Why is my phone using a ton of cell data when driving?

[gtm]

I'm not sure if this is normal and I never noticed (just took the first really long trip with the Taycan), or I have something set wrong, but my iPhone is using a lot of data with my cell carrier when in the car (Apple CarPlay is usually on but not necessarily being used). WiFi and Bluetooth are on and connect to the car. The car generates it's own WiFi so from what I understand the phone communicates with the car by either or both wireless methods and the car connects to the internet via Porsche and Verizon. Most of the time the phone is used to play my music and not an active/internet app (maps or Waze,...). Any clue why the phone is using my LTE network pretty much the entire time I'm in the car? The car's LTE seems to be functioning normally as the PCM is fine without my phone in the car. This might be normal and I never noticed the extra usage from relatively short trips but it seems something is set wrong. Someone who spends a lot of time in their car would burn through many GB of data if this is normal.

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[OzzieT]

@gtm I'm not sure what you mean by a lot of data. If on your iPhone you go to Settings>Mobile or Settings>Cellular you can see data usage by app. You could scroll to the bottom and reset the statistics, and then go for a drive in the car and see what app is consuming the data.

 

[gtm]

@gtm I'm not sure what you mean by a lot of data. If on your iPhone you go to Settings>Mobile or Settings>Cellular you can see data usage by app. You could scroll to the bottom and reset the statistics, and then go for a drive in the car and see what app is consuming the data.

Thanks for the suggestion. So Amazon Music is one of the prime offenders and it was used during my recent trip but the question I have is why isn't using Amazon going through Porsche/Verizon rather than through my cellular provider? The way Porsche has set up connectivity it seems to me that all data should be routed through the car.

 

[OzzieT]

Most modern vehicles are network connected. The technology embedded within vehicles and the plans they operate on (from Verizon et al) are typically IoT classified. This means the solution is designed for lower speeds/smaller amounts of data. That is why a software update done directly to the vehicle takes a lot longer than a software update to the vehicle app (and then via WiFi to the vehicle). So the car IoT solution is optimised for things like vehicle GPS, emergency SOS, remote monitoring, remote services, software updates and other services which require limited bandwidth. This is primarily a commercial issue, in that the IoT vehicle devices and the telco plans they operate on need to be affordable.

If the vehicle has installed apps then these will generally work from the vehicles IoT connection (ie news, weather). Amazon music is a phone app and so it will be consuming data on your phone. I know the Taycan has integrated Spotify as an app (maybe Amazon too), but I'm yet to receive my car to understand if that will only work with your phone connected as well. That is the Spotify app aids the in-vehicle user interface ("hey Taycan play my favourites on Spotify") but the data is still consumed through the phone. I suspect this will be the case.

 

[W1NGE]

I'm not sure if this is normal and I never noticed (just took the first really long trip with the Taycan), or I have something set wrong, but my iPhone is using a lot of data with my cell carrier when in the car (Apple CarPlay is usually on but not necessarily being used). WiFi and Bluetooth are on and connect to the car. The car generates it's own WiFi so from what I understand the phone communicates with the car by either or both wireless methods and the car connects to the internet via Porsche and Verizon. Most of the time the phone is used to play my music and not an active/internet app (maps or Waze,...). Any clue why the phone is using my LTE network pretty much the entire time I'm in the car? The car's LTE seems to be functioning normally as the PCM is fine without my phone in the car. This might be normal and I never noticed the extra usage from relatively short trips but it seems something is set wrong. Someone who spends a lot of time in their car would burn through many GB of data if this is normal.

PCM LTE is only used for native apps within PCM and Porsche Connect services.

Anything streamed from your phone will (obviously) use the LTE and data service of your phone.

Amazon Music will / can only use your phone for its data stream for example.

Apple Music or Spotify when augmented from the PCM native app will use the PCM LTE service.

No mystery or anything untoward.

