

[MrBadger]

If you have not done so already, try rebooting the wireless access point that the car connects to. That solved a download issue that I was having. Changing my wireless channel solved my initial flaky connectivity issues that I had which mirror yours, ie failing to get DHCP IP address, having to connect and login multiple times to wifi hotspot. This is all on a dedicated hotspot in the garage.

 

[RealEvil_UK]

The M3 WiFi reception is pure garbage in my experience.

I have a decent Netgear router and unless the router was within 10 feet the car wouldn't connect. I have Nests, iPads, phones, TVs all work fine and the router is good enough to service all and me sat in my garden through a multitude of walls etc. The router is currently about 20 foot away with direct line of sight to car other than 1 bay window.

However what worked for me was switching my router to US mode (as opposed to EU). It opens up more channels and very likely increases the power of radio. Sorted it. The car only gets 1or 2 bars which is still pathetic but it does at least connect and download updates etc.

I had my car in for a service and despite giving them timestamps of it not connecting/screenshots of WiFi analyser apps from inside the car Tesla did nothing and said they found no errors. Great.

Good luck.

 

[normd]

After spending hours trying to get my Model 3 to connect to my extender (ex70000), I did the unscientific approach and changed two variables: 1) Set my extender to connect to my router via "FastLane" where the extender connects to the router via 2.4Ghz and to my devices via 5Ghz. I wanted a stable connection to my router which is in my house, which is remote from my extender in my detached garage. 2) I rebooted my router in the hope that it might eliminate IP DHCP address conflicts and fake out the Tesla. The Tesla WiFi is horrible.

Note that the extender only will connect to devices via 5Ghz, but that is the limited option in the extender.

I then went to my Model 3 and tried connecting again, the first time I got the same error about could not get IP address, but when I hit Retry, it finally connected and is showing up in my list of devices on my extender. I hope this continues to work.

 

[Buzzliteyear]

My extender was moved to the drivers side of the car, after I read the drivers mirror has the Wifi and bluetooth module inside.. Also it probably is a stronger signal through a window than a Brick wall.

 

[NewbieT]

My extender was moved to the drivers side of the car, after I read the drivers mirror has the Wifi and bluetooth module inside.. Also it probably is a stronger signal through a window than a Brick wall.

China build might be different but in the UK WiFi is in the passenger mirror. Parts Catalog
Passenger/left wing mirror has 3 connectors. Drivers has 2 connectors.