What is the PCM HotSpot for anyway?

Scandinavian

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The question "doesn't make sense" only if you know all the answers.

A HotSpot doesn't ONLY have to be for Internet Access. It could also be used to directly access functions in the PCM. We do not need definitial description of what a HotSpot is. We need to try and determine if this one is doing anything else...

That is EXACTLY why I asked this question in the first place! There are some questions as to whether this HotSpot (by any definition) is providing enhanced functionality with the PCM.

There are other folks on this forum reporting otherwise. @Scandinavian is reporting that he might be getting calendar updates to his PCM via the HotSpot.
I have some new update on this working at least here in France. I have an iPhone X and it works sometimes and fails a few times.

I have now changed my WiFi in the car. I have allowed it to be a Hotspot but NOT have Internet Access. This way my phone connects to the internet via 4G and also to the hotspot. Now my calendar syncs with the car and I can easily navigate to any entry that has the address in the entry. Just the way I wanted this to be. Now my phone also connects to the Porsche Servers via 4G as well as to the Taycan via WiFi, and all the connections are green, see picture below.
Porsche Taycan What is the PCM HotSpot for anyway? 58F91256-3572-45F9-9D5C-F082165789B5


Now I can use AppleCarplay for navigation etc if I want while still having all the calendar sync available.

And please remember I do not have the internet package for the hotspot.

AppleCarplay needs to be connected to the car via the USB connection, but my hope and guess is that this WiFi connection will be used in a future upgrade of the PCM? I may be dreaming but hey ho!

This is the way it looks on the phone when it is connected to the Hotspot as well as the 4G network
Porsche Taycan What is the PCM HotSpot for anyway? 8AFA94FD-D596-44EC-A3A0-4EA490739D21
 

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If its killing folks Internet Connectivity (in the US), then its worse than useless - its actually a major problem.

They never should have enabled the configuration of the HotSpot in the US. I expect a lot of folks are configuring this on their phones for autoconnect and losing internet connectivity as a result.

IMHO: If Porsche hasn't yet enabled Internet Access in the US, then they never should have made this a part of the initial PCM user config. At least wait until its enabled, or post a very explicit warning about potential loss of connectivity...
Go into the WiFi settings and make sure the Internet Access is NOT ticked and try to see if that helps! That is the way I got it working. I guess the Hotspot does not do any router function at that stage.
 

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According to your diagram, it looks like your phone only has a connection to the HotSpot and not the PCM (car)

I certainly can't send profiles (or anything else - like nav locations) to the PCM if I am connected to the HotSpot). In fact, I can't do ANYTHING when connected to the HotSpot. Its simply a dead end...
PCM is not hardware, it's software.
It's Porsche Communication Management.
...
And I give up.
 
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I have some new update on this working at least here in France. I have an iPhone X and it works sometimes and fails a few times.

I have now changed my WiFi in the car. I have allowed it to be a Hotspot but NOT have Internet Access. This way my phone connects to the internet via 4G and also to the hotspot. Now my calendar syncs with the car and I can easily navigate to any entry that has the address in the entry. Just the way I wanted this to be. Now my phone also connects to the Porsche Servers via 4G as well as to the Taycan via WiFi, and all the connections are green, see picture below.


Now I can use AppleCarplay for navigation etc if I want while still having all the calendar sync available.

And please remember I do not have the internet package for the hotspot.

AppleCarplay needs to be connected to the car via the USB connection, but my hope and guess is that this WiFi connection will be used in a future upgrade of the PCM? I may be dreaming but hey ho!

This is the way it looks on the phone when it is connected to the Hotspot as well as the 4G network
Nice! That is the first time I have seen a complete "green circle"!

Still not working for us here in the States though... At least not for me!
 

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Nice! That is the first time I have seen a complete "green circle"!

Still not working for us here in the States though... At least not for me!
Which part are you missing?
 


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Looks like its easier to have IOS (than Android) use 4G for data while connected to a WiFi HotSpot. :(

In case someone is interested: Here's some notes on doing this with both Android and IOS.

As it doesn't seem to provide much additional functionality (particularly for Android users), I'll just stick with 4G/LTE mobile data and forget about the hotspot all together...
 
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Which part are you missing?
Hey., I'm lucky if I can even LOGIN to Porsche Connect much less get a complete circle! I continually have to "force stop" the Porsche Connect App and dump its data and cache before I restart it. This is what Porsche Tech Support told me to do. They said they have "known issues"... (I bet they do!)

When it does work, all my data goes from directly from my Cell phone to the Porsche Servers via my phone's mobile connection to the Internet (4G/LTE) and then the Porsche Servers push it back down to the car via the LTE connection in the PCM. That's the only way it has EVER worked for me.

Connecting the the WiFi HotSpot is pure suicide for ANY/ALL functionality...
 

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It should look like this.
4G still available.
Porsche Taycan What is the PCM HotSpot for anyway? 2020-08-31_20.21.54

Note the semi WiFi status, data transfer only.
 


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evanevery

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Maybe it SHOULD, but it DOESN'T...
 
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Maybe it SHOULD, but it DOESN'T...
That's why I suggested to activate the hotspot on your phone to create a semi-WiFi like me (phone to car's hotspot) but still have internet through 4G (phone to Porsche server on internet).
But if you think it shouldn't work like that, fine with me. :)
 
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evanevery

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That's why I suggested to activate the hotspot on your phone to create a semi-WiFi like me (phone to car's hotspot) but still have internet through 4G (phone to Porsche server on internet).
But if you think it shouldn't work like that, fine with me. :)
You either "connect to a HotSpot" with your phone (client) - or you "create a HotSpot" on your phone (server). Not both...

Sounds like you are connecting your phone to the the car's HotSpot but still getting your Internet data via 4G/LTE. That's why I responded with This post above
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