Wifi for over the air updates

[GrayLady]

Hi. New user and first time poster on the forum.

I just took delivery of a 2023 MYLR (my first Tesla and my first EV) so I am on the steeper part of the learning curve.

I have read that over the air updates are currently only available via Wifi. This may be a problem for me since the walls of my house are made of very dense cinderblock and the location of my parking spot (and the Tesla Wall Connector) is along the side of the house where there are no windows. Thus wifi signal from my home network is nonexistent or occasionally 1 bar. Cellular signal is also low (1-2 bars, albeit 5G). Therefore I am not sure if hotspot from my phone would work. There is reasonable signal at front of the house but it is on a turning circle where parking is not allowed. I have a second parking spot at end of turning circle but that does not help because there is no wifi and cell signal is similarly bad.

One option I am considering is to temporarily plug in a network mesh extender in the outdoor electrical outlet outside my bedroom window which is just around the corner of the house from where I park (Note: it is a small house). I get 3-4 bars of wifi on my phone at that location. The hope would be that the extender would boost the signal to where my car is parked. Obviously I would only do this for the duration of the update download/install when weather is good.

Has anyone tried something similar? I can get an eero wifi 6 mesh extender for $79. I am undecided as to whether or not I should give it a try. Any other possible solutions are welcome. Otherwise I am not sure how I will do updates. Do Tesla Sevice Centers offer Wifi for updates? For some reason I thought that the Tesla connectivity via cellular would be used for updates. Driving somewhere random where cell signal is better in order to boost hot spot signal and parking for an hour or so is not appealing; and cell signal on site where I work is no better than at home.

 

[ATPMSD]

If the car sees one-bar of WiFI that might be good enough.

Extenders are often the best bet, but realize the car uses WiFi in the 2.4 GHz band so a WiFi 6 mesh extender probably will not work. Perhaps a PowerLine WiFi extender in an outlet near the car might work.

 

[YW555]

You can download the update while driving if you are connected to a hotspot.

 

[ThaiBruin]

You can download the update while driving if you are connected to a hotspot.

That's exactly what I do. I have a condo shared garage with no wifi, so I'll just turn on hotspot on my phone and download during a drive then schedule the install in the middle of the night.

 

[jjrandorin]

Hi. New user and first time poster on the forum.

I just took delivery of a 2023 MYLR (my first Tesla and my first EV) so I am on the steeper part of the learning curve.

I have read that over the air updates are currently only available via Wifi. This may be a problem for me since the walls of my house are made of very dense cinderblock and the location of my parking spot (and the Tesla Wall Connector) is along the side of the house where there are no windows. Thus wifi signal from my home network is nonexistent or occasionally 1 bar. Cellular signal is also low (1-2 bars, albeit 5G). Therefore I am not sure if hotspot from my phone would work. There is reasonable signal at front of the house but it is on a turning circle where parking is not allowed. I have a second parking spot at end of turning circle but that does not help because there is no wifi and cell signal is similarly bad.

One option I am considering is to temporarily plug in a network mesh extender in the outdoor electrical outlet outside my bedroom window which is just around the corner of the house from where I park (Note: it is a small house). I get 3-4 bars of wifi on my phone at that location. The hope would be that the extender would boost the signal to where my car is parked. Obviously I would only do this for the duration of the update download/install when weather is good.

Has anyone tried something similar? I can get an eero wifi 6 mesh extender for $79. I am undecided as to whether or not I should give it a try. Any other possible solutions are welcome. Otherwise I am not sure how I will do updates. Do Tesla Sevice Centers offer Wifi for updates? For some reason I thought that the Tesla connectivity via cellular would be used for updates. Driving somewhere random where cell signal is better in order to boost hot spot signal and parking for an hour or so is not appealing; and cell signal on site where I work is no better than at home.

Hi,

Welcome to TMC.

Before you buy something, I am not sure you are aware that the car will notify you when it has an update to download. This was not always the case (it certainly wasnt when I got my car in 2018), but for the past at least couple of years or so, the car will notify you that you have an update, and suggest you connect to wifi to download it.

At that point, you can connect to your hotspot while you are driving, or connect to your hotspot while you sit at home if you are not going anywhere and see if it works for you.

 

[jcanoe]

If you can't use your phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot due to a weak LTE signal you can try a Wi-FI extender, plugged into an outlet next to where the Tesla Model Y is parked. The LTE, FM and Wi-Fi antennas are all located inside the passenger side view mirror housing. If possible park so that the passenger side of the Tesla Model Y is closest to the house.

