6.4.0 and Wireless Carplay

[JediMcMuffin]

Hey folks,

So I've been tracking since the beginning (Oct 21) that wireless CarPlay would destabilize when rolling through any area where the 2.4Ghz spectrum was heavily saturated. My issue was 100% reproducible here around town, about 4-5 spots along I-5 and up in Orange County around I-405 I would get disconnected multiple times. A spectrum analyzer would show that in these areas something, probably a line of site microwave transmitter for the department of transportation was just annihilating the entire spectrum.

Well, ever since I got 6.4.0 pushed to me? No issues, no disconnects. My fingers are still crossed here but I'll test it out here again in a couple hours.

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[Brian_B]

Mine does this too - in my area we have a Radio-based Internet provider, and anytime i drive near one of their towers - yeah, Carplay goes wonky.

Not sure if I have 6.4.0 or not right now though. Mine definitely still disconnects - there's a tower right by our office so I hit it every day I go into work and it always jacks it up. Quite a few spots up and down the 99 on grain silos and AM/FM towers near the highway too, pretty repeatable.

But i have noticed Carplay is much faster to connect on start up, and tends to reconnect better without needing a reboot. Still needs one occasionally, but getting better.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Mine does this too - in my area we have a Radio-based Internet provider, and anytime i drive near one of their towers - yeah, Carplay goes wonky.

Not sure if I have 6.4.0 or not right now though. Mine definitely still disconnects - there's a tower right by our office so I hit it every day I go into work and it always jacks it up. Quite a few spots up and down the 99 on grain silos and AM/FM towers near the highway too, pretty repeatable.

But i have noticed Carplay is much faster to connect on start up, and tends to reconnect better without needing a reboot. Still needs one occasionally, but getting better.

Hello! Send us a private message with your VIN and current mileage. I'll look into this for you. Thanks!

 

[billychode]

My 2024 Bronco and my 2022 Explorer ST both did and still do this. I think mine is more due to the 5G and LTE areas. I also noticed it seems to do it when I am near a WiFi network I’ve previously joined. As someone else mentioned, I do have a mobile provider that does the mobile hotspot (xfinity), but I am not a member and have never joined. Not sure if that still screws up the CarPlay. It is much better having wireless CarPlay on the bronco vs the wired CarPlay on the explorer, as it reconnects much quicker. I always had to unplug and reboot the sync with the explorer. It’s part of the reason I got rid of that vehicle. The other being the HORRIBLE turbo lag on the 3.0L Ecoboost in the ST. Was a death trap!

 

[JediMcMuffin]

Made that trip again today. Still no disconnects at all. I can’t seem to find anywhere to tell if it’s still using 2.4Ghz.

 

[billychode]

Some of the comments on here actually make sense. Could it be someone blocking 2.4Ghz or some other interference. people made mention to power plants, gov facilities, toll plazas. It seems to be an Android Auto issue too.

 

[rugedraw]

Many people on different forums have reported losing connectivity when driving in certain areas. I do not know what causes it, but I can tell you it happens.

 

[[DELETED MEMBER 27901]]

Mine cuts 100% of the time at the base of the same bridge. It would be horrible if that were my daily commute. My theory was some type of EZ-Pass or Radar interference.

 

[EOSeabee]

I have 6.4.0 and mine dropped out twice today. Same spots it always does.

 

[JediMcMuffin]

I have 6.4.0 and mine dropped out twice today. Same spots it always does.

DON'T CRUSH MY HOPES!!! No seriously.. that sucks. On my commute I go by at least six spots where this would happen and it hasn't happened once in the past five trips.

Hey @rugedraw can you see if some more updates have been pushing out?

The last one you mentioned said it was pushed to me, but I didn't get the notification of successful install in the vehicle for like 3-4 full days after you said it was pushed.

 

[rugedraw]

DON'T CRUSH MY HOPES!!! No seriously.. that sucks. On my commute I go by at least six spots where this would happen and it hasn't happened once in the past five trips.

Hey @rugedraw can you see if some more updates have been pushing out to VIN

The last one you mentioned said it was pushed to me, but I didn't get the notification of successful install in the vehicle for like 3-4 full days after you said it was pushed.

This is what you show pending. Please remove your VIN from the post. Big brother is watching and I don't want them to deactivate my account again.

 

[Brian_B]

I think I've given up on the dream of wireless Carplay.

Mostly I work from home, but recently I've had to spent some time in the office.

The fact that one of these radio antennas is right outside my office - so every time I leave work it completely messes up Sync and requires a radio reset is pretty annoying. Every single time.

It's something Ubiquiti radio - there's an ISP around here that has them deployed all over, and anytime I'm near one it totally obliterates wireless Carplay. And there's one on a water tower right next to my office.

So what I've found - disabling wireless app projection. That turns off wireless carplay, but still lets it work wired just fine.

When you start the Bronco, if your phone isn't plugged in - it will still connect via Bluetooth. Radio and alerts and everything still come through, you just don't get the interface on the Sync screen to change anything. Plug in the phone, and Carplay comes right up like always.

That's how it's worked on Sync 3 and such anyway, so no big surprises there.

