Wifi/Carplay/AA/Toyota Subscriptions

[Don]

My mapping will be apple maps and onxmaps, both from Carplay. I will have Starlink roam that can be mounted to the inside of the sunroof. I don't plan to use stalink while moving. I may or may not mount starlink on the exterior roof in the future. My roof rack plans are uncertain.

My assumption is that I don't need to pay Toyota for their wifi connection, as I'm using my phone for that purpose. At this point I'm somewhat confused about all the Toyota subscription services for which we currently have trial subscriptions.

I will consider a cell phone booster. I haven't shopped those for a few years and I don't know current prices and capabilities. I will also consider a GMRS radio. I would like to do all the comms type upgrade at the same time.

I haven't decided if I will continue to use Garmin Inreach as iphone now has emergency satellite comms.

What are you doing, and how do the Toyota subscriptions fit into your plans?

 

[Captain Trips]

The Wi-Fi in the vehicle is an AT&T subscription. This subscription is required to use the featured Apple Music or Google music. If you don’t use either of those natively in your Toyota, you don’t need the Wi-Fi subscription. You can just use Google Music or Apple Music via CarPlay in your phone.

As far as data, the Wi-Fi subscription could be beneficial if you are in areas that have good AT&T coverage and your phone is on a different plan where your coverage is very weak. For example, when I went to Colorado, my T-Mobile subscription did not work because the signal was pretty much nonexistent. I had Wi-Fi in my forerunner and I was able to make phone calls via the att Wi-Fi.

 

[Don]

The Wi-Fi in the vehicle is an AT&T subscription. This subscription is required to use the featured Apple Music or Google music. If you don’t use either of those natively in your Toyota, you don’t need the Wi-Fi subscription. You can just use Google Music or Apple Music via CarPlay in your phone.

I do wonder how many Toyota customers using carplay or AA are unnecessarily paying for that subscription and others?

From what I have read online the app will work without any subscriptions, but I'm not certain. Microsoft has trained people well to not expect elegant interfaces and services.

 

[TrailWhale]

I don't plan to renew the Toyota subscriptions after the trial expires. I do not see the value in it for my own uses. I have never felt like I'm missing out on anything worthwhile with my other Toyotas either.

I use carplay exclusively for everything - music, podcasts, google maps, & gaia. When out of service, i'm out of service, that's a feature not a bug. I always have maps downloaded on Gaia.

My iPhone has satellite messaging but I also have an Garmin InReach MIni with an active subscription. The Garmin has been handy for weather forecasts when out of service for a few days. Knock on wood that that will continue to be the only use for it!

 

[Trailman]

My vehicle is coming with the extra 2 year connected subscription. Dealer is trying to remove it. They told me you can drop down to just $8 per month for the remote locking feature to work. Not sure if this is accurate or not. Still waiting on mine to process through Portland...

 

[Captain Trips]

My vehicle is coming with the extra 2 year connected subscription. Dealer is trying to remove it. They told me you can drop down to just $8 per month for the remote locking feature to work. Not sure if this is accurate or not. Still waiting on mine to process through Portland...

What was the cost of the extra two-year connected subscription?

Eight dollars a month for just the remote sounds about right. I think it’s $15 a month for remote and Maps. The Maps also includes the phone calls to the concierge.

 

[Tom B]

I let the Wifi subscription expire. It only lasted a month. I was told I can no longer use Carplay without the Wifi. My phone used to just connect to my vehicle with Bluetooth, it seems crazy that I also need to keep the Wifi to allow my phone to connect to the LC.
Can we still use Carplay without the Wifi?
And how do i get this message to stop coming up every 5 minutes on my display?

 

[glibglob]

I use wired CarPlay and it works fine. I’ve opted out of all subs it came with.

 

[Trailman]

What was the cost of the extra two-year connected subscription?

Eight dollars a month for just the remote sounds about right. I think it’s $15 a month for remote and Maps. The Maps also includes the phone calls to the concierge.

$360 so no different than if you purchased it on your own. It was just included in the initial allocation. I actually decided to keep it even though they were going to drop it if I wanted to. I like the functionality of the remote start and locking feature with climate control. Works great so far for me.

 

[EOD Guy]

I don't use wifi for my carplay, just blu-tooth

I let the Wifi subscription expire. It only lasted a month. I was told I can no longer use Carplay without the Wifi. My phone used to just connect to my vehicle with Bluetooth, it seems crazy that I also need to keep the Wifi to allow my phone to connect to the LC.
Can we still use Carplay without the Wifi?
And how do i get this message to stop coming up every 5 minutes on my display?View attachment 12625

I think in the settings there is a choice for Blu-tooth as primary....... I don't remember, but my carplay works on BT.

