Wireless Networks with the Mach-E – can anyone clarify?

[DELETED MEMBER mikeippo]

Hi All!

Can anyone in the Forum help explain the wireless networks in the Mach-E? I may be an engineer, but I’m not a Software/EE or Wireless Comms engineer, and it makes no sense to me. If this has been covered somewhere, I haven’t seen it – please point me to the thread? Thanks!

I have FordPass v3.26.0 running on my iPhone XR (iOS 14.7.1, Verizon Wireless) and I’ve gotten the dealer-installed PAAK update.

WiFi Connections:
I have the AT&T wireless in-car hotspot, so when parked in my driveway I have 3 wireless networks my iPhone can connect to:

• HomeWiFi (5ghz Netgear mesh)
• HotspotABCD (AT&T hotspot; “ABCD” varies by car, I presume)
• PROJ123456 (Mach-E “projection” network, in-car only? “123456” varies by car, I presume)

Bluetooth connections:

• 12345MachE (“12345” varies by car, I presume) I think this is the PAAK connection.
• “BigRed” (the car name I entered during in-car setup) I think this is the SYNC4 bluetooth link)

My phone is connected to HomeWiFi when I enter the car. I have CarPlay set up and turned on, and it connects when the phone is in the car (thanks to the SW update). When CarPlay connects, the phone drops HomeWiFi, switches to LTE Cellular and shows a connection to PROJ12345 WiFi and 12345MachE Bluetooth.

If I then try to connect the phone to either HomeWiFi or HotspotABCD, I get a dialog saying “Disconnect CarPlay with SYNC4? Joining the network “xxxxx” will end CarPlay” – which indeed it does – except within a few seconds PROJ123456 takes back the WiFi connection, CarPlay resumes, and my phone reverts back to LTE Cellular.

Can anyone explain? Why does connecting to WiFi (external = internet access) break a Bluetooth connection (BigRed/SYNC) and disconnect CarPlay? CarPlay needs both Bluetooth and WiFi? Plus, the phone shows BigRed/SYNC4 is not connected while CarPlay is active. Is that a fluke of iOS?

Is PROJ12345 WiFi the actual link to CarPlay on the Mach-E? Is using both Bluetooth and WiFI the only way to do this interface, or just the easiest way to engineer it?

Are there settings on the phone or MME that I need to configure so my phone can do CarPlay and external WiFi simultaneously? Or is the phone actually using the AT&T Hotspot WiFi through CarPlay without indicating a WiFi connection?

I could probably mess around for a while and figure this all out, but I’m hoping some of the experts out there can save us confused Mach-E owners from hours of frustration.
THANKS!

If I could, one additional question while we’re here:

What about using a USB cord? If I connect the phone with USB, does CarPlay no longer need WiFi, Bluetooth, or any wireless connection at all? I would think so - it should let go of those connections, meaning the phone would then connect to the AT&T Hotspot because the wired connection delivers CarPlay to the car. That is NOT what happens. When in the car with the phone wirelessly connected to CarPlay, I plugged in the USB cord and waited a minute or so. Then I tried to connect to HomeWiFI, and got the same warning message, and the same outcome. It was as if the USB was not connected at all, a situation which also makes no sense to me.

I realize Tesla avoided this mess by simply not dealing with Apple and CarPlay – but I also feel like this is not rocket science and it should be eminently fixable given Ford has surely paid Apple a large sum for CarPlay rights.

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[benk016]

When you are using Wireless Carplay, you are connected to the projection Wifi network in the car. That is all this is used for. If you disconnect from that wifi, you will break the carplay connection.

You can join other wifi, and plug in usb to use wired car play.

The way it works is that your phone initially connects with bluetooth, then sees that wireless is available, and will switch over to using wifi.

 

[fayt349]

Hi All!

Can anyone in the Forum help explain the wireless networks in the Mach-E? I may be an engineer, but I’m not a Software/EE or Wireless Comms engineer, and it makes no sense to me. If this has been covered somewhere, I haven’t seen it – please point me to the thread? Thanks!

I have FordPass v3.26.0 running on my iPhone XR (iOS 14.7.1, Verizon Wireless) and I’ve gotten the dealer-installed PAAK update.

WiFi Connections:
I have the AT&T wireless in-car hotspot, so when parked in my driveway I have 3 wireless networks my iPhone can connect to:

• HomeWiFi (5ghz Netgear mesh)
• HotspotABCD (AT&T hotspot; “ABCD” varies by car, I presume)
• PROJ123456 (Mach-E “projection” network, in-car only? “123456” varies by car, I presume)

Bluetooth connections:

• 12345MachE (“12345” varies by car, I presume) I think this is the PAAK connection.
• “BigRed” (the car name I entered during in-car setup) I think this is the SYNC4 bluetooth link)

My phone is connected to HomeWiFi when I enter the car. I have CarPlay set up and turned on, and it connects when the phone is in the car (thanks to the SW update). When CarPlay connects, the phone drops HomeWiFi, switches to LTE Cellular and shows a connection to PROJ12345 WiFi and 12345MachE Bluetooth.

If I then try to connect the phone to either HomeWiFi or HotspotABCD, I get a dialog saying “Disconnect CarPlay with SYNC4? Joining the network “xxxxx” will end CarPlay” – which indeed it does – except within a few seconds PROJ123456 takes back the WiFi connection, CarPlay resumes, and my phone reverts back to LTE Cellular.