 

[MattM24]

I use a Powerline adapter attached to a wireless access point. Powerline adapters are hit or miss and don’t get anywhere near as fast as they claim (read 50mbps is great for one that says 1200mbps). That being said, it works great to get around the CMU’s and brick that my house is made of.

If you want real performance, drill a hole and run Ethernet out there and add an access point.

 

[ewoodrick]

You have a number of options.
But first, yes, updates only come over wi-fi.

• If it works, Wi-Fi extenders can help, but they may not work
• Best is to install a Wi-Fi devices where the car can hear it. I have multiple devices all connected by Ethernet
• You can use your cellphone or any other hotspot.
• You can go to McDonalds and use their Wi-Fi
• You can move your phone and your car to a better location and do the download.

You should get notification that the update is available over cellular or the car, so you don't have to go check if an update is available periodically.

Update downloads can take 10 minutes to over an hour depending on the size of the update and download speed.

 

[jcanoe]

If you live close to a Supercharger (SC) location, you may be able to connect to Tesla's servers via Starlink internet and Wi-Fi at the SC. Tesla has begun installing Starlink internet service with Wi-Fi at SC locations in the US. If your Tesla Model Y detects a Tesla Wi-Fi network the Model Y will automatically connect to the Tesla Wi-Fi network. This is also true of Tesla Wi-Fi networks at Tesla Service Centers.

 

[zoomer0056]

I have one to two bars at best, no problems. I was going to get an extender but decided not to. 16 months later no problem. An extender may be good for you, but wait to see how it works. If you get a software update notification, click download and install. No worries if it doesn't work, your car won't stop operating. If it doesn't download and install you can then go to Best Buy to get an extender.

 

[GrayLady]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I have decided to go ahead and order the mesh extender. It should get here by Sat. I will first try putting it by the bedroom window inside the house and see if that results in a reasonable wifi signal inside the house. If that is not sufficient, I will put the extender outside the window. FYI. Eero wifi 6 networks support both 2.4 and 5 GHz connections. This is necessary to connect to many smallersimpler smart devices like light bulbs. The next fallback plan will beto test connecting to wifi at nearest Tesla Supercharger (perhaps 5-7 miles from my house) or at the Tesla Service center (12 miles from my house but on the eay to my workplace).

A related question, can one download an update when connected to wifi but wait to install it later without access to wifi?

 

[GrayLady]

I will first try putting it by the bedroom window inside the house and see if that results in a reasonable wifi signal inside the house.

I meant to say reasonable signal outside the house near the MYLR.

 

[GrayLady]

A related question, can one download an update when connected to wifi but wait to install it later without access to wifi?

I just realized that user ThaiBruin mentioned in their reply that they are doing exactly that.

 

[jcanoe]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I have decided to go ahead and order the mesh extender. It should get here by Sat. I will first try putting it by the bedroom window inside the house and see if that results in a reasonable wifi signal inside the house. If that is not sufficient, I will put the extender outside the window. FYI. Eero wifi 6 networks support both 2.4 and 5 GHz connections. This is necessary to connect to many smallersimpler smart devices like light bulbs. The next fallback plan will beto test connecting to wifi at nearest Tesla Supercharger (perhaps 5-7 miles from my house) or at the Tesla Service center (12 miles from my house but on the eay to my workplace).

A related question, can one download an update when connected to wifi but wait to install it later without access to wifi?

Yes, the download can be completed in multiple sessions. Once the download has been completed your phone will display a message generated by the Tesla app that a new software update is available. When you open the Tesla app (or enter the parked Tesla vehicle) you will be presented with options to install the update at 02:00 A.M. or immediately. Once you start the update process a 2 minute countdown starts where you are able to cancel the update. Tesla estimates that the update will take up to 25 minutes. You may want to budget a little more time, up to 1 hour in case you need to drive the Tesla Model Y as soon as the update completes. (You cannot drive the Tesla Model Y once the update has started, until complete.) Once the update has been completely downloaded your Tesla Model Y does not have to continue to be connected to Wi-FI to install the update.

 

[BitJam]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I have decided to go ahead and order the mesh extender. It should get here by Sat. I will first try putting it by the bedroom window inside the house and see if that results in a reasonable wifi signal inside the house.

I live in an old adobe house. A dual-band mesh extender (TP-Link Deco) worked great for getting wifi out to my driveway. I already had the extender before I got the car because I was having trouble getting wifi to my bedroom.

BTW: even if you have a good wifi connection to the car, you will still need a cell connection to wake the car up from the app. Of course, the phone key and key card still work to open up the car even with no cell or wifi.

