Will update enable car to be used as wifi hotspot?

[Dr Chill]

Annoyed this function was not active from the factory. Will the car act as a wifi hotspot for internet access after the update?

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[andrewket]

I don’t understand the draw to using your car as a hotspot for internet access. Doesn’t everyone have a smart phone these days? Almost all can be used as a hotspot if needed, and they’re portable.

 

[4STOY]

The car makes for a much better antenna than your phone. This is particularly useful when living in or traveling through rural areas with limited coverage. Additionally, passengers can use the hotspot without logging onto a phone's hotspot. I find it particularly useful in my other vehicles.

Besides that it's supposedly a "standard " feature. Every other vehicle I own or have owned over the past 6 years is/was hotspot capable. Taycan? Not so much.

 

[Dee]

The car makes for a much better antenna than your phone. This is particularly useful when living in or traveling through rural areas with limited coverage. Additionally, passengers can use the hotspot without logging onto a phone's hotspot. I find it particularly useful in my other vehicles.

Besides that it's supposedly a "standard " feature. Every other vehicle I own or have owned over the past 6 years is/was hotspot capable. Taycan? Not so much.

It has nothing to do with the antenna but with coverage of the area.
Your phone is as good as the car's, maybe even better.

 

[Scandinavian]

Besides that it's supposedly a "standard " feature. Every other vehicle I own or have owned over the past 6 years is/was hotspot capable. Taycan? Not so much.

That is more an US issue than a Taycan issue. Most likely just an issue with an agreement with a cellular operator.
I have been able to buy a subscription since May 2020 when I got the car. But it is a separate subscription and I just can’t see any value in that offer at all. The phone seems to get a boost from the cars antenna when placed in the holder and wireless charger in the armrest.

 

[cgfrndpor]

Annoyed this function was not active from the factory. Will the car act as a wifi hotspot for internet access after the update?

I don't know of any car with internet connectivity that includes a hotspot function without a separate account for it. The two current cars I run (BMW 5er(to go in favor of the Taycan) and Audi Etron) both require a separate account to enable the hotspot function which is separate from the car's connection to the internet. BMW and Audi currently use AT&T, Porsche says the Taycan uses Verizon. According the Porsche USA it is free for 1 month and $20/mo after that for 'unlimited'. The BMW has a 10/mo option with just a couple of GB, the Audi only offers 20/mo unlimited.

 

[Gogs]

911’s have a sim you can swap out and use. Much better signal that your phone inside the car. Wish the Taycan had this.

 

[4STOY]

It has nothing to do with the antenna but with coverage of the area.
Your phone is as good as the car's, maybe even better.

Not with your phone "buried" inside the vehicle.

 

[Dee]

Not with your phone "buried" inside the vehicle.

Signals come from the sides, really no problem if you're on 4G, 5G is even better (more towers, wider signal, higher freq, more "penetration".).
Even in a plane there's plenty reception, that is, when you're below 100-150m off the ground...lol.

 

[Scandinavian]

Signals come from the sides, really no problem if you're on 4G, 5G is even better (more towers, wider signal, higher freq, more "penetration".).

You are just guessing aren’t you!

The higher the frequency ie 4G and 5G there is a dramatic drop off how well the radio waves can go through obstructions like walls and metal etc. It is true that there are considerably more transceivers with 5G and there by a higher signal level in general. But the reason for that is to have the capacity for data transmission. I would also guess that a Taycan equipped with the heat insulated glass can have a worse inside transmission because of the metal content in glass?

The car will have a better reception with an outside aerial with the car body as ground. So if the Taycan has the signal booster for the phone at the wireless phone charger, that is a win- win! And will boost the reception signal a lot.

 

[Dee]

You are just guessing aren’t you!

The higher the frequency ie 4G and 5G there is a dramatic drop off how well the radio waves can go through obstructions like walls and metal etc. It is true that there are considerably more transceivers with 5G and there by a higher signal level in general. But the reason for that is to have the capacity for data transmission. I would also guess that a Taycan equipped with the heat insulated glass can have a worse inside transmission because of the metal content in glass?

