# Benefit of wifi?



## Ryan Ballantyne (May 21, 2018)

Hey guys,

I'm a new Model 3 owner (day 3 now), and have yet to connect my car to my home wifi. I'm unsure of the signal strength I would get in my garage (it's on the opposite side of the house from the router), and I know that it's poor in the driveway. I could fix this with different network gear, but I don't really want to mess with the network if I don't need to.

So I'm wondering, is there any benefit to connecting my car to wifi? I ordered before July 1st, so I should in theory be grandfathered in to free premium connectivity. Does wifi do anything above and beyond that?

Thanks!


----------



## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

Ryan Ballantyne said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> I'm a new Model 3 owner (day 3 now), and have yet to connect my car to my home wifi. I'm unsure of the signal strength I would get in my garage (it's on the opposite side of the house from the router), and I know that it's poor in the driveway. I could fix this with different network gear, but I don't really want to mess with the network if I don't need to.
> 
> ...


In my case my garage has poor cell coverage but is well within range of my WiFi network.

We don't know about the future - maybe updates are prioritized to WiFi, maybe very big updates only go over WiFi. It all remains to be seen...


----------



## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

Seeing that no one could do it until a few weeks ago, it probably isn't a big deal yet. But you may want to sure that you have 4G while it is in the garage. 
That's how your updates will come.


----------



## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

SoFlaModel3 said:


> We don't know about the future - maybe updates are prioritized to WiFi, maybe very big updates only go over WiFi. It all remains to be seen...


that has been the case with the Ss/Xs


----------



## tivoboy (Mar 24, 2017)

Some of the software packages are probably going to be pretty big. Certainly the August update will be. I think that is why they have enabled this prior to then.

Also, if you use WIFI, it's not using the LTE connection that currently Tesla is paying for. I don't know if they are on a T&M basis or unlimited basis per car (they probably choose one for the whole company) but there is probably some marginal cost over time. Otherwise they probably wouldn't be nickel and diming new users are 1 year.

So, if on home WIFI, any update would download much more quickly and without any cost to Tesla (they already had WIFI enabled for service centers and mobile rangers) so why not just have the customer enable it at home.

I think it will also allow more direct integration with home automation systems (Alexa, Apple Home, Google, etc.) so one can easily say to Alexa "pre-cool my car or setup navigation to work", etc. 

Also, the connection and integration will probably lower the impact of phantom drain on the car since it wouldn't have to make the LTE connection (which requires more power than WIFI) or it will probably enable the car to activate services in the house. 

Imagine: Drive home, enter garage, recognize the WIFI bubble (which is much more geographically accurate than LTE and or GPS) and automatically unlock your August garage entry door, turn on the lights (via IFTT) or some other at location triggered events.

WIFI really serves to enable this much more than the LTE connection and GPS geolocation.


----------



## Reliev (Jun 3, 2017)

Yea I agree since getting wifi I use my car about the same times everyday I have noticed much less battery loss half in fact sometimes it has the same range that I parked it with the day before. My mobile tech told me that the wifi connected cars ttha they get priority over the cellular connected cars this is also the case with the s/x so I'm not surprised by this at all. Welcome to the car that you will never buy anything different again .


----------



## Kizzy (Jul 25, 2016)

My house has zero AT&T reception so wifi would actually allow me to connect to my car via the app and receive updates while at home.


----------



## Sjohnson20 (Mar 8, 2018)

I connected mine to wifi at home since the LTE signal was low. Seems to work better.


----------



## Ryan Ballantyne (May 21, 2018)

Ya’ll convinced me. I connected to WiFi, and the signal wasn’t as bad as I’d feared. Still not that good, but workable. And since I did that, I noticed the car responds to the app much faster than it used to. That alone is worth connecting to WiFi for me.


----------



## GDN (Oct 30, 2017)

Glad the WiFi is working better than you thought. However, for anyone that needs better coverage or a home WiFi update I have been very happy with Orbi. I upgraded back in the spring because I had very poor coverage in the back yard by the pool and close to the garage. I knew I would need it for the car (and the recently replaced garage door opener.) it’s made a huge difference in my connectivity through the whole house. 

Now I’m just waiting on 24.7, time to go sit out in front of the service center.