Good luck!

 

[DRS247]

Hi. New user and first time poster on the forum.

I just took delivery of a 2023 MYLR (my first Tesla and my first EV) so I am on the steeper part of the learning curve.

I have read that over the air updates are currently only available via Wifi. This may be a problem for me since the walls of my house are made of very dense cinderblock and the location of my parking spot (and the Tesla Wall Connector) is along the side of the house where there are no windows. Thus wifi signal from my home network is nonexistent or occasionally 1 bar. Cellular signal is also low (1-2 bars, albeit 5G). Therefore I am not sure if hotspot from my phone would work. There is reasonable signal at front of the house but it is on a turning circle where parking is not allowed. I have a second parking spot at end of turning circle but that does not help because there is no wifi and cell signal is similarly bad.

One option I am considering is to temporarily plug in a network mesh extender in the outdoor electrical outlet outside my bedroom window which is just around the corner of the house from where I park (Note: it is a small house). I get 3-4 bars of wifi on my phone at that location. The hope would be that the extender would boost the signal to where my car is parked. Obviously I would only do this for the duration of the update download/install when weather is good.

Has anyone tried something similar? I can get an eero wifi 6 mesh extender for $79. I am undecided as to whether or not I should give it a try. Any other possible solutions are welcome. Otherwise I am not sure how I will do updates. Do Tesla Sevice Centers offer Wifi for updates? For some reason I thought that the Tesla connectivity via cellular would be used for updates. Driving somewhere random where cell signal is better in order to boost hot spot signal and parking for an hour or so is not appealing; and cell signal on site where I work is no better than at home.

Try switching to 4G and see if you’ve better network strength. If so, stay on 4G and create a hotspot. Connect your car to the 4G hotspot and you’re sorted.
On iPhone you can chose to stay on 4G. No idea how it works on Androids though.

 

[ATPMSD]

Eero wifi 6 networks support both 2.4 and 5 GHz connections

Make sure the security protocol is WPA2 and not WPA3.

 

[Tha_Ape]

OTA updates WILL come down over cellular. I hung on to radar for a long time before I relented and updated the car (Eventually too many good features came out and overwhelmed my will to keep the higher speed AP and closer following distance). I erased my wifi info from the car and still kept getting update install requests. It took longer, but it was definitely downloading updates OTA.

 

[fholbert]

Hi. New user and first time poster on the forum.

I just took delivery of a 2023 MYLR (my first Tesla and my first EV) so I am on the steeper part of the learning curve.

I have read that over the air updates are currently only available via Wifi. This may be a problem for me since the walls of my house are made of very dense cinderblock and the location of my parking spot (and the Tesla Wall Connector) is along the side of the house where there are no windows. Thus wifi signal from my home network is nonexistent or occasionally 1 bar. Cellular signal is also low (1-2 bars, albeit 5G). Therefore I am not sure if hotspot from my phone would work. There is reasonable signal at front of the house but it is on a turning circle where parking is not allowed. I have a second parking spot at end of turning circle but that does not help because there is no wifi and cell signal is similarly bad.

One option I am considering is to temporarily plug in a network mesh extender in the outdoor electrical outlet outside my bedroom window which is just around the corner of the house from where I park (Note: it is a small house). I get 3-4 bars of wifi on my phone at that location. The hope would be that the extender would boost the signal to where my car is parked. Obviously I would only do this for the duration of the update download/install when weather is good.

Has anyone tried something similar? I can get an eero wifi 6 mesh extender for $79. I am undecided as to whether or not I should give it a try. Any other possible solutions are welcome. Otherwise I am not sure how I will do updates. Do Tesla Sevice Centers offer Wifi for updates? For some reason I thought that the Tesla connectivity via cellular would be used for updates. Driving somewhere random where cell signal is better in order to boost hot spot signal and parking for an hour or so is not appealing; and cell signal on site where I work is no better than at home.

Pull a network cable from you router to where your car is parked and install a second Wireless Access Point.

Before Tesla, I installed a second outdoor WAP so we had WiFi when outside (very poor cell reception) and for a wireless security camera. I use POE (Power Over Ethernet) on both inside and outside WAP's so I don't need 120v. You'll want internet access to keep track of your charger too.

 

[MattM24]

Pull a network cable from you router to where your car is parked and install a second Wireless Access Point.

Before Tesla, I installed a second outdoor WAP so we had WiFi when outside (very poor cell reception) and for a wireless security camera. I use POE (Power Over Ethernet) on both inside and outside WAP's so I don't need 120v. You'll want internet access to keep track of your charger too.

See post#7.