VW CAR-NET

[MB]

Anyone knows what mobile network VW's CAR-NET service uses?

You see on the display that the car has made contact or lost contact but
I have never seen any reference to what network it uses.

[Woody]

I was of the impression it uses your phone, but I may be wrong.

[MB]

On 02/08/2022 07:27, Woody wrote:
> I was of the impression it uses your phone, but I may be wrong.

I don't think so.

[Andy Burns]

Woody wrote:

> MB wrote:
>
>> Anyone knows what mobile network VW's CAR-NET service uses?

Mine's an audi, not sure if all VAG vehicles use the same? I think buried
somewhere in the menus it gave details of the MVNO it used, I'll have a look.

>> You see on the display that the car has made contact or lost contact but I
>> have never seen any reference to what network it uses.
>
> I was of the impression it uses your phone, but I may be wrong.

New (last 5 years ish) cars have a built-in mobile to implement the mandatory
e-Call system, once the hardware is there the manufacturer will use it for other
purposes, even though my car only came with 3 years "free" access to data, it
remains active with its own SIM, just that most of the features are denied to me
as the licence has expired, and to renew it costs silly money, relative to the
minor benefits provided.

[MB]

I was just looking on a VW Forum and saw this


Important information :
1. 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 seems to confirm that it does not connect through your mobile
phone as some suggested.

[Andy Burns]

MB wrote:

> I was just looking on a VW Forum and saw this
>
> Important information :

> [snip]

>
> Which seems to confirm that it does not connect through your mobile phone as
> some suggested.

My car uses a eSIM, on-screen it shows reception strength for both the in-build
radio and for the paired phone.

It has the option for the car to "share" the phone's SIM over bluetooth using
rSAP, but I can't see that I'll ever have any need to do so, my licence for most
of the car's inbuilt features has expired and they are not worth paying for, I
just use Android auto.