Question about Audi Connect

[Estoril_Audi]

I have had my 2013 DSG for about a month now. I am slowly working my way through the intricacies of the MMI. I have verified the Data connection via T-Mobile is working and I can use the hotspot to surf. The MMI display does say 2G but I seems to be fairly fast. I signed up for both myaudi and audiconnect accounts (why doesn't one account let you do both). However I cannot link my car to my audiconnect account since it says the T-Mobile sim is already active. At to make things a little more confusing i associated my car via vin to the app on my phone Without issue (which only goes through my myaudi.com account) but I cannot associate the car to my audiconnect account since it says the sim is already active.

So, is getting the T-Mobile account associated with my audiconnect account a T-Mobile or Audi issue? The wifi works fine as is and I do not want to screw it up.

Also, how long is the subscription normally from Audi when you first buy the car? I have read elsewhere that the initial T-Mobile plan was for 30 months, payable in advance. So if the initial data plan when the car was new was say six months, and then the first owner bought the T-Mobile data plan that ends up being 36 months from date of purchase, right? But that is all just a guess.

Sorry if the above is confusing, it certainly is to me.

[anerbe]

Having the two online systems is also a bit confusing. Is your data connection thru the formal Audi T-Mobile account? Is the account already paid for by the previous owner when you purchased the car?

If you are using the account paid for by the previous owner, maybe their account is still active which has locked in with your T-Mobile SIM. If so, you may need to contact Audi customer service to link the car's data to your account, but maybe risk deactivating the plan as a whole.

IMO, the audiconnect account for this car is really nothing. I believe the newer cars have more functionality, but I never used any of the features of AudiConnect/MyAudi.

Thought about just using your hotspot on your phone?

[Estoril_Audi]

anerbe,
Yes, the current T Mobile account is still active but I do not know for how long. You have the same concern I do; mucking with an already paid for Audiconnect data plan (via T Mobile) will result in it getting cancelled for some reason. But without putting it in my name I lose some functionality since I cannot associate the SIM card with my Audi Connect account. At least I think I am losing some functionality, I really do not know.

It currently functions as a hotspot, it sees my phone as a media player and plays both the music I have stored on my phone as well as my Spotify. It is getting traffic and road condition updates, I can see where the vehicle is parked, etc. I honestly do not know what functionality I am losing since I cannot associate my Audiconnect account with the car.

[superswiss]

You are not losing any functionality. It sounds like the previous owner left his/her SIM in the car, so you are currently using their T-Mobile subscription. You can call the dedicated Audi Connect line 877-505-AUDI (2834) Option 1 to transfer the remaining prepaid T-Mobile subscription to your name. They can also tell you how many months are left on that subscription. The audiconnect.com website is just an Audi branded website to manage one's T-Mobile or AT&T subscription for the car. Since you don't have your own subscription yet, the SIM card in your car is associated with the previous owner's T-Mobile account.

The separation of audiconnect.com and myaudi.com is the same concept as when you buy say an iPhone. You go to AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon to establish phone service, but then go to apple.com, icloud.com etc. to establish your content services. You wouldn't go to att.com to get a Netflix subscription for example, would you?

The myaudi.com website is where you manage your myAudi Cloud account. That's completely separate from the T-Mobile subscription. The myAudi Cloud account facilitates sending destinations to your MMI from the MMI Connect phone app or the Google Maps website. For newer model cars it facilitates other services like Facebook in the car, downloading map updates etc., but for our generation MMI it's limited to online destinations. Nonetheless, I find the combination of the phone app, Google Maps and MMI quite useful. I particularly like sending my calendar appointments to the car for navigation to the appointment's location.

For best results, you should do a factory reset of the MMI if you haven't already done so, to clear out all the previous owner's data and remove the association to their myAudi Cloud account, so you can set it up for your myAudi Cloud account.

Lastly, you appear to be living in a market where T-Mobile has changed their frequency bands, hence that's why you are only getting 2G. You should contact your local Audi dealer for a hardware exchange that restores 3G service. After that you can also sign up with AT&T instead of T-Mobile. AT&T has better coverage and is faster at least where I live.

