[Largefarva]

I have a 2020 Forester Premium that I bought about a year and a half ago.

This past weekend I decided to sign up and activate the in-vehicle hotspot through AT&T. They offered unlimited data for $20 per month so I went ahead and did it.

The problem I’m having is that it broadcasts the SSID and I can connect to it, the internet will work for about a minute and then it the internet just stops working. I stay connected to the hotspot but the internet access itself just stops working.

Is there anything that I can try doing to figure this out? Or should I just go ahead and cancel the service?

 

[OuchDamn]

You might try switching off your Bluetooth on your phone and see if that changes anything with Wi-Fi connectivity.

 

[Mr.AC]

Ah yes...no one reads the fine print.
If you live in an area where your own cell phone has spotty service, guess what? So will your internet hotspot.
How good is your cell phone service? It maybe that AT&T doesn't have good reception in your area.

Then again.... who needs a hotspot theses days? If your own cell phone has unlimited data, what''s the point in paying extra? The speed is no different. Just an extra $20 down the drain.

 

[Largefarva]

The area I’m trying to use it is in the Chicagoland area….so I’m quite positive that it’s not a cell signal issue.

The reason I don’t want to use my phone’s hotspot is because I’m using this wifi for a separate phone running a specific app that isn’t available for iOS (android only). I could use my iPhone’s hotspot but that is very clunky to have to do every time that I drive my vehicle…I would like to just have a wifi signal available without having to go through a routine each time I start my car.

 

[Largefarva]

You might try switching off your Bluetooth on your phone and see if that changes anything with Wi-Fi connectivity.

The issue happens on two different devices, an android phone and my iPhone 12….and they both lose access to the internet at the same time.

Right now I’m wondering if it has to do with the trial internet period….I’m pretty sure I’ve read people have had problems like this while on the trial period but went away after they started paying for the service.

 

[Menel]

The issue happens on two different devices, an android phone and my iPhone 12….and they both lose access to the internet at the same time.

Right now I’m wondering if it has to do with the trial internet period….I’m pretty sure I’ve read people have had problems like this while on the trial period but went away after they started paying for the service.

We did a road trip up the east coast last month, made the back seat a WFH setup. Zoom calls, VPN, all working great through the trial and into the paid portion.

The only time it didn't work were low signal areas. We were very careful to set 'low bandwidth mode' 'metered connection mode' and to only connect devices as critical to it. I don't know how beefy the subi/att router is, but it's probably not very beefy.

 

[Largefarva]

Just as an update to help anyone else out experiencing the same issue I was, it appears to be fixed.

I called AT&T to make sure there wasn't anything wrong with my account, and there wasn't. They asked if I could go out to my vehicle to do some troubleshooting and since I was at work at the time I asked what the troubleshooting would be so I could try it when I got off of work. So they told me.

The first thing they were going to ask is to change the wifi name and password from what it was assigned at the factory. I had already done that so I didn't bother trying this yet.

The second thing they wanted me to do was after I started it up next to shut the vehicle down and then open the driver's side door and leave it open for 60-90 seconds. So on my drive home the internet was good for about the entire drive home until about the last 10 minutes, so I had the android phone join my iphone hotspot for the rest of the trip home. When I got home I went ahead and shut down my car and then left the driver's side door open for a good 3-4 minutes.

Ever since then it's worked flawlessly, no more problems with the internet connectivity. I don't know what leaving the driver's side door open for a couple minutes after shutting down the vehicle does, but it seems to have worked.

 

[Largefarva]

Looks like I spoke too soon. It started losing internet connectivity after a couple more drives. So looks like I’m going to have to cancel the AT&T hotspot after all. I’ll either have to go back to using my iPhone hotspot, or since I’m a Verizon customer I might try the HUM+ GEN 2. Does anyone have any experience with this device?