Connectivity problem
 

Just wondering if anyone else is suffering with their car not connecting to the internet.
The story so far,
September 2018 took delivery of the car and inserted Sky mobile sim, instant internet connection and continued to work flawlessly, maintaining a signal even when the mobile phone could not.

16th September 2019 Car goes to supplying dealer for 1st service with no reported faults. Car returned the same day with service completed and software updated. There is no internet connection.

17th September car is returned to dealer for investigation, they report it works with technicians sim so my sim is faulty.

18th September new sim from Sky arrives and fitted, Car connects, is moved into garage and switched off, 10 minutes later car started.. no connection.

25th September Car back to dealer, they apparently found a fault with the VCM which they replaced, it seems a specific number of these units have been found to be problematic.

26th September received car back and I carried on testing and found that only twice has the car connected correctly as the Download center states " updates available", this is a map update I had not installed and will not as it proves the connection. All other times if the internet symbol is shown the car thinks it is connected but in fact is not as Download center shows no updates and the WiFi hotspot has no connection for devices.

8th October car back to dealer for investigation

15th October advised by dealer that full vehicle report has gone to Volvo and that they have come back to state that as my car has a front dash cam fitted it must be removed before they can proceed, the dealer will not touch it as they did not install it, so it is being removed by the blackvue installer who knows the dealership very well as he has fitted many of his units to vehicles at that dealership.
The dash cam in question is a Blackvue DR750S - 2CH, it was fitted professionally by blackvue.co.uk 2 days after my taking delivery of the vehicle and has worked without issue whatsoever, as had the internet.
This is apparently because Volvo have never approved the fitting of a dash cam to any of the SPA platform vehicles and apparently it could be causing the problem.
I do not think the cam has any bearing whatsoever on the fault with the internet, in my opinion the latest software update from Volvo broke it.

Sorry for the long post

Yeah, big pinch of salt with that theory.

I’ve had a Blackvue 750 2CH installed for a while now, and it’s not affected my internet connection.

Aaannnd... it’s located directly under the Intellisafe binnacle and that still works ok

Not really solving your problem but you can install that map update (if you want it) and still be able to see if the car is or is not connected to internet by seeing traffic on your navigation. If nothing is shown, you are not connected.

Mine is currently broken and I don't have any dash cam etc installed.

@Kentish.
I had similar problem that was rectified by a replacement VCM module as in your case...........and during all the testing my Blackvue 750S-2ch was left connected & running but then it had been professionally installed by my Volvo Dealer...!! So like others here, I totally disagree with what your dealership has told you.
But unfortunately you have to go along with them though I would have just removed the unit leaving the cables hidden.
When my dealership installed the new VCM module, it did not work initially until they “reapplied” just the VCM part of the software. Glad to report that since the above module hardware AND software replacement the VCM has been 100% perfect for many months now ...... as has my Blackvue dashcam.

Thanks for the replies,

@Duri13
I left the update as it was somewhat in your face immediately when the internet connected correctly.

@simonjedrake
Funny thing is my dealer does not fit dash cams at all, they always have a third party in to install them. They would not accept the unit being removed and cables left as they stated they did not know how and where it had been connected to the car.

In all it's a great shame that this is going so wrong as I truly was impressed with the dealer. This is the 3rd Volvo I have bought from them and until now have only had servicing carried out, this is the first "issue" I have had with the car that the dealer not only caused but has had to deal with and to say I am unimpressed is putting it very mildly. I now feel that when I contact them for an update they are not pleased to hear from me as this problem is hovering over the too difficult to deal with bin.
Time will tell but I think the relationship between customer and dealer is being irretrievably broken.

It is a classical response

When fault finding a difficult problem like yours, you have to rule out all external influences

If the car has anything extra fitted which is not a approved Volvo accessory, than Volvo, rightly so, first need to rule out the non-approved accessory.
They do this by saying: remove it.

Only when the vehicle is standard, can they then say there is no possible external influence, therefore it must be a vehicle problem.

Nothing more than a standard fault finding procedure that I also use every day in my work environment.

Just yesterday I had to resolve a problem that was caused by a user having their PC set to non-standard settings for our country. And guess what: that was the exact root cause of the problem.
Once he set the system back to standard, everything worked.

The more complex our lives get with more electronics, the more often you will see service companies requesting that non-standard equipment be removed before they even start fault finding.

I can understand where you're coming from but these things shuold work flawlessly. The tech I suspect is considerably less sophicticated than the smart phone in your hand the parts will certianly cost less. Maybe that's the issue throwing in cheap parts. One of my phones (a Samsung) is close to 5 years old it has never dropped connectivity once and operates far quicker and smoother than my less than a year old car. This sort of tech is not expensive particularly if you buy so many units. It should just work and work well.

Very frustrating for the OP having to jump through hoops and repeatedly return to the dealer.

@Kentish
As I mentioned in my earlier posting, I strongly believe since you have already had a new VCM module fitted that your problem now needs the associated software fix and just needs your dealer to just "Force" through a software reload of the applicable software module.
To back up @SwissXC90's comments, that is indeed the route that I would expect the dealer tech to go if they are still scratching their head unable to solve the problem - though a more experienced pragmatic master tech may often take a more realistic diagnostic route....
Fingers Crossed.

Update.
22nd October received the car back, it did not need the dash cam removed, informed all was now well as they had reloaded the software. Guess what, it does not connect.

30th October This is the first date the dealer could take it back, they apparently have new VCM and IHU available for fitting as well as software.

1st November advised car is ready, on collection it took three attempts to get a connection but was assured by the service guy that it was ok, the technician who worked on the vehicle advised me that he was unsure and that he thought it needed the VCM being replaced (again), but try it and send pics of the sensus screen. drove it home connected.

2nd November No connection at all.... I am seriously getting annoyed with both this dealer and Volvo