Onboard WiFi isn’t REALLY 2G, is it?!

JohnnyForensic

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After the Field Service Engineer did the 10 patches, I noticed that when I go to the WiFi Hotspot screen in settings, it shows “2G.” There can’t still be 2G towers in existence even, to my memory. No matter where I drive, on/off cycles, and SYNC reboots, it shows 2G.
I ran a Speedtest from my phone on 5G and got about 120 mbps down. Looping through the car, in the same spot, I get about 30 mbps down. It’s decidedly slower (and I noted that the network comes up as “AT&T Enterprise” through the MME), but it’s certainly not as slow as what 2G would really be (which would be measured in kbps).

Just a display bug?
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It almost sounds like the car SIM can't get data (OTA) and is falling back on "2G". Perhaps you need a new SIM?
 

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Hardware specs on the LTE uplink aren't available, so it is hard to make any meaningful comparison with a late model phone. Details on the WiFi module aren't available either. 30Mbps download speed is around that I got on my phone on T-Mobile's LTE network in 2013, but still higher than the hotspot in my four-year-old minivan is able to deliver on AT&T's LTE network (maxing out at 20Mbps). For video streaming it has been fine; for doing work over VPN the latency can be annoying at times although it is better now than four years ago, when all traffic was routed through Jasper Technologies near San Jose.
 

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I'm guessing it is referring to being connected to the WiFi hotspot at 2.4 Ghz instead of 5 Ghz. Those have nothing to do with the cellular connection which is LTE.
 
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JohnnyForensic

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It almost sounds like the car SIM can't get data (OTA) and is falling back on "2G". Perhaps you need a new SIM?
Maybe. What’s strange is I feel like I would have seen that in
Hardware specs on the LTE uplink aren't available, so it is hard to make any meaningful comparison with a late model phone. Details on the WiFi module aren't available either. 30Mbps download speed is around that I got on my phone on T-Mobile's LTE network in 2013, but still higher than the hotspot in my four-year-old minivan is able to deliver on AT&T's LTE network (maxing out at 20Mbps). For video streaming it has been fine; for doing work over VPN the latency can be annoying at times although it is better now than four years ago, when all traffic was routed through Jasper Technologies near San Jose.
That would still make sense, actually. The latency was high; about 170 ms.
 
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According to Ford's FCC filing, the infotainment device (SYNC-G4L) operates over wifi and BLE:
BLE: 2402-2480MHz
802.11b/g/n-20MHz: 2412-2462MHz
802.11a/n-20MHz: 5180-5320MHz, 5500-5720MHz, 5725-5825MHz
802.11n-40MHz: 5190-5310MHz, 5510-5710MHz, 5755-5795MHz
802.11ac: 5210-5290MHz, 5530-5690MHz, 5775MHz
Their telematics device (FB5-TCU-NA) operates over BLE, Wifi, WCDMA (3G), and LTE:

BT BDR/EDR: 2402-2480MHz
BLE: 2402-2480MHz
802.11b/g/n-20MHz: 2412-2462MHz
802.11n-40MHz: 2422-2452MHz
802.11a/n-20MHz: 5500-5580MHz, 5660-5720, 5725-5825MHz
802.11n-40MHz: 5510-5550MHz, 5630-5710, 5755-5795MHz
802.11ac: 5530, 5690MHz, 5775MHz
WCDMA Band 2: 1852.4- 1907.6MHz
WCDMA Band 4: 1712.4- 1752.6MHz
WCDMA Band 5: 826.4- 846.6MHz
LTE Band 2: 1850.7-1909.3MHz
LTE Band 4: 1710.7-1754.3MHz
LTE Band 5: 824.7-848.3MHz
LTE Band 12: 699.7-713.5MHz
LTE Band 17: 706.5-784.5 MHz
LTE Band 66: 1710.7-1779.3MHz
 
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Kabish

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My car shows the same thing. Once again, Fords software is 100% garbage and showing here as well. There is no way the hotspot is actually serving 2G, would take ages to stream YouTube and I stream it all the time without issue.
 

