ZTE Mobley - WiFi Hotspot - Need Help from OBD2 Experts

[1NJ85D]

I got an AT&T ZTE Mobley WiFi Hotspot to remotely access my Blackvue using its Cloud capability.

The ZTE Mobley fits nicely in the OBD2 connector, stays out of the way and works OK. The price is right (zero with a contract, $100 otherwise) and service is only $10/month (on a Mobile Share plan).

However, the ZTE Mobley turns itself off after the car is turned off. You can set a wait time of up to 2 hours, but you can't make the ZTE Mobley keep itself continuously on.

Here is the question for the OBD2 / OBD-II experts -- How does the ZTE Mobley know that the Model S has turned itself off? I thought the OBD2 connector on the Model S had only ground and (continuous) 12V power. I believe the OBD2 connector does not have a pin with switched 12V. What OBD2 signal is the ZTE Mobley lilkely leveraging to determine if the car is on?

I would like to "fool" the ZTE Mobley with a short OBD2 male/female cable.

Thanks!

 

[tmarcc]

I'm looking into portable WiFi hotspots as well. Does anyone have an answer to 1NJ85D's question?

@1NJ85D - does this device work with other carriers? Is it unlocked? Did you ever figure out how to keep the device from powering down?

 

[1NJ85D]

I am on AT&T and, therefore, can comment only on AT&T devices.

The ZTE Mobley turns itself off 2 hours after the car is turned off. I have contacted them suggesting a firmware change to keep it constantly powered on (and they apparently liked the suggestion) but have not implemented it (I recently followed up).

I also tested the AT&T Unite Pro (powered from the OBD2 connector) but it freezes up after it is left powered for a day or two and you need to reboot it.

The only stable solution I know of to provide constant WiFi access in the car so that you can remotely access your cloud-capable dashcam is to use a small router (powered from the OBD2 connector) and use something like the AT&T Beam. I am currently using an old Cradlepoint CBR400 but you could also use, as an example, a Peplink Pepwave.

I have also looked at the 【Huawei E8372 Features 】 - Huawei Wingles - Huawei Official Site but have not been able to confirm they have a model that would work on AT&T.

 

[Drewflux]

I suspect the unit is powering off due to not detecting any traffic on the bus line. Iirc there is a thread on making the 12v cig port power on all the time. I would get one of these memory savers. Cheap enough to get one for a test K Tool 74308 Automotive OBDII Connector Computer Memory Saver | eBay

 

[K-MTG]

Check out this former thread: OBD Hotspot?

I ended up going with the free 1GB per month freedom pop solution discussed here:

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Awesome setup - thanks for the info

 

[artsci]

Bought a ZTE Mobley today and spent about two hours on the phone with AT&T getting it authorized and set up. The usual AT&T mess. In fact no one at AT&T knew what to do. We kept going round and round in circles. After finally getting the thing to work, trying to manage the thing -- changing password, creating guest log-in, proved impossible. The app to do this --AT&T Wifi Manger no longer exists and the URL is for sale. True to form AT&T provides no info whatsoever about the new app to manage this device, so I'm totally at a loss.

Help! I probably can get much better advice here from other Tesla owners than from AT&T.

 

[1NJ85D]

Sorry I can't help. When I got mine, back in August, setting up was a breeze. My problem is that it turned off after two hours of the car being turned off. I returned it after a couple of days.

Bought a ZTE Mobley today and spent about two hours on the phone with AT&T getting it authorized and set up. The usual AT&T mess. In fact no one at AT&T knew what to do. We kept going round and round in circles. After finally getting the thing to work, trying to manage the thing -- changing password, creating guest log-in, proved impossible. The app to do this --AT&T Wifi Manger no longer exists and the URL is for sale. True to form AT&T provides no info whatsoever about the new app to manage this device, so I'm totally at a loss.

Help! I probably can get much better advice here from other Tesla owners than from AT&T.

 

[faughtz]

I've been using a Jetpack® 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot—AC791L for a couple of years, always powered. Keeps the BlackVue connected.

Verizon Jetpack 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot—AC791L | Verizon Wireless

 

[alexdav]

I've been using a Jetpack® 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot—AC791L for a couple of years, always powered. Keeps the BlackVue connected.

Verizon Jetpack 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot—AC791L | Verizon Wireless

Do you just keep that plugged into the USB so that it charges back up? Or how do you keep it charged?

 

[faughtz]

Do you just keep that plugged into the USB so that it charges back up? Or how do you keep it charged?

I have it plugged into the always powered OBII, using a 5v adapter. The BlackVue will automatically connect to my wifi in the garage, and the hotspot on the road.

 

[tedster82]

I use an OBDII hotspot that stays on 24 hours from Planet Halo, and I use it to connect my dash cam for live viewing purposes when at home etc.

 

[K-MTG]

I use an OBDII hotspot that stays on 24 hours from Planet Halo, and I use it to connect my dash cam for live viewing purposes when at home etc.

Link?

 

[tedster82]

PH-LS – GPS Live Streaming Dash Cam | Real Time GPS Tracking

 

[artsci]

PH-LS – GPS Live Streaming Dash Cam | Real Time GPS Tracking

That link to the Planet Halo site doesn't appear to show any OBDII hot spots, at least not that I could find.

 

[artsci]

I am on AT&T and, therefore, can comment only on AT&T devices.

The ZTE Mobley turns itself off 2 hours after the car is turned off. I have contacted them suggesting a firmware change to keep it constantly powered on (and they apparently liked the suggestion) but have not implemented it (I recently followed up).

I also tested the AT&T Unite Pro (powered from the OBD2 connector) but it freezes up after it is left powered for a day or two and you need to reboot it.

The only stable solution I know of to provide constant WiFi access in the car so that you can remotely access your cloud-capable dashcam is to use a small router (powered from the OBD2 connector) and use something like the AT&T Beam. I am currently using an old Cradlepoint CBR400 but you could also use, as an example, a Peplink Pepwave.

I have also looked at the 【Huawei E8372 Features 】 - Huawei Wingles - Huawei Official Site but have not been able to confirm they have a model that would work on AT&T.

They must have made the firmware change, as mine is on all of the time. The wifi connection to the car sometimes fails but that's not a result of the ZTE device shutting down.

 

[K-MTG]

They must have made the firmware change, as mine is on all of the time. The wifi connection to the car sometimes fails but that's not a result of the ZTE device shutting down.

Is yours an earlier model?

 

[ODBII]

I have read that the ZTE Mobley got a firmware update and it allows it to be left powered on constantly. Does anyone know if the older, original Mobley's got the firmware update? Or if it is just for the newer parts that were manufactured more recently?

 

[1NJ85D]

Here is what I currently know about the At&t ZTE Mobley:

1) Fact -- Firmware VM6200V1.0.1 has a new "No Time Out" option
2) Apparently, AT&T controls when new firmwares are pushed to the devices. There is no way for you to manually update it.
3) Fact -- ZTE Mobley with firmware VM6200V1.0.1 will "hang" or "freeze" after 1-2 days of continuous operation. The device is still powered on, you can still "see" the WiFi network but you can't connect to it.

 

[artsci]

Is yours an earlier model?

Got it about 3 months ago but that's not a reliable indication of its age. All I can say is it functions fine. The car sometimes loses the connection but it's easy to reconnect.