Car disconnects from Tesla app

[bookiepilot69]

We have a 2021 Model S refresh, LR. We have had it for just about a year now and it has been a great car. We have a new development that we are having some difficulty understanding though. We use an iPhone 13 and an Apple Watch 7, both using LTE and Wi-Fi to communicate with the car. Until about the last few weeks we have had no trouble staying connected when we are no longer in the vehicle. Recently however, the car has been disconnecting itself from all of our devices after about 30-45 minutes after we park and leave it. It is using the same Wi-Fi system we have been using for more than a year and all of the software updates with the car, the watches, and the phones are current. It is very easy to reconnect if we just walk up to the car and use Bluetooth to reconnect but, of course, that necessitates a trip back to the car and kind of defeats the remote connection feature. Of course we have tried rebooting the car and have even done a power down overnight to see if that would change anything but it has not. We have a service appointment scheduled for next week but I'm not sure how much they will be able to figure this out either. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[DerbyDave]

The car needs to sleep. It should not be constantly connected to your devices. It will reconnect when you need to use it with the app, usually in under 1 minute. It will not sleep with Sentry mode on however. Perhaps a recent update is forcing your connections closed after several minutes of inactivity so the car can sleep.

 

[EVRider-FL]

The car needs LTE coverage even if it has WiFi, because it doesn’t stay connected to WiFi when it sleeps, so you can only wake it via LTE. If your phone isn’t always connected to WiFi when you try to access the car, make sure cellular data is enabled for the Tesla app.

 

[Ostrichsak]

The car needs to sleep. It should not be constantly connected to your devices. It will reconnect when you need to use it with the app, usually in under 1 minute. It will not sleep with Sentry mode on however. Perhaps a recent update is forcing your connections closed after several minutes of inactivity so the car can sleep.

Then what's the point of the "Always Connected" option next to Energy Saving?

I know what the OP is talking about and it can be quite annoying. My cars sit in my garage and one or two may not go anywhere for days/weeks on end. My home network is more than up-to-the-task so WiFi is not the issue. I will regularly run into issues where I can't communicate with a car and it has nothing to do with signal of the car or my phone.

This can occur within hours of pulling it into the garage or sometimes a day or two later. When it happens, the ONLY way to reach it is to go out to the car, open the door and sit in the thing while it boots up.

This behavior was new within the last update or two. Never had this happen before as long as the "Always Connected" option was enabled which I always do. For me, communication is more important than range. If I understand this and enable that option it shouldn't sleep. That's the point. Hence the word "Always" in that option and the warning of the increased battery drain.

 

[bookiepilot69]

Then what's the point of the "Always Connected" option next to Energy Saving?

I know what the OP is talking about and it can be quite annoying. My cars sit in my garage and one or two may not go anywhere for days/weeks on end. My home network is more than up-to-the-task so WiFi is not the issue. I will regularly run into issues where I can't communicate with a car and it has nothing to do with signal of the car or my phone.

This can occur within hours of pulling it into the garage or sometimes a day or two later. When it happens, the ONLY way to reach it is to go out to the car, open the door and sit in the thing while it boots up.

This behavior was new within the last update or two. Never had this happen before as long as the "Always Connected" option was enabled which I always do. For me, communication is more important than range. If I understand this and enable that option it shouldn't sleep. That's the point. Hence the word "Always" in that option and the warning of the increased battery drain.

Your comment, "This behavior was new within the last update or two. Never had this happen before as long as the "Always Connected" option was enabled which I always do", seems to pretty much describe our experience. Everything else seems to check out so I guess we just hope that there is a software update around the corner that will resolve this. Thanks for your reply

 

[DerbyDave]

Always Connected preserves cell connectivity when energy saving is active. This allows the mobile app to connect to
Model S quicker, and provides immediate internet access when entering the car. Slightly more energy is consumed. I think the car still needs to wake up, but the initial cell connection is quicker, so it should wake up quicker. Accessing the car wakes it up, whether Always Connected is on or not. The car is not awake all the time when this is checked, just the cell connection.

 

[EVRider-FL]

Always Connected preserves cell connectivity when energy saving is active. This allows the mobile app to connect to
Model S quicker, and provides immediate internet access when entering the car. Slightly more energy is consumed. I think the car still needs to wake up, but the initial cell connection is quicker, so it should wake up quicker. Accessing the car wakes it up, whether Always Connected is on or not. The car is not awake all the time when this is checked, just the cell connection.

