Chuck
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Chuck
- Joined
- May 13, 2021
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- SoCal
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- Mustang Mach E 2021
- Thread starter
- #1
There's a lot of discussion about the PAAK. Some say it just doesn't work or is not reliable. I say that it just needs to be coaxed into working. To this point I can say that my key fob hasn't left the drawer at home since I got my Mach E in April.
Background: I work in tech. I know that there are many ways to get things to work. I like to tinker and because of that I can get things to work that the rest of my family can't. Actually they could if they were more patient and creative but they know they can just call me for tech support.
Also having been in software development for decades I know that software has bugs. I often tell my staff that any program with more than 3 lines of code in it has bugs, we just haven't encountered them yet. Knowing this allows me to be more tolerant and patient than most.
The PAAK is technology. It requires connectivity between an app on the phone and the car, both of which may be asleep at any time. I'd like walk up to the car with the phone in my pocket the hope is that the two devices wake up and talk to each other then unlock the door. That's the dream. But that doesn't always happen. As a result I have a checklist of ways to get the PAAK to work.
Aside: Ford has a lot of work to do on the FordPass app so that we can avoid all this nonsense. Option 1 should work 100% of the time.
Here's what I do in this order... (Note: My PAAK is a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra)
Using the above list I've never had the PAAK fail. But, of course, fail is a relative term. If your expectation is that #1 should work each and every time then for you the PAAK is a failure to you and you should keep that fob in your pocket or purse all the time. But I'm confident that I can get the PAAK to work 100% of the time, every time without fail.
Background: I work in tech. I know that there are many ways to get things to work. I like to tinker and because of that I can get things to work that the rest of my family can't. Actually they could if they were more patient and creative but they know they can just call me for tech support.
Also having been in software development for decades I know that software has bugs. I often tell my staff that any program with more than 3 lines of code in it has bugs, we just haven't encountered them yet. Knowing this allows me to be more tolerant and patient than most.
The PAAK is technology. It requires connectivity between an app on the phone and the car, both of which may be asleep at any time. I'd like walk up to the car with the phone in my pocket the hope is that the two devices wake up and talk to each other then unlock the door. That's the dream. But that doesn't always happen. As a result I have a checklist of ways to get the PAAK to work.
Aside: Ford has a lot of work to do on the FordPass app so that we can avoid all this nonsense. Option 1 should work 100% of the time.
Here's what I do in this order... (Note: My PAAK is a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra)
- If I walk up and see the outside lighting turn on I'm golden. I know the door will unlock. I presume this is what we all expect but this happens less than 50% of the time so I can see where people think the PAAK is a failure.
- If the above doesn't work I will approach the car and press on the unlock button. Maybe several times. Often I'll hear relays clicking in the car and eventually the circle will glow. This works pretty often.
- Next I'll open and unlock my phone. This alone will sometimes cause the two to connect and unlock the car.
- Open the app. The app may have been in deep asleep, my phone may have been recently rebooted (in which case the app isn't running) or have been force closed. In that case the two aren't talking at all. Opening the app will cause them to handshake and the car will unlock. Aside: The FordPass app will force close itself at least 2 or 3 times per day. It's the only app on my phone that does this. Ford needs to fix this.
- Force close and re-open the app. If #4 doesn't work it may be because the app is in a state that it just won't connect. Force closing it will restart the app and reset it.
- Use the keypad on the outside of the driver's door to gain entry. This will wake up the car. Once inside the car the two devices will talk to each other and proceed as normal.
- Reboot the phone. This is the extreme measure and I only had to do this once but the car was less than a week old and I didn't know about the items above. I've never had to do this again.
- There may be other things that you have done successfully, please comment below..
- Caveat: These two devices talk to each other via bluetooth and wifi. There are a lot of other devices that can screw up this communication depending on where you live. I live in a single family dwelling in the suburbs. If you live in a high density housing area you may have more problems..
Using the above list I've never had the PAAK fail. But, of course, fail is a relative term. If your expectation is that #1 should work each and every time then for you the PAAK is a failure to you and you should keep that fob in your pocket or purse all the time. But I'm confident that I can get the PAAK to work 100% of the time, every time without fail.
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