CobraGSF

iTrader: (2)

So our cars come with 4GB free of in car wifi for a year. however since my initial setup i have not been able to turn on the wifi hotspot in my car. every time i try to turn it back on under settings, it says unable to turn on wifi hotspot.

has anyone had this issue? or can provide a suggestion to fix it?

ES63

Same issue but have not called on it yet ..

Steve300h

When I found out it was 4GB or 1 Year which ever comes first I didn't bother to activate it.

Any chance you already passed 4GB?

mikemu30

What do you need it for honestly? Unless your passenger is sitting there with a laptop?

lilfool

On my NX, I also encountered the same problem. When I called them, they had me reset the radio (the one where it deletes all user data) and once I did that, I went back and it was working again. However, it went back to "unable to turn on wifi hotspot please try again later" Not sure if it has something to do with apple carplay or not but I do know resetting the system got it working again. it's very annoying as I want to benefit it since it's a free trial. can't imagine if I'm paying for it and its causing problems like this.

Mike728

And even then, why not just tether off your cellphone?

Steve300h

To me, I can't see any real use for the built-in cell service in this generation of cars. Once Native Android is standard then it might have a use.

lesz

I could be mistaken, but I believe that the "phone" capabilities that are built into the car have a 3 watt radio. Mobile phones use a .5 watt radio. In areas with spotty coverage, the car's more powerful radio will get service, but the mobile phone's weaker radio may not.

Also, many mobile phone plans charge extra for tethering.

That said, if I had a car with built-in Wi-Fi capability, I can't imagine that I would have much need to use it.

markp1798

I activated my free-trial in car WiFi mid April of 2019. It worked well for about a month when I noticed my cell phone would no longer connect to it. I found it was turned off and that I could not enable it again from the car Settings/WiFi screen. It would try to enable WiFi then after about a minute it would say there was a problem connecting. The setting stayed on "Off". I assumed my free trial had run out so I did not think much of it for a few months. I did perform a full reset (Deleting of all personal data) in order to attempt to fix another issue where the Lexus +Alexa app would not connect. Performing the reset did fix Alexa but only for as long as my ride from the dealership to my home. The next time I started the car Alexa would not work. Later I decided I wanted to activate the in car WiFi again since we were going on a rather long road trip. I called Verizon and they got it working for me with little problem. (This actually worked since I had already performed the data reset when working on the Alexa issue). We used it on our trip and about a month after we returned home until it again stopped working. I found it was Off when viewing the settings screen and that again, I could not enable it. I called Verizon and they worked with me for a couple hours but came to the conclusion that the issue was not on their end and that my account was active and should be working. So they suggested I call Lexus support. The Lexus analyst asked me to try the Data reset process which I did and I was then able to enable the in car WiFi again from the Settings/WiFi screen. It worked well for about a month when it once again got set to Off for no apparent reason. This time, I took it to my Lexus dealer. They looked at the car for a couple hours but came to the conclusion this was a Verizon issue since their diagnostics did not pick up any codes. I told them that performing a reset on the car Multimedia system would fix the issue but they did not actually try that. So while still sitting in the service lane, I performed the reset myself which took about 2 minutes, then I showed my Lexus service manager that my cell phone was then connected to the car WiFi. He took this under advisement and said he would open a case with Lexus. Since getting it working that time, it has worked well for about a month now I did find it was set to Off one day during that time but I was able to actually enable it in Settings without issue. A day earlier I also noticed my cell had forgotten the password for some reason. I entered the password manually again and was able to connect. Hopefully it will continue to stay working.

I am posting this to ensure my case is logged here in the forum and to assure anyone else with this issue that it is not a Verizon issue and that performing the reset of all user data will fix this issue. Performing the reset operation only takes a few minutes but setting up everything again that you lose during that process takes about an hour, so this is a totally unacceptable fix for this issue. You have to pair all cell phones back to Bluetooth, reset any radio presets, redo any other settings you have customized, reset any custom way points in the built in Nav, etc, etc. I would hope that the Toyota/ Lexus motor company is reviewing this forum and is really working on a permanent fix for the issue.

My logic for paying the $20.00 per month charge for the in car WiFi was that my wife and I do not have unlimited cell phone data plans. We don't normally need more than a couple GBs per month since we are almost always within reach of a WiFi connection. Since the in car WiFi is unlimited at only $20.00 per month we feel this lets us enjoy the streaming, mapping and other online features of the ES without paying more for our cell phones. Also I understand that the stronger car WiFi antenna will allow us to receive a signal in weaker areas that our cell phones may not be able to pick up. Setting our cell phones to unlimited would certainly cost us more than $20.00 per month and having it available in the car allows any passengers to enjoy good reception as well. Another advantage would be using an iPad or laptop that has WiFi only.

bc6152

Thanks for the post Mark. It seems that Lexus has a way to go before all of these gingerbread systems work as they should. I also had issues with WIFI and Alexa. However I simply gave up as I really have no use for them anyway. I just wonder if the other manufacturers such as Infiniti, Audi, MB, BMW, Genesis, have these issues with their electronic systems.

Ohtexan

I rely on the AT&T cellular Wifi in my new Lexus. Periodically the modem will not authenticate with the provider.. I have a Subaru and GMC Yukon both have same feature, which is flawless…. Working with AT&T to resolve.

markp1798

Update as of July 2021
I had continued to have the issue with WiFi turning off every month or so and when I visited the Lexus dealership for routine maintenance I mentioned it to a new service advisor since the one I had been working with was no longer with the dealership. She advised a dealer applied firmware update had been available for over a year and no one with Lexus apparently thought it would be a good idea to notify customers who had reported the issue. So they applied the update and I have been good now for about a month. Hoping that did fix the issue on our 2019 ES350. It will take a couple more months before I will know whether it is indeed resolved. The 2019 model uses a Verizon modem and I know Lexus switched to AT&T but if you have this issue I would ask about this update that has hopefully fixed my issue.

DaRacerz

All, I've had the exact same issue where the WiFi would turn off and I could never turn it back on. The temporary fix is to perform a Radio Factory Reset (it's in the Settings menu) and then the WiFi will work again. After a some back and forth with Lexus, there is now a FW update to the Multimedia System that can be installed by the dealer. I've been on the updated FW now for 6-9 months and WiFi has been rock solid since then, no more issues.

Ohtexan

thanks! Very disappointed that my delivering dealer did not confirm latest SW/Firmware prior to delivery … vehicle was built in late June 2021

mcomer

The AT&T WiFi is complementary for 90 days or 4 GB use.
The earlier Verizon service was for the 4 GM within the first 12 months.
When you enroll the Lexus App one of the disclaimer boxes you check
is the start up of the WiFi trial. If you are looking to begin using the
WiFi for the first time 91 days into your ownership experiance...your
trial has timed out.