EDIT: Come to think of it, you may not be able to transfer the remaining months of the previous owner's subscription to your name, because you didn't pay for it. It belongs to the previous owner. T-Mobile cannot just give it to you. The initial free subscription is only for 6 months. The subscription you are currently using is a paid subscription from the previous owner that probably cannot be transferred to a new owner, but you'll find out if you call them.

[anerbe]

Some features to help you make a decision on audiconnect:

- Bluetooth steaming on the 2013+ MMI is really good. I do spotify and music thru the bluetooth connection, and it's really good with seamless transitions between phone function and media.
- Traffic/alerts are with a Sirius satellite connection, which is 4 years included free from vehicles in-service date. This has nothing to do with audiconnect / T-Mobile.
- Hotspot is much faster with your smart phone.

The only things you are really missing are below:
- Google Earth Maps
- Send destinations to your MMI from your phone/computer (simply have on phone and voice command the address in the car)
- Locator shown on your phone (create a saved spot in Google Maps / use Waze)

If you really want these things integrated in MMI and the t-mobile subscription is cancelled, you can do pre-pay PTEL/Truphone/DataSim from your ATT/TMobile phone service and skip AudiConnect. Each are normally cheaper vs. getting the plan thru Audi. You can still use MyAudi to set up a link to your phone/cloud and do everything above.

[sliner32]

I don't think Audi connect is even available in Canada. I couldn't download the app from the Apple Store.

[superswiss]

I don't think Audi connect is even available in Canada. I couldn't download the app from the Apple Store.

No, it's not.

[Estoril_Audi]

No, it's not.

Could he download via VPN or see if there is an apk? I mean he could get the app but not sure if the functionality in the car is enabled. Be interesting for our brothers to the north the see if it works.

[Estoril_Audi]

The separation of audiconnect.com and myaudi.com is the same concept as when you buy say an iPhone. You go to AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon to establish phone service, but then go to apple.com, icloud.com etc. to establish your content services. You wouldn't go to att.com to get a Netflix subscription for example, would you?

Not sure if I follow you here. Myaudi.com and audiconnect.com are both Audi, right? And the sim came with the car. In order to load the 'widgets' in audiconnect I need to associate the sim to my account. I got it that theoretically the previous owner could take the sim and use it on something else (it's an oversized sim but I assume there is something out there you could use it on). Now I totally admit I am new to this but it seems there is a lot of overlap between myaudi app and audiconnect.

Lastly, you appear to be living in a market where T-Mobile has changed their frequency bands, hence that's why you are only getting 2G. You should contact your local Audi dealer for a hardware exchange that restores 3G service. After that you can also sign up with AT&T instead of T-Mobile. AT&T has better coverage and is faster at least where I live.

Any idea if the hardware exchange is free?

[Estoril_Audi]

The only things you are really missing are below:
- Google Earth Maps
- Send destinations to your MMI from your phone/computer (simply have on phone and voice command the address in the car)
- Locator shown on your phone (create a saved spot in Google Maps / use Waze)

I think I may already have this from the myaudi app;

- I have the option for Google Maps in my nav settings.
- in terms of sending destinations I believe I also have this in my apps but I have not tried it out yet.
- I have the parked locator in the app. And it sends me a alert through the myaudi app when the car is parked.

[superswiss]

Not sure if I follow you here. Myaudi.com and audiconnect.com are both Audi, right? And the sim came with the car. In order to load the 'widgets' in audiconnect I need to associate the sim to my account. I got it that theoretically the previous owner could take the sim and use it on something else (it's an oversized sim but I assume there is something out there you could use it on). Now I totally admit I am new to this but it seems there is a lot of overlap between myaudi app and audiconnect.

