Wi-Fi grief continued

[Plugsuvohio]

I've written before about this and tried to read whatever I could find. It is driving me nuts that the MX (maybe S too) will not reliably connect to my network in the garage. I've been fighting this since August 2016 delivery and firmware changes through the latest with the ModelXmas egg. I've got a pretty good technical background including networking.

I've changed my subnet, added ssids, shut down "B", separated to dedicated to non-overlap channels on 2.4ghz vs my other systems and those of my neighbors. I've run wifi heatmaps around the place too. Added repeaters. My laptops and iphone have ZERO troubles in all these areas, and even work fine inside the Tesla which is inside the garage. I've dug up old routers and tried those too. Most recently tried an old Netgear which pretty reliably works, and it has a weaker signal compared to my others. I totally used its default settings (and tried that first with my other access points).

Here is the behavior I see on the Tesla screen:.

Tesla slowly resets to transition from 3G to wifi, and eventually displays all the SSIDs. Usually the signal symbol is the dot and single bar for these. If I set up hot-spot on the iPhone in or near the Tesla, everything works perfectly every time getting the car to connect to that. (But that is not what we need, right?)

Then for no apparent reason, the signal symbol will improve to about 1 bar from max on some SSID. (we are stationary). So I select that.one and get a green check. Immediately after that the signal drops back to just a dot but stays connected and runs very slow.

With my main wi-fi router, even if it retains the stronger signal on a trial, after getting the green check, I let it all get stable. I can sit there a minute or so no problem However, as soon as I have the browser go to a url, the Wifi actually disconnects and it continues on with the 3G only.

Anyone out there know what this is all about?

Thanks. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year with their Tesla.

PS does the Tesla have 5ghz? I never see it pick up those SSIDs

 

[BerTX]

Some cars seem to be very directional as far as picking up a signal. Where is your router/repeater located in relation to the car? The antenna in the Model S is in the passenger side mirror, and sometimes the signal must come from that direction. Some have had problems when the signal source was located too high, near the ceiling. I don't know where the MX antenna is located.

 

[Gekko499]

I've written before about this and tried to read whatever I could find. It is driving me nuts that the MX (maybe S too) will not reliably connect to my network in the garage. I've been fighting this since August 2016 delivery and firmware changes through the latest with the ModelXmas egg. I've got a pretty good technical background including networking.

I've changed my subnet, added ssids, shut down "B", separated to dedicated to non-overlap channels on 2.4ghz vs my other systems and those of my neighbors. I've run wifi heatmaps around the place too. Added repeaters. My laptops and iphone have ZERO troubles in all these areas, and even work fine inside the Tesla which is inside the garage. I've dug up old routers and tried those too. Most recently tried an old Netgear which pretty reliably works, and it has a weaker signal compared to my others. I totally used its default settings (and tried that first with my other access points).

Here is the behavior I see on the Tesla screen:.

Tesla slowly resets to transition from 3G to wifi, and eventually displays all the SSIDs. Usually the signal symbol is the dot and single bar for these. If I set up hot-spot on the iPhone in or near the Tesla, everything works perfectly every time getting the car to connect to that. (But that is not what we need, right?)

Then for no apparent reason, the signal symbol will improve to about 1 bar from max on some SSID. (we are stationary). So I select that.one and get a green check. Immediately after that the signal drops back to just a dot but stays connected and runs very slow.

With my main wi-fi router, even if it retains the stronger signal on a trial, after getting the green check, I let it all get stable. I can sit there a minute or so no problem However, as soon as I have the browser go to a url, the Wifi actually disconnects and it continues on with the 3G only.

Anyone out there know what this is all about?

Thanks. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year with their Tesla.

PS does the Tesla have 5ghz? I never see it pick up those SSIDs

I experienced the same issue with my new model x build in nov 2016. I have excellent signals on phone in the car, and with iPad or laptops but car shows 3 bar or 2 some times, once connect to wifi 2.4 GHz it drops to 1 dot and speed is very slow.
When I am connected to 5 GHZ I can get speed up to 130 megabytes per second yet on model x speed is very slow. And it will not detect or connect to 5 GHz band.

I do not have a solution but did notice depends how I park the signal strength will be different as well. When my right mirror is on same direction as the router signal is better.

I know this does not solve your problem but at least I am confirming your issue with my.

 

[Fiddler]

BerTX: "Some have had problems when the signal source was located too high, near the ceiling."
That might explain some of my WiFi issues. I had a weak signal so I moved the WiFi wireless router from 30' away to only 8' away (all above the ceiling), but surprise, it seemed like even less signal. When I drilled a hole in the ceiling and lowered the wireless router to the car's level, it worked much better. I don't get the drop outs like before.

My iPhone seemed to have full WiFi signal strength from all three router locations.