----------



## Guy Weathersby (Jun 22, 2016)

GDN said:


> Glad the WiFi is working better than you thought. However, for anyone that needs better coverage or a home WiFi update I have been very happy with Orbi. I upgraded back in the spring because I had very poor coverage in the back yard by the pool and close to the garage. I knew I would need it for the car (and the recently replaced garage door opener.) it's made a huge difference in my connectivity through the whole house.
> 
> Now I'm just waiting on 24.7, time to go sit out in front of the service center.


Google WiFi also works great. Very easy to setup and very solid.


----------



## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

Guy Weathersby said:


> Google WiFi also works great. Very easy to setup and very solid.


I have been very happy with the Google Mesh setup and we have excellent coverage throughout our house as well as the front yard and backyard!


----------



## InstnTq (Dec 22, 2017)

This might not be that important for folks but I learned that if my car is connected to my wifi and I go into the Summon feature, I can open and close the garage door via the app. So if i was super lazy and didn't want to open the door for visitors, I could do from the comfort of my bed.


----------



## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

InstnTq said:


> This might not be that important for folks but I learned that if my car is connected to my wifi and I go into the Summon feature, I can open and close the garage door via the app. So if i was super lazy and didn't want to open the door for visitors, I could do from the comfort of my bed.


Or... just take one of the remotes from the garage door opener into your bedroom.


----------



## DendeNYC (Jun 29, 2018)

garsh said:


> Or... just take one of the remotes from the garage door opener into your bedroom.


Or get one of these and control your garage from anywhere on earth


----------



## dannyskim (Nov 14, 2016)

SoFlaModel3 said:


> I have been very happy with the Google Mesh setup and we have excellent coverage throughout our house as well as the front yard and backyard!


I tried Google Mesh and didn't like the functionality personally.

I would highly recommend the 
AmpliFi HD AC1750 Dual-Band Mesh Wi-Fi System 
by Ubiquity.


----------



## Joe3+1 (Jan 25, 2018)

Ryan Ballantyne said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> I'm a new Model 3 owner (day 3 now), and have yet to connect my car to my home wifi. I'm unsure of the signal strength I would get in my garage (it's on the opposite side of the house from the router), and I know that it's poor in the driveway. I could fix this with different network gear, but I don't really want to mess with the network if I don't need to.
> 
> ...


Hey Ryan, no need to "mess with the network". There are WiFi Range extenders that barely need setup and just occupy a single outlet. WiFi is the way to go!


----------



## JoeP (Sep 7, 2018)

I have a Ubiquiti Wifi access point about 10 feet above where the car will be parked (when i get it). So tis good to know that Wifi is available in current software (becuase cell service *isnt* available within miles of my house - which is the one in my profile pic...)


----------



## smatthew (Jul 1, 2018)

If you have wifi you get updates quicker. I believe mothership will wait two weeks before it sends the update via LTE.

Being obsessive-compulsive about updates, I usually drop by my local Service Center to SuperCharge after I get notification from TeslaFi of a new version. Before my charge is done the new software update notification appears on my 3.


----------



## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

smatthew said:


> If you have wifi you get updates quicker. I believe mothership will wait two weeks before it sends the update via LTE.
> 
> Being obsessive-compulsive about updates, I usually drop by my local Service Center to SuperCharge after I get notification from TeslaFi of a new version. Before my charge is done the new software update notification appears on my 3.


Since I've seen numerous people mention this, it's time I ask...

1) Are we absolutely certain connected to Tesla WiFi somehow magically pushes updates?

2) Tesla WiFi is unsecured?


----------



## smatthew (Jul 1, 2018)

SoFlaModel3 said:


> Since I've seen numerous people mention this, it's time I ask...
> 
> 1) Are we absolutely certain connected to Tesla WiFi somehow magically pushes updates?
> 
> 2) Tesla WiFi is unsecured?


1) I think Wifi pushes updates. I know a few years ago that connecting to "Tesla Service" wifi would auto push updates, but that's not the case anymore. I'm not getting good wifi at home, hence the visit to the SC. Tesla seems to be pushing updates to 3s asap, not in batches like S/X. Plus I needed to charge.
2)The car connects to "Tesla Service" WIFI automatically. It must store the password in the firmware.


----------



## NR4P (Jul 14, 2018)

SoFlaModel3 said:


> Since I've seen numerous people mention this, it's time I ask...
> 
> *1) Are we absolutely certain connected to Tesla WiFi somehow magically pushes updates?*
> 
> 2) Tesla WiFi is unsecured?