 

[LChomie]

I let the Wifi subscription expire. It only lasted a month. I was told I can no longer use Carplay without the Wifi. My phone used to just connect to my vehicle with Bluetooth, it seems crazy that I also need to keep the Wifi to allow my phone to connect to the LC.
Can we still use Carplay without the Wifi?
And how do i get this message to stop coming up every 5 minutes on my display?View attachment 12625

You definitely don't need the cellular WiFi subscription to use CarPlay. Your phone does use an ad hoc WiFi connection for CarPlay though. That message pops up when the ad hoc WiFi connection between your phone and the car gets interrupted. In my experience that happens when your phone joins a new WiFi network while CarPlay is active. I suspect that your car is still generating a WiFi network even though the cellular backhaul isn't active anymore. I'd guess your phone is ping-ponging between CarPlay and the WiFi network your car is generating. Make sure the WiFi network option on your car is turned off and on your phone forget the WiFi network that used to come from your car.

 

[LC3]

I let the Wifi subscription expire. It only lasted a month. I was told I can no longer use Carplay without the Wifi. My phone used to just connect to my vehicle with Bluetooth, it seems crazy that I also need to keep the Wifi to allow my phone to connect to the LC.
Can we still use Carplay without the Wifi?
And how do i get this message to stop coming up every 5 minutes on my display?View attachment 12625

You should be able to just plug in for carplay...

 

[Tom B]

"You should be able to just plug in for carplay..."

Still frustrating that I can't hook to the car with Bluetooth and play music. Tried today, it paired, showed me the song title and the play button but would not play. It would be nice not to have a cable.

 

[Markarian421]

"You should be able to just plug in for carplay..."

Still frustrating that I can't hook to the car with Bluetooth and play music. Tried today, it paired, showed me the song title and the play button but would not play. It would be nice not to have a cable.

Did you ever figure this out? I was just relying to decide how I could possibly need Wi-Fi Connect if I already have cell phone, Toyota is pretty vague on what services do or don't rely on it.

 

[Tom B]

Did you ever figure this out? I was just relying to decide how I could possibly need Wi-Fi Connect if I already have cell phone, Toyota is pretty vague on what services do or don't rely on it.

At the time, I had an iPhone 13. I had to use the USB cable and it worked with the cable. I haven't renewed the Wi-Fi but since I got an iPhone 16, it pairs without the cable, and I have CarPlay with Bluetooth.

I no longer get the constant "Wi-Fi connection interrupted" message every time I start the car, but it does occasionally give me that message randomly. I'm guessing the new iPhone fixed the unable to connect to CarPlay without a cable. Maybe the message was toned down by the new iPhone or an update, but I am not sure.

I don't use the Toyota app. I suspect that the app is not so functional without the mandatory Wi-Fi but, in my mind, there is no real benefit to the app other than seeing the tire pressure which I could care less about.

 

[Markarian421]

At the time, I had an iPhone 13. I had to use the USB cable and it worked with the cable. I haven't renewed the Wi-Fi but since I got an iPhone 16, it pairs without the cable, and I have CarPlay with Bluetooth.

I no longer get the constant "Wi-Fi connection interrupted" message every time I start the car, but it does occasionally give me that message randomly. I'm guessing the new iPhone fixed the unable to connect to CarPlay without a cable. Maybe the message was toned down by the new iPhone or an update, but I am not sure.

I don't use the Toyota app. I suspect that the app is not so functional without the mandatory Wi-Fi but, in my mind, there is no real benefit to the app other than seeing the tire pressure which I could care less about.

Thanks. I should have added, I get that same Wi-Fi warning message popping up all the time. But my phone iPhone already appears to be connecting via bluetooth instead of wifi -- when I checked settings on the Land Cruiser it looked like wifi is shut off (even though I'm still in the 30 day trial). So I don't know what that pop-up is about.

Edit to add: my wife has an iPhone 13 and it's working fine without a cable.

 

[JoeDirt]

At the time, I had an iPhone 13. I had to use the USB cable and it worked with the cable. I haven't renewed the Wi-Fi but since I got an iPhone 16, it pairs without the cable, and I have CarPlay with Bluetooth.

I no longer get the constant "Wi-Fi connection interrupted" message every time I start the car, but it does occasionally give me that message randomly. I'm guessing the new iPhone fixed the unable to connect to CarPlay without a cable. Maybe the message was toned down by the new iPhone or an update, but I am not sure.

I don't use the Toyota app. I suspect that the app is not so functional without the mandatory Wi-Fi but, in my mind, there is no real benefit to the app other than seeing the tire pressure which I could care less about.

I actually use the Toyota app daily as a digital key. I can leave my key fob at home for most of my local trips. This is all handled by the app.

 

[Markarian421]

I actually use the Toyota app daily as a digital key. I can leave my key fob at home for most of my local trips. This is all handled by the app.

Does it work without the WiFi subscription?

 

[JoeDirt]

Does it work without the WiFi subscription?

Yes. That complementary wi-fi from AT&T ended months ago. I saw no value in that, but the digital key via the app is awesome. One less thing to carry around. Was a little buggy at first, but works great now.

 

[PACruiser]

Link to the latest Toyota positioning of the connected services (Safety Connect, Service Connect, Drive Connect, Remote Connect and Wifi Connect). Wifi Connect is not necessary for the other four services but adds the vehicle hotspot and integration services with Apple and Amazon music streaming. Those are different from Apple Car Play or Android Auto which you get via USB or bluetooth connections.

Toyota Connected Services