Cubic Telecom data / iPhone hotspot

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stu-evs
Posts: 71
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2021 9:25 pm

Post by stu-evs »

Hi all,

So after having 2.0 installed I'm now playing around with the data connection side of things. Initially I linked the car to the hotpot on my iPhone - which works fine....but I've realised that this is not a sustainable solution as the hotspot on the iPhone does not remain permanently visible - which means effectively you have to go into control panel/hotspot menu on your phone every time you get in the car to enable the hotspots to be visible; therefore enabling the car to join the network. Ultimately I'm lazy and tech should work fully automatically for it to be of any use to me - so this is already annoying me 2 drives in!! I'm very clear this is an iPhone issue - not a vw/ID.3 issue....but if anyone knows some magical workaround for this then I'd love to hear it!

So I then went off looking at the data plans available through the ID Connect app - provided by Cubic Telecom - going to register I notice it says that the plans are not yet available for the ID.3 pending an update from VW "early 2021". I wondered if anyone knew which update they're referring to? Will it work now on 2.0 - or are they referring to 2.1? I guess I could always just try it and sign up if no-one knows; but thought it worth checking here first. It also seemed on the registration page that you could "try for free" - anyone know how long you get/how much data is up for grabs for free?

General question on data for anyone that has already set it up - has anyone yet got a decent idea of how much data the ID.3 uses during normal use/driving? On my I-PACE the usage is pretty high - Jaguar provide you with a data plan actually that gives 500mb p/month for the first 3 years of ownership - but for anyone with average/above average vehicle use this simply isn't enough - I think I was using more like 2Gb of data p/month in that when things were 'normal' in the world (i.e. when I was commuting). Be good to be able to get a gauge of the ID.3....
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simonrg
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Joined: Wed Dec 23, 2020 11:40 pm

Post by simonrg »

I haven't yet got 2.0 software, so I may be missing the point here.
The ID.3 comes with an eSIM installed which allows it to connect to weConnect, so you can access it from app on your phone and I assume this connection is also used for any data from the car. I think it is only after 3 years that you will have to pay for this connection.
I had assumed the Internet radio also used this connection and hence would also be free for the first 3 years. On repeating this it does sound a bit generous.
In the meantime I had assumed you only need the Cubic Telecom data plans if you want to use the car as a hotspot for devices in your car rather than the other way around.
I understand people are connecting the car to their home networks in order to get data transfer at home without eSIM connectivity.
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stu-evs
Posts: 71
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2021 9:25 pm

Post by stu-evs »

simonrg wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 9:27 pm I haven't yet got 2.0 software, so I may be missing the point here.
The ID.3 comes with an eSIM installed which allows it to connect to weConnect, so you can access it from app on your phone and I assume this connection is also used for any data from the car. I think it is only after 3 years that you will have to pay for this connection.
I had assumed the Internet radio also used this connection and hence would also be free for the first 3 years. On repeating this it does sound a bit generous.
In the meantime I had assumed you only need the Cubic Telecom data plans if you want to use the car as a hotspot for devices in your car rather than the other way around.
I understand people are connecting the car to their home networks in order to get data transfer at home without eSIM connectivity.
Yes, it might well be be that’s misunderstood the way it works on the ID.3 - just basing my thinking on both the Jaguar approach and how it worked on the last A4 I had - which was basically that the integrated sim, as provided, covers the basics - ie the mandatory e-call function etc., and the basic functionality via the app. If you want the ‘enhanced’ connected functions of the car to work then you need an additional data plan - examples are full traffic integration in the nav (dynamic route guidance), car to x communication, other stuff like weather/news/internet radio/browser etc.

For this stuff in the other cars you’ve either needed to connect to a mobile hotspot or buy an extra data plan. If you do this through Cubic then it loads straight on to the integrated sim...in the Jag there is a separate sim socket as well as the integrated one, so many people just stick a ‘3’ data only sim in there as it’s cheaper - don’t think that’s an option on the ID.3 though as don’t think there’s a separate slot.....
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Deleted User 192

Post by Deleted User 192 »

From the note at the bottom of this VW page: https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/connected- ... nected-car

For the use of the ‘Streaming & Internet’ services, individual in-car apps and the Wi-Fi hotspot, data plans can be purchased from Cubic Telecom, our mobile communications partner, and used in the network coverage area within the EU. You can find information on prices and supported countries at https://vw.cubictelecom.com. Alternatively, you can use the Internet Radio and Media Streaming with a mobile device (e.g. smartphone), provided it has the ability to function as a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot. In this case, the corresponding services are only available subject to an existing or separate mobile phone contract between you and your mobile network operator and only within the coverage area of the respective mobile network.

