2018 F83 WiFi and CarPlay question

[sliu070]

Originally Posted by Encanto

Pairing is for Bluetooth connections, CarPlay is WiFi connection. Either the iPhone connects or it does not.

Your connection problem seems to me about FSC activation (if any as this USB activation may have a software trick to somehow bypass the FSC), and not of WiFi connection.

Found this on another forum about g30s.

Now in my case, while the HU has wifi hardware, it does not have a wifi antenna plugged into the HU
I knew this upfront as in my earlier trysts with e-sys, i had enabled the hotspot and miracast flag as active
However, I also knew that my car does not have a wifi antenna as miracast would be slow/drop connection if I moved the phone away from the dash
Thus when I enabled carplay, I knew I may face the same issue
Now with carplay, I get flawless connectivity as long as the phone is placed near the cup holder/under the HU but start getting delayed response/connection drop if I move it away

I checked the wifi signal from the HU on my iphone with airplay on and it showed a RSSI (signal strength) of -72dbm when close to the HU which is usable but not perfect (think of it as a 3 bars of 5 on your laptop wifi)

Now I originally activated carplay just for kicks but now that since carplay is actually getting full time usage, I ordered a BMW wifi antenna yesterday (some 10 GBP odd) which I will get next week
In fact Aliexpress has the antennas for 4/5 USD but din't have the patience to wait a month (search for "BMW NBT Evo wifi antenna" or "BMW Fakra wifi antenna")

What this means for you is :
a) You may already have an antenna and don't need to do anything other than ordering the softkey and buying/building an enet cable

b) You may not have an antenna but are OK leaving the phone under the dash - don't worry, while under the dash, there is zero lag

c) or do what I did - try carplay, if you like it, order an antenna.. getting access to the antenna connector panel at the back of the headunit should be a thirty minute task ..attaching the antenna is plug & play.. or you can always ask a good workshop to do it for you

What he described is exactly what is happening to me when I take my phone away from the HU near the cup holder. So I think I just need to buy a wifi antenna and plug it in at the back today the HU.

[Encanto]

You do not have a G30 -the F3/8x NBT WiFi configuration is different.

Originally Posted by sliu070

Found this on another forum about g30s.

Now in my case, while the HU has wifi hardware, it does not have a wifi antenna plugged into the HU
I knew this upfront as in my earlier trysts with e-sys, i had enabled the hotspot and miracast flag as active
However, I also knew that my car does not have a wifi antenna as miracast would be slow/drop connection if I moved the phone away from the dash
Thus when I enabled carplay, I knew I may face the same issue
Now with carplay, I get flawless connectivity as long as the phone is placed near the cup holder/under the HU but start getting delayed response/connection drop if I move it away

I checked the wifi signal from the HU on my iphone with airplay on and it showed a RSSI (signal strength) of -72dbm when close to the HU which is usable but not perfect (think of it as a 3 bars of 5 on your laptop wifi)

Now I originally activated carplay just for kicks but now that since carplay is actually getting full time usage, I ordered a BMW wifi antenna yesterday (some 10 GBP odd) which I will get next week
In fact Aliexpress has the antennas for 4/5 USD but din't have the patience to wait a month (search for "BMW NBT Evo wifi antenna" or "BMW Fakra wifi antenna")

What this means for you is :
a) You may already have an antenna and don't need to do anything other than ordering the softkey and buying/building an enet cable

b) You may not have an antenna but are OK leaving the phone under the dash - don't worry, while under the dash, there is zero lag

c) or do what I did - try carplay, if you like it, order an antenna.. getting access to the antenna connector panel at the back of the headunit should be a thirty minute task ..attaching the antenna is plug & play.. or you can always ask a good workshop to do it for you

What he described is exactly what is happening to me when I take my phone away from the HU near the cup holder. So I think I just need to buy a wifi antenna and plug it in at the back today the HU.

[Encanto]

Originally Posted by milk242

It's called ATM

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=84_1140

Telematic Communication Box (TCB): https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f...n-box/JMkEkEyQ

We are talking about the same thing.

[milk242]

Originally Posted by Encanto

Telematic Communication Box (TCB): https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f...n-box/JMkEkEyQ

Yes that is for a F10. In 2016, for at least the f80, BMW switched to NBT Evo head units that use the ATM module to get gps and cellular signal for ConnectedDrive which basically takes over the TCB.

