Wifi turns off when in drive

[tessy_ftw]

I bought in dec 2018 and just lost my free 1st year of premium data. I don't care about the satellite maps or seeing the traffic info, so no real value in paying for the service except for the music... But the music is free if you bring your own wifi.. Today, when I enable wifi hotspot (on my phone) and once in drive, manually enable wifi ( in the model 3) and all music and content (web etc) all work perfectly.

So the frustration is 2 things:
1. Why do they disable wifi by default once in drive (it auto-connects in park).... Bug or a nag thing to make you pay for premium? Doesn't make sense because the music service still costs Tesla money to offer (royalties etc), so why not just make them unavailable if you don't pay for premium vs force you to manually enable wifi on every trip?
2. Android phone- there doesn't seem to be a way to manually enable hotspot on the device when BT is connected to the car. Just another manual step to add friction.


I understand the LTE data is expensive, but why make it difficult to connect to wifi?

Just want to know if #1 is a bug that they will fix or working as intended (to create just enough hassle to force you in to paying for premium connectivity).

#2 is an android feature request

 

[ucmndd]

#1 has always been that way. Why, I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s a bug.

 

[Akikiki]

Nope, not a big, been that way since 2014, when they turned wifi on.

 

[RC2785]

It's been that way for a while. I believe they made it that way because people complained how the car would stay connected to their home wifi while they were driving away and when the signal became week songs wouldn't load and they would have to wait until they were out of range.

 

[Pearl3D]

They should Add a tab in options menu.
Keep Wi-Fi - on/off

 

[boaterva]

I assume the population that uses wifi while in motion is minuscule: doubt this would be changed. I was going to do the same when I added a dashcam (add a hotspot for uploading data, etc). Never actually got around to it with the addition of TeslaCam.

You might tweet at Elon for a manual setting for it to have wifi change on signal strength and not Park/Drive but I bet software changes are on popularity.

 

[BikerPeaBody]

So the frustration is 2 things:
1. Why do they disable wifi by default once in drive (it auto-connects in park).... Bug or a nag thing to make you pay for premium? Doesn't make sense because the music service still costs Tesla money to offer (royalties etc), so why not just make them unavailable if you don't pay for premium vs force you to manually enable wifi on every trip?
2. Android phone- there doesn't seem to be a way to manually enable hotspot on the device when BT is connected to the car. Just another manual step to add friction.
t

def not a bug, its always been like that

for #2, what exactly do you mean? my phone is connected bluetooth to the car all the time. when I want to enable hotspot on the device(phone) I just hit the hotspot button...............

 

[tessy_ftw]

re#1- I can understand people being frustrated that it stays on wifi from their home and drops as they drive away, but without an option to keep it on or prefer one wifi to another (ie, prefer the phone's wifi hotspot over the house wifi- different SSID), it seems like everyone who didn't pay for premium data would be in the same situation I am in... Having to do 3 manual steps every single time you get in the car.

1. enable wifi hotspot on phone (multiple menus deep)
2. enable wifi in the car
3. wait 30 seconds for it to start working
4. start playing music where you left off



re:#2 The scenario here is that I have a phone that I use as a hotspot to provide wifi connectivity to the Model 3 so that things like Radio, Web and other streaming services work. As I mentioned, I don't see the value in paying for premium data service as I have unlimited data on my phone. So this isn't a tesla problem, but Apple and Android need to allow you to configure the phone to automatically turn on wifi tethering/wifi hotspot based on location (geo) or if a certain BT device (ie, model 3) is connected.

 

[tessy_ftw]

The reason the wifi auto-disable is a bug is that the car supports wifi use while driving (not only while in park), so why not let users enable it?

 

[Knightshade]

The reason the wifi auto-disable is a bug is that the car supports wifi use while driving (not only while in park), so why not let users enable it?

You CAN enable it while driving.

It just doesn't STAY enabled when going from park to drive- for the reason explained in post #4.

It's not a bug, it's a feature.

 

[KenC]

re#1- I can understand people being frustrated that it stays on wifi from their home and drops as they drive away, but without an option to keep it on or prefer one wifi to another (ie, prefer the phone's wifi hotspot over the house wifi- different SSID), it seems like everyone who didn't pay for premium data would be in the same situation I am in... Having to do 3 manual steps every single time you get in the car.

1. enable wifi hotspot on phone (multiple menus deep)
2. enable wifi in the car
3. wait 30 seconds for it to start working
4. start playing music where you left off



re:#2 The scenario here is that I have a phone that I use as a hotspot to provide wifi connectivity to the Model 3 so that things like Radio, Web and other streaming services work. As I mentioned, I don't see the value in paying for premium data service as I have unlimited data on my phone. So this isn't a tesla problem, but Apple and Android need to allow you to configure the phone to automatically turn on wifi tethering/wifi hotspot based on location (geo) or if a certain BT device (ie, model 3) is connected.

If you're on an iPhone, it may be a little easier if you:
• swipe down from the right corner to show the Control Center
• press on the telecommunications square in the upper left, it will pop open to allow you to turn on the Hotspot.
• if you've already setup your car before, you only need to touch the wifi button, and select the hotspot
May save a couple steps.

 

[JayNJ]

If you have it setup to connect to a public wifi, like your cable company's wifi, you wouldn't want it on while driving. It would constantly connect and disconnect while going down local streets. I have had this problem with my phone in the past. An option to do so would be nice though.

 

[JayNJ]

The reason the wifi auto-disable is a bug is that the car supports wifi use while driving (not only while in park), so why not let users enable it?

Feature to promote stability.

 

[YusufT]

In addition to what everyone has mentioned, it’s also a waste of battery and resources to be constantly searching for a wifi signal while going 60mph or driving at all. It’s designed to turn off when you go into drive, not a bug.

 

[pscarroll]

Should definitely be an option. On some Android phones it'll quickly change to cellular if the wifi is unstable, perhaps they could do something like that or do a VPN and combine wifi and cellular like SpeediFi does and untile both connections for a rock solid connection. When I travel I use a Verizon hotspot which if great in the car in areas with poor AT&T signal, which the car uses.

 

[CharlieFoxtrot]

If you're on an iPhone, it may be a little easier if you:
• swipe down from the right corner to show the Control Center
• press on the telecommunications square in the upper left, it will pop open to allow you to turn on the Hotspot.
• if you've already setup your car before, you only need to touch the wifi button, and select the hotspot
May save a couple steps.

In Android it's as simple as setting up a quick access tile. then you can just swipe down and toggle the hotspot tile

If your Android phone is rooted you can just use Tasker or ITTT to automatically toggle the Wi-Fi hotspot on whenever you connect to the car's Bluetooth

 

[devildogDMD]

I bought premium for this exact reason. You are able to use an app called macrodroid to turn on hotspot once it connects to the cars Bluetooth and then turn it off when disconnected, fairly simple and works really well. However the wifi turning off was annoying so I pay the $10

 

[tessy_ftw]

So that helps solve number two, but you have to also root your phone, right?

 

[CharlieFoxtrot]

So that helps solve number two, but you have to also root your phone, right?

You don't need to root your phone to set up a quick access tile to make manual toggling easier. But yes, in order to automate it with Tasker you do need to be rooted.

 

[Rojer Lockless]

It's things like this that make me really wonder if I would actually pay for the premium connectivity.
I got lucky, mines free for life as my car was build the last month of that. At first I thought I wouldn't pay for it as I don't really use the Netflix or much of the other stuff very often and I mostly listen to sports talk radio which is local. But the more I think about it with the occasional road trip and traffic maybe I would cough up another 120 dollars a year.