I doubt WiFi pushes the updates faster. My car has had WiFi in the garage since I received it 6 weeks ago and I just received 32.2 yesterday. What is that, 2 weeks after it was appearing? So I don't think WiFi gives extra priority from my experience.


----------



## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

smatthew said:


> 1) I think Wifi pushes updates. I know a few years ago that connecting to "Tesla Service" wifi would auto push updates, but that's not the case anymore. I'm not getting good wifi at home, hence the visit to the SC. Tesla seems to be pushing updates to 3s asap, not in batches like S/X. Plus I needed to charge.
> 2)The car connects to "Tesla Service" WIFI automatically. It must store the password in the firmware.


I have strong, fast WiFi at home. Sometimes I get updates quickly and other times I do not. I'm not convinced that it does anything yet.


----------



## ronmis (Jul 10, 2018)

I've got strong 5G wifi in the garage and it hasn't done anything good than mess up with my TeslaFi drive data. If I turn off wifi, it automatically turns on when I park my car (not sure why they do this). 

When I put my car in Drive and drive it from my home, the wifi gets disabled and LTE takes a couple of minutes to get connected, which results in TeslaFi not collecting drive data for the first 2-3 miles. I think I'll just delete my 5G network from the car so it doesn't connect to it again.


----------



## GDN (Oct 30, 2017)

ronmis said:


> I've got strong 5G wifi in the garage and it hasn't done anything good than mess up with my TeslaFi drive data. If I turn off wifi, it automatically turns on when I park my car (not sure why they do this).
> 
> When I put my car in Drive and drive it from my home, the wifi gets disabled and LTE takes a couple of minutes to get connected, which results in TeslaFi not collecting drive data for the first 2-3 miles. I think I'll just delete my 5G network from the car so it doesn't connect to it again.


This is interesting. I don't use Teslafi, but I've got a good wifi connection in my garage. I'll have to watch the icons for transfer, but have never noticed not having LTE, streaming kicks in and plays right away. Either way, if there are troubles hoping it is worked out in v9.

A lot of Teslafi users, interesting if any of the others are seeing this same behavior. I think @SoFlaModel3 and others I'm sure.


----------



## ronmis (Jul 10, 2018)

GDN said:


> This is interesting. I don't use Teslafi, but I've got a good wifi connection in my garage. I'll have to watch the icons for transfer, but have never noticed not having LTE, streaming kicks in and plays right away. Either way, if there are troubles hoping it is worked out in v9.
> 
> A lot of Teslafi users, interesting if any of the others are seeing this same behavior. I think @SoFlaModel3 and others I'm sure.


Streaming wont be affected because slacker songs are usually downloaded in the first 5 seconds when they start playing.

There is some handoff issue from Wifi to LTE that causes TeslaFi to show 'API Error - Data Request Timeout' in the raw logs for the first few minutes


----------



## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

GDN said:


> This is interesting. I don't use Teslafi, but I've got a good wifi connection in my garage. I'll have to watch the icons for transfer, but have never noticed not having LTE, streaming kicks in and plays right away. Either way, if there are troubles hoping it is worked out in v9.
> 
> A lot of Teslafi users, interesting if any of the others are seeing this same behavior. I think @SoFlaModel3 and others I'm sure.


I have no issues with Slacker connecting immediately and continuing with the transition from WiFi to LTE.

As for TeslaFi... looks like I'm seeing the same. I'm about a mile down the road before it "starts" my drive.

When I leave work it starts right away.

That's interesting!


----------



## Rick Steinwand (May 19, 2018)

I can think of a good reason to have wi-fi.  Got this tonight.


----------



## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

Rick Steinwand said:


> I can think of a good reason to have wi-fi.  Got this tonight.
> 
> View attachment 14903


Hmm that sure feels like confirmation of what that 5GB download was that everyone saw...


----------



## firedfly (Sep 23, 2017)

Rick Steinwand said:


> I can think of a good reason to have wi-fi.  Got this tonight.
> 
> View attachment 14903


I got the same message this morning... And my car has a good wifi signal in my garage where it is parked every night.

Does anyone know of way to force the map updates to download?


----------



## Rick Steinwand (May 19, 2018)

I don't have a good wifi at home and at work it's guests-only, like auditors & execs (although I know the login).

I'm told there's speculation the message was sent out by mistake.