I think this means you can use the car as a hotspot for devices such as a wifi-only tablet - that's what you would need the Cubic data plan for.

For other regular in-car functions, and for the car to use your phone's data as a hotspot I don't believe you need any dealings with Cubic.
stu-evs
Posts: 71
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Post by stu-evs »

Thanks for the replies above - they were really helpful. I went off and RTFM again (there is detail on this in each of the sub-sections of the infotainment section if anyone is interested!) - as well as doing some more digging on the weconnect site. In VW language what I was thinking of previously seems more in line with the old 'Car-Net' (i.e. multiple 'packs' - some of which you'd need a data service to utilise), which has now been replaced with a simplified WeConnect offering! For the ID.3 I think I've got it clear now:

You effectively need an additional data plan/to have a permanent hotpot link to a phone if you wish to use any of the following features:
- Internet Radio
- Media Streaming - Audio
- Media Streaming - Video
- Alexa integration
- Any of the VW 'apps' (currently I could only see 2 - the Alexa app to enable the above & one specifically for football scores - I'm sure more will come with time). Effectively you can install these apps directly into the infotainment system from the 'shop'.
- Vehicle as mobile hotspot

Everything else seems to be included in the 'free' WeConnect initial subscription (which is good news for me as it was primarily on-line traffic I really wanted).

The media streaming is a bit of an odd one too because there are limited situations I can think of where you can't achieve the same through CarPlay/Android Auto - but if, I guess, there were many users of the car and not all had a streaming service/subscription on their phone; then you can effectively set the car up to use your Apple Music account (for example) directly within the infotainment system....aside from CarPlay.

The only annoyance I'm left with is the notification at every start up that Internet Radio is not available. I found a toggle in the app (in privacy) to remove that permission - but it doesn't seem to stop the notification; just gives a slightly different one! I'm hopeful a future software update might remove that from the notification centre and just make it flash up if you actually try to use the internet radio function. Really is a minor gripe though in the grand scheme of things!

There continues to be some confusion (for me at least) with the WeConnect offering....I've been signed up automatically to "WeConnect Start" looking at the contract detail - I assume that applies to all of us as I certainly didn't have a choice at first sign-up. When looking on the weconnect website they don't even mention this version - only a 'WeConnect' & 'WeConnect Plus'. In truth the functionality we have seems to be more like the 'plus' offering - but certainly doesn't include all the features listed for Plus. I wonder if the 'WeConnect Start' is simply what you get for the first 3 years - and then you'll have to choose whether to renew at the 'We Connect' or 'WeConnect Plus' levels?

As an aside - I hope there are features added with time to what we currently have in the app - particularly things like remote lock/unlock etc. (these are listed as features on the other packs).

Hope this is helpful to others anyway.
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Deleted User 192

Post by Deleted User 192 »

Thanks :-)
stu-evs
Posts: 71
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Post by stu-evs »

No worries! I've since worked out (I think), that WeConnect & WeConnect plus might be the new offerings for the Mk8 platform ICE cars - WeConnect Start seems to be the offering for the ID range! Here are some links with specific information re. WeConnect Start for ID:

- https://compatibility.volkswagen-we.com ... index.html (obviously enter ID details in the drop-downs). The Ts & Cs at the bottom of the page confirm most of what I posted in my previous post

- https://www.volkswagen.ie/en/connectivi ... start.html
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Gr4ndp4
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Post by Gr4ndp4 »

All very useful for a newbie like me, reluctant to pay for yet more data (Cubic) when I can tether to my mobile phone & use the data from there.
Cheers
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Deleted User 314

Post by Deleted User 314 »

I signed up to the Cubic thing mainly out of interest and the prices are insanely high but the data consumption of just internet radio is astronomically high, 1 hour of music something like 1 gig of data, be better of streaming Netflix!
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kaiz
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Post by kaiz »

Gr4ndp4 wrote: Tue May 18, 2021 8:38 am All very useful for a newbie like me, reluctant to pay for yet more data (Cubic) when I can tether to my mobile phone & use the data from there.
And phone gets even more hot. ;)
I use Mobile router.
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