Sync 3 WiFi Hotspot Download Speed Limitation?

[Riggs Brown]

I just purchased a 2019 Expedition Limited with Sync 3 and activated my trial AT&T "4G LTE" WiFi hotspot account.

I connected to the hotspot with my iPhone, ran a speed test, and it seems I am only getting 1Mbps of download speed.

To test that against my phone's AT&T internet, I disabled WiFi on my iPhone, ran another test (over the iPhone's AT&T 4G LTE cellular data signal, NOT WiFi), and was getting 7Mbps speeds.

Is there a speed limitation on the car's WiFi hotspot? Would be completely useless if so...I intended on using the hotspot to stream video for my kiddos, but doesn't look like that's an option if I am correct.

If anyone has input, I'd love to hear it. Thanks!

 

[Squark]

I've wondered the same thing, but I average ~8Mbps down on my car's hotspot. My phone is on T-Mobile and almost always gets >15Mbps (my fastest was 99.5Mbps). I wasn't sure if AT&T's data is actually that much slower in my area or if there's another issue.

 

[Riggs Brown]

Good to know you're getting better speeds than I am.

I wonder if it is because I have a "trial" account? I may try upgrading to the paid account and see if that increases the speed...if not, I see no reason to keep it.

Anyone else have experience with speeds on their hot spot?

 

[nate6966]

Either way, I was pretty ticked off about how a third of the trial data was burnt by the downloads and updates for the vehicle's systems (Sync). I have no other data usage to understand how it used up that data on the first day.

 

[Grey ghost]

Will it work on verizon? I'm put out because apparently my moto z Droid won't charge in the built in charger but my girlfriends apple works fine. So I just imagine this hot spot is probably a one carrier deal too.

 

[Riggs Brown]

Problem solved. Apparently I just had bad luck with the first few spots I tried the speed test on. Drove around a bit, tried some different spots and was getting up to 8Mbps speeds.

Grey Ghost, it is AT&T 4G LTE service, but any wireless charge enabled phones should work on the charging pad, do you have anything metal on the back of your phone or a case that might be blocking it? Try taking your case off and see if that works, or turn your phone around.

 

[Yoop33]

How consistent has the connection and speeds been? I need solid, not blazing, speeds for work while driving around town.
I also wanna make sure that my laptop will just automatically connect and that I don't need to do anything else like "connect to hotspot"... I just want it to connect

 

[Riggs Brown]

Connection is consistent and my phone automatically connects every day so I would imagine your laptop would do the same. However, I find myself more often than not disabling WiFi on my iPhone because speeds can be slow at times, which is unfortunate. I am paying for this service to offload some data consumption from my phone plan but I’m not sure it’s worth it at this time. If I were you, try it out and see how you like it. Please post back with your findings if you choose to use it. I will try to do the same as time goes on...anyone else having a similar issue?

 

[Riggs Brown]

Connection is consistent and my phone automatically connects every day so I would imagine your laptop would do the same. However, I find myself more often than not disabling WiFi on my iPhone because speeds can be slow at times, which is unfortunate. I am paying for this service to offload some data consumption from my phone plan but I’m not sure it’s worth it at this time. If I were you, try it out and see how you like it. Please post back with your findings if you choose to use it. I will try to do the same as time goes on...anyone else having a similar issue?

 

[Yoop33]

Well I'm going back and forth between a '16/17 Navigator or a '19 Platinum because of this feature. I obviously want something new and has all the bells and whistles but will be super disappointed if I get into the Platinum and the wifi doesn't work as I need it to.
Plus I just watched a youtube video explaining that you can tether your phone through bluetooth to Sync and then Sync will make a hotspot that will automatically connect a laptop.... which is basically what I'm trying to achieve. Granted I know I can just use the hotspot from my phone, but when I connect a laptop, I have to open the wifi settings and manually select it instead of it just connecting like it seemingly would through Sync.

 

[spotdog14]

Either way, I was pretty ticked off about how a third of the trial data was burnt by the downloads and updates for the vehicle's systems (Sync). I have no other data usage to understand how it used up that data on the first day.

Sync is not allowed to connect to the in car wifi.

 

[nate6966]

Sync is not allowed to connect to the in car wifi.

Did I say sync connects to the in car wifi? Or are you just feeling like correcting people today?

 

[Rick Anjel]

Good to know you're getting better speeds than I am.

I wonder if it is because I have a "trial" account? I may try upgrading to the paid account and see if that increases the speed...if not, I see no reason to keep it.

Anyone else have experience with speeds on their hot spot?

I Agree that there really is no reason to keep it, its very slow! The reason to have it, is for the kids to stream and with the slow speeds that it offers its not capable (I have 3 kids). Once my trial period ends im not renewing.... My Iphone is 5 times faster and what I do is turn on my phones hot spot for the kids Ipads, and they all stream fine....

 

[spotdog14]

Did I say sync connects to the in car wifi? Or are you just feeling like correcting people today?

I'm pretty sure that is exactly what you said chief.

 

[nate6966]

I'm pretty sure that is exactly what you said chief.

I'm so happy you've put me on the straight and narrow, captain.
Doesn't change the fact that the vehicle burnt 3GB of the data in the free hotspot trial before I ever had a device connected to it.

 

[Aspen03]

But it does...this is how cellular devices have updated for years. Only somewhat recently they started pushing updates to wifi only and that's out of selfishness of not bogging the network down with terabytes of system updates when a new one is rolled out to millions of devices. They can then put the burden on you now that they tend to be fairly sizeable.

In a closed system that has a single means of connectivity where else should it get data? The hotspot isnt smart enough to distinguish the data type, you'll likely dont want it to be either unless you like hotspots that catalog everything you do and mine that data for whomever. You wouldnt be happy if you had to hook to your phone to update either and the hotspot cant hook to home router so you're just stuck. If you're using a paid hotspot to offset phone data usage the investment us more than likely in the wrong place. I suggest looking at an upgraded phone plan. I've seen few instances where it makes sense.

Grand scheme of things Ford/ATT are just letting you sample this tech, they fully expect you to pay for it and do not care. After all it is an $80k truck.