How to turn on a phone's Wi-Fi hotspot automatically

[Lexman8]

Originally Posted by Razer

So im not sure if there is a conflict between wifi and the mobile hotspot being on?

On my Nexus 5X running Android 7 if there's an established wifi connection to my home wifi and I turn on the hotspot it breaks the wifi connection, reverts to 4G and switches the hotspot back off. If this is happening to you it could explain the problems your having. When my car is parked on the drive it's out of reach of my home wifi so the phone has already switched to 4G when I get in the car and hotspot switches on as it should and the car finds it.

At least that's how it worked until the comms module failed that I've written about in another thread. I'm just back in the UK after a ski trip and still no replacement part. I've had no comms and intermittent satnav for nearly 6 weeks now and I'm getting pretty p*ssed off with Volvo.

They are producing literally hundreds of new cars per week with these comms modules but they can't find a single one as a replacement part. Really? Suggests to me that they're more focused on getting the revenue from new car sales than satisfying an existing customer. Rant over.

[nu11eaf]

Originally Posted by Lexman8

On my Nexus 5X running Android 7 if there's an established wifi connection to my home wifi and I turn on the hotspot it breaks the wifi connection, reverts to 4G and switches the hotspot back off. If this is happening to you it could explain the problems your having. When my car is parked on the drive it's out of reach of my home wifi so the phone has already switched to 4G when I get in the car and hotspot switches on as it should and the car finds it.

At least that's how it worked until the comms module failed that I've written about in another thread. I'm just back in the UK after a ski trip and still no replacement part. I've had no comms and intermittent satnav for nearly 6 weeks now and I'm getting pretty p*ssed off with Volvo.

They are producing literally hundreds of new cars per week with these comms modules but they can't find a single one as a replacement part. Really? Suggests to me that they're more focused on getting the revenue from new car sales than satisfying an existing customer. Rant over.

wont your dealer take the part off one of their test drive cars and fit it in yours until yours arrives, to show good customer care and a fully usable car, and keep you sweet.

[Lexman8]

Originally Posted by nu11eaf

wont your dealer take the part off one of their test drive cars and fit it in yours until yours arrives, to show good customer care and a fully usable car, and keep you sweet.

They say they can't do that as each comms module is one-time coded to a particular car and cannot be changed.

I came across this with Mercedes too. A cynic (moi?) would say there's no need for one-time coding of parts and that it's just a way for manufacturers to prevent a trade in second-hand parts and thus ensure a highly profitable revenue stream by forcing customers to buy the parts new from Mercedes, Volvo or whoever.

[SwissXC90]

Originally Posted by Lexman8

They say they can't do that as each comms module is one-time coded to a particular car and cannot be changed.

It is done for many reasons:
1. To ensure traceability of parts when they have been returned to the manufacturer: the manufacturer knows exactly what vehicle it came out of and thus knows what was expected of the part and can thus repair/refurbish accordingly.

2. To reduce manufacturing costs by producing one globally compatible hardware module that is then adapted to local markets via software programming

The manufacturer is only ever interested in replacing failled parts with guarranteed new parts. Only then can they guarrantee that the repair will be successful.
How would you like your brand new vehicle to be repaired with 2nd hand parts from a wrecked vehicle where the parts are of a dubious age and possibly incompatibly and potentially already a long way into their lifespan?

Therefore the vehicle manufacturer provides no re-virginising capability of the components to their authorised dealers. It simply does not fit their policy.

This provides an opportunity for after-market reflashers to reflash the component back to virgin state. Re-flashing is what is required as the part config is held in flash memory these days.
Of course, such after-market 3rd party re-flashing companies are not supported by the vehicle manufacturer, but they do exist (I saw some of this activity around BMWs).

So the answer from the dealer is typical for any modern vehicle dealer and is a byproduct of the human beings insatiable demand for more technology at a lower cost.

The problem of re-virginising components so that they can be fitted and recognised as "virgin new" components has existed for the last 20 years, I first saw it appearing in BMWs in the mid 1990s.

[Razer]

Originally Posted by Lexman8

On my Nexus 5X running Android 7 if there's an established wifi connection to my home wifi and I turn on the hotspot it breaks the wifi connection, reverts to 4G and switches the hotspot back off. If this is happening to you it could explain the problems your having. When my car is parked on the drive it's out of reach of my home wifi so the phone has already switched to 4G when I get in the car and hotspot switches on as it should and the car finds it.

Thanks, that could explain it as if i turn wifi off manually it all seems to work ok. Will put in another check on the flow.

[Razer]

Not extensively tested yet but worked ok on my drive earlier. Will continue to see how it operates

[yeoman]

Automate is good but you cannot beat MacDroid for ease of use and sheer simplicity.

WIth MacDroid , there is already a ready made (macro) one to activate the hotspot once the car Bluetooth is detected.

I was up and running in about 60 seconds.

Helpful video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YL9cWCykKc

[Razer]

Thanks, not heard of that one, will take a look.