School me on the built-in Hotspot

[powerboatr]

3gb or 90 days is the free part
i have used 500 mb in 5 weeks,
all pandora

Sponsored

 

[FrankThompson]

$25 if you're not AT&T, $20 if you have AT&T.

Can you really judge this as "backdoor dealing?". I would think more like controlling costs. They have to contract with someone for the base modem functionality (FordPass). Making the truck use two different mobile networks adds complexity and cost.

Networking is a standard and having a swappable interface for things like in car wifi adds minimal complexity, IMHO.

For the always connected features (remote start, reporting back vehicle reports, etc) I can see them needing/wanting 1 service provider, but I would rather those features require me to add my car to my phone plan for $10/month to get them than to get them free and limited to 1 provider for other features.

I.e. when my '17 only used at&t, I understood because it didn't have but in wifi or any other features in the truck that used the modem. Once they add in car wifi and things like built in Google/apple maps, Spotify, etc, I want the option to chose my provider.

For me it's not just cost. At&t has spotty reception here while Verizon is awesome. I'm not just limited to not choose my preferred cell provider, but usability suffers due to my geographical location and at&ts coverage.

 

[sbi]

So I just started my trial and can confirm that the phone won't connect to it when using Android Auto wireless or wired. So I really don't see any benefit of having this account when my family has unlimited data plan with T-Mobile. Perhaps some areas will have better reception with AT&T vs. T-Mobile, but if I can't use it with AA, what's the point? Giving up one feature to use another?
And I also don't understand why I cannot connect the "vehicle" itself, SYNC 4, to this network. Again - what's the point? I don't get it. To me, a usable hotspot/internet connectivity in your vehicle is when you have something like that built into the truck that you can connect your vehicle to and use it for everything that the vehicle needs or anything that you need within the vehicle, totally independent from your phone plan. As in - you start the truck, your phone automatically connects to that hotspot, not the the internet-less Wifi in SYNC 4.
Pure idiotic IMO.

 

[RJP]

What is the price?

When I had it I believe it was 200 bucks for the year.

 

[Orlando150]

So I just started my trial and can confirm that the phone won't connect to it when using Android Auto wireless or wired. So I really don't see any benefit of having this account when my family has unlimited data plan with T-Mobile. Perhaps some areas will have better reception with AT&T vs. T-Mobile, but if I can't use it with AA, what's the point? Giving up one feature to use another?
And I also don't understand why I cannot connect the "vehicle" itself, SYNC 4, to this network. Again - what's the point? I don't get it. To me, a usable hotspot/internet connectivity in your vehicle is when you have something like that built into the truck that you can connect your vehicle to and use it for everything that the vehicle needs or anything that you need within the vehicle, totally independent from your phone plan. As in - you start the truck, your phone automatically connects to that hotspot, not the the internet-less Wifi in SYNC 4.
Pure idiotic IMO.

The vehicle already has it's own cellular data connection independent from the hotspot. And it's free. There is no need for you to connect Sync to a hotspot.

The point of the feature is for someone not like you or me. It is for someone who has a need for internet connectivity for devices in the car that don't have their own cell connection (like kid's tablets) and who have cell phones that don't offer hotspot features they can use for that purpose.

And just a heads up: you will probably not be able to use your phone as a hotspot and connect it for Android Auto at the same time. Both use the WiFi function and usually phones setup as an active hotspot can't connect to other wifi networks because their wifi connection is being used by other devices connected to it.

 

[sbi]

The vehicle already has it's own cellular data connection independent from the hotspot. And it's free. There is no need for you to connect Sync to a hotspot.

But how exactly do I use it for what I need, not what the truck needs (if it's possible at all)?
You see, all this super unclear "integration" between wireless, BT, Android Auto, etc is just a big mess. You connect the phone using Android Auto, not with Bluetooth but you have to have Bluetooth enabled for Android Auto. It's just ridiculous.

 

[FrankThompson]

But how exactly do I use it for what I need, not what the truck needs (if it's possible at all)?
You see, all this super unclear "integration" between wireless, BT, Android Auto, etc is just a big mess. You connect the phone using Android Auto, not with Bluetooth but you have to have Bluetooth enabled for Android Auto. It's just ridiculous.

Actually I think AA still uses BT for the audio portion of the connection. It only uses the USB/Wifi for the video (this is how I understand it).

If you look at your phone when you are connected to AA your BT should be connected to the truck as well. It uses the BT connection to know when to connect to AA over Wifi as well.

Again, this is how I understand that AA works based on my personal experience with it (also turning off BT kills the connection).

 

[sbi]

Actually I think AA still uses BT for the audio portion of the connection. It only uses the USB/Wifi for the video (this is how I understand it).

If you look at your phone when you are connected to AA your BT should be connected to the truck as well. It uses the BT connection to know when to connect to AA over Wifi as well.