Can anyone explain? Why does connecting to WiFi (external = internet access) break a Bluetooth connection (BigRed/SYNC) and disconnect CarPlay? CarPlay needs both Bluetooth and WiFi? Plus, the phone shows BigRed/SYNC4 is not connected while CarPlay is active. Is that a fluke of iOS?

Is PROJ12345 WiFi the actual link to CarPlay on the Mach-E? Is using both Bluetooth and WiFI the only way to do this interface, or just the easiest way to engineer it?

Are there settings on the phone or MME that I need to configure so my phone can do CarPlay and external WiFi simultaneously? Or is the phone actually using the AT&T Hotspot WiFi through CarPlay without indicating a WiFi connection?

I could probably mess around for a while and figure this all out, but I’m hoping some of the experts out there can save us confused Mach-E owners from hours of frustration.
THANKS!

If I could, one additional question while we’re here:

What about using a USB cord? If I connect the phone with USB, does CarPlay no longer need WiFi, Bluetooth, or any wireless connection at all? I would think so - it should let go of those connections, meaning the phone would then connect to the AT&T Hotspot because the wired connection delivers CarPlay to the car. That is NOT what happens. When in the car with the phone wirelessly connected to CarPlay, I plugged in the USB cord and waited a minute or so. Then I tried to connect to HomeWiFI, and got the same warning message, and the same outcome. It was as if the USB was not connected at all, a situation which also makes no sense to me.

I realize Tesla avoided this mess by simply not dealing with Apple and CarPlay – but I also feel like this is not rocket science and it should be eminently fixable given Ford has surely paid Apple a large sum for CarPlay rights.

Copy pasting from a site I found:



Wireless CarPlay has three requirements, a Bluetooth connection, a Wi-Fi access point, and location data. Here’s is a simplified breakdown of the entire process:

1. To initialize the connection the phone uses Bluetooth to send a signal to the head unit requesting to connect.
2. Once the Bluetooth connection is made the phone will request wireless credentials to the Wi-Fi access point.
3. Upon confirmation the head unit will send the wireless credentials to the iPhone, which will cause the phone to search and join the Wi-Fi access point.
4. After the Wi-Fi connection has been established, the Bluetooth signal will disconnect and all audio and video will be transferred over Wi-Fi.
5. And now you’re set, you now can use CarPlay wirelessly.

Also, to answer this:

"
Is PROJ12345 WiFi the actual link to CarPlay on the Mach-E? Is using both Bluetooth and WiFI the only way to do this interface, or just the easiest way to engineer it?"

Yes, PROJ is the link to carplay. Not sure about engineering it.

 

[Awmustang]

I don't have a Mach E but in cars I've rented there is an option on whether you want your phone to connect to the car via wired or wireless.
Your other option is to remove (forget) the bluetooth connection between your phone and the car and start over from scratch but plug the phone in first with the usb instead of connecting via bluetooth.

 

[DELETED MEMBER mikeippo]

Copy pasting from a site I found:



Wireless CarPlay has three requirements, a Bluetooth connection, a Wi-Fi access point, and location data. Here’s is a simplified breakdown of the entire process:

1. To initialize the connection the phone uses Bluetooth to send a signal to the head unit requesting to connect.
2. Once the Bluetooth connection is made the phone will request wireless credentials to the Wi-Fi access point.
3. Upon confirmation the head unit will send the wireless credentials to the iPhone, which will cause the phone to search and join the Wi-Fi access point.
4. After the Wi-Fi connection has been established, the Bluetooth signal will disconnect and all audio and video will be transferred over Wi-Fi.
5. And now you’re set, you now can use CarPlay wirelessly.

Also, to answer this:

"
Is PROJ12345 WiFi the actual link to CarPlay on the Mach-E? Is using both Bluetooth and WiFI the only way to do this interface, or just the easiest way to engineer it?"

Yes, PROJ is the link to carplay. Not sure about engineering it.

Thanks! OK, so does that mean when the phone is wirelessly doing CarPlay, it can have no other WiFi connections? What if my passenger wants to use my phone to go online and check email, Facebook, or buy things on Amazon? Is the phone actually connected to the in-car hotspot (AT&T)? Or is it using Verizon Wireless LTE Cellular? I may drop the Hotspot subscription if it is only usable by devices other than my phone (when on CarPlay). I really thought I could do CarPlay AND have an internet connection to my phone...

 

[benk016]

I don't have a Mach E but in cars I've rented there is an option on whether you want your phone to connect to the car via wired or wireless.
Your other option is to remove (forget) the bluetooth connection between your phone and the car and start over from scratch but plug the phone in first with the usb instead of connecting via bluetooth.

You can also just go into your phone list, and there is an option to connect as a media device instead of wireless carplay. It will then disconnect carplay, and use your device as a bluetooth device like before we had wireless capability.

 

[fayt349]

Thanks! OK, so does that mean when the phone is wirelessly doing CarPlay, it can have no other WiFi connections? What if my passenger wants to use my phone to go online and check email, Facebook, or buy things on Amazon? Is the phone actually connected to the in-car hotspot (AT&T)? Or is it using Verizon Wireless LTE Cellular? I may drop the Hotspot subscription if it is only usable by devices other than my phone (when on CarPlay). I really thought I could do CarPlay AND have an internet connection to my phone...

I believe if you're using wireless carplay you have to be using LTE

 

[krazieboy]

Because your phone has 1 wifi antenna. It can only use 1 connection at a time. Bluetooth are for messages and calls, while the android auto/carplay uses wifi. you are stuck with cellular data unless you use direct cable.

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