Mobile WiFi Recommendations

[chriscroft]

I think when we got the velle, I tried use the data on an iPhone, but some of the built in functionality of the discover media wouldn't work, such as VW Car Net. It all worked with the VW car stick; But I have to say even now everything works, I don't really use any of it.

 

[Gavandi]

We tagged a Vodafone dongle onto our mobile plans.
Used it throughout Spain and France last month and was fab.
Also seems to get a better / more consistent signal when in rural parts of UK.

 

[Chris You'll]

With the Discovery Media you have essentialy two options, the one described above with the dongle and one using teathering from your phone which is what I use. I don't have the comfort dash but get excellent signal on my phone.

If you use the teathering option to save buying another data SIM then you will have to use wi-fi teathering on your phone and not usb if you intend on using Android Auto / Mirror Link (not familiar with apple).

I like the DM system but wanted the DM Pro which contains a hard drive. This means one SD slot is filled with the nav data which doesn't copy across. I mainly use Waze as navigation which I find to be excellent. I found it a bit fussy to set up but I'm quite techy so enjoyed it.

I will be trying to squeeze a bit more out of the system during my conversion to have a small server in the van with media on and to store camera info but I've not worked this out yet. Would be good if someone knew the ip address of the VW WiFi and how to access the 'router' or switch technical options.

 

[Pauly]

Would be good if someone knew the ip address of the VW WiFi and how to access the 'router' or switch technical options.

Not sure it will let you do much, I assume VW will have it locked down pretty hard
Connecting to the van wifi with laptop/Windows then ipconfig command will show you the IP address (default gateway) you are connected to but where you go from there ????

 

[Chris You'll]

Not sure it will let you do much, I assume VW will have it locked down pretty hard
Connecting to the van wifi with laptop/Windows then ipconfig command will show you the IP address (default gateway) you are connected to but where you go from there ????

That's a good shout, I'll try admin for the pw, you never know. I think I'm resigned to the fact the VW WiFi will only ever be a client. I need VPN for some mobile and Windows apps stuff I want a single network....

 

[Vinci]

Got a Huwei in car dongle, connected to EE for about £19 for three months. It's about the size of a golf club small wood thingy, and very good for 4g according to my teen daughter.....no idea myself, just works!

 

[Captain Backfire]

With various ways to connect your phone to the Discover Media head unit what are people generally using? and what are your pros and cons??

From my point of view...
I missed off the AppConnect in my build and the idea of spending £237 to activate it isn't sitting well with me...Plus what benefits am I actually getting that I can't already use with just bluetoothing my phone and listening to Spotify? - Rhetorical question.

Then I have started to think about the WLAN dongle at £90 plus a cheap data package of £5 per month. What's the benefit of that as all I can see of any use is real time traffic updates and a wifi network for the kids on long journeys.

Think my solution to a problem I didn't even know I had is to use my phone as a mobile hotspot and link that to the vans car-net for traffic updates. Then carry on bluetoothing my Spotify - Job done and at no extra cost.... Unless I have missed the point somewhere??

Cheers all

 

[Dellmassive]

Huwawi 3g/4g/wifi dongle (£50 online) and a 30gb data sim card from Three (£30) for us.

thats it job done for the next 12months . . . . Tho we only had the one USB port in the front of the dash.

so ended up fitting a USB power supply running off the ignition feed so the dongle switches off with the van.

As you saw benefits are wifi for the kids, traffic updates, weather, news etc etc, but my main benifit is doing the google search in the sat nav to find a location.

instead of knowing the full address and post code you can just do a "search" and it will check out a google maps search over wifi/internet and give you the results...

Oh theres CarNet too wich is quite cool.

dongle fitted in glovebox. . . . .





and link on how i got the ignition 12v switched USB power from.

12v Igntn Feed + 5xusb Charging From Ign Feed - Today's Install



and a perm 12v non switched USB feed. . . . .

12v Aux Feed + 5xusb Charging From Aux Battery - Today's Install

 

[Captain Backfire]

Thanks for the epic reply and links @Dellmassive

With the sim card is that a yearly price you pay £30?

I have a leisure battery fitted and 4 USB ports (2 on each door pillar for the rear passengers) plus my DashCams run off it too. If I plug the dongle into one of those 4 USBs it would be permanently live which works ok for me as then I can link my dash cam to the dongle and it will act as a tracker if I geofence the van! Heads going to explode...

What are the "cool" things you like about CarNet?