Again, this is how I understand that AA works based on my personal experience with it (also turning off BT kills the connection).

So if I am not mistaken, the built-in wifi/wireless is "LAN" only, it does not have internet connectivity /Data plan that you can use for your phone. And if that's the case, the only option you have (assuming you are the only occupant of the vehicle using your own phone) is to use the phone's data plan.

 

[FrankThompson]

I always assumed that if I enabled wifi hotspot, my phone and therefore AA would use the trucks internet connection for both. Some say that's not how it works and I have no proof to say otherwise. It seems messed up though. Why not use the same Wifi for AA as well as the hotspot? The only thought is I think AA uses a direct wifi connection. Same standards, but I think it's only a p2p (peer to peer) connection.

So because of this, I don't know if there are multiple wifi access points or not. One for "hot spot" and one for AA. Now, I'm pretty sure that your phone can connect to a "wifi direct" connection and a normal Wifi connection at the same time. I've noticed this at my house messing with my truck. I can have AA going and still be connected to my house's wifi. Again, I've never tested this in the truck's wifi hotspot. Maybe I'll try that this weekend as we have a family trip and I can enable the trial.

This is all me just brainstorming. I'm thinking of taking Friday off to detail the truck, so if I do, I might take the opportunity to test some of this out.

 

[Zengineer]

If a person didn't have Hotspot on their phone, was not in range of a free wi-fi and wanted to look at email on their laptop, or the passenger wanted to buy stuff online using a tablet, or anything else they might want a screen bigger that their phone for....that's what it could be used for.

I have a Verizon phone with Hotspot and paid for by my employer. I can't see any use but I suppose a passenger might if I or they weren't willing to use my phone hotspot.

It is there as a revenue stream for Ford, not because it makes a ton of sense for most owners.

 

[Snakebitten]

I do know that Alexa will respond and stream my request using the onboard AT&T cellular connection.
I also prepaid AT&T $200 for 12 months of service rather than the $20 per month.

 

[DEEPDOWN]

Yes.



Theoretically, the increased antenna size (Rx power) and transmitter (Tx power) might get you better service at the edges of reception.

Also, your provider might throttle your phone hotspot connection, so you don't give a bunch of pay-as-you-go pleebs their bandwidth for free.

Your phone maybe 5G whereas the hotspot modem is only LTE (4G), so in a sense it’s a downgrade speed wise!

 

[RossRR]

I've had the ATT in-truck hotspot for my '19 Lariat for a couple of years, mainly because my wife loves it for connecting her iPad to stream movies while I slave away hauling her around the country with our camper (she has also connected her computer to it and done work while we were on the road, as well). It has been convenient when the grandkids ride with us, also, because she can run her second iPad for them to watch their favorite youtube or Disney children's videos. The in-truck hotspot is convenient because our phones recognize it as a wifi and just automatically connect to it when we are in the truck. I assume bringing it on-board the '22 truck will be seamless for us and it will function the same as it does in the '19 truck.

 

[FrankThompson]

I always assumed that if I enabled wifi hotspot, my phone and therefore AA would use the trucks internet connection for both. Some say that's not how it works and I have no proof to say otherwise. It seems messed up though. Why not use the same Wifi for AA as well as the hotspot? The only thought is I think AA uses a direct wifi connection. Same standards, but I think it's only a p2p (peer to peer) connection.

So because of this, I don't know if there are multiple wifi access points or not. One for "hot spot" and one for AA. Now, I'm pretty sure that your phone can connect to a "wifi direct" connection and a normal Wifi connection at the same time. I've noticed this at my house messing with my truck. I can have AA going and still be connected to my house's wifi. Again, I've never tested this in the truck's wifi hotspot. Maybe I'll try that this weekend as we have a family trip and I can enable the trial.

This is all me just brainstorming. I'm thinking of taking Friday off to detail the truck, so if I do, I might take the opportunity to test some of this out.

So I started the trial Friday because we had a small family trip yesterday and I can say for 100% certainty that my phone both connects to the truck wifi as well as AA wireless. I can't speak for iphones and carplay because we don't own any of those devices (actually wife has an ipad, but not sure if carplay works with those).

This tells me that while I'm driving around I am using the trucks cellular connection for my phone. I'm not going to say if this is good or bad. We have unlimited on our phones so it's not a big deal. The kids however were able to connect thier tablets without a problem and use them without us having to set up a hotspot, which was nice.

I may end up doing the $200/year for my wife's car, but I have little use for it in my truck. We just happen to take it yesterday because I was picking up something that needed the truck.

I really wish that at&t would implement multi-car discounts.

 

[Snakebitten]

$200 a year is, in my opinion, a pretty good value equation these days.
That's 1 months cellular bill for many households.

And internet bills these days?
Cable?
A tank of fuel?
Heck, I spend that taking all my kids to dinner once!

Sponsored