As there is only 1 USB port connected to the car system what have you done to increase this?  (not sure why Skoda don't add more as standard -  Volvo have them in the glovebox as well)

 

I need 1 for my USB data dongle and 1 for my music.....

 

I was looking to get a small USB hub and connect both......  has anyone done that?  does the car read the devices connected?

 

Is there any "extra" ports on the back of the head unit or the unit in the glovebox?

 

Thanks,

I tried a usb hub with a memory stick containing music and no joy, it didn't find the music. Just an experiment for me as I put all my music on an sd card in the glove box. I thought about a usb data dongle but apart from the aggro of pushing it in every time as otherwise it would always be on decided it was easier just to use my phone as only needs one finger tap to switch hotspot on  and it seems to work perfectly.

I run a mifi device in the boot connected to 12v socket

 

It’s permanently on ....doesn’t appear to create any problems

 

and at least it stop the internet symbol always being red and not connected that my IPhone XS does!

37 minutes ago, 33q said:

I run a mifi device in the boot connected to 12v socket

 

It’s permanently on ....doesn’t appear to create any problems

 

and at least it stop the internet symbol always being red and not connected that my IPhone XS does!

Thats a a really good idea.....

I've wondered about that with a huawei wingle but wired into the fuse box on an ignition controlled fuse with a piggy back fuse and a step down to 5v though it would be much easier to just push into the socket in the boot as the current drain must be minuscule . Connected the traffic information seems to be just as good as Tom Tom on my phone (think I read on here that's where they get it), the data it uses for traffic is tiny. I do have a payg gif gaff sim lying around but suspect is is 3G and that to get 4 g you have to buy a top up pack every month most of which wouldn't get used. Most of the providers seem to have moved to monthly renewal for 4g which would make it a lot more expensive than using my phone allowance as a hotspot. Though tempted unless I can find a payg deal that lasts until you've used the data might have to stick with switching on the phone hotspot.

19 hours ago, 33q said:

I run a mifi device in the boot connected to 12v socket

 

It’s permanently on ....doesn’t appear to create any problems

 

and at least it stop the internet symbol always being red and not connected that my IPhone XS does!

Thinking to use the USB socket in the back of the centre console for mifi with angled usb cable. Have not yet tested, but I think it is not permanently on.

I bought this...

 

2 years

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01M3VJ2B2/ref=ox_sc_mini_detail?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

 

 

 

 

 

 

I use a SD card in glove box

 

My Mobile WiFi arrived last night and plugged in to the 12v in the boot.  It is laid in the boot bin at the side.  Connected the car to it and it seems to work well.  The device does stay active all the time.  I hope the drain on the always on charger is not enough to drain the battery to much. 

 

The cars sat nav now updates with real time traffic rather than the standard relying on the TMS service from FM stations.  

 

So far so good. 

Tip for those using personal hotspot on your iPhone. Everytime you start the car wait a few seconds. Then turn your personal hotspot on your phone off (wait a second or two) and then on again. The car automatically connects then everytime. But it does not work if you leave hotspot on.....

6 hours ago, DieselDriverVRS said:

My Mobile WiFi arrived last night and plugged in to the 12v in the boot.  It is laid in the boot bin at the side.  Connected the car to it and it seems to work well.  The device does stay active all the time.  I hope the drain on the always on charger is not enough to drain the battery to much. 

 

The cars sat nav now updates with real time traffic rather than the standard relying on the TMS service from FM stations.  

 

So far so good. 

Could you say what mobile wifi  you purchased and  Does the car reconnect to it without intervention? 

27 minutes ago, SurreySlowCoach said:

Could you say what mobile wifi  you purchased and  Does the car reconnect to it without intervention? 

Yes no intervention needed.  Vodafone R218H MiFi. 

9 hours ago, iwb100 said:

Tip for those using personal hotspot on your iPhone. Everytime you start the car wait a few seconds. Then turn your personal hotspot on your phone off (wait a second or two) and then on again. The car automatically connects then everytime. But it does not work if you leave hotspot on.....

 

I tried this today and after being very patient I did manage to get my iPhone to connect. I will however stick with the mifi idea as the connection is alway there. 

On 12/05/2019 at 17:43, SurreySlowCoach said:

I tried a usb hub with a memory stick containing music and no joy, it didn't find the music. Just an experiment for me as I put all my music on an sd card in the glove box. I thought about a usb data dongle but apart from the aggro of pushing it in every time as otherwise it would always be on decided it was easier just to use my phone as only needs one finger tap to switch hotspot on  and it seems to work perfectly.

 

I'm the same. We do stream music via Android Auto but mainly via the SD card.