All in all we are probably talking about the same thing, it just has a new name.

[milk242]

Originally Posted by sliu070

Found this on another forum about g30s.

Now in my case, while the HU has wifi hardware, it does not have a wifi antenna plugged into the HU
I knew this upfront as in my earlier trysts with e-sys, i had enabled the hotspot and miracast flag as active
However, I also knew that my car does not have a wifi antenna as miracast would be slow/drop connection if I moved the phone away from the dash
Thus when I enabled carplay, I knew I may face the same issue
Now with carplay, I get flawless connectivity as long as the phone is placed near the cup holder/under the HU but start getting delayed response/connection drop if I move it away

I checked the wifi signal from the HU on my iphone with airplay on and it showed a RSSI (signal strength) of -72dbm when close to the HU which is usable but not perfect (think of it as a 3 bars of 5 on your laptop wifi)

Now I originally activated carplay just for kicks but now that since carplay is actually getting full time usage, I ordered a BMW wifi antenna yesterday (some 10 GBP odd) which I will get next week
In fact Aliexpress has the antennas for 4/5 USD but din't have the patience to wait a month (search for "BMW NBT Evo wifi antenna" or "BMW Fakra wifi antenna")

What this means for you is :
a) You may already have an antenna and don't need to do anything other than ordering the softkey and buying/building an enet cable

b) You may not have an antenna but are OK leaving the phone under the dash - don't worry, while under the dash, there is zero lag

c) or do what I did - try carplay, if you like it, order an antenna.. getting access to the antenna connector panel at the back of the headunit should be a thirty minute task ..attaching the antenna is plug & play.. or you can always ask a good workshop to do it for you

What he described is exactly what is happening to me when I take my phone away from the HU near the cup holder. So I think I just need to buy a wifi antenna and plug it in at the back today the HU.

I'll still sell you my oem antenna but before you spend money, you might want to just check the back of your head unit and see if you have one.

[sliu070]

Originally Posted by milk242

I'll still sell you my oem antenna but before you spend money, you might want to just check the back of your head unit and see if you have one.

Anyone got a disassembly guide?
Where does is the antenna suppose to be located in the f83? Cheers

[sliu070]

Originally Posted by Encanto

You do not have a G30 -the F3/8x NBT WiFi configuration is different.

Ah ok, thanks.

[guigui92350]

Hi guys,

A lot of interesting information in this thread, thanks for that.
Maybe you can help to understand somethin on my HU.
I have a 2018 F20 LCI without NAV.
My HU is HU_entryevo or HU_entrynav2.
I try to activate carplay with Steve from codemybimmer.
First I bought a wifi antenna to plug in the back of my HU but what a surprise there was no suitable place to snap it.
I don't have hotsport wifi option neither carplay preparation but Steve is pretty sure that it can be activated.
Here the back of my HU, do you think the wifi can be natively integrated ?

[kubax86]

Originally Posted by guigui92350

Hi guys,

A lot of interesting information in this thread, thanks for that.
Maybe you can help to understand somethin on my HU.
I have a 2018 F20 LCI without NAV.
My HU is HU_entryevo or HU_entrynav2.
I try to activate carplay with Steve from codemybimmer.
First I bought a wifi antenna to plug in the back of my HU but what a surprise there was no suitable place to snap it.
I don't have hotsport wifi option neither carplay preparation but Steve is pretty sure that it can be activated.
Here the back of my HU, do you think the wifi can be natively integrated ?

I’m pretty sure it can’t be activated theough third party.
It can only be done by dealer, and if dealer refuse it, it can’t be done.

[guigui92350]

Originally Posted by kubax86

I’m pretty sure it can’t be activated theough third party.
It can only be done by dealer, and if dealer refuse it, it can’t be done.

Hi,

In fact it could have been working, the only missing thing was the wifi feature in this HU that is hu_entryevo bu very basic one. Other hu_entryevo avec the socket for the wifi and carplay has been activated successfully. Too bad for me.
Either I find a new HU or go for an after market solution (Unique AD, BimmerTech, etc... but I feel I need to wait a little bit as it is constantly improving for the moment).