I have a 2024 F-250 Lariat with the vehicle hotspot. Sometimes my iPhone connects automatically to the hotspot, and sometimes it doesn't. I can force the connection by going into my iPhone wi-fi settings and selecting the vehicle hotspot. The inconsistency is driving me a bit nuts. I'd like for my iPhone to automatically connect to the vehicle hotspot.

I've toggled a few things on and off (e.g. auto join on the iPhone settings), but nothing seems to get me to where it consistently connects automatically.

Advice?

Thanks.

 

It won’t connect if you are using CarPlay. I turned CarPlay off and mine works great now.

 

Thanks, I learned that pretty soon after I got the truck. I don't have car play on.

 

I've also toggled the hot spot off and then on via the truck display screen.

 

The question is, unless you're on a very limited data plan for your phone, why would you WANT your phone to connect to the vehicle's hotspot? It's an extra fee/plan you have to pay for on TOP of your phone, and your phone likely has better service anyway.

I never bothered setting up the hotspot on any of our vehicles, because for $10/month on top of our unlimited plan (because we're on the go a LOT, especially me), my phone is activated as a hotspot for any device we have that ISN'T connected to cell service. That's considerably less than what I was quoted for the hotspot on the truck.

 

I’m sorry, if you reread my original post, your reply really wasn’t the question at all. How I choose to use the tech and spend my money is none of your concern. Have a great day.

 

Except it is - the mobile hotspot in the vehicle is essentially a duplicate of what you already have and are paying for with your phone, at a more expensive rate, and causes other connectivity issues to use it. The ONLY reason I would consider using it (and even then, likely not), is if my employer owned the vehicle and had the hotspot active, and I wanted to use their data instead of my own - again, IF I had a very low data plan on my own phone.

Frankly, while mobile hotspots in a vehicle were a decent idea when they came out, with how phones have advanced, there's not really a need or reason for them anymore, and aside from connecting the vehicle to FordPass, they could be removed.

 

Except it isn't.

His question was about auto connecting to the hotspot, NOT a request for opinions on whether a monthly data plan for a vehicle's mobile hotspot is more financially economical than his phone's data plan.

Wrong again. You don't need a WiFi plan for your vehicle's mobile hotspot for FordPass to work. FordPass needs the (no additional cost) data connection utilized by the TCU (telematics control unit).

For the record, there are times and conditions when the vehicle's mobile hotspot gets a BETTER signal than a cell phone inside the vehicle. This is not due only to technical or environmental differences but also based on your location and the location of the closest cell towers and the carriers serviced by that closest tower.

 

my cell phone is verizon and my truck is att, When I was in Alaska att worked better

 

Not long after I posted my last message, our power went out. Apparently, the Verizon cell tower in our area was also down. I pulled my new truck out of the barn, fired up the vehicle's ATT wifi hotspot (1st year of service is free), and was able to connect my phone and access the web.

 

UPDATE: Not long after my original post, the WiFi hotspot completely stopped working. I did the Sync 4 reset and the FordPass master reset—neither fixed the issue. I just got off the Ford support line; they were able to determine that the internal modem experienced a disconnect, which would stop the WiFi hotspot from working. There is nothing they can do from their end and said i need to take it to the dealer as it’s a hardware problem with the internal modem.
Fortunately, the dealer is just up the road, truck is under warranty, and I can live without the hotspot for a while.

 

UPDATE UPDATE;

Picked up my truck today from Capital Ford in Carson City. Only took 1.5 days to diagnose and fix, although it took near 5-6 weeks to get an appointment. Not a big issue for me, so the delay-to-service time was bearable. Actual service time (drop-off to pickup-up was great).

Lot of gobblety-gook to me, but I take it that one of the OTA updates did a number on the internal software. Seems to be working fine just now, although there are a number of settings and screens that I need to reconfigure to my preferences

I'm just glad that they didn’t have to tear apart the dash to fix this issue.

CUSTOMER STATES THAT THE HOT SPOT IN THE VEHICLE WILL NOT WORK, THEY CONTACTED FORD CUSTOMER SERVICE AND THEY TOLD THEM THERE WAS AN INTERNAL CONNECTION ISSUE. PLEASE CHECK AND ADVISE.

TECH 002512044-VERIFIED CUSTOMER CONCERN, FOUND HOTSPOT NOT WORKING. PERFORMED EEC TEST, FOUND DTC U211B:51:OB HAS SSM

53759 FOR Trusted Real-Time Operation Network (TRON) Module Authentication DTCs. TCU IS MISSING AUTHENTICATION CODE AFTER OTA UPDATE. NED TO PERFORM TRON DIAGNOSTIC AND REPAIR.

TECH 002512044-HOOKED UP SCAN TOOL AND PERFORMED TRON AUTHENTICATION MISSING MESSAGE PROCEDURE, RAN DIAG AND REPAIR. REPAIR WAS SUCCESSFUL, CLEARED DC'S, NONE RETURNED, WENT INTO VEHIC LE HOTSPOT AND TURNED ON, HOTSPOT IS NOW WORKING, REPAIRS VERIFIED, ALL OK AT THIS TIME.