Cheers

 

[Insert Coin]

I've got the same dongle as Dell, I managed to get a mega 12 month deal with Virgin, 100gb a month for £20 and 30gb rolls over each month.

I can stream all day every day for virtually nothing, I was topping up my old sim card for £20 a month and getting about 10gb.

I leave my dongle plugged in all the time, it's never managed to run the leisure battery down as far as I know.

 

[Dilbert]

AppConnect is a must for me. I use Android Auto all the time; Google Navigation and audio/podcast apps are integrated then with head unit display and operation.

WiFi is easiest and cheapest by using your smartphone as a Hotspot.

D.

 

[Insert Coin]

AppConnect is a must for me. I use Android Auto all the time; Google Navigation and audio/podcast apps are integrated then with head unit display and operation.

WiFi is easiest and cheapest by using your smartphone as a Hotspot.

D.

Depends on your phone data package, mine is crap and is limited to 3gb a month. Hence a dongle for the data, connect the phone to the dongle and then the phone to AppConnect.

 

[Jamie2.0]

I want to put a WiFi access point in the van to be able to connect some gadge together on the go but dont necessarily need it to connect to the internet.

Has anyone done this? What options do I have?

 

[JasonW]

I use Vodafone mobile WiFi with an R219 mobile hotspot.... works OK and you can choose your pay as you go data package..

You first need to activate the sim in a mobile phone then swap it across into the R219...

 

[RedUn]

I want to put a WiFi access point in the van to be able to connect some gadge together on the go but dont necessarily need it to connect to the internet.

Has anyone done this? What options do I have?

Most phones have a wifi hot spot function? Maybe good enough?

 

[Insert Coin]

I used to have one of these with a Virgin 100gb data sim for £20 a month - Huawei Unlocked E3372-LTE/4G 150 Mbps USB Dongle (Genuine UK Warranty stock)-White https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0104LV06M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_aOpnFbQ3FFT0H

I now have an all-you-can-eat Vodafone contract and everyone tethers to me instead. We rinsed over 100gb between 4 of us when we were away for 10 days, Spotify, Netflix etc.

 

[kurienp]

If you have a 240 v power output in your van, pick up any old BT or other router, plug it in and switch it on. The cheapest and the fastest way, especially if you're not wanting internet connectivity.

 

[Dellmassive]

you can use a wifi travel router to do that , . . .

WEVE USED ONE OF THESE BEFORE . . . .

its USB powered,
will create a local WIFI hotspot in the van,
and can go on internet with many of the 3G/4G USB sticks, or even jump onto your phones hotspot (WISP mode)

TP-Link AC750 Dual Band Wi-Fi Travel Router (Support Router Mode/Hotspot Mode/Range Extender Mode/Client Mode/Access Point Mode, 1 USB 2.0 Port/1 Micro USB Port, 1 WPS Button, UK Plug (TL-WR902AC)): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Buy

amzn.to

 

[Dellmassive]

weve also got one of these too,

similar thing, but also battery powered too.

we use it as a mobile wifi hotspot router when on holiday (pay for one device access to hotel wifi, then share it with all our devices via this)

USB + Battery power.
2.4G & 5G wifi bands,
multiple Wi-Fi devices via AP Mode/Router Mode/Bridge(Not Support VPN )
can go on internet by jumping onto your phones hotspot (Bridge mode)

********************

Wireless Travel Router
Router Mode

When connected to a DSL or cable modem, it works as a regular router.

Bridge Mode

Connects to an existing Wi-Fi network and broadcast it as a new wireless signal.

AP Mode (Wired -> Wireless)

Plug in an Ethernet cable and it will take a wired signal and turn it wireless.


********************

RAVPower FileHub, Travel Router AC750, Wireless SD Card Reader, Connect Portable SSD Hard Drive to iPhone iPad Tablet Smart Phone Laptop for Photo Backup, Data Transfer, Portable NAS, 6700mAh Battery: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Free delivery and returns on eligible orders. Buy RAVPower FileHub, Travel Router AC750, Wireless SD Card Reader, Connect Portable SSD Hard Drive to iPhone iPad Tablet Smart Phone Laptop for Photo Backup, Data Transfer, Portable NAS, 6700mAh Battery at Amazon UK.

amzn.to

..

 

[andys]

If you have a 240 v power output in your van, pick up any old BT or other router, plug it in and switch it on. The cheapest and the fastest way, especially if you're not wanting internet connectivity.

Yes this is the cheapest way of setting up an internal network like youre after @Jamie2.0 , in fact it's even easier than that, all household routers are 12v so no need for 240v