No, they are not. Myaudiconnect.com is a Raco Wireless website. Raco Wireless handles the connectivity aspect of Audi Connect for the US market. MyAudi.com is an Audi Germany website that handles the Audi services you consume over the car's Internet connection. The only overlap between the two is the branding. Audi Connect is not a piece of technology. It's a brand that is comprised of several pieces. One piece is the Broadband Internet connection in the car. The other pieces are the services such as Google Earth, Online Destinations, the MMI Connect app etc.

Each country has its own requirements to establish wireless Internet in a car, so that's always separate from the services you consume over it. Think of it like Internet at your home or your cable TV service. You get your Internet and Cable TV service from one set of companies, but the content you consume you get from another set of companies. Same idea here. Sometimes the lines get blurred when service providers start buying content providers such as Comcast buying NBC, but fundamentally there is still a difference between the access to the content and the content itself. T-Mobile and AT&T managed by Raco Wireless provide the access, Audi provides the content.

Any idea if the hardware exchange is free?

Yes, it's free of charge.

Could he download via VPN or see if there is an apk? I mean he could get the app but not sure if the functionality in the car is enabled. Be interesting for our brothers to the north the see if it works.

No, the fundamental problem is that in Canada you can't get Broadband Internet for a car. I'm not sure what obstacle Audi is specifically running into. I'm not that familiar with the Canadian market. Without a Broadband Internet connection in the car, you can't use any of the Audi Connect features. Canada seems to be rapidly falling behind the Connected Everything world that the rest of the industrialized world is starting to embrace

[anerbe]

I think I may already have this from the myaudi app;

- I have the option for Google Maps in my nav settings.
- in terms of sending destinations I believe I also have this in my apps but I have not tried it out yet.
- I have the parked locator in the app. And it sends me a alert through the myaudi app when the car is parked.

These are the options that work with MyAudi.

If you can get these to work right now, no need to mess with the subscription (AudiConnect). Just enjoy your free data.

If you can't get these to work thru MyAudi, you will need to get MyAudi to connect your account with the vehicle.

Here is a clarification on the difference between MyAudi and AudiConnect. You can validate this by going on the Audi websites to compare the two.

AudiConnect is your subscription to a data plan only. This takes your VIN and a SIM#, and you can manage your data plan (payments, activation, etc..) much like going on ATT or TMobile's website to manage your cell phone service. This can be replaced by a PTEL or TruPhone data plan (or any mobile data plan from ATT or TMobile). There are NO widgets/apps associated with AudiConnect.

Once you have a data plan on the car's sim (AudiConnect, PTEL, TruPhone, etc...), your current MMI will allow to go online for google searches, hotspot, google earth in your MMI. You don't need MyAudi to use this.

The MyAudi is so limited for the A4, I never use it: http://www.audi.com/etc/medialib/ngw....0041.File.pdf
- Only thing you can really do is send destinations from your phone/computer to your car or have it remember your parking spot. Other features like internet radio and playing iTunes thru WIFI/MMI, this can all be done thru bluetooth.

Just saying, don't overthink or believe you are missing a ton. You don't have the extended features like an A3/A6/A7/TT has.

There is a link on the myaudi site to connect your audiconnect account, but it says you need to validate at the dealer. I assume this means they enforce the use of the audiconnect subscription of data to use any more features, but I haven't seen anything for our cars that would say there's much better features if you do this.

[sliner32]

In Canada we pay some of the highest cell fees with the least amount of service. It sucks

[GRUMPY-S4]

I picked up my car from the dealer last week. How long will the sim card be active? How do I know if its ATT or TMobile? Can I use either carrier once it dies?


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[superswiss]

I picked up my car from the dealer last week. How long will the sim card be active? How do I know if its ATT or TMobile? Can I use either carrier once it dies?


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Not enough info. Is it a 2016 S4? If so, then it's AT&T and you have a 6-months complimentary subscription. After that you can renew with AT&T. You can't switch to T-Mobile officially once you are on AT&T. As has been said, you can always get your own SIM card and data plan from the carrier or MVNO of your choice.

[GRUMPY-S4]

Its a 2015


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[superswiss]

New or used?