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Connectivity: service plan/upgradability/speed

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dsm363

Roadster + Sig Model S
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May 17, 2009
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Some of the discussion regarding Model S data service discussed here among a few other topics
warranty/maintenance speculation/3G

Unknown at this point is if the cost of the data plan and the exact download speed. 3G has been reported but it looks like 4G will be supported in the future. One year of data is included with the Signature Series.

Some good information from the above thread started by kevincwelch

Also, how many just plan to tether their Model S vehicles to their cell phones? I'm irked about having to pay for a monthly 3G service.

Since Tesla is using nVidia's Tegra chipset, part of blame goes to nVidia for not speccing LTE as part of the Tegra 3 chipset. Looks like nVidia passed AT&T verficiation testing in May for their Icera LTE chipset. I'm guessing Tesla is not in the business of writing drivers and software support for LTE chipsets, so they may be waiting for nVidia to hurry up. Hopefully this can be included in Model S 2013 and upgradeable in 2012?


update: KenEE confirmed from Tesla that 4G can be added in the future.

I didn't see this posted anywhere and I couldn't find the thread with the rumor, but Tesla just confirmed.

" I can confirm that comment. The hardware is installed on Model S to allow for 4G access at a future date. Currently, it is a 3G connection for Model S. A 4G connection is definitely faster, but I have heard that reception can be a little more spotty than a 3G connection. "
 
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Wondering what the economics for cell carriers (AT&T/Verizon etc) is regarding 3G vs. LTE. Given that 3G equipment is mostly sunk costs, might they offer sweet deals to Tesla to use 3G for a year or two, then when LTE is fully built out expect Tesla to upgrade or at least provide only LTE in 2013/2014 model year cars?
 
Wondering what the economics for cell carriers (AT&T/Verizon etc) is regarding 3G vs. LTE. Given that 3G equipment is mostly sunk costs, might they offer sweet deals to Tesla to use 3G for a year or two, then when LTE is fully built out expect Tesla to upgrade or at least provide only LTE in 2013/2014 model year cars?

That's a very good thought. Any Telecomm gurus out there... If so, it may explain why Tesla isn't supporting LTE out of the gate in MS 1.0

I know that in large areas of the country, LTE for AT&T is barely developed. My suspicion is that AT&T is the contracted provider, so it stands to reason that it would need to be supported better in infrastructure before implementing this in the car. Also, if AT&T is the provider as I suspect, will they provide the hardware to support HSPA+. That is a reasonable intermediate step and should provide enough bandwidth speed for the car's needs.
 
I know that in large areas of the country, LTE for AT&T is barely developed. My suspicion is that AT&T is the contracted provider, so it stands to reason that it would need to be supported better in infrastructure before implementing this in the car.

That seems reasonable.

Also, if AT&T is the provider as I suspect, will they provide the hardware to support HSPA+. That is a reasonable intermediate step and should provide enough bandwidth speed for the car's needs.

Telcos don't provide the hardware to handsets, cars, or other devices and Tesla doesn't make enough cars (yet) to have any telco provide more than minimum support. Telcos have millions of subscribers, at the end of 2013 there may be as many as 30,000 Teslas on the road if all goes well. 30,000 isn't a number to make any telco take notice let alone do something special.
 
Telcos don't provide the hardware to handsets, cars, or other devices and Tesla doesn't make enough cars (yet) to have any telco provide more than minimum support. Telcos have millions of subscribers, at the end of 2013 there may be as many as 30,000 Teslas on the road if all goes well. 30,000 isn't a number to make any telco take notice let alone do something special.

Sorry, when I said "they", I meant Tesla providing the hardware support via HSPA+ compatible hardware
 
Confirmed: Model S Hardware Supports 4G....

I didn't see this posted anywhere and I couldn't find the thread with the rumor, but Tesla just confirmed.

" I can confirm that comment. The hardware is installed on Model S to allow for 4G access at a future date. Currently, it is a 3G connection for Model S. A 4G connection is definitely faster, but I have heard that reception can be a little more spotty than a 3G connection. "
 
Well, that's nice to hear, but the question really is which flavor of 4G are they talking about? Are they talking about the BS 4G that AT&T magically applied to all iPhones by changing the text "3" to the text "4"? Or, are they talking about LTE, which actually delivers substantially greater speed?

Having used my LTE iPad for awhile, my "4G" iPhone 4S is painfully slow.
 
I didn't see this posted anywhere and I couldn't find the thread with the rumor, but Tesla just confirmed.

" I can confirm that comment. The hardware is installed on Model S to allow for 4G access at a future date. Currently, it is a 3G connection for Model S. A 4G connection is definitely faster, but I have heard that reception can be a little more spotty than a 3G connection. "

Agree.

I have an iphone that is sitting on my desk doing nothing (why, one would ask? Company gave me an iphone, and mine is still in contract ... I do use it to tether my laptop from time to time). I plan to hook that iphone up to my sedan.

As for the 3G/4G(LTE), and this is my opinion, the 3G is plenty fast for MLB AT BAT audio streaming, and pandora, and will be just fine so that I can fire up the air conditioner before I leave the building (I live in Texas as well). The LTE would be nice for video and labor intensive web browsing, which I will not be doing anyway. Granted, my crystal ball is cracked and the psychic beanie baby on my computer is for show only, but something in the future will demand the LTE, and by then, I certainly would seek an alternative.

Right now, thought, I already have that paid for (in contract) and it works fine on bluetooth ... so that is my plan


WJ
McKinney, TX
P188
 
That's a very good thought. Any Telecomm gurus out there... If so, it may explain why Tesla isn't supporting LTE out of the gate in MS 1.0

I know that in large areas of the country, LTE for AT&T is barely developed. My suspicion is that AT&T is the contracted provider, so it stands to reason that it would need to be supported better in infrastructure before implementing this in the car. Also, if AT&T is the provider as I suspect, will they provide the hardware to support HSPA+. That is a reasonable intermediate step and should provide enough bandwidth speed for the car's needs.

LTE is actually cheaper to operate for the telecom companies than 3G due to the network architecture; that's why they're in such a hurry to switch to it.

However, being relatively new, having an LTE connection that would work with all carriers in the U.S. -- let alone the world -- is pretty much not possible. All mobile devices with LTE only operate on one carrier and I don't think Tesla wanted to produce different models for each carrier.

That being said, as LTE becomes more mainstream -- and carriers like Sprint and T-Mobile actually roll it out -- it should be relatively simple to change out the hardware and add support for those frequencies and carrier protocols. That's assuming they made it modular enough...
 
At the Newport Beach store yesterday, I was told in the US the connectivity package would be offered through AT&T. I was also told that you could opt for tethering to your own smartphone as an alternative.

I wonder if this will qualify for one of those additional phone deals, if there is such a possibility.

Tethering, while possible, seems like small hassle. For those of us that have rooted our phones, the act of setting up a hotspot isn't a hassle; nor does it cost anything to do so. There is just something not right about having to tether the Model S to one's phone.

(Plus, with Sprint this would be an act of making the Model S slower wrt data transmission. Time to switch?)