Some companies know how OTA should work

[fokkerlit]

Ford's contract with AT&T would determine what they can/can't do in regards to bandwidth, and unless you get someone from Ford or AT&T to comment on what their setup is like, we'll never know that. I have worked with AT&T on corporate contracts for my last job, and have seen some of the things they can offer outside of what is available to regular customers.

Typically if they do have a data limit, it will be one giant bucket that all the cars share from. Speed limiting could be a thing just to keep from congesting the network, but that wouldn't stop the rollout from happening.

Yeah, it's all speculation on my end from working in IT. They could be using any type of congestion control from limiting bandwidth or the numbers of vehicles it could be eligible for at a time. We'll likely never know but those are my observations if I had to troubleshoot.

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[fokkerlit]

Obviously we are just grasping at straws and guessing here, but I suspect they aren't worried about data size. If they were it's easy enough for them to say "wifi only" and have us download on our own internet

Oh totally grasping at straws, they could be doing anything and I could be way off base. I was just pointing out what I've seen and how it compared to BMW's rollout and the information they've provided.

 

[troublebot]

I understand that most people on here are frustrated with the OTA, but this forum's active userbase probably only represents a very small percentage of the MME's owners. Single digits at most, but likely less than 1%. Most other owners probably don't even fully understand what "OTA" even means and probably cares even less.

By all means, be frustrated, rant, be angry, maybe someone at Ford will notice and will take some steps to improve it, but keep in perspective that we're just a very small, dedicated group that doesn't represent a major portion of the bottom line. This isn't Ford being malicious or incompetent, it's Ford meeting the needs of their average MME customers in an economical way, as most large for-profit publicly-traded companies are expected to do.

 

[Scrannel]

In my humble, Tesla-owning opinion, since Ford is the only US legacy car company to actually step up and make a very serious, very excellent EV, they are without question, going to sort the OTA issue. How could this ever be in doubt? Cut them a little slack. They deserve a ton of credit.

 

[Malacandra]

The full sync OS package for North America, appears to be 13.6gb in size.

That's one massive honking cellular download.

But I'd think that if OTA connectivity were the limiting factor, Ford would provide the option to download the update from somewhere on their website onto a USB drive… and install the update without needing the car to download it at all. This is an option that net-connected hardware manufacturers have offered for many, many years as an alternative (or fix) to failed self-updates.

I wouldn't at all be surprised if this is possible, even if undocumented.

 

[benk016]

That's one massive honking cellular download.

But I'd think that if OTA connectivity were the limiting factor, Ford would provide the option to download the update from somewhere on their website onto a USB drive… and install the update without needing the car to download it at all. This is an option that net-connected hardware manufacturers have offered for many, many years as an alternative (or fix) to failed self-updates.

I wouldn't at all be surprised if this is possible, even if undocumented.

There are several people watching for alternative methods to update the modules, and even just Sync.

Ford appears to be locking down these files a lot more than they have previously. There is a chance USB updates work, but either we haven't figured out how to make it actually take them, or they have a new verification method that only will start an update from an approved device, based on hardware ID or it requires a signed token on the device as well.

 

[mpshizzle]

There are several people watching for alternative methods to update the modules, and even just Sync.

Ford appears to be locking down these files a lot more than they have previously. There is a chance USB updates work, but either we haven't figured out how to make it actually take them, or they have a new verification method that only will start an update from an approved device, based on hardware ID or it requires a signed token on the device as well.

Sync 3 had USB updates ??

 

[JoeDimwit]

I’m betting the 8 Gb thing is the reason they have apparently stopped deploying this update.

 

[benk016]

Sync 3 had USB updates ??

Correct. That method does nothing on sync 4 that has been discovered so far.

 

[JoeDimwit]

Sync 3 had USB updates ??

Can confirm. I did several sync 3 updates via usb

 

[Gary Hankins]

Too bad Ford doesn't.

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/...-improved-features-to-millions-of-cars-171463.

And this is from BMW. another legacy suto company. This proves it is possible to give consumers a great experience with a great platform.

Ford is still failing to deliver OTAs to a few thousand cars. BMW pushed updates to over 2 Million cars.

I cannot agree with you. I have found the OTA deliveries to be well managed and seamless after setting it up to receive properly. Additionally, the contacts I've had with the support people have been instructive and professional. I admit to some frustration at first. This is my first EV. But, they were patient and clear. I love my E and look forward to a great ride.

 

[benk016]

I’m betting the 8 Gb thing is the reason they have apparently stopped deploying this update.

It's not. Ford knows how big their software is, and wouldn't have used this route if it wasn't possible. These updates didn't get huge suddenly, they have been this way for a long time.

 

[littlD]

I think more evidence to your point is how many different versions we're seeing out in the wild. Some people have 1.6, some have 1.7 now, and then the GT owners have something else it seems which enables vertical Carplay. Why so many builds out there?

Just to provide some comparison, Tesla always has a bunch of different builds in their fleet, not taking to account special builds for FSD Beta for example.

I feel the frustration and hope for better days. We need all EV manufacturers to succeed to transform to sustainable transportation, I can't imagine Ford won't rectify this. They're betting the company on it.

#EVOwnersUnited

 

[Mirak]

And I understand people saying they are selling and leaving too. That's why I called out someone for not doing so, but instead whining on basically every thread at this point.


And maybe Tesla will start shipping cars where there aren't videos from people all the damn time talking about basic build issues. We all have hopes.

There's literally zero value to coming on this site and saying "look at how this other company does it" except on the competition part of the site, where that's the whole point. Posting it anywhere else is just trolling.

@GoGoGadgetMachE You are trolling, too. Just in the opposite direction. There is actually no need to jump into every one of these threads to stick up for Ford. And the excuses are really starting to wear thin. People are right to be pissed. And this forum is an appropriate place to discuss that.

 

[Mirak]

I know that there are some on here that insist that is completely impossible - that nobody at Ford has ever written any code ever or has any idea how to build a car or has any idea how to do software in a car (psst anti-lock brakes suggest otherwise) - but anyway...

Nobody is saying that. A lot of people are saying that Ford seems to suck at software development and deployment. And the evidence grows daily.

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