Game over for car net?

[fredgroves]

I've just activated my vw online services for my mk8 and in the email from vw confirming my order it says this

The mobile online services for Car-Net use 2G/3G mobile networks as a technical basis, while We Connect uses 2G/3G/LTE mobile networks. The 2G/3G mobile networks are expected to be gradually switched off by the network providers from 2020 onwards. There may be restrictions in the quality of mobile online services from this point onwards. It is expected that the services for Car-Net will no longer be available from 2025. Limited use of the We Connect mobile online services will still be possible with LTE.

Which i presume means mk7 carnet is getting switched off sooner or later.

I know probably most of you don't use it but it shows how these online services can and do have limited life expectancy. It happens with other services but this is the first time I've seen a car thing go end of life and its happening inside of what I'd expect for a car's life.

[fredgroves]

Not just car net maybe...

There are also two key use cases likely to significantly delay the UK’s 2G sunset: the government’s smart electricity and gas meter roll-out and the EU-mandated eCall system, which instantly connects vehicles to emergency services in the event of an accident.

eCall and the smart meter programme rely primarily on 2G/3G connectivity and both the smart meters and eCall-equipped vehicles have a lifespan of 10-15 years. This means that the MNOs supporting these systems will need to keep their 2G or 3G networks supported for a period of time. There is the possibility that the smart meters and vehicles will get upgraded to 4G before their end-of-life, although at present this is highly implausible financially.

There’s also the possibility that the UK’s three 2G operators will agree to provide a single, shared 2G network to extend the lifetime for 2G even further. The fact that 3G will be turned off first is still something users need to be mindful of. Compared to 2G, there has been relatively little adoption of 3G in the industrial IoT.

eCall killed off too?

[dobb3r]

I think its wrapped up in the app "We Connect", sounds like a games console app hey 😉

[Talk-torque]

All of this “connectivity” has seemed underdone and flaky ever since it was introduced. If it’s also, now, impossible to upgrade to 4G/5G, it makes the whole exercise a totally over promised waste of effort. I can’t see Tesla goofing like this. Makes VW’s ID3 software issues understandable.

[fredgroves]

All of this “connectivity” has seemed underdone and flaky ever since it was introduced. If it’s also, now, impossible to upgrade to 4G/5G, it makes the whole exercise a totally over promised waste of effort. I can’t see Tesla goofing like this. Makes VW’s ID3 software issues understandable.

It was very flakey on the Mk7.5. Very poor indeed.

(After this week's frustrations with my new Mk8, its not *much* better even after a total redesign)

The problem in this thread however is simply to do with the timings of when they released the Mk7.5.... 4G wasn't really a thing and 5G was a theory paper still under discussion. They had to do something.... in particular with the eCall thing, which needed to work anywhere in the EU, hence 2G/3G.

The ID3/Golf Mk8 uses 2g/3g/4g.

More of an imediate problem beyond cars though is that things like smartmeters use 2g/3g.... those need swapping out. As do other industrial control systems that are across all sorts of things for remote control/monitoring.

I think what's really poor though is that VW are basically giving up on providing digital services for Mk7.5 owners (the later ones with the eCall/esim) and not talking about providing an upgraded module - even if it costs money to replace.

[willni]

The entire VW Carnet/App-Connect system is fairly woeful in my eyes, it's slow and clunky and doesn't give you all the information you want.

Having seen Mercedes version in a C63, it's lightyears ahead quick, smooth and flawless.