----------



## Rick Steinwand (May 19, 2018)

Any idea of where the wi-fi antenna is? Possibly the camera housing near the rear-view mirror? If I'm going to try to connect to my 3rd floor apartment's wi-fi, I need to get as close as I can get.


----------



## CleanEV (May 17, 2018)

I believe WiFi May have its benefits as I ended up getting 2 5gb downloads just this week - see this post https://teslaownersonline.com/threads/yet-another-5-gb-download-early-this-morning.8812/


----------



## GDN (Oct 30, 2017)

Rick Steinwand said:


> Any idea of where the wi-fi antenna is? Possibly the camera housing near the rear-view mirror? If I'm going to try to connect to my 3rd floor apartment's wi-fi, I need to get as close as I can get.


In the drivers side mirror - LTE Modem specs are here


----------



## ER1C8 (Jan 1, 2018)

I got the same message which is weird. I had the 5GB download over a week ago and was in my garage connected to WiFi.


----------



## TDLI (Jun 6, 2018)

Regarding getting OTA software updates sooner, I also found that (maybe totally wrong) by having the car plugged in, I normally get the new firmware pushed to us sooner.


----------



## JimB (May 11, 2016)

I have a problem with my WiFi that I haven't seen on any of the threads. I've emailed Tesla support and after a long wait was told to do the reset, power off procedure which I did and it didn't work. With each software update, I was expecting it to be fixed, but I'm now on 36.2 and still have the problem. It seems to me that it is a software problem.

I touch LTE and it starts searching for WiFi. It shows my WiFi which I select and eventually shows "Connected". But the LTE icon does not change to WiFi (I believe it should) and the app on my phone that shows the connected devices does not show the Model 3. The signal strength in the garage is strong. It uses the 10 digit WEP key which sometimes I have to enter again.

I have connected two phones, three Kindles, a printer and a tablet, plus lots of visitors' devices with no problems.

And now, I get the message that my map was out of date and can only be updated via WiFi.

Any ideas, thoughts? I've been treating this as a low priority problem, but I'm ready to call Tesla.


----------



## Rick Steinwand (May 19, 2018)

My question is why are you using WEP? https://searchnetworking.techtarget...ryption-basics-Understanding-WEP-WPA-and-WPA2

Maybe it'll work if you switch to WPA2 or WPA.


----------



## JimB (May 11, 2016)

Rick Steinwand said:


> My question is why are you using WEP? https://searchnetworking.techtarget...ryption-basics-Understanding-WEP-WPA-and-WPA2


That's what my 2wire modem uses and I've been using it for many years.


----------



## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

JimB said:


> That's what my 2wire modem uses and I've been using it for many years.


It should also support WPA. You should update your configuration. WEP is easily broken nowadays.


----------



## JimB (May 11, 2016)

garsh said:


> It should also support WPA. You should update your configuration. WEP is easily broken nowadays.


Thanks for the reply, I'll look into it. But what gets me is that I've connected dozens or more devices without a problem and it does say it is connected during setup, but then it is not.


----------



## Rick Steinwand (May 19, 2018)

Trying to come up with an affordable, directional wi-fi repeater to put in my 3rd story apartment window to beam to my vehicle in the parking lot.


----------



## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Rick Steinwand said:


> Trying to come up with an affordable, directional wi-fi repeater to put in my 3rd story apartment window to beam to my vehicle in the parking lot.











https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantenna
Actually, a coffee can is probably better:
http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/has.html


----------



## warrior15r (Apr 27, 2018)

Rick Steinwand said:


> I can think of a good reason to have wi-fi.  Got this tonight.
> 
> View attachment 14903


Is this a valid message? I have no wifi in my garage =(


----------



## ER1C8 (Jan 1, 2018)

warrior15r said:


> Is this a valid message? I have no wifi in my garage =(


Yes it is, at least it will be very soon.


----------



## Rick Steinwand (May 19, 2018)

It is very much valid, but whether it was sent out by mistake is to be debated. So either it's an issue now or will be.

Either way, having access to wi-fi on a regular basis could be the difference between getting updates sooner rather than later.


----------



## Rick Steinwand (May 19, 2018)

I managed to connect to my home wi-fi by moving it closer to the window and scrounged up an old wireless-n router. I was connected to my home wi-fi for several hours but no way of knowing if my maps got updated. This is quite annoying not knowing if connecting to home wi-fi actually benefits us. It doesn't help that neither my home router (Linksys a-c) or the router that will live in the garage tell me how much traffic each device used. FWIW, I'm on fw 36.2 and although I can connect to my router from the parking lot, with winter coming I'll want it in the garage. Besides I don't want the doors dinged up from people coming and going.

