Data Sim Card v Phone Tethering

Faults and Technical chat for the Volvo XC40
scottpcs
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2018 6:19 pm

Post by scottpcs »

It's worth noting that WiFi tethering is much faster than over Bluetooth, at least in my experience. Of course you need a strong reception on your phone to benefit from the faster speeds but it's worth noting nonetheless.

I use an app called Tasker on my OnePlus 3T to achieve automatic turning on of the WiFi hotspot (and off again when I exit the car) along with automatic launching of Spotify for tunes. It also does a few other things like automatically reading out loud incoming notifications over the car's speakers, including e-mails and the odd Sky News alert etc. You can customise it to your heart's content and it's a pretty powerful tool once you get your head around it.
XC40 FE D4 AWD Auto - Crystal White ¦ Charcoal ¦ 20" AND Headlight Washers! ¦ Polestar

Spikebyt
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2018 8:58 am

Post by Spikebyt »

scottpcs wrote: Sat Feb 02, 2019 10:02 am It's worth noting that WiFi tethering is much faster than over Bluetooth, at least in my experience. Of course you need a strong reception on your phone to benefit from the faster speeds but it's worth noting nonetheless.

I use an app called Tasker on my OnePlus 3T
First: Can you tell me more why more speed is worth nothing. Have you ever done a big map update over BT
Takes hours to complete. Besides of that, the hotspot option drains your phone battery faster then it loads
Those were my main reasons to get a dedicated SIM in the booth. I can even use that as a hotspot for my passengers

Second: I'm on iPhone so your app does not work on my phone
HAd something like that on my Palm Pilot, long ago
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Gre
Posts: 63
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2018 4:49 am

Post by Gre »

Defiantly data SIM card is much more convenient. On iPhones you have to always remember to go to personal hotspot in order for Sensus to connect to the internet apart from battery drainage. Unfortunately I have no other choice at the moment since my modem is not working anymore due to the latest software update in November. Volvo knows about the issue that is affecting certain percange of cars and have not done anything about it to resolve the situation up till now....
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abby606
Posts: 83
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2018 4:02 pm
Location: Bristol

Post by abby606 »

Could anyone get the Internet over Bluetooth feature to work? Everything else works fine for me and I've got a SIM card now so it's not as big a deal, just interested in what I might have been doing wrong. It looked like it connected OK but then didn't have access to the internet for updates etc. Over WiFi it worked fine.
scottpcs
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2018 6:19 pm

Post by scottpcs »

Spikebyt wrote: Sat Feb 09, 2019 2:04 pm
scottpcs wrote: Sat Feb 02, 2019 10:02 am It's worth noting that WiFi tethering is much faster than over Bluetooth, at least in my experience. Of course you need a strong reception on your phone to benefit from the faster speeds but it's worth noting nonetheless.

I use an app called Tasker on my OnePlus 3T
First: Can you tell me more why more speed is worth nothing. Have you ever done a big map update over BT
Takes hours to complete. Besides of that, the hotspot option drains your phone battery faster then it loads
Those were my main reasons to get a dedicated SIM in the booth. I can even use that as a hotspot for my passengers

Second: I'm on iPhone so your app does not work on my phone
HAd something like that on my Palm Pilot, long ago
More speed is always handy but particularly if you plan on updating maps via tethering. If I remember rightly, Bluetooth has a maximum theoretical rate of something like 24Mbps whereas WiFi can offer something in the region of 250Mbps. These days, 4G can offer speeds well in excess of 24Mbps and therefore you can potentially take advantage of this by using WiFi rather than Bluetooth. I don't find map updates to take an excessive amount of time using WiFi tethering and it usually completes in around 30 minutes or so, including installation.

WiFi is also much more reliable and you can also use your phone as a mobile hotspot in the car for the kids iPads etc. You could argue that you can also use the car as a WiFi hotspot with the phone tethered via Bluetooth but then it comes back to a limitation on bandwidth. However you do it, getting a separate SIM card for the car just wasn't an option for me as I have unlimited data on my phone but I appreciate that most people don't have that luxury.

The biggest downside of WiFi is of course battery drain but I don't find this to be a big problem on my phone. I also usually have my phone connected via Android Auto so it's a non-issue for me.

Shame there's nothing like Tasker for iOS but I'm afraid that's down to Apple's walled garden and one of the biggest reasons I moved away!
XC40 FE D4 AWD Auto - Crystal White ¦ Charcoal ¦ 20" AND Headlight Washers! ¦ Polestar
hdasmith
Posts: 392
Joined: Thu May 10, 2018 7:16 pm
Location: UK

Post by hdasmith »

abby606 wrote: Sun Feb 10, 2019 8:50 pm Could anyone get the Internet over Bluetooth feature to work? Everything else works fine for me and I've got a SIM card now so it's not as big a deal, just interested in what I might have been doing wrong. It looked like it connected OK but then didn't have access to the internet for updates etc. Over WiFi it worked fine.
What kind of phone have you got abby606?
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Ordered 11th May 2018
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abby606
Posts: 83
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2018 4:02 pm
Location: Bristol

Post by abby606 »

hdasmith wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 12:52 pm
abby606 wrote: Sun Feb 10, 2019 8:50 pm Could anyone get the Internet over Bluetooth feature to work? Everything else works fine for me and I've got a SIM card now so it's not as big a deal, just interested in what I might have been doing wrong. It looked like it connected OK but then didn't have access to the internet for updates etc. Over WiFi it worked fine.
What kind of phone have you got abby606?
iPhone 8 plus - I never thought to check, maybe my phone doesn't support it?
hdasmith
Posts: 392
Joined: Thu May 10, 2018 7:16 pm
Location: UK

Post by hdasmith »

Your phone does. Your network plan might not. In Settings, near the top, you should have a “Personal Hotspot” option which you need to go into. If it’s not there, try going into “Mobile Data” instead and see if it’s there. It would be the third item down. If not, you probably don’t have it as part of your plan.
Inscription Pro | Pine Grey | Amber Leather | D3 FWD Manual
Ordered 11th May 2018
Delivered 6th November 2018
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