Using the wifi hotspot while also using apple CarPlay

[WalterG]

I recently moved from a 2020 T4S to a 2025 T4S that has noise / thermal isolation glass. I like the more quiet ride but like others, have found that cellular reception is impacted. My 2020 did not have noise / thermal isolation glass so I'm really familiar with cell coverage in the areas I frequently drive and have found unfortunately that with the 2025 the weak spots have become dead zones, and the mediocre spots have become weak. I've seen no impact in the good coverage areas around Boston - but the weak and mediocre spots have become really bad. In the weak coverage areas I can't even get google maps to plot a route on my phone to display with CarPlay. And most problematic, my wife can't do her wordle. For reference I have Verizon.

So I decided to try the in-car hotspot since I'm guessing the car's cellular antenna is mounted in a location that is not impacted by the noise / thermal isolation glass. I wasn't sure if I could have CarPlay running and simultaneously connect to the hotspot with the same iphone.

I found that the hotspot works great. I'll report back after a few days but with some quick testing it is doing exactly what I need - getting the coverage back to "usable" in weak and mediocre coverage areas. Speedtest reports 38Mbps down and 5Mbps up in a good but not great coverage area. While the 5G native on my iPhone would be much better, I can live with 38/5 all day for supporting CarPlay and my wife's wordle!

The directions in the manual weren't very good but here's what I did in case it's helpful.
- I first had to enable the hotspot by logging in from my computer at identity.porsche.com and going to My Porsche from the "hamburger" menu.
- In the main My Porsche menu (at identity.porsche.com) I picked "Find Connect Services" and scrolled down to "Data Pass Premium". I activated this. It is $20/month and the first month is free. It can be canceled anytime from this menu. Not super excited to send $20/mo to Verizon/Porsche for this but so be it; if it works it's worth it for me.
- I then turned on the hotspot in the car's PCM by going to Settings->Phone and Connections->Vehicle hotspot settings and checking the box "Vehicle hotspot" and then I set a password.
- I had to wait about 30 min for it to activate. I got the receipt and confirmation right away but when I tried to use it I got a message that said "click to connect" and then said it couldn't and to call Verizon at an 800 number. I decided not to call and to turn off the car, lock it and walk away for a bit. When I came back about 30 min later it just worked.
- Now anyone in the car can connect to the car hotspot by selecting the Taycan network and typing in the password. Or from the PCM they can just aim their camera at the QR code from the "connect to hotspot" menu.

Now I also wanted to connect my phone which I use for Apple CarPlay. To do this, I connected to CarPlay like I always have, then I went to settings on my iPhone and selected the taycan 5g wifi network (on my iPhone it was listed in wifi settings as "Taycan_2484_5GHz"). I am not sure about this but I'm guessing the car uses a 2.4GHz wifi connection to the iPhone for CarPlay. Since the iPhone can support two simultaneous connections, I chose the 5GHz one for the hotspot and now I have apple CarPlay and am simultaneously connected to the car's hotspot for data rather than using the phone's cellular. I haven't tried it yet but I'm guessing that I can make calls too since I have "wifi calling" on in my iPhone.

I'll report back after using this setup for a few days but so far it seems to work. Here are some screenshots for anyone interested in trying this crazy workaround.

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[luvdrivn]

awesome write up. I never knew this was an option. Thanks!

 

[CraigUrch]

Very cool thanks for sharing.

 

[obiwan]

@WalterG is this workaround working? I have noticed some low signal strength myself due to the noise / thermal isolation glass. I don't love paying a new subscription as a workaround, but if it works... maybe.

 

[WalterG]

@obiwan Yes, it is working pretty well. It's only been a few days so take this with a grain of salt but so far so good. I have the 5g hotspot set up to auto connect in my iPhone. I had a little trouble one time where the wifi (the 5g) connected but I wasn't getting service through the hotspot right away but within about 5 min it just worked. I have been able to make phone calls through wifi calling (need to have that option turned on in Settings on the iPhone) and they sound fine. I haven't tried yet in the really poor coverage areas but I think the hotspot is working as well as my phone did in my 2020 T4S that didn't have thermal isolation glass.

 

[Genau]

@WalterG , great work, but I wonder if the built-in repeater would have met your needs. My thought process:

• Although your Taycan and your cell phone are both using the Verizon network, your Taycan has useable signal strength via its external antenna, whereas your cell phone has intermittently weak or no signal due to attenuation by the insulated glass.

• Therefore, if you use the repeater in the center console, your cell phone will have a useable signal because the Verizon signal is strong enough to reach the Taycan's external antenna, which you are now sharing.

• To solve the problem of your wife not being able to play Wordle, you would need to enable your phone's wifi hotspot for her use without disabling your phone's CarPlay connection, if that is possible.

 

[tophamn]

@WalterG , great work, but I wonder if the built-in repeater would have met your needs. My thought process:

• Although your Taycan and your cell phone are both using the Verizon network, your Taycan has useable signal strength via its external antenna, whereas your cell phone has intermittently weak or no signal due to attenuation by the insulated glass.

• Therefore, if you use the repeater in the center console, your cell phone will have a useable signal because the Verizon signal is strong enough to reach the Taycan's external antenna, which you are now sharing.

• To solve the problem of your wife not being able to play Wordle, you would need to enable your phone's wifi hotspot for her use without disabling your phone's CarPlay connection, if that is possible.

View attachment 81372

Note that the on-board cellphone external antenna appears to have been dropped from MY2022 model onwards (I checked the owners manuals for different years - it's posted somewhere on a different thread) - seems to have coincided with the addition of the wireless charger.

 

[WalterG]

@Genau and @tophamn - Yes, the built in repeater would have been an option but they removed that in 2021 or 2022. My 2020 had both a repeater and wireless charging but the wireless charging was not really useful because it overheated the phone. In the 2025 (maybe added before 2025) there is a cooling fan in the center armrest console box to keep the phone from overheating. So using the car's hotspot is the only way (or easiest way) I can think of to get better reception in poor coverage areas if the car has the heat/noise isolating glass option. The car's 4g cell antenna is external so not affected by the heat/noise (and cell coverage) isolating glass option.

@Genau The car's hotspot works fine with my phone also connected to Apple CarPlay. My wife just uses the car's hotspot now which is working well.

 

[WalterG]

Quick update - I've driven about 400 miles since setting this up and this configuration using the car's hotspot is working great. I tried it in a poor coverage area yesterday and it did exactly what I needed - I had a good enough signal via the hotspot for google maps / CarPlay to generate a route with no problem. It just worked.

- Using the car's hotspot delivers acceptable internet connectivity in poor coverage areas where otherwise my phone has no cell signal due to the sound/heat isolation windows.
- My phone auto joins the car hotspot and automatically starts apple CarPlay. Sometimes it takes a few minutes to auto join the hotspot but it always does within 1-3 min.
- I can use apple CarPlay and the car's wifi hotspot simultaneously.
- I can make calls in these poor coverage areas. My phone is I think using the built in wifi assist calling. It just works when I'm on the hotspot.

 

[dakster]

This does not work on my 25 Taycan, see my post here.. very odd.

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/cell-signal-boost-in-2025-taycan.21126/post-420695

 

[satchurator]

@WalterG Thanks so much for sharing this. I too am in the Greater Boston area and have increasingly been getting frustrated by low/no cellular signal in some suburban and rural areas. I had somehow come to assume that I would not be able to use CarPlay at the same time as being connected to the Taycan's WiFi Hotspot, so the hearing that we can have our cake and eat it is great news. Just signed up for Data Pass Premium to give it a try.

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