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      10-10-2020, 06:07 AM   #1
biterror
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G05 GSM modem

Does anyone know what kind of GSM modem the G05 is using in Europe? My dealer says the car has a "3G SIM", but he doesn't know about the modem itself. The Finnish GSM operators are shutting down their 3G networks in the next few years and if the car is unable to use 4G networks, the connection will drop to 2G which will be totally unusable.

It's hard to believe that BMW would be using 3G modems in the 2020's but I guess you can still find 3G modems and save a dollar per car...
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      10-10-2020, 06:44 AM   #2
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It's 4G, my car has the option to use the in car WiFi as an acces point to provide internet, if that were only via 3g then things like YouTube would be next to impossible but it works just fine for my kid.
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      10-10-2020, 06:47 AM   #3
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My connected drive page states it as an LTE connection, so yes 4G.
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      10-10-2020, 07:46 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by Pateeke81 View Post
My connected drive page states it as an LTE connection, so yes 4G.
Great, thanks! :-)
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      10-10-2020, 08:15 AM   #5
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"3G" has become synonymous with "cellular" or "mobile" for some people that learned about it during the 3G era. It's LTE :-).
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G05 X5 x40i (04/2019 mfg, Canada) on S18A-19-11-540
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      10-10-2020, 09:12 AM   #6
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just a question. about the onboard wifi connection, how does it work ?
do we pay a subsciption fee ?

i will be receiving my car in 2 weeks, but have no clue about it.
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      10-10-2020, 10:07 AM   #7
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just a question. about the onboard wifi connection, how does it work ?
do we pay a subsciption fee ?

i will be receiving my car in 2 weeks, but have no clue about it.
It is a monthly fee but you get one month free to try (in Belgium).
I would not take it because mobile is just cheaper.
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      10-10-2020, 10:13 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by Pateeke81 View Post
It is a monthly fee but you get one month free to try (in Belgium).
I would not take it because mobile is just cheaper.
so can you put a secondary sim card in ?
a copy of my own from a belgian telecom provider ?
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      10-10-2020, 10:25 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by hiluca View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pateeke81 View Post
It is a monthly fee but you get one month free to try (in Belgium).
I would not take it because mobile is just cheaper.
so can you put a secondary sim card in ?
a copy of my own from a belgian telecom provider ?
You can't put a separate data sim in. That would have been a good idea.

You can activate the trial in the connected drive app. In menu hub and then chose wifihotspot. It will direct you to the website to register and 1 month free is available. It is on the SIM of the car.

However it is very expensive. Just having a larger data contract on your phone and making a hotspot for the iPad of your children is cheaper. For your own phone you don't need it at all.

Now that you can use your data bundle across Europe you don't really need it anymore.
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      10-10-2020, 11:09 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by X5 45e View Post
You can't put a separate data sim in. That would have been a good idea.

You can activate the trial in the connected drive app. In menu hub and then chose wifihotspot. It will direct you to the website to register and 1 month free is available. It is on the SIM of the car.

However it is very expensive. Just having a larger data contract on your phone and making a hotspot for the iPad of your children is cheaper. For your own phone you don't need it at all.

Now that you can use your data bundle across Europe you don't really need it anymore.
alright, so all of you guys make a hotspot with your phone and make the car use that ?

a secondary sim card (or atleast make BMW's sim removable) slot would have gotten rid of the hassle of waiting for a connection.
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      10-10-2020, 11:28 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hiluca View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by X5 45e View Post
You can't put a separate data sim in. That would have been a good idea.

You can activate the trial in the connected drive app. In menu hub and then chose wifihotspot. It will direct you to the website to register and 1 month free is available. It is on the SIM of the car.

However it is very expensive. Just having a larger data contract on your phone and making a hotspot for the iPad of your children is cheaper. For your own phone you don't need it at all.

Now that you can use your data bundle across Europe you don't really need it anymore.
alright, so all of you guys make a hotspot with your phone and make the car use that ?

a secondary sim card (or atleast make BMW's sim removable) slot would have gotten rid of the hassle of waiting for a connection.
No you don't need it for the car it self. Just for streaming movies for the kids or for their games on the iPad.

And if I do I just connect them to my phone.

If we go on holidays I let them put the movies on their iPads and don't stream. I think they wills survive offline.
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      10-10-2020, 12:36 PM   #12
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Now that you can use your data bundle across Europe you don't really need it anymore.
I think in rural areas you might benefit from a better antenna. The small antenna inside a mobile phone inside a Faraday's cage (a.k.a a car) doesn't really work so well in some areas..
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      10-10-2020, 01:02 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by biterror View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by X5 45e View Post
Now that you can use your data bundle across Europe you don't really need it anymore.
I think in rural areas you might benefit from a better antenna. The small antenna inside a mobile phone inside a Faraday's cage (a.k.a a car) doesn't really work so well in some areas..
If I understand the Belgian info correctly with comfort telephony function the phone uses the cars fin antenna. I will see if I can find confirmation.
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      10-10-2020, 01:22 PM   #14
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Speed tested via phone connected to the in car WiFi hotspot. Speed well above 3G
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      10-10-2020, 01:56 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by X5 45e View Post
No you don't need it for the car it self. Just for streaming movies for the kids or for their games on the iPad.

