No LTE in garage, cannot preheat car via app :-( (RESOLVED)

[whitex]

I have an AT&T microcell at home, will the car work with that?

Does your Taycan have an AT sim or Verizon sim? You can find that under settings (same place where it shows you signal strength). IIRC it's under Phone/Data Connection submenus.

Mine has a Verizon sim (it shows connected to Verizon whenever I checked it), so I installed a Verizon femto-cell. Since we have Verizon plan for out phones, it worked out great, it fixed the low LTE signal on first floor for phones at the same time. I've seen people here report having AT&T as well, so not sure what that depends on. If I were to guess, the model year, perhaps Porsche switched their providers at some point (my Taycan is MY23, picked up in Feb this year).

All that said, if you already have it installed, check LTE signal strength in your car while in the closed garage and see. Maybe Verizon sim can roam on AT&T LTE?

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[whitex]

To add to this thread, no signal strength can overcome Porsche incompetency in writing software. Every once in a while the app connects to the car just fine, but the car appears to be in Privacy Mode, which means I cannot pre-heat it with the app. Actually entering and turning on the car, clears the privacy mode all by itself, so obviously it wasn't really in privacy mode, just Porsche software thought so for some reason.

I wish they would fix their software, or at least provide an option to prevent entering privacy mode unless a pin is entered in the car.

 

[feye]

Appreciate that but the PCM is obviously capable and so there has to be a fundamental issue to not provide it. Why single out Russia as the only country where Porsche make it available?

WiFi is power hungry on the 12V battery? It provides no benefit for the PCM in it's current state?

 

[whitex]

WiFi is power hungry on the 12V battery? It provides no benefit for the PCM in it's current state?

Cell phones manage to stay connected to WiFi with minimal standby power consumption. Heck, notice that cell phones with WiFi connection don't disconnect from WiFi and only stay on LTE/5G when on standby. Taycan with its almost 100KWh battery should be able to beat a cell phone with its puny (in comparison) battery, no? WiFi has low power modes too nowadays. Have been driving Teslas for a decade, WiFi has never been a significant battery drain.

 

[W1NGE]

Personally I have no need for my Taycan to connect to WiFi - extremely limited use case given the limited OTA updates and even when they are available 4G copes just fine.0

 

[whitex]

Personally I have no need for my Taycan to connect to WiFi - extremely limited use case given the limited OTA updates and even when they are available 4G copes just fine.0

If you don't need to connect to the car while in a garage without cellular coverage (to pre-heat the car, or monitor charging, change charging settings, etc.), I can see it being a minor inconvenience for you.

 

[W1NGE]

If you don't need to connect to the car while in a garage without cellular coverage (to pre-heat the car, or monitor charging, change charging settings, etc.), I can see it being a minor inconvenience for you.

I can certainly live without the connectivity as it is such a low priority IMHO and if I plan ahead I can already pre-programme cabin pre-whatever and any charging requirements.

 

[whitex]

I can certainly live without the connectivity as it is such a low priority IMHO and if I plan ahead I can already pre-programme cabin pre-whatever and any charging requirements.

It's easier to pre-program via the app, which is not possible if car in garage without connectivity. But yes, if you don't mind running to the garage every time you decide to program pre-heating, 100% charge, etc. OR if you park your Taycan in your living room or bedroom, then sure, it's just as convenient as doing it on the cell phone.

 

[briomir]

@whitex how do you check what network sim is installed in your Taycan?

 

[whitex]

@whitex how do you check what network sim is installed in your Taycan?

In the PCM, there is a menu which shows SIM Information/status. Next time If I remember, I will take a picture when I'm in the car.

 

[satchurator]

Just wrapping a ski vacation where my Taycan was valet parked in an enclosed garage in an area with very poor cellular coverage. It was a PITA not being able to monitor battery SOC since the parking attendants were managing the charging of EVs in their care. There was wifi available but of course that is no use for connecting the Taycan unfortunately.
@whitex Do you suppose it would be possible to rig a portable LTE extender to leave in the car?

 

[whitex]

@whitex Do you suppose it would be possible to rig a portable LTE extender to leave in the car?

Cellular towers and therefore LTE extenders typically require a location because of emergency services. The LTE extender in my garage has a GPS antenna and will not function until GPS signal is acquired. Not sure if the location has to be fixed, but if it does, that would eliminate portability.

 

[satchurator]

Geeking out on this a bit more. Turns out truckers / RV / overlanding enthusiasts are using stuff like this:

https://kingconnect.com/king-extend-go-multi-use-portable-cell-signal-booster/

If I really wanted to go nuts on this I suppose I could rig a 12V battery and stick the antenna in my roofbox which I often have mounted when I'm in low LTE signal territory.

 

[SergeyIndy]

Updating this thread with a RESOLUTION.

Installing the Verizon LTE Extender (which is a Verizon femto-cell, Verizon seemingly being the vendor of choice for Porsche in USA - at least for my Taycan) solved my connectivity problem. Taycan now shows all 5 bars in a closed garage.

It also solved another problem I discovered at a later time. If I got into the Taycan with my iPhone, the WiFi connection switched to CarPlay, meaning iPhone needed to get LTE for connectivity. Being in a holster on my belt, inside the thermal and noise insulated Taycan, which was parked inside the garage, I didn't even realize my phone lost connectivity completely. I was sitting in the garage waiting for my wife to come out, and she was messaging me but my phone was not getting messages. I got all her messages after I started driving few minutes later.

This looks like a good one time cost solution for garage and home for Verizon users. One complaint on the Verizon site from the users is that you cannot limit it to just your own phones, so the extender becomes a nice perk for all the neighbors including data. I wonder if you can confirm if there is a setting that limits what phones can use the extender or if you can see in real time what phones are connected and using the extender.

 

[Hirschaj]

You can read about my experiences with the Femto solution and the signal booster solution here… https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...r-to-enhance-comms-with-car.17534/post-292506

I’m very happy with the signal booster solution since I’m not a Verizon customer.

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