Carplay + WiFi Hotspot

[mpshizzle]

So I'm not really a networking guy, but it seems to me that it should be entirely possible for the car to share its data connection via WiFi direct. Is that a thing? It should be! Theoretically it seems that data AND wireless Car Play should be able to co-exist on the same connection

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[Chudsaviet]

I don’t know, I feel like a car hotspot is a silly thing these days when every phone can now be a hotspot.

Nor exactly, car hotspot uses AT&T network and a powerful radio. It is pretty useful in remote areas.

 

[Chudsaviet]

So I'm not really a networking guy, but it seems to me that it should be entirely possible for the car to share its data connection via WiFi direct. Is that a thing? It should be! Theoretically it seems that data AND wireless Car Play should be able to co-exist on the same connection

Technically correct, but Apple or Ford current wireless CarPlay implementation can prohibit this.

 

[Jbb2112]

Yes it does work with the phone plugged in.

Very good point about the external antenna and signal strength. I ended up ditching their Wifi plan and just improving the one on my phone and it works good enough, but in certain areas I'm sure the signal is likely to kick out as the phone doesn't have full LoS to the outside.

The CarPlay project thing probably seemed like a reasonable compromise at the time (when Bluetooth did not have enough bandwidth to stream full video + audio), but I think it's a legacy problem at this point. I hope they fix that one day or add a secondary dedicated Wifi radio, though I think that is very unlikely. Alternatively, the Wifi standard is fixed to allow for multiple simultaneous connections (similar to what they do to increase bandwidth on routers that support it). I wouldn't hold my breath on that one either, though.

All the best.

Good answer. Thank you. BUT since there is no. video component to CarPlay (unless map movement is considered video) and all it's doing is displaying album artwork, it seems like receiving WiFi or LTE and broadcasting Bluetooth would be desirable. What gets me is that music files resident on my iPhone (not just streaming sources) still experience herky-jerky performance using PROJXXXX. This never happens with Bluetooth. So the choices (Apple/Android) they have made end up being the Achilles heal of the system. Oh, and, despite Bluetooth being turned off, apparently it spontaneously turns back on with phone calls as I have received and made phone calls while using CarPlay (and thus assume auto-911 works too).

 

[nixietube]

Good answer. Thank you. BUT since there is no. video component to CarPlay (unless map movement is considered video) and all it's doing is displaying album artwork, it seems like receiving WiFi or LTE and broadcasting Bluetooth would be desirable. What gets me is that music files resident on my iPhone (not just streaming sources) still experience herky-jerky performance using PROJXXXX. This never happens with Bluetooth. So the choices (Apple/Android) they have made end up being the Achilles heal of the system. Oh, and, despite Bluetooth being turned off, apparently it spontaneously turns back on with phone calls as I have received and made phone calls while using CarPlay (and thus assume auto-911 works too).

Hmm, I could be wrong but my impression was that the entire CarPlay UI is drawn on the phone, then streamed to the main display. In other words, it's like a Youtube video of your phone that just has playback and the display knows to send inputs/touches back to the phone to process.

This is for Android Auto but it explains the process pretty well (as I believe it is the same, just a different proprietary display protocol): http://www.allgosystems.com/Android_Auto_Projection.php

I'm a little worried about the auto-911 thing now as I also think that's a pretty important emergency feature to have (and should be required like airbags). I wonder if there is a work around...

 

[DELETED MEMBER mikeippo]

This is all great information! I had initially purchased the AT&T hotspot, thinking I could use it instead of iPhone cellular when at job sites, etc. Nope! As discussed above, if you're using wireless CarPlay, both Bluetooth and WiFi on the phone are taken up and there's no options. If I turn off CarPlay by disconnecting from PROJ WiFi and connecting to the AT&T Hotspot, the car immediately grabs it back. Do you all see this too? Apparently, even when I'm NOT using wireless CarPlay, I still can't use the in-car AT&T hotspot on my phone. Passengers can, and my laptop can, but my primary device can't. Somehow that doesn't seem right, and without kids who would do their thing online in the back seat, I'm not so sure the hotspot is worth buying. What do you all say? THANKS!

 

[williswong]

so does anybody have a workaround or solution for this issue? I just received my Android 11 MMB and I'm trying to figure out the best way to connect wifi to it (Ford ATT Wifi or tethering via iphone)

 

[Baseball1516]

anyone know if any of these MMB boxes will allow you to stream live TV apps such as Youtube TV? thanks

 

[williswong]

anyone know if any of these MMB boxes will allow you to stream live TV apps such as Youtube TV? thanks

yes. Any app in the google play store

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