And if I do I just connect them to my phone.

If we go on holidays I let them put the movies on their iPads and don't stream. I think they wills survive offline.
what about streaming music.
like spotify ? no hot spot needed ?
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      10-10-2020, 02:31 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hiluca View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by X5 45e View Post
No you don't need it for the car it self. Just for streaming movies for the kids or for their games on the iPad.

And if I do I just connect them to my phone.

If we go on holidays I let them put the movies on their iPads and don't stream. I think they wills survive offline.
what about streaming music.
like spotify ? no hot spot needed ?
I have my playlists download on my iPhone and i use Apple Music so I don't know about streaming music. If the kids really need internet I make a hotspot with one of our iPhones.

I compared the rates and the hotspot service is much more expensive than just getting a larger (unlimited) data bundle with our Belgian providers.

I am still looking for confirmation but I think a smart phone connected with the car uses the shark fin external antenna.

I don't use Spotify, don't know if you use Spotify in idrive it uses the cars data?

Edit: see picture below. It uses the cars data.
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      10-10-2020, 05:07 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by X5 45e View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by hiluca View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by X5 45e View Post
No you don't need it for the car it self. Just for streaming movies for the kids or for their games on the iPad.

And if I do I just connect them to my phone.

If we go on holidays I let them put the movies on their iPads and don't stream. I think they wills survive offline.
what about streaming music.
like spotify ? no hot spot needed ?
I have my playlists download on my iPhone and i use Apple Music so I don't know about streaming music. If the kids really need internet I make a hotspot with one of our iPhones.

I compared the rates and the hotspot service is much more expensive than just getting a larger (unlimited) data bundle with our Belgian providers.

I am still looking for confirmation but I think a smart phone connected with the car uses the shark fin external antenna.

I don't use Spotify, don't know if you use Spotify in idrive it uses the cars data?

Edit: see picture below. It uses the cars data.
The only reason to subscribe to mobile data for the car is if you want to use it as an internet access point for one of your devices (cell phone, tablet, laptop, etc). You don't need it for any of the cars features or functions.
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      10-10-2020, 07:13 PM   #18
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At least in my X5, when you put your phone in the designated spot, there's an amplifier that couples its signal to the roof antenna. In the USA, the user's manual tells you how to register that amp/coupler with your service provider. No idea how that works in other countries.

FWIW, the info in my manual, which I used to register it with my cellular provider, was different than what the car reported! It helps on things like emergency response if you called...the built-in capability is different, and relies on the vehicle's information, not your phone's.
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      10-11-2020, 12:28 AM   #19
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Quote:
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At least in my X5, when you put your phone in the designated spot, there's an amplifier that couples its signal to the roof antenna. In the USA, the user's manual tells you how to register that amp/coupler with your service provider. No idea how that works in other countries.
Yes, I know about this, but I'm not sure if it works in Finland. I think here you need to apply for a special permission for this kind of amplifiers for houses, at least (and I'm not sure if they even give those permissions to private persons). Not sure if it's different for cars.
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      10-11-2020, 12:59 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by biterror View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by jad03060 View Post
At least in my X5, when you put your phone in the designated spot, there's an amplifier that couples its signal to the roof antenna. In the USA, the user's manual tells you how to register that amp/coupler with your service provider. No idea how that works in other countries.
Yes, I know about this, but I'm not sure if it works in Finland. I think here you need to apply for a special permission for this kind of amplifiers for houses, at least (and I'm not sure if they even give those permissions to private persons). Not sure if it's different for cars.
According to the Belgian site, with comfort telephony the phone uses the roof antenna (dakantenne) My screenshot is in Dutch but maybe you can find the Finnish / English version?

It is not clear if you need to put it in the charging tray to have it working like this.
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      11-01-2020, 10:59 AM   #21
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Originally Posted by zhangyi17 View Post
Speed tested via phone connected to the in car WiFi hotspot. Speed well above 3G
How do you enable the hotspot to actually let you use the Internet? I'm trying to get Android Auto working with my OP 6T, but my phone goes crazy when it connects the car's WIFI and finds out it can't get to Internet.. it disconnects, finds the WIFI again, connects, disconnects etc. and I have to shut down the WIFI.

My dealer says that a 3-year Internet access was included in the car price, but I have no idea how to activate it.
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      11-01-2020, 02:25 PM   #22
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Quote:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zhangyi17 View Post
Speed tested via phone connected to the in car WiFi hotspot. Speed well above 3G
How do you enable the hotspot to actually let you use the Internet? I'm trying to get Android Auto working with my OP 6T, but my phone goes crazy when it connects the car's WIFI and finds out it can't get to Internet.. it disconnects, finds the WIFI again, connects, disconnects etc. and I have to shut down the WIFI.

My dealer says that a 3-year Internet access was included in the car price, but I have no idea how to activate it.
check out is video instruction:
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