My old Tenda W311R "N" seemed to work better than newer routers. Surprise again. Maybe because of bad settings? I didn't check.

At home the Model X only shows one bar on the Tesla screen LTE signal strength indicator. Now with five bars of WiFi, the browser is quicker and I hope the AP2 software will download sooner.

Instead of analyzing the problems, I simply tried random changes until it started working. I just got lucky.

Thanks BerTX.

 

[CSFTN]

What works perfectly for me: get rid of your repeaters. Place you incoming internet service (cable, DSL, fiber, etc) on 1 end of your house, on 1 floor. Check out your neighbor's wifi, from the spot; find the weakest band. Go into the admin settings on your wireless router; make sure you only have 1 router and 1 DHCP host on your network, set the broadcast channel to the weakest in your house. Get that network up and running from your laptop. Then, go to the other end of your house (preferably different floor from the location of your already set-up wifi router (or access point). Run a ethernet cable from location 1, thru attic or crawlspace, or under crown molding if necessary, from location 1 to location 2. Again, check the strength of neighbor's wifi from that 2nd location, find the weakest band here (different from the band you ran downstairs. This point is critical.) Set that wireless device up as an access-point only, same EXACT network name, security method, and password as your first wifi device, using that locations weakest/different/non-overlapping channel. Shouldn't matter make and model of your 2 devices; just in case, good idea to have 2 identical devices, with identical firmware.

If you did this correctly, and you don't have a >10,000 sq foot home, and the actual inside walls aren't stone, your house and garage should now be saturated with wifi. Your devices are supposed to 'see' both access points, and choose whichever is stronger, and when you move re-assess and roam to which ever is stronger.

I've heard there are certain networking protocols that prevent the car from hooking up; others who understand networking better than I may need to chime in on your TCP/IP setting, but mine works at 192.168.1.x mask 255.255.255.0

Only issue I have: my car doesn't seem to roam from 1 access point to the other all that well. If I come home from the east, it seems to only get 1-2 bars on the west side of my house; if I come home from the west, it gets 4-5 bars on the west side of my house. But it works either way.

PS just noted you're a networking professional.. Sorry if any of my description is excessively simplistic to you. You likely know this stuff more than I but ... since I have done this, all my devices network great 100% of the time.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Some cars seem to be very directional as far as picking up a signal. Where is your router/repeater located in relation to the car? The antenna in the Model S is in the passenger side mirror, and sometimes the signal must come from that direction. Some have had problems when the signal source was located too high, near the ceiling..

I was a bit sceptical but decided to try moving my repeater from the ceiling outlet (which would normally be one of the best locations) to an outlet that is level with my mirror. I connected and it has stayed connected ever since. Before, it wouldn't stay connected for more than 10 seconds to the main router which is a few feet higher up. Thanks for the tip!

 

[HumanGenome]

I would highly recommend Google Wifi or a similar multi-point Wifi home system for the best connectivity.

 

[wbhokie]

Just thought I would mention, on the day we picked up our model X two weeks ago, I parked it in the garage and set up wifi. I could see the SSIDs, but with 2/3 bars. My Model S right next to it had full signal. As soon as I added the WIFI SSID, the signal dropped to 1/0 bars.

So I pulled the car out of the garage. I removed the remembered WIFI sid, and this time my WIFI SSID showed in the list with full signal, so I added it... and it went straight to 1/0 bars on the connected console. This was the day of the holiday update, but the patch also wasn't installing, no matter how many times we tried it. After the full system reset (both buttons for 30 seconds) the wifi worked properly (in and outside of the garage) and the patch worked too. The system just needed a little incentive to re-think things.

 

[Plugsuvohio]

Just thought I would mention, on the day we picked up our model X two weeks ago, I parked it in the garage and set up wifi. I could see the SSIDs, but with 2/3 bars. My Model S right next to it had full signal. As soon as I added the WIFI SSID, the signal dropped to 1/0 bars.

So I pulled the car out of the garage. I removed the remembered WIFI sid, and this time my WIFI SSID showed in the list with full signal, so I added it... and it went straight to 1/0 bars on the connected console. This was the day of the holiday update, but the patch also wasn't installing, no matter how many times we tried it. After the full system reset (both buttons for 30 seconds) the wifi worked properly (in and outside of the garage) and the patch worked too. The system just needed a little incentive to re-think things.

This is about what I see, but I've deleted and re-added SSIDs many times plus did countless resets with no real difference.

 

[TexasEV]

I would highly recommend Google Wifi or a similar multi-point Wifi home system for the best connectivity.

I'm thinking of getting that (when it's back in stock) or the new Linksys Velop mesh wifi. Have you used Google Wifi with your Tesla or was this just a general recommendation?