Tomorrow I have a wireless bridge coming in. One end connects to my router (via lan) and will sit in the window. The other end goes in the garage and my old router will plug into it. Distance to the garage is only about 100 ft so hopefully the garage end can be just inside the wall and still connect. I have line of sight to the front of the garage, but since I rent, mounting to the outside of the garage is not possible.


----------



## GDN (Oct 30, 2017)

Rick Steinwand said:


> I managed to connect to my home wi-fi by moving it closer to the window and scrounged up an old wireless-n router. I was connected to my home wi-fi for several hours but no way of knowing if my maps got updated. This is quite annoying not knowing if connecting to home wi-fi actually benefits us. It doesn't help that neither my home router (Linksys a-c) or the router that will live in the garage tell me how much traffic each device used. FWIW, I'm on fw 36.2 and although I can connect to my router from the parking lot, with winter coming I'll want it in the garage. Besides I don't want the doors dinged up from people coming and going.
> 
> Tomorrow I have a wireless bridge coming in. One end connects to my router (via lan) and will sit in the window. The other end goes in the garage and my old router will plug into it. Distance to the garage is only about 100 ft so hopefully the garage end can be just inside the wall and still connect. I have line of sight to the front of the garage, but since I rent, mounting to the outside of the garage is not possible.


Connecting over the long term will definitely help. Tesla has outlined things like maps are destined for Wifi downloads. We have no way of knowing just yet if connecting for only a few hours will help - does the car check in immediately and then maps get pushed, or is it a random thing that may take a few more days before you get pushed to again, it's hard to say. There are however definite benefits of connecting to wifi.


----------



## Rick Steinwand (May 19, 2018)

Today's email:
_"To receive these updates as quickly as possible, make sure your car is connected to WiFi. As a Tesla owner, your driving experience will only get better over time: every Model S, Model X and Model 3 on the road will receive new features and improvements from Software Version 9.0."_


----------



## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

Rick Steinwand said:


> Today's email:
> _"To receive these updates as quickly as possible, make sure your car is connected to WiFi. As a Tesla owner, your driving experience will only get better over time: every Model S, Model X and Model 3 on the road will receive new features and improvements from Software Version 9.0."_


Was just coming to post that same thing


----------



## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

curious if you all are seeing your car appear on your wifi network 100% of the time.
I have an access point near the garage, the car is connected to my wifi network (as shown from the car's screen), get an excellent connection from any item in the garage (phone, iPad, laptop, Homekit things...), but the car does not show up as a connected device if it is sleeping, idle or awake. is this normal? is my car wifi-shy?

main router








extension near the garage








(the random 10.0.1.x are lights)


----------



## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

MelindaV said:


> curious if you all are seeing your car appear on your wifi network 100% of the time.
> I have an access point near the garage, the car is connected to my wifi network (as shown from the car's screen), get an excellent connection from any item in the garage (phone, iPad, laptop, Homekit things...), but the car does not show up as a connected device if it is sleeping, idle or awake. is this normal? is my car wifi-shy?
> 
> main router
> ...


Nope ... the car idles on my network all the time which is why I check the app to wake it back up


----------



## Tesla Newbie (Aug 2, 2017)

When I sit in the car in the garage and play with configuration options, I see the Wi-Fi tornado with a relatively strong connection. But when I come back sometime later and open the door, the car is connected to LTE for a few moments before it reverts to Wi-Fi. Makes me think that it’s losing the Wi-Fi connection while asleep, effectively rendering me pre-v9 for the rest of my life. Any words of wisdom?


----------



## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

Tesla Newbie said:


> When I sit in the car in the garage and play with configuration options, I see the Wi-Fi tornado with a relatively strong connection. But when I come back sometime later and open the door, the car is connected to LTE for a few moments before it reverts to Wi-Fi. Makes me think that it's losing the Wi-Fi connection while asleep, effectively rendering me pre-v9 for the rest of my life. Any words of wisdom?


I see activity from my car on WiFi overnight every night, so something wakes the car to trigger downloads and uploads.


----------



## channingdutton (Oct 7, 2018)

a couple weeks into my Model 3 life and still lost in the woods. Spent most of the PM adding a wifi extender to the garage. Mod 3 now shows it is connected to my wifi. But no action. As others observe, I am not sure it is doing anything. Do I just wait for the car to tell me it updated to V.9? Might that be several days? Is there a way to force the update from the car?


