I dont understand car wifi?

[Daveion]

I keep using all my mobile data up on my phone
I have a 2gb contract and in the car I use Android Auto.
Despite showing I'm connected to the car wifi Its not apperently doing anything. If I try other apps like BBC Sport etc It says Im not connected.
In the last 2 weeks it has asked me to sign in and then goes to a cubic.com or something or other.
I really dont understand the wifi in the car.
What am I doing wrong?

[Deleted User 1733]

The car has an inbuilt e-sim, you have a limited amount of data on it for streaming services like internet radio etc, if you have your phone tethered to the car it will use your Mobile Data plan, if that also runs out of data it will prompt you to sign up to a new/more allowance via Cubic who is the provider for VW. HTH

[Fergus]

The car has an inbuilt e-sim for streaming services like internet radio etc,

So am I correct in saying that ANY radio you listen to is via internet.

Are there any DAB / FM / MW / Home Service / Valve Radio / Crystal radio systems built in to the vehicle? (delete as necessary)

[Deleted User 1733]

The car has an inbuilt e-sim for streaming services like internet radio etc,

So am I correct in saying that ANY radio you listen to is via internet.

Are there any DAB / FM / MW / Home Service / Valve Radio / Crystal radio systems built in to the vehicle? (delete as necessary)

Normal FM and DAB etc are not data dependant, it's only internet radio, streaming audio apps like Spotify etc that are dependent on the data connection.

[Utumno]

I keep using all my mobile data up on my phone
I have a 2gb contract and in the car I use Android Auto.
Despite showing I'm connected to the car wifi Its not apperently doing anything. If I try other apps like BBC Sport etc It says Im not connected.
In the last 2 weeks it has asked me to sign in and then goes to a cubic.com or something or other.
I really dont understand the wifi in the car.
What am I doing wrong?

I think you're thinking that by connecting your phone to the car via Wi-Fi, you're having your phone using the car as a Wi-Fi hotspot. This is the exact opposite of what happens, unless you buy a data plan from Cubic, presumably at an exorbitant rate.

So you should assume that all data being used by Android Auto is what's sapping all your 2Gb contract, and just disconnect your car from your Wi-Fi hotspot on your phone as there's nothing you need the car to access via your phone that it can't access through it's eSIM.

I also suspect that you'll need to up the data allowance on your mobile phone to continue using Android Auto as you do. 2Gb is really only any good for occasional use these days.

[Deleted User 314]

The car has an inbuilt e-sim for streaming services like internet radio etc,

So am I correct in saying that ANY radio you listen to is via internet.

Are there any DAB / FM / MW / Home Service / Valve Radio / Crystal radio systems built in to the vehicle? (delete as necessary)

No, DAB/FM etc isn't via Internet. You can search for Internet stations - we listen to Heart Yorks for example and that uses data because it's internet, but DAB/FM don't.

The Valve radio takes too long to warm up, so I tend to rely more on Ham option

[Daveion]

Thanks both. I have had the car 13 months and this happens from time to time. I signed up to a free cubic account when I first got the car but have never made any payments. I understand the esim is built in but didn't realise there was a data limit.
The radio is DAB from the car menu???
It sounds like I need to decide whether to UP my mobile data or pay cubic. Is that where I am?
Much to my Wifes annoyance its almost always TalkSport I listen to.
PS. Sorry I missed some replies.

[Deleted User 314]

On the radio you should see FM/DAB as the source.

The data limit is on the Cubic account which is used for Internet radio and maybe some parking info/data - info is a bit vague.

the esim is for OTA, Map updates and the like.

CUBIC costs are insanely expensive, I think I paid 70 euros for 20gig - can't really remember but you'd burn through that quickly. probably cheaper to just get one of those EE sims and use a separate phone as a hotspot. I've an old Mifi device that I use with a SIM card and charge via USB.

