teddyoh

So I am in my 6 month free trial of Audi Connect and I love it. I fully plan on keeping this option activated, but I have some serious concerns about T-Mobile. Why Audi signed with them on the heels of their merger with AT&T, I have no idea. Just creates uncertainty.

Questions. Please respond if you are "in the know":

1) Is the A6 locked in to using a T-Mobile SIM card?
I recall early promotional info on the A6 saying you could use your existing SIM card for Audi Connect. Is this still the case, or did Audi pull a 180? I would love to clone my current AT&T SIM card and use it instead. I don't know what mobile customers are smoking. AT&T BLOWS T-MOBILE AWAY WITH COVERAGE, ESPECIALLY DATA!!! With a data only connection, I don't care about dropped calls. Just coverage. Is there some VAG-COM setting to allow different providers' SIM cards?

2) Why can't I roam data?
Don't mobile providers allow you to use other companies' signal when roaming? The A6 MMI has an option to turn on data roaming. What does this actually mean or enable?

3) What happens when AT&T and T-Mobile fully integrate?
Obviously, we'll need a new SIM card. Otherwise Audi Connect will stop working. Therefore, why couldn't we use a different SIM card now?

Bottom line: I have unlimited data with my AT&T plan. It also provides much better data coverage. I want to use my AT&T SIM to run Audi Connect.

mikesm559

Your ATT sim will work fine. It just won't do 3G because ATT never built 3G in the internationally harmonized band that tmo and the rest of the world uses.

sgroer

I have wondered what the plan is too. I do a lot of work in this area for T-Mobile and know the people responsible for "connected devices". So I am going to talk to them about it. The big question is whether or not 3G will work after the merger. AT&T and T-Mobile have 3G in a different band (as mikesm559 pointed out). It's generally not as simple as a software update for a device to pull 3G from a different band. It may require a replacement of the wireless receiver. I am sure the folks at Audi are thinking about this, and they can't afford for all of their latest vehicles to have obsolete wireless radios.

This is the same problem experience by people who unlock AT&T iphones for use on T-mobile - 2G data only. Tons of discussion on that so if you want to learn the issue, that's where you should look.

There's the other question - will the merger ever happen. I am not convinced it will.

fdot

I'm thinking the exact same thing, I pay for 3G enough, I don't need another payment. Let me know how u make out

fdot

Where do u get ur sim cloned.

mikesm559

SIM cloning is frowned upon by the carriers, and they can usually catch you.

It will work fine after the merger - AT&T will not turn off T-mo's base stations, and may even build on their spectrum in that band (they have spectrum in the AWS band, they just never used it). Over time, things will migrate to LTE. With AT&T, it will be a long time...

I was hoping there was a way for the Audi connect system to tether using bluetooth or wifi to a cell handset in the vehicle. You can embed your own radio and use it the way it works now, but it's a lot easier to swap a handset than change out the radio in a vehicle. And VZ and Sprint doesn't use SIM's since they are not part of GSM ecosystem, so the choice that Audi used meant you can't get service from them either.

Tethering gets around all this.

fdot

also v2 sim cards i thought are very difficult to clone, almost impossible but i could be wrong

teddyoh

Yeah, this would be the absolute best solution. Then, depending on your data plan, you could potentially have free unlimited data at ever improving speeds with newer phones!

I also recall early promotional material describing SIM card use for Audi Connect in Europe, but it clearly stated that tethering would be used in America. I made a post or two about this after the early announcement. I was jumping for joy when I read this, but it seems Audi changed courses.

I wonder if tethering could be enabled?

teddyoh

I will try popping in my AT&T SIM card on the drive home today and check the online features. My work location today is in a city with ZERO data coverage by T-Mobile!!! AT&T gets 3G here, so if I can get that 2G data as described above, that would be a big plus.

I'll report back on speed of the connection tonight - IF it works!!!

EF99

Don't know if this link helps answer any of your questions but thought I'd post it just in case:
http://www.audiusa.com/us/brand/en/o...onnection.html

PS found this in the latest FCC report on wireless competition:

"In addition, most handsets sold in the United States are "locked," meaning that they normally will operate only on a single wireless network. Locking can prevent a consumer from taking a handset from one service provider to another, unless the handset is reprogrammed.736 The ability of a consumer to unlock a handset depends on the service provider. For example, GSM operators have different policies regarding handset unlocking. T-Mobile will provide an "unlock code" after the subscriber account has been active at least 40 days so that the same handset can be used on another operator’s GSM network.737 "

So you apparently can get an unlock code as standard policy of T-Mobile (but your only other choice is AT&T).