----------



## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

channingdutton said:


> a couple weeks into my Model 3 life and still lost in the woods. Spent most of the PM adding a wifi extender to the garage. Mod 3 now shows it is connected to my wifi. But no action. As others observe, I am not sure it is doing anything. Do I just wait for the car to tell me it updated to V.9? Might that be several days? Is there a way to force the update from the car?


Nothing to do but sit back and wait. No way to force the update until it's avaikable and pushed to your car.

Now if it's availble and you don't have it yet and you happen to be going in for service, they're able to push the update for you.


----------



## RatThings (Oct 31, 2016)

SoFlaModel3 said:


> I see activity from my car on WiFi overnight every night, so something wakes the car to trigger downloads and uploads.


Didn't think of checking if it's been connecting to Wi-Fi that way, keep checking car. (At this increasing rate of technological change, I wonder what those under 30 will have as background knowledge in 50 or 100 years that those over 50 have to look up or think through to know.)


----------



## GDN (Oct 30, 2017)

I have a Fing box. Pretty cool device to manage devices on your home network. It will show any device on the network going online and offline. It looks a lot more random these days. In the last 48 hours the car connected about 7 times is looks like. A few hours of sleep and then connectivity from a few to 15 minutes at a time.

When Wifi first was added they had a very defined pattern and a ton of connection, I think it was connected for 10 minutes and then disconnected for 10 to 15 minutes. I documented it in the thread about LTE antennas I think it was. To say the least it is more random these days, and more importantly to @MelindaV 's question it does not stay connected continuously.

It doesn't show the bandwidth consumed per device, one of the only features it is missing, but check out the Fing application on iOS. You can do a few things with the free app, but even more stuff if you buy the small box that plugs in to your network to go along with that app.


----------



## Canuck42 (Jul 8, 2018)

I don't know...(disclaimer)..........but they could trigger the car to wake up via LTE, then if it is able to receive on WiFi, push whatever they wish to send. ............ Just a thought and still attempting to understand its mystical ways


----------



## Rick Steinwand (May 19, 2018)

Rick Steinwand said:


> I managed to connect to my home wi-fi by moving it closer to the window and scrounged up an old wireless-n router. I was connected to my home wi-fi for several hours but no way of knowing if my maps got updated. This is quite annoying not knowing if connecting to home wi-fi actually benefits us. It doesn't help that neither my home router (Linksys a-c) or the router that will live in the garage tell me how much traffic each device used. FWIW, I'm on fw 36.2 and although I can connect to my router from the parking lot, with winter coming I'll want it in the garage. Besides I don't want the doors dinged up from people coming and going.
> 
> Tomorrow I have a wireless bridge coming in. One end connects to my router (via lan) and will sit in the window. The other end goes in the garage and my old router will plug into it. Distance to the garage is only about 100 ft so hopefully the garage end can be just inside the wall and still connect. I have line of sight to the front of the garage, but since I rent, mounting to the outside of the garage is not possible.


Connecting to wi-fi and plugging in every night worked like a charm. Just updated to 39.6 now.


----------



## RatThings (Oct 31, 2016)

GDN said:


> I have a Fing box. Pretty cool device to manage devices on your home network. It will show any device on the network going online and offline. It looks a lot more random these days. In the last 48 hours the car connected about 7 times is looks like. A few hours of sleep and then connectivity from a few to 15 minutes at a time.
> 
> When Wifi first was added they had a very defined pattern and a ton of connection, I think it was connected for 10 minutes and then disconnected for 10 to 15 minutes. I documented it in the thread about LTE antennas I think it was. To say the least it is more random these days, and more importantly to @MelindaV 's question it does not stay connected continuously.
> 
> It doesn't show the bandwidth consumed per device, one of the only features it is missing, but check out the Fing application on iOS. You can do a few things with the free app, but even more stuff if you buy the small box that plugs in to your network to go along with that app.


I'm figuring out Tether, it's the app for my TP-Link router. I can see and control even more thru an account on TP's website it turns out. Should have set it up before. Luckily my signal reaches BlueStar easily.


----------



## Rick Steinwand (May 19, 2018)

Since I was getting updates and he wasn't, a local M3 friend decided to add a wi-fi extender and within minutes of connecting had v9.