 

[tchavei]

Well... One thing that bugs me is that when I'm using Spotify in the car (native, not Android Auto), my phone still pops up Spotify with the currently playing song in the task manager.
I know it's barely using any data as it's the pcm that is streaming the music but I would expect it to remain completely independent. If the account it on the pcm why does it need to pop up on my phone.

 

[tigerbalm]

The way Porsche has set up connectivity it seems to me that all data should be routed through the car.

This is not true unless you pay for the optional "Hotspot" data package – offering (at least in Europe) only 7Gb/month.

 

[gtm]

@OzzieT, @W1NGE & @tigerbalm. Thanks for the responses. So it looks like my data usage is normal. My recent two day trip was the first really extended time in the car and previous "extra" cell phone data usage wasn't really noticeable on a drive of an hour or two (much less a 15 minute errand run). I was just surprised when I consumed 1.5 GB over two days and the phone apps weren't used all that much (mostly used native Sirius and the car's routing).

@W1NGE. "Anything streamed from your phone will (obviously) use the LTE and data service of your phone." It might be obvious to you, I've no clue on your background, but it certainly wasn't obvious to me. The car generates a WiFi signal strong enough to knock the house WiFi off my phone. The car communicates with the phone by WiFi and Bluetooth and the car has it's own LTE/cellular connection. I, naively, thought all phone communications were now going through the car's systems. Live and learn. Thanks for the info.

 

[W1NGE]

@OzzieT, @W1NGE & @tigerbalm. Thanks for the responses. So it looks like my data usage is normal. My recent two day trip was the first really extended time in the car and previous "extra" cell phone data usage wasn't really noticeable on a drive of an hour or two (much less a 15 minute errand run). I was just surprised when I consumed 1.5 GB over two days and the phone apps weren't used all that much (mostly used native Sirius and the car's routing).

@W1NGE. "Anything streamed from your phone will (obviously) use the LTE and data service of your phone." It might be obvious to you, I've no clue on your background, but it certainly wasn't obvious to me. The car generates a WiFi signal strong enough to knock the house WiFi off my phone. The car communicates with the phone by WiFi and Bluetooth and the car has it's own LTE/cellular connection. I, naively, thought all phone communications were now going through the car's systems. Live and learn. Thanks for the info.

I don't use the PCM WiFi hotspot - for calls etc Bluetooth is just dandy.

 

[MarMiamiBeach]

Well... One thing that bugs me is that when I'm using Spotify in the car (native, not Android Auto), my phone still pops up Spotify with the currently playing song in the task manager.
I know it's barely using any data as it's the pcm that is streaming the music but I would expect it to remain completely independent. If the account it on the pcm why does it need to pop up on my phone.

I have the same. I get into the car and the music is on, then the car play connects and the music is gone. I have not even used the carplay and the music should continue to stay on until I use the carplay. I think the car play is not communicating properly with PCM ? Could this be?

 

[KensingtonPark]

@W1NGE. "Anything streamed from your phone will (obviously) use the LTE and data service of your phone." It might be obvious to you, I've no clue on your background, but it certainly wasn't obvious to me. The car generates a WiFi signal strong enough to knock the house WiFi off my phone. The car communicates with the phone by WiFi and Bluetooth and the car has it's own LTE/cellular connection. I, naively, thought all phone communications were now going through the car's systems. Live and learn. Thanks for the info.

You weren't crazy to think this either. In regions outside the US, this is something that you can option. The service in the car just doesn't work that way here, largely because they believe that since so many owners will have unlimited data, not enough of them would sign up to pay for the additional pricey data plan for the car.

 

[tchavei]

I have the same. I get into the car and the music is on, then the car play connects and the music is gone. I have not even used the carplay and the music should continue to stay on until I use the carplay. I think the car play is not communicating properly with PCM ? Could this be?

Mine only connects android auto automatically if I had it open last time I turn off the car.

It does cut the music "sometimes" when switching but mostly it doesn't.

I learned to live with it. Just needs a tap on the play button to resume

During the first couple of days it would switch from native Spotify to AA Spotify. That was irritating but it stopped doing that.

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