[Daveion]

I keep using all my mobile data up on my phone
I have a 2gb contract and in the car I use Android Auto.
Despite showing I'm connected to the car wifi Its not apperently doing anything. If I try other apps like BBC Sport etc It says Im not connected.
In the last 2 weeks it has asked me to sign in and then goes to a cubic.com or something or other.
I really dont understand the wifi in the car.
What am I doing wrong?

I think you're thinking that by connecting your phone to the car via Wi-Fi, you're having your phone using the car as a Wi-Fi hotspot. This is the exact opposite of what happens, unless you buy a data plan from Cubic, presumably at an exorbitant rate.

So you should assume that all data being used by Android Auto is what's sapping all your 2Gb contract, and just disconnect your car from your Wi-Fi hotspot on your phone as there's nothing you need the car to access via your phone that it can't access through it's eSIM.

I also suspect that you'll need to up the data allowance on your mobile phone to continue using Android Auto as you do. 2Gb is really only any good for occasional use these days.

Thanks Utumno
Im generally connected to a network everywhere and get through just 500mb a month.
I thought as you say my car was my server hub/network.
If I disconnect from the car will Android Auto still work? I dont understand your second paragraph? Will Android Auto run from the car esim?

[Daveion]

On the radio you should see FM/DAB as the source.

The data limit is on the Cubic account which is used for Internet radio and maybe some parking info/data - info is a bit vague.

the esim is for OTA, Map updates and the like.

CUBIC costs are insanely expensive, I think I paid 70 euros for 20gig - can't really remember but you'd burn through that quickly. probably cheaper to just get one of those EE sims and use a separate phone as a hotspot. I've an old Mifi device that I use with a SIM card and charge via USB.

Thanks Anduain but that one is beyond me.
I struggle with one device

[Utumno]

I keep using all my mobile data up on my phone
I have a 2gb contract and in the car I use Android Auto.
Despite showing I'm connected to the car wifi Its not apperently doing anything. If I try other apps like BBC Sport etc It says Im not connected.
In the last 2 weeks it has asked me to sign in and then goes to a cubic.com or something or other.
I really dont understand the wifi in the car.
What am I doing wrong?

I think you're thinking that by connecting your phone to the car via Wi-Fi, you're having your phone using the car as a Wi-Fi hotspot. This is the exact opposite of what happens, unless you buy a data plan from Cubic, presumably at an exorbitant rate.

So you should assume that all data being used by Android Auto is what's sapping all your 2Gb contract, and just disconnect your car from your Wi-Fi hotspot on your phone as there's nothing you need the car to access via your phone that it can't access through it's eSIM.

I also suspect that you'll need to up the data allowance on your mobile phone to continue using Android Auto as you do. 2Gb is really only any good for occasional use these days.

Thanks Utumno
Im generally connected to a network everywhere and get through just 500mb a month.
I thought as you say my car was my server hub/network.
If I disconnect from the car will Android Auto still work? I dont understand your second paragraph? Will Android Auto run from the car esim?

Yes Android Auto will absolutely still work. The best way to imagine it is Android Auto is sending a live screen image to the car infotainment system, but all the Android Auto applications still run on your phone and use your phone’s data.

CarPlay is the same thing for Apple devices and works in much the same way.

Does that help demystify a bit?

[Daveion]

Thanks Utumno
Yes it does. The car screen is just another Android device. Dont laugh if thats wrong

[Bengeo]

Much to my Wifes annoyance its almost always TalkSport I listen to.

You should get Talksport and its siblings on DAB.

[Deleted User 1676]

I would ignore car’s data eSIM setup and just let the car use that.

For all entertainment, especially streaming music, you’ll want to do that through your mobile phone data package. This will use a lot of data, so you will need to have a good data package.

I use Giffgaff on a £10 Golden Goodybag. It’s pay as you go, and I have set it to automatically top up every month.

For £10, I get 15GB of 5G data per month. I also get unlimited calls and texts and unlimited roaming. This covers me for my data needs, including streaming media and game streaming.