u2jrmw

Is there any reason this couldn't be used in an Audi?

"tablet plans start at just $10 a month for unlimited data including 500 MB of 4G LTE data each month."

I know we don't get LTE, but wouldn't it work anyway?

I can't find the $10 on the website though, the above was from the recent press release.

u2jrmw

As for the free data I don't think our cars will qualify, but maybe you can transfer the sim if you have a qualifying device\

What devices are eligible for the Starter Data promotion?
Most tablets compatible with T-Mobile’s network are eligible. This includes:

Tablets previously sold by T-Mobile
Tablets currently sold by T-Mobile
Tablets that are coming soon to T-Mobile that have been announced
Selected tablets that you may have bought for use on another carrier network.

snagitseven

I'm not certain this is possible but I suspect T-Mobile can determine what type of device is being used with a sim card. At some point, if they feel that subscribers are circumventing their plans, they could decide to lock out sims on devices not included in the proscribed plan. If true, at some point, only sims designated for Audi Connect would be able to work in the car.

JRomulus

You probably already figured out by now, the answer to your question is yes.

My first month with Truphone and all I spent was $8 and most of it was testing data usage and to get local Google Maps on another city 200 miles away. I anticipate maybe using $3 - $4 in Nov.

If my Android phone didn't have wireless hotspot capability, I'd go with the 30 month T-Mobile plan but otherwise I simply don't need it. Best feature is sending google map destinations to your car from your pc. But that costs next to nothing, data-wise.

All of us have nickel and dime monthly subscriptions for all kinds of things these days, and you add them all up one day and realize how much your spending-- it's nuts. Have to prioritize.

nobbyv

My T-Mobile free trial expires next week, and like others I'm exploring options. I have Google Earth turned on 100% of the time, but easily 90% of the time I'm looking at cached images. I also use the Google online search probably 2-3 times/month. I never use my car as a hot spot. Can anyone give me an estimate of what my data usage would be, and if the Truphone option might make sense? Unfortunately, my car has been in the body shop for the past month so I can't check myself. Thanks!

in2dwww

The initial concept of SIM technology was that you could move the sim to another device to keep your same number and contacts on any device you slip the sim chip into. Keep in mind that this is how it was designed... global GSM. Conversely, you were supposed to be able to have one phone and then travel to Columbia and buy a sim chip there and pop it into your phone. This was the importance of having a 3-band GSM phone, so that you can have a single device that worked mostly around the world's GSM networks with the compatible SIM chip - and thus avoid roaming or out of network charges.

However, America has a death grip on mobile in antiquated ways, so the logic of locking a sim to a device is only a twisted logic of Verizon (if there were running GSM but aren't), since Verizon is the very company, back in 2006, that wanted $15/month to allow you to use your phone's bluetooth connection for sync. Yes, Verizon actually crippled bluetooth in Motorola phones and then charged their customers to turn it back on. Even back when Mercedes had it's own Motorola V710, you still had to pay Verizon to activate bluetooth. But even when you had a Mercedes, not any Motorola V710 would work, you had to buy a Mercedes phone and the kit was $1600. Then Mercedes got smart and released a bluetooth puck for the car, allowing you to use your own phone with bluetooth, but, again, Verizon had to be paid... so you had to buy the Mercedes bluetooth puck and dump Verizon. We still endure this crap today, but in different ways. Now, we have companies like T-mobile that compress images in their routers before it hits your device. We have SIM cards that fail to work on old devices - effectively rendering old GSM phones useless in a planned obsolescence scheme.

The beauty of the SIM in the Audi is that it runs on the GSM network, so you are free to use T-Mobile or AT&T at your choice (GSM was formerly provided by PacBell, then Cingular, now AT&T).

In short, if your SIM card has a data plan, you can put it in your Audi and it will work. Take the chip from your AT&T iPad and pop it in the car and it will work. But the true goal is to have the cheapest plan with the most bandwidth... I think the T-Mobile Audi 3 year prepaid plan is the best route right now, with the Walmart T-mobile monthly pre-paid data plan a close second... which is better if you only need google maps or wifi in the car for long road trips a few times a year.

Gator Neil

So, I ordered the Truphone SIM. It works fine, but only will pick up 2G as the only network it wants to connect to is AT&T. To get 3G, must be connected to T-Mobile. I asked Truphone tech support about the issue and they suggested taking the SIM out, putting it in a phone, select T-Mobile 3G network, register it, remove and put back in car. Didn't work. When I informed Truphone, they sent this reply:

I am writing on behalf of my colleague Nuria. We have just got a reply from our technical team regarding your issue. If the sim card connects and works properly in your mobile device it means that there must be an issue with Audi system. However there should be a way in your Audi system to manually select the T-mobile network. In this kind of situation you should contact them in order to receive proper assistance.

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to contact me.

Have a great day,

Kind and warm regards,

Bartek,

Truphone Expert

So does anyone know how to get this SIM to connect to T-Mobile?