I've found audio is ~much~ more clear, even with Bluetooth without the USB connection. Phone calls are now absolutely crystal clear, whereas before I strugged to hear them. On music, the music sounds markedly better, bass is much more pronounced, and clarity much improved.

Not sure why it would sound any different really, maybe it's just placebo effect. Or just whatever is on the radio that day. I've only been running like this a couple of days - more testing is needed. Just sharing initial impressions.

It isn't as annoying as I originally thought it would be - if you have a playlist or something playing and do not plug the phone back in - that continues to play via Bluetooth on the Sync interface. You just can't change playlists or anything without either picking up the phone, or plugging it in to get to Carplay.

Bonus - my phone battery isn't dead when I get home from work any more.

 

[JediMcMuffin]

This is what you show pending. Please remove your VIN from the post. Big brother is watching and I don't want them to deactivate my account again.

Thank you, VIN removed.

Parking control module, maybe that would stop my parking sensors from going off randomly

 

[rugedraw]

I think I've given up on the dream of wireless Carplay.

Mostly I work from home, but recently I've had to spent some time in the office.

The fact that one of these radio antennas is right outside my office - so every time I leave work it completely messes up Sync and requires a radio reset is pretty annoying. Every single time.

It's something Ubiquiti radio - there's an ISP around here that has them deployed all over, and anytime I'm near one it totally obliterates wireless Carplay. And there's one on a water tower right next to my office.

So what I've found - disabling wireless app projection. That turns off wireless carplay, but still lets it work wired just fine.

When you start the Bronco, if your phone isn't plugged in - it will still connect via Bluetooth. Radio and alerts and everything still come through, you just don't get the interface on the Sync screen to change anything. Plug in the phone, and Carplay comes right up like always.

That's how it's worked on Sync 3 and such anyway, so no big surprises there.

I've found audio is ~much~ more clear, even with Bluetooth without the USB connection. Phone calls are now absolutely crystal clear, whereas before I strugged to hear them. On music, the music sounds markedly better, bass is much more pronounced, and clarity much improved.

Not sure why it would sound any different really, maybe it's just placebo effect. Or just whatever is on the radio that day. I've only been running like this a couple of days - more testing is needed. Just sharing initial impressions.

It isn't as annoying as I originally thought it would be - if you have a playlist or something playing and do not plug the phone back in - that continues to play via Bluetooth on the Sync interface. You just can't change playlists or anything without either picking up the phone, or plugging it in to get to Carplay.

Bonus - my phone battery isn't dead when I get home from work any more.

I'm an Android guy, but this issue plagues any and all phones. I have my settings set to run Android Auto through USB only. I plug my phone into my truck before I hit the start button. While this does not eliminate all the glitchy-ness, it is much better running a wired connection in all aspects, and audio quality is better, too. Especially if you use a hi-res streaming source like Quboz or Tidal, the sound quality is MUCH better through a wired connection.

 

[JediMcMuffin]

I think I've given up on the dream of wireless Carplay.

Mostly I work from home, but recently I've had to spent some time in the office.

The fact that one of these radio antennas is right outside my office - so every time I leave work it completely messes up Sync and requires a radio reset is pretty annoying. Every single time.

It's something Ubiquiti radio - there's an ISP around here that has them deployed all over, and anytime I'm near one it totally obliterates wireless Carplay. And there's one on a water tower right next to my office.

So what I've found - disabling wireless app projection. That turns off wireless carplay, but still lets it work wired just fine.

When you start the Bronco, if your phone isn't plugged in - it will still connect via Bluetooth. Radio and alerts and everything still come through, you just don't get the interface on the Sync screen to change anything. Plug in the phone, and Carplay comes right up like always.

That's how it's worked on Sync 3 and such anyway, so no big surprises there.

I've found audio is ~much~ more clear, even with Bluetooth without the USB connection. Phone calls are now absolutely crystal clear, whereas before I strugged to hear them. On music, the music sounds markedly better, bass is much more pronounced, and clarity much improved.

Not sure why it would sound any different really, maybe it's just placebo effect. Or just whatever is on the radio that day. I've only been running like this a couple of days - more testing is needed. Just sharing initial impressions.

It isn't as annoying as I originally thought it would be - if you have a playlist or something playing and do not plug the phone back in - that continues to play via Bluetooth on the Sync interface. You just can't change playlists or anything without either picking up the phone, or plugging it in to get to Carplay.

Bonus - my phone battery isn't dead when I get home from work any more.

Ubiquiti makes solid gear, however, it CAN be misconfigured or aggressively configured to not be considerate of others. For instance if you set the 2.4Ghz radios to 40Mhz width the entire 2.4Ghz space is consumed.

Bluetooth also uses 2.4Ghz, in the same channels as Wifi, but its pretty good at punching through interference. When wireless carplay connects, it first handshakes over Bluetooth, and then both sides offer up app projection and exchange the wifi information for the display streaming. I'm not too deep on how the rest of it works, but I do know that that radio connection needs to be healthy for it to work.

My hope was that under the covers, Ford allowed the 5Ghz radio to be used for CarPlay. It's much less subject to interference.

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