Always Connected is only available in MCU1 cars, so it’s not applicable to the OP’s 2021 Model S.

 

[DerbyDave]

Always Connected is only available in MCU1 cars, so it’s not applicable to the OP’s 2021 Model S.

Correct. I think it is a Wake On LAN, WAN, CELL, WiFi situation where now the car is, or can be, asleep until an external connection attempt is made.

 

[WilliamG]

I haven’t been able to connect to my car when it falls asleep, either. If I’m connected via BT at home I can unlock a door which wakes the car up, and then I can connect to it even if I then turn BT off on my phone. Or if I leave Sentry on at home I’ll be able to connect to the car without issue even with BT off.

Tesla when I called them can’t connect to my car when it’s asleep, either, so it’s nothing I’ve done wrong. Most strange. I wonder if it’s related to me being on 2022.24.5 with the 2022.28.2 pending installation (refusing to install due to the buzzing issue).

Anyway, Tesla couldn’t solve it over the phone so…

 

[bookiepilot69]

I haven’t been able to connect to my car when it falls asleep, either. If I’m connected via BT at home I can unlock a door which wakes the car up, and then I can connect to it even if I then turn BT off on my phone. Or if I leave Sentry on at home I’ll be able to connect to the car without issue even with BT off.

Tesla when I called them can’t connect to my car when it’s asleep, either, so it’s nothing I’ve done wrong. Most strange. I wonder if it’s related to me being on 2022.24.5 with the 2022.28.2 pending installation (refusing to install due to the buzzing issue).

Anyway, Tesla couldn’t solve it over the phone so…

Yep. Same here. Glad to know I'm not the only one!

 

[WilliamG]

Yep. Same here. Glad to know I'm not the only one!

What software are you on?

 

[bookiepilot69]

What software are you on?

2022.28.2 for the car and 4.13.1 for the app.

 

[WilliamG]

2022.28.2 for the car and 4.13.1 for the app.

I’m on 2022.24.5. So this might be a deeper issue given there’s been several updates since I got 2022.24.5. I have 2022.28.2 bugging me to install it but I’m refusing since it will introduce the buzzing which started on 2022.24.6.

 

[bookiepilot69]

I’m on 2022.24.5. So this might be a deeper issue given there’s been several updates since I got 2022.24.5. I have 2022.28.2 bugging me to install it but I’m refusing since it will introduce the buzzing which started on 2022.24.6.

Well I haven't had any buzzing sounds (unless I drink too much wine or something)! LOL!

 

[bookiepilot69]

The car needs LTE coverage even if it has WiFi, because it doesn’t stay connected to WiFi when it sleeps, so you can only wake it via LTE. If your phone isn’t always connected to WiFi when you try to access the car, make sure cellular data is enabled for the Tesla app.

I'm actually starting to doubt the vitality of my LTE signal at the car. Will do some testing to see what I have. Thanks for the input.

 

[WilliamG]

Well I haven't had any buzzing sounds (unless I drink too much wine or something)! LOL!

You’re on a refresh S without buzzing on 2022.28.1? Are you sure? If you wake the car up and walk around the front of the car you don’t hear the high-pitched sound?

 

[brainhouston]

problem with high pitched sound is not everyone can hear it

 

[DerbyDave]

I'm actually starting to doubt the vitality of my LTE signal at the car. Will do some testing to see what I have. Thanks for the input.

I am in an ATT LTE fringe area (not supposed to be, but am), and when the LTE signal is not there, the app will not connect, even with a strong WiFi signal.

 

[WilliamG]

I am in an ATT LTE fringe area (not supposed to be, but am), and when the LTE signal is not there, the app will not connect, even with a strong WiFi signal.

I figure when the car wakes up and is able to connect to LTE with 3 bars, that’s probably not the issue? I’ll have to go out somewhere with amazing signal, disable Sentry, let the car sleep, and then see if I can connect remotely. Mind you I’ve had Teslas for 3.5 years and this has never happened before, so I’m dubious it’s a signal issue…

 

[bookiepilot69]

You’re on a refresh S without buzzing on 2022.28.1? Are you sure? If you wake the car up and walk around the front of the car you don’t hear the high-pitched sound?

I'll go listen more critically (I am on 2022.28.2 though, not 28.1). I'll let you know.