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I haven't had an ATT phone for over 10 years myself but I'm told it's pretty good in my area nowadays, so maybe the ATT SIM is worth a try. Do you know if I'd have to commit to a lengthy contract to get one or would they sell a month to month plan for simply a SIM card?
I did like the ability to send destinations from Google Maps on a PC directly to the MMI too, that was convenient. And I did occasionally use and enjoy the Google search but it has always been so much slower due to the T-Mobile speeds that I usually just ask Siri to find stuff for me.
I'm really looking forward to CarPlay too, I'd love to have my iPhone directly on the MMI but that for sure will require trading in on a new car. I seriously doubt any car company will make older models able to retrofit to CarPlay.
Do you know if I'd have to commit to a lengthy contract to get one or would they sell a month to month plan for simply a SIM card?
It only makes sense as an add-on to an existing plan.
Their cheapest tablet ones are $15 for 250MB or $30 for 3GB.
Even the pre-paid plans are stupid expensive - part of the reason I left.
That had me wondering though about MVNO options though but they are about the same.
If it's a matter of coverage over cost it would be worth a shot.
Makes me wonder if you could get a cellular iPad and move the SIM, but it's probably locked to the device.
Thanks for the info. I used to have a cellular iPad and don't remember even seeing a SIM card hatch on it. I wonder if it was just built in and non-removable? It was an iPad 3 and really choked under IOS 7 when that came out so I traded it in on an iPad Air which is WiFi only so I can't compare. I'll look into that though, it'd be cool if that worked but I'd also assume it is only going to work on an iPad.
It seems model year 2014 and later Audis may be able to get full 3G from AT&T. Some have suggested the electronics changed, making this possible. I have also read AT&T may be using the frequencies required for 3G in some areas. Whatever the real reason, my 2014 A7 is working at full 3G with AT&T here in central Florida. I decided to try a few days ago because I was not happy with tmobile connection speeds and I already had AT&T plan. Adding a sim for the car is only costing me an additional $10/mo.
It seems model year 2014 and later Audis may be able to get full 3G from AT&T. Some have suggested the electronics changed, making this possible. I have also read AT&T may be using the frequencies required for 3G in some areas. Whatever the real reason, my 2014 A7 is working at full 3G with AT&T here in central Florida. I decided to try a few days ago because I was not happy with tmobile connection speeds and I already had AT&T plan. Adding a sim for the car is only costing me an additional $10/mo.
What specifically did you say to the AT&T rep when you went in? I know they need the whatever it is called number, but did you just say "I need a SIM card for my car?"
Last edited by RED HORSE; 01-18-2015 at 05:51 PM.
Reason: punctuation
What specifically did you say to the AT&T rep when you went in? I know they need the whatever it is called number, but did you just say "I need a SIM card for my car?"
Changing out the T-Mobile SIM for an AT&T SIM was a success:
All the connect data functions in the car work perfectly and as you can see, it runs at 3G. T-Mobile could not do even 2G at the same location. This is with my "unsupported" 2014 A8 running this MMI:
So there is no RF or Modem issue which prevents running AT&T as the data connection. The only issue appears to be with the company procedures and/or policies for activating the SIM card. Here's what had to be done:
I found a tech savvy person at the AT&T store who was willing to try an AT&T SIM card in the Audi. The first approach was to follow standard procedure by calling the listed number to activate the SIM with the IMEI number of my A8. The person looked on their list and said that the A8 could not be activated for that SIM. The AT&T rep then changed the SIM from my IMEI number to an iPad IMEI and activated it as a mobile device. I put the SIM in the car and it automatically configured for data operation:
Besides all the Audi Connect features working in the car, the iPhone 6 Audi Connect App also works fine for everything including "car finder" and adding destinations. The only issue I could find was with the PC Audi Connect website where it continues to show the status as inactive. I tried adding the AT&T SIM in the "Add Subscription" tab but it refused to accept it.
Perhaps the website is constrained by the same policy or maybe the association with the original T-Mobile SIM needs to be deleted. In any event, I can certainly live without the PC website access since the iPhone app is working.
There could be many reasons why the company is not allowing their customers to use the much better AT&T service but it is certainly not the hardware. I'll speculate:
1) Previous contract with T-Mobile before the more current inclusion of AT&T service on "select" 2015 models. Reluctance to deal with anything that could be a legal issue. By the way, money is involved here since the T-Mobile service is $30/month while the AT&T is only $10/month as an added data only device to an existing plan.
2) Failure to understand the capability of what I assume to be a subcontracted MMI module. Note that T-Mobile 3G operates on 1700/2100 Mhz while AT&T operates on 850/1900 Mhz. Both use a common GSM modulation. Bottom line is that the MMI module appears to be designed to accommodate both T-Mobile and AT&T 3G frequency bands. (by the way, Verizon & Sprint do not use GSM so they would not work for Audi Connect)
3) Lack of interest in dealing with customers wanting to use AT&T since procedures were originally setup for just T-Mobile. It sometimes seems that Audi puts more emphasis on bringing in new buyers than in keeping current customers.
Wow! Thanks a lot Mike! That's great to know! Now, if I was to do this and get an AT&T SIM and pay for that connection do all the Audi Connect features and Google Maps functionality work without making any additional payments beyond the AT&T SIM? I may have to try this out!
Wow! Thanks a lot Mike! That's great to know! Now, if I was to do this and get an AT&T SIM and pay for that connection do all the Audi Connect features and Google Maps functionality work without making any additional payments beyond the AT&T SIM? I may have to try this out!
Yes, they do. The actual Audi Connect services are free. You only pay T-Mobile or AT&T for the data connection.
01-14-2015, 05:34 AM