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I'm guessing it is referring to being connected to the WiFi hotspot at 2.4 Ghz instead of 5 Ghz. Those have nothing to do with the cellular connection which is LTE.
This was my guess as well, mostly because 2G doesn’t exist anymore and 3G is on its way out as well. I’ll also bet that the cell connection is deprioritized and speed limited by the provider as a cost saving measure simply because of its intended use.
 
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GoGoGadgetMachE

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My car shows the same thing. Once again, Fords software is 100% garbage and showing here as well. There is no way the hotspot is actually serving 2G, would take ages to stream YouTube and I stream it all the time without issue.
Or it's correctly showing 2.4 Ghz as was already suggested but go on with your rant. I won't see it.
 

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On the bright side, 2G infects you with covid at half the normal rate than those pesky 5G towers



 
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Kabish

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Or it's correctly showing 2.4 Ghz as was already suggested but go on with your rant. I won't see it.
If it was “correctly showing 2.4Ghz” then the display would shockingly show “2.4Ghz”, but it doesn’t, it shows “2G” thus causing confusion to the consumer.

Could 2.4Ghz be what it means, sure, but that does not change the fact the display is incorrect just like it is with many aspects.

So sorry I hurt your fanboy feelings by stating an obvious display error.
 

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If it was “correctly showing 2.4Ghz” then the display would shockingly show “2.4Ghz”, but it doesn’t, it shows “2G” thus causing confusion to the consumer.

Could 2.4Ghz be what it means, sure, but that does not change the fact the display is incorrect just like it is with many aspects.

So sorry I hurt your fanboy feelings by stating an obvious display error.
In the context of RF, 2G is an acceptable shorthand for 2 GHz, which itself is an abbreviation for two gigahertz, something which repeats its oscillation cycle 2,000,000,000 times per second.

Yes, it will confuse many because people have colloquially heard of "2G" in the context of mobile communication marketing and generational evolutions... And yes, it should probably say "2.4 GHz" instead of "2G," to lessen confusion, but that doesn't mean it's a display error.
 

Kabish

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In the context of RF, 2G is an acceptable shorthand for 2 GHz, which itself is an abbreviation for two gigahertz, something which repeats its oscillation cycle 2,000,000,000 times per second.

Yes, it will confuse many because people have colloquially heard of "2G" in the context of mobile communication marketing and generational evolutions... And yes, it should probably say "2.4 GHz" instead of "2G," to lessen confusion, but that doesn't mean it's a display error.
So I noticed this issue on my car last week, I had thought about posting about it, but just chalked it off as another buggy display. And yes, I get 2G is shorthand for RF, I'm an IT guy and also a ham operator, so I understand RF. I made that quote strictly because that is the way the guy with sand in his undies wrote it.

Since the OP did not add a screen shot for context I added one. This is on the Vehicle HotSpot screen showing the connectivity being RECIEVED to the car from the cellular provider. Cellular does not operate in 2.4Ghz. Its showing that the car's hotspot modem is receiving a 2G signal, its not implying (at least not on this screen) that it is SERVERING WiFi on 2Ghz to devices, that is on a different screen. I shut off the Vehicle Hotspot just to show its not serving anything right now. Its receiving a cellular signal and reporting it as a 2G connection.

As I had originally stated, its defiantly not 2G, its a 4G signal, might not be a great one, but its absolutely faster than 2G. I've not tested it to see if it bumps it up to 4G under load. Maybe it only serves 2G till there is a load, then it changes it up to 4G to meet the demand????

The way the OP worded his question might had been a little confusing. I only knew exactly what he was talking about because I noticed the same thing. I noticed it when I was going through the settings to turn off the honking nonsense from another post :)

Ford Mustang Mach-E Onboard WiFi isn’t REALLY 2G, is it?! IMG_1366.JPEG
Ford Mustang Mach-E Onboard WiFi isn’t REALLY 2G, is it?! IMG_1365.JPEG
 
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