Someone was in my Mach-E today

[bp99]

That shouldn't work unless your phone is within 3 feet of the car door.

I would not trust the proximity sensing of PAAK. Bluetooth isn't designed to do that. The proximity sensing is likely the cause of 90% of people's PAAK issues (the app getting in to a strange state that requires killing the app and restarting it being a good chunk of the remaining).

Mine never consistently locked on walk-away, so I manually hit the lock button when getting out. My current issue is the car thinking my phone is still in the car when I'm 3+ feet away and honking at me (and disturbing my neighbors if it's late at night). It also seems to get confused when multiple doors are opened and closed depending on the order and proximity of the person with the phone when the last is closed.

There very well could be a PAAK issue here. Either with being in BT range and the car thinking the owner is closer than they are, or with it not actually locking on walk away. It would be nice if the app offered a bit more granularity in options. Such as a disable toggle for unlocking/walk up welcome, only unlocking when the phone is unlocked, and actually displayed the current locked/unlocked status.

Sponsored

 

[DevSecOps]

I would not trust the proximity sensing of PAAK. Bluetooth isn't designed to do that. The proximity sensing is likely the cause of 90% of people's PAAK issues (the app getting in to a strange state that requires killing the app and restarting it being a good chunk of the remaining).

Mine never consistently locked on walk-away, so I manually hit the lock button when getting out. My current issue is the car thinking my phone is still in the car when I'm 3+ feet away and honking at me (and disturbing my neighbors if it's late at night). It also seems to get confused when multiple doors are opened and closed depending on the order and proximity of the person with the phone when the last is closed.

There very well could be a PAAK issue here. Either with being in BT range and the car thinking the owner is closer than they are, or with it not actually locking on walk away. It would be nice if the app offered a bit more granularity in options. Such as a disable toggle for unlocking/walk up welcome, only unlocking when the phone is unlocked, and actually displayed the current locked/unlocked status.

Actually, BlueTooth detects proximity quite well based on the power level being received by the antenna. With the MME there's a total of 11 antennas throughout the car. This is how the car is able to tell what door you're at. Recently, BLE proximity detection has been used for COVID tracing and proximity to infected individuals. Here's a ton of info on it if interested (link).

The problem with some cars is that the modules used to detect this have outdated firmware. The firmware, for example, of the RFA module makes a huge difference in how well your car reacts to PaaK. Firmware prior to ~Octoberish have lots of issues but all of that can be resolved with the customer satisfaction update. Your issue of the car thinking the phone is in the car sounds like the prior RFA module firmware that had that issue a lot.

Even with the car "thinking" the phone is in range it doesn't work like that. There's BT communication that happens when the car wants to unlock a door and open it with the phone. If that is severed it will not happen.

As for your unlocking only if the phone is unlocked request ... no. thank. you. ever!

 

[devmach-e]

Wait so are they saying that if I'm further than 10 feet from my car I can't lock or unlock it? That doesn't seem right. How do you do the old "oh crap where did I park again let me hit lock so my horn honks" trick then lol?

Also sorry OP I feel like I've kind of hijacked your thread here.

if you have the actual key fob, you can do the beep-beep thing to find your car using the buttons on the fob. But if you are using PaaK, the passive system where you walk up will only work when the phone (or fob) is within a few feet. Otherwise you can use the Ford Pass app to activate the horn/lights, etc.

 

[DevSecOps]

@Goober96 and @veronicablack

The disablement of keyless entry is for the FOB. The reason for this would be if you are in an area with a boosting or key scanning (aka Man in the Middle) problem. This is an issue with most all key FOBs. This is actually easier to prevent with PaaK and bluetooth because of the keypairs on both ends and a simple PHY repeater won't work.

This is where someone can grab the signal from your FOB and either emulate that signal or boost the signal as if they are a repeater. This will allow access to the car as if the FOB were next to the vehicle and can actually lead to theft as well.

As for this thread, the OP did say he had his key on him, so it's possible that it's not PaaK (breaks many people's hearts to say that), and it was a boosted FOB.

Here's a video showing how this Mercedes was stolen:

 

[RedStallion]

At a church too, which make it even worse.
I was at noon Mass last year and when Mass was over 5 people discovered their cars had been broken in to.
I carry a concealed Glock to Mass now...... Churches aren't safe anymore

It should be mandatory. The more guns carried by law abiding citizens the safer for everybody.

 

[DevSecOps]

It should be mandatory. The more guns carried by law abiding citizens the safer for everybody.

Since this is an EV forum you must preface comments like that with the phone number to the crisis/mental-health hotline ?

 

[devmach-e]

It should be mandatory. The more guns carried by law abiding citizens the safer for everybody.

This ain’t the Wild West, pardner.

 

[SigSauer]

At a church too, which make it even worse.
I was at noon Mass last year and when Mass was over 5 people discovered their cars had been broken in to.
I carry a concealed Glock to Mass now...... Churches aren't safe anymore

Many parts of America are not safe any more. We carry everywhere and all the time. Getting close! 1/10/22 build date.

 

[Major]

I'm going to kind of hijack my own thread by asking another question. In what situation would I need to connect my phone via usb to "sync" it? The hands-free phone feature works already. I do notice that all the window, trunk, horn, etc. buttons on the Fordpass app are greyed out. Is that because you have to be within blutooth range for them to work?

 

[Motomax]

It’s called Securealert under the FordPass Vehicle Safety & Security tab.

Yes we are aware. I only have the option to buy ford sponsored vehicle insurance lol.

 

[RickMachE]

Bluetooth.

Yes.

Cable to charge if you don't have wireless charging.

 

[generaltso]

In what situation would I need to connect my phone via usb to "sync" it?

You don't. I don't think I've ever plugged my phone into USB in the car.

 

[Ride_the_lightning]

You don't. I don't think I've ever plugged my phone into USB in the car.

Only reason I use USB is because the audio quality if way better with Spotify.

 

[generaltso]

Only reason I use USB is because the audio quality if way better with Spotify.

Really? I don't use Spotify, but I would think the quality would be the same over wireless CarPlay or AA since they use WiFi.

 

[GrumblesTheDog]

Not to hijack your thread myself, OP, but something very similar happened last night except my car alarm (sorry neighbors) went off. The honking and FordPass alert went off in the middle of the night - when I went out to look, the back door was just slightly ajar but still resting on the presenter (ie someone must have pushed the button but never fully opened it.)

The fact the alarm went off suggests that the car was locked/"armed" and I distinctly remember locking it before bed with the fob. I guess the alarm did its job, but I can't figure out how it would still allow the door to open? If this were a key fob repeater attack, I would have expected the car to fully unlock without complaint. Maybe this would be addressed by the door module updates people have been discussing in the CSP?

Sponsored