----------



## Tesla Newbie (Aug 2, 2017)

Rick Steinwand said:


> Since I was getting updates and he wasn't, a local M3 friend decided to add a wi-fi extender and within minutes of connecting had v9.


For whatever it's worth as a data point, I had the opposite experience. I wondered all week if my garage wifi signal strength was insufficient to carry the load because the car never registered more than one measly bar in the wifi tornado, but the lone bar came through for me last night. Another posted wrote that a connection, no matter how weak, will get the job done. That appears to have been the case with me.


----------



## Rick Steinwand (May 19, 2018)

Tesla Newbie said:


> For whatever it's worth as a data point, I had the opposite experience. I wondered all week if my garage wifi signal strength was insufficient to carry the load because the car never registered more than one measly bar in the wifi tornado, but the lone bar came through for me last night. Another posted wrote that a connection, no matter how weak, will get the job done. That appears to have been the case with me.


My friend had no wi-fi in his garage, which is why he needed the extender.


----------



## martinaje (Oct 15, 2018)

I have an issue with my network connection. I have Linksys WRT1900AC AC1900 Dual-Band Wi-Fi Router and after installation chrome is shut off. I didn't find any information on it, Even I already change the chrome proxy settings and follow Linksys router support experts instruction. So in the end, I got a router update and resolve my problems. The main reason to write here is if anyone having any trouble like my issue so please update your settings.


----------



## NaplesTeslaM3 (Aug 2, 2017)

I have yet to receive 9.0 even though I've kept the car connected to my home WiFi with a reasonably good signal. WTF? What's a guy got to do?


----------



## Rick Steinwand (May 19, 2018)

NaplesTeslaM3 said:


> I have yet to receive 9.0 even though I've kept the car connected to my home WiFi with a reasonably good signal. WTF? What's a guy got to do?


How many bars do you get on wi-fi? Does streaming radio work reliably on wi-fi? I find my phones and tablets have a LOT better antennas. Might also help to reboot your car (hold both wheel buttons down).

Otherwise might be OK to reach out to support and see if they can see any reason in the logs preventing it from updating.


----------



## Rick Steinwand (May 19, 2018)

Here we go again. Email from Tesla today:



> Introducing Navigate on Autopilot (Beta)-our most advanced Autopilot feature.
> 
> Built to guide you from on-ramp to off-ramp, Navigate on Autopilot suggests lane changes to optimize your route, and makes adjustments so you don't get stuck behind slow cars or trucks. When active, Navigate on Autopilot will automatically steer your vehicle toward highway interchanges and exits based on your destination.
> 
> Please note this feature is only available with the latest software update (Version 2018.42). In order to receive this update, make sure your car is connected to a strong WiFi signal.


----------



## GDN (Oct 30, 2017)

Rick Steinwand said:


> Here we go again. Email from Tesla today:


Well - we do all complain that they don't communicate. Now they have to tell us here is what you'll get in the software update that might or might not come to your car in the next few weeks.


----------



## Rick Steinwand (May 19, 2018)

I've had a couple of times where my Tesla's wi-fi prompts me for a password like it's forgotten the connection, but I've never see this on my phone tho. So I always make sure it's connected to wi-fi when garaged before I leave.


----------



## fazluke (Apr 19, 2017)

Ryan Ballantyne said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> I'm a new Model 3 owner (day 3 now), and have yet to connect my car to my home wifi. I'm unsure of the signal strength I would get in my garage (it's on the opposite side of the house from the router), and I know that it's poor in the driveway. I could fix this with different network gear, but I don't really want to mess with the network if I don't need to.
> 
> ...


I had an email today from Tesla asking to be on a strong wifi to get 42 update


----------



## clydeiii (Aug 16, 2018)

Does the car also need to be plugged in to get the update, or are these two things independent? Like, I've now invested in 400 dollars of wifi equipment to get the signal good enough so that my car sees it, but I still have no way of plugging in my car since I street park in DC.


----------



## Bokonon (Apr 13, 2017)

clydeiii said:


> Does the car also need to be plugged in to get the update, or are these two things independent? Like, I've now invested in 400 dollars of wifi equipment to get the signal good enough so that my car sees it, but I still have no way of plugging in my car since I street park in DC.


Doesn't matter -- I've received updates both when plugged in and when not plugged in. So, hopefully you should see your investment in WiFi equipment pay off soon.


----------