 

Probably adds little to the sum of human knowledge, but just out of interest I tried a Transcend USB stick with SD/micro SD card slot I'd bought last year for the holiday hire car. Not knowing whether it'd have a card slot, but expecting it'd have USB at least, and wanted to cover all the bases. Took the SD card from the Karoq, and it worked a treat in that car, displaying fine on its screen,

 

No joy with it in the Karoq though. Couldn't even test it. The orientation of the USB tab locator meant the card faced left and fouled the console before the stick went right in. Might be different with other USB card readers.

Does anyone know how much traffic the real traffic alerts and other car systems consume? I know it's very relative, so with the context of megabytes / miles / month. This overall thing and only 1 USB port is quite annoying with this car, in BMW it was coming with the connectivity plan, which was free under first 3 years. With Skoda you need to pay after first year and traffic information is not included anyway.

Edited 24 May, 20197 yr by antonv

How long is a piece of string, it really isn't easy to determine data usage. 150-200Mb seems the norm...

 

 

1 hour ago, antonv said:

Does anyone know how much traffic the real traffic alerts and other car systems consume? I know it's very relative, so with the context of megabytes / miles / month. This overall thing and only 1 USB port is quite annoying with this car, in BMW it was coming with the connectivity plan, which was free under first 3 years. With Skoda you need to pay after first year and traffic information is not included anyway.

If you only use it for traffic I'd say not very much.  I've been connecting using my phone hotspot and this month I've used 11.61 Mb. Though I like viewing the traffic on the Amundsmen I think it's routing is questionable so I run Tom Tom Go on the phone at the same time, that has the maps loaded on the phone so it's just traffic being downloaded and that comes in at 11.19Mb. As I'm now retired I don't drive nearly so much but when I was clocking up the miles Tom Tom never used that much data, I used to be on a 500mb/month contract and I only ever used to use about 200. If you started to use it for weather and news then obviously I'd expect the usage could soar.

My phone is on contract and so it only clocks up the actual usage. I've been playing with an old  PAYG sim in an old phone and now in a Wingle (usb hotspot) and they charge rather differently rounding up to the Mb so even if the traffic download is just a few K you get charged for 1Mb and that starts to rack up the costs more quickly.

Is there a reason you guys are leaving a MiFi in the car instead of just using your mobile phone as a hotspot? I would use CarPlay (and Waze) instead of the inbuilt SatNav, so just wondering if there would be any other reason to have a constant connection in the car.

If you are using a iphone, you have to turn on the hotspot every time manually.

If you are using a android phone, there are apps which do this for you every time automatically .

On my Pixel phone, Android Auto launches automatically as soon as it's connected to the USB socket. A wireless option is rolling out but I like the charging over the cable.

 

AA gives me GM or Waze nav, calling/msgs options, and a range of audio/music services.

 

I can also use the older Mirrorcast option, which literally mirrors whatever's on the phone screen.

 

I have a 26Gb plan. I've never really seen the point in an additional mi-fi device.  

These are my reasons. 

Not having such a generous data allowance I was always finding when I ariived home and checking emails etc I was using data instead of wifi. If the mifi is on then the car seems to connect to the internet and traffic much faster. When I stop for a break I don't have to switch the phone hotspot back on when I climb back into the car (it turn off after a few minutes when not connected). I haven't found an app that switches the hotspot on when connecting to the cars Bluetooth without rooting the phone. I'm using the Three free data sim in the mifi which is enough for my navigation needs.

26 minutes ago, SurreySlowCoach said:

These are my reasons. 

Not having such a generous data allowance I was always finding when I ariived home and checking emails etc I was using data instead of wifi. If the mifi is on then the car seems to connect to the internet and traffic much faster. When I stop for a break I don't have to switch the phone hotspot back on when I climb back into the car...

 

I guess it must be different phones/different practices.

 

When I walk in the house the phone automatically switches from 4G to home wi-fi. Same with John Lewis, M&S wi-fi etc, although we'll be on LNER today and I know I'll have to login even tho I'm a regular user. Just the way a site sets it up I guess.

 

I rarely change any settings. It just does what I want.

 

But I can see the use for mi-fi if the phone allowance is small or the rates higher 👍

Hmmm, interesting, so when the WiFi dongle in the boot is connected all the time and you turn on the navigation on the Amundsen head unit does it give all the local traffic in a similar way to Google or do you have to select a route? That is to say, can a quick glance at the screen let me know the traffic situation around me at that moment?

1 hour ago, Berisford said:

Hmmm, interesting, so when the WiFi dongle in the boot is connected all the time and you turn on the navigation on the Amundsen head unit does it give all the local traffic in a similar way to Google or do you have to select a route? That is to say, can a quick glance at the screen let me know the traffic situation around me at that moment?

I've found the answer, and it's yes & no, only some of the roads are covered. I'd have thought maybe just Trunk Roads and Motorways but the main Leicester to Doncaster road (A614) runs past our village and it's not covered, curious.

This is why I like Waze, online.