2021 Tundra WiFi - ATT

Well, my 2021 Tundra WiFi subscription runs out in a couple of weeks. I'm looking for plausible reasons to keep it.

It's been somewhat useful when my wife has brought her iPad along for the ride, although obviously you can do the same by enabling the Hotspot on your phone. The phone Hotspot is a bit more of a hassle, or was, because you have to make a conscious effort to enable the Hotspot.

However, now, Tundra WiFi is always defaulted to "Off". Which, if you forget to enable it, is a real hassle. Now you have to stop to enable it, which is beyond annoying.

This didn't start happening until the Tundra was over 1GB into the 2GB data plan provided for the first 90 days (or so it seems). If this is because of ATT, it's really not acceptable that ATT can change the defaults. And if it's because of ATT, it's a lousy way to keep customers.

If it's because of Toyota, then Toyota is being stupid. It's not a feature, it's an annoyance...fix it.

Beyond the above, does anyone have stories of mythic proportions whereby keeping ATT provided a vital service, saved the day, or generally made your life better in every way?

 

I agree the default to "off" after ever trip is super annoying. I only extended it after the trail thinking it would be useful when the family was along. However, anytime we need to use it is always off and you can't seem to change it unless parked. Thinking about cancelling as it is not a seamless solution, might as well use the phone as hotspot.

 

***Update*** According to Toyota (today), WiFi defaulting to "off" is not due to a carrier (ATT) or Toyota requirement. In fact, paraphrasing, "This would diminish the service's usefulness."

Quick Fix (Maybe)

First step "Delete Personal Data" (Menu => General => Delete Personal Data => Yes)
Next step "Reenter Everything"
Next step WiFi "On"
Next step "Connect"
Next step "Shut Down Truck"
Next step "Start Truck"
Next step "Check WiFi Status" => WiFi "off"

Next step Call Toyota and schedule an appointment with the dealer to replace the head unit.

Replacing the head unit would appear to be a pointless exercise without verifying that a firmware update either caused the problem or that a firmware update could solve the problem.

 

I don’t have this problem with mine so far, my iPhone and iPad both hook up automatically within a few seconds of cranking the truck.

 

It sounds like a great feature and appreciate the few GBs but I will probably not renew. I have unlimited and just HotSpot for those in the car. Let us know how you care with you decision!

 

Activated my trial then never turned it on in the truck. Will expire in the next couple weeks and I won’t bother extending. Everyone in the family has their own cell phone... and I’m already paying for that data on VZW. Why pay even more for a couple more GB on ATT too?

 

I extended mine cause the kids bring their WiGi-only iPads on trips and setting up a hotspot on my phone just doesn’t cut it for two iPads streaming video. $200 for one year of unlimited data through ATT.

Now...the defaulting to OFF is something I’ve noticed recently too. Didn’t used to do that. Makes me think it happened with one of the more recent Entune updates. I would not recommend letting them replace the HU as the issue is not unique to you and I think you’ll encounter the same problem.

 

Also keep in mind if you purchase the wireless CarPlay adapter in the future the wifi will be useless because the wireless CarPlay adapter uses a temporary wifi SID on your phone which prevents you from using ATT SID. The passengers will still benefit though.

I won’t be renewing mine. I would rather use the funds for XM radio subscription.

 

Subscription services are automakers newest way to make huge profits, just like the software makers, turds.

But yeah, I would just use my unlimited high speed hot spot, works on 4 devices at the same time with no noticeable performance drops. And its included with the fone so yeah just makes cents....

 

Haven't used it once. However, we use ProjectFi (Googles cell service through t-mobile/sprint) Our plan has unlimited data and can add up to 5 sim cards for free. so I took my old phone with a free sim card and leave it connected sitting in the huge center console out of the heat and eyes of theifs. Works really well for android auto and wifi hotspot.

Had to adjust the battery saver setting when the battery gets to 90%, kept on dying if I didn't drive for a couple of days.

 

I've not taken the truck to the dealer for the HU replacement as I'm certain the issue was caused by an update. Interestingly, this morning WiFi was switched on. I'm just going to observe for the next several days to see if this latest turn of events is permanent or was just an anomaly.

 

The other issue is that ATT is 4G, my phone is 5G (we have 5G service) and is much faster as a hotspot than is ATT.

Looks like ATT is a day late and a dollar short...once again.

 

***Update*** Monday and Tuesday of this week, WiFi switched on automatically. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday WiFi was "off" on startup and had to be manually switched to "on".

I'm not planning on having the dealer switch the head unit as it's pretty clear that Toyota isn't really aware of what is going on. Especially since there appears to be others with the same problem.

If Toyota really does feel this way, "...WiFi defaulting to "off" is not due to a carrier (ATT) or Toyota requirement. In fact, paraphrasing, "This would diminish the service's usefulness."", they'll fix the problem.

Otherwise once the trial runs out in a few days, ATT is done.

It is interesting though that, more than likely, the "telemetry" that Toyota collects via ATT is totally unaffected by the WiFi issue.

 

Is the AT&T Wi-Fi module in my 2020 Limited so bad that I cannot stream pandora while connected to the hotspot? Won't play more than 2 seconds without pausing and buffering. Is there any type of mod or upgrade for a unit with faster bandwidth? Sorry for the noob question, but I am only a couple months into Tundra ownership, and I am still learning the ins/outs/limitations on standard technology.

Also kind of frustrated that there is no way to set the wifi default to on. Have to turn it on every time I start the truck.

 

I paid $200 to keep the service for the first year but recently canceled it. First, the defaulting to off was beyond annoying. Second, the speed was SLOW. So slow in fact that I refused to let my phone connect to it cause cellular was faster. And the final straw was when I tested letting the kids connect their iPads to my iPhone hotspot and it worked just as good (if not better).

 

"Is the AT&T Wi-Fi module in my 2020 Limited so bad that I cannot stream pandora while connected to the hotspot?" Answer "Yes"

"Is there any type of mod or upgrade for a unit with faster bandwidth?" Answer "No"

"Also kind of frustrated that there is no way to set the wifi default to on. Have to turn it on every time I start the truck." "Yes, it sucks"

The cellular modem and it's implementation by Toyota, is crap. A Kindergartener could have done a better job.

The best (worst) part? Toyota could care less.

The primary purpose of the cellular modem was apparently to provide headend "updates", collect operational data, and provide "voice" assistance. Adding WiFi functionality was apparently a kludgy implementation while allowing ATT to get $15/month.

Anyone's cellphone with a WiFi hotspot is better.

 

Update - I called AT&T today, and they reset the module. Able to stream music with no buffering at all. Now I just got to find out if Toyota can set the default for Wifi to be on instead of having to turn it on every time I start the truck.

 

Has anyone figured out how to reset this yet or fix it to stay on? Once again we’re on a long road trip and would have to pull over to turn the Wi-Fi on.