Curmudgeon

Looking for a way to get wifi in the car. I've used hotspot on a cellphone, but there's a bunch of setting changes when getting in the car.
I'd prefer some hardware that stays in the car and is automatically connected.
ATT preferred carrier and a low monthly fee if there is one.
Data usage will be relatively low...no streaming videos planned.
Suggestions?

Mike728

There are quite a few options. Just Google "att wifi hotspot".

Here's the first item that came up for me at Best Buy: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/at-t-ve...B&gclsrc=aw.ds

Kansas

Some phone apps can automatically enable a WiFi hotspot when a Bluetooth connection to a vehicle system is sensed.

For example, I use the Android version of iBolt Dock'n Drive which is available at no cost in the Google Play Store. (It's also available for iOS.) Dock'n Drive is mainly a phone app organizer that allows creating up to five custom app screens similar to the screens in Lexus Enform. Dock'n Drive has many features besides it's custom app screens, a big alternate speedometer and a compass that's especially easy to see if you put your phone in a holder on the dashboard like we do.

Dock'n Drive can be configured to start automatically when a Bluetooth connection with any of our vehicles is sensed and to terminate when the Bluetooth connection is severed. One of the Dock'n Drive settings is "Auto enable WiFi Hotspot". The Hotspot is automatically enabled when Dock'n Drive is automatically launched and automatically disabled when Dock'n Drive is automatically terminated when the Bluetooth connection is severed. Turning the hotspot on and off becomes completely automatic - no "bunch of setting changes" to make.

There might be other phone apps that automatically enable/disable a hotspot but Dock'n Drive is the best I've found .... been using it for about six years.

Curmudgeon

Thanks. I did Google the subject and got a lot of possibilities. One is to plug into the car's diagnostic port. Other ways are with gadgets like the one you referenced, or to install a cell router, or use a cell hotspot. In research, I haven't found anything that has a consensus of a number of people satisfied.

Kansas

I assume that the diagnostic port plug-in Wi-Fi you referenced is the one from AT&T that can be billed separately or added to your existing data plan: https://www.att.com/plans/connected-car.html

Toyota seems late to the game with installed Wi-Fi hot spots since they have been available for many years in other makes. The only Lexus I know about that has a standard Wi-Fi hot spot is the 2018 LS500. The only Toyota I know about that has one is the 2018 Sienna and it is included on all trims except the most inexpensive base "L" trim. The "complementary" data amount that comes with Lexus/Toyota installed Wi-Fi is hilariously low and it's on Verizon.

An in-vehicle installed hot spot seems superfluous these days due to the way shareable family data plans work in allowing all phones in the family to be a hot spot. I suppose I could see a installed vehicle hot spot being most useful for a family with small children who are using tablet computers. The father of a family of four told me a few days ago that his family always blazes through their 24 GB monthly allotment of data on AT&T long before the monthly billing cycle ends. He's hoping to go to an unlimited data plan that doesn't get throttled to 3G after crossing a data usage threshold. My wife and I share 16 GB of data per month on AT&T and we're going to 32 GB/month starting with the next billing cycle. We use our phones as hot spots on a regular basis to provide Internet access to laptop and tablet computers.

Curmudgeon

Thanks, I'll check around on that.

Rarebird