The car will have a better reception with an outside aerial with the car body as ground. So if the Taycan has the signal booster for the phone at the wireless phone charger, that is a win- win! And will boost the reception signal a lot.

My bad, higher freq, less penetration.
Correct.
Bad coverage vs in-car reception was the initial discussion, not higher vs lower frequency.
But with more transceivers you won't notice that much difference.
I always have internet connection, despite just one or five "bars", it's charging in my arm rest, no problem whatsoever (or is it still using the car's antenna?).
So I don't see the need for an extra antenna on the outside, all I'm saying.
No matter how much antennas on the outside, if there's no coverage, there's no connection to internet.

 

[4STOY]

Some folks might consider this anecdotal evidence. But I have 4 cars in my little garage - a 2020 Taycan 4S, a 2020 Ford F150, a 2021 718 Cayman GTS 4.0, and a 2021 911 Turbo S. As a rule I stream music from Pandora through my iPhone 12 Pro. All of my vehicles have a functioning wifi hotspot that provides an internet connection with the exception of the Taycan. (Yes! I pay a monthly service charge for that capability.) I frequently lose coverage and music streaming in the Taycan. I am just asking for Porsche to provide the option for internet in the Taycans sold in the US.

 

[Dr Chill]

I just don't want to pay the extra $10 a month for Hotspot service for my phone if I can get it in the car. The car has an embedded SIM that should make this possible and since it gets data service already without any cost to me, why shouldn't it be enabled to share data with connected phones? Even at a small monthly charge. Just like all other cars.

 

[W1NGE]

I just don't want to pay the extra $10 a month for Hotspot service for my phone if I can get it in the car. The car has an embedded SIM that should make this possible and since it gets data service already without any cost to me, why shouldn't it be enabled to share data with connected phones? Even at a small monthly charge. Just like all other cars.

To use the embedded SIM (I assume it is an E-SIM) requires you to pay a monthly data subscription - in UK this is via Vodafone. If you don't pay for the monthly subscription then the internal WiFi hotspot will not provide internet connectivity for any connected device.

There are plenty of decent 4G / 5G signals around UK, Ireland and rest of Europe to make the data subscription for the car completely pointless. Unlimited data on a mobile phone is cheap as chips these days - again rendering the car's WiFi hotspot for this purpose pointless.

The car's WiFi hotspot is available when activated within PCM but unless you have the additional data subscription then all internet traffic is blocked. The only thing you can then use this for is to connect your phone locally to the PCM hotspot, fire up the Porsche Connect App and sync calendar data (woo hoo!).

The car's LTE service is entirely separate to the data SIM and is reserved for the Porsche Connect Services that you will have subscribed to including Apple Music (which by the way doesn't require your phone or an active data subscription to use) and Apple Pod Casts.

 

[Dr Chill]

To use the embedded SIM (I assume it is an E-SIM) requires you to pay a monthly data subscription - in UK this is via Vodafone. If you don't pay for the monthly subscription then the internal WiFi hotspot will not provide internet connectivity for any connected device.

There are plenty of decent 4G / 5G signals around UK, Ireland and rest of Europe to make the data subscription for the car completely pointless. Unlimited data on a mobile phone is cheap as chips these days - again rendering the car's WiFi hotspot for this purpose pointless.

The car's WiFi hotspot is available when activated within PCM but unless you have the additional data subscription then all internet traffic is blocked. The only thing you can then use this for is to connect your phone locally to the PCM hotspot, fire up the Porsche Connect App and sync calendar data (woo hoo!).

The car's LTE service is entirely separate to the data SIM and is reserved for the Porsche Connect Services that you will have subscribed to including Apple Music (which by the way doesn't require your phone or an active data subscription to use) and Apple Pod Casts.

Yes, I am aware of this, however, this option is not available for us in the US as of yet as I was told when I purchased the car. Was hoping this software update made it possible which is why I posted this thread. So far, nobody has answered this question.

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