Embedded Sim fail
- Thread starter Thundercliffe81
- Start date
Ok, so took the car in this morning and I'm back home, with my car already! Approx 60 mins at dealers. Most of that was paper work for a courtesy car I didn't need.
Firstly, as stated elsewhere, the google earth loading screen is a separate, more recent issue. No word on resolution to this.
As for the other issues I have been experiencing, as mentioned earlier in this thread (complete lack of connectivity and suggesting no sim was installed)
Well the comical response (from Audi UK technical, as the dealers raised it with them) is:-
'Audi are aware of the issue but there is currently no fix available, they are working on a software update but no timscale for release'
The suggestion is that the sim stops working due to not been able to cope with data heavy demands like google earth, the interim answer....wait for it, set the nav to standard view and do not use google!
I'm not sure this is correct as according to the data usage, I've only used 270mb since I've had the car at the end of April and I always use google view on the nav.
The tech actually said I'm better off using my own sim!
I have now put my own sim in and am composing a little email to Audi CS
Regarding lack of advertised functionality!
For me, been told not to use google is not an acceptable answer without been given a timescale for a fix.
The most annoying part is I had to email my screen shots to the master tech today and all this could've bee done by email last week without having to book an appointment and take time off work. They didn't even plug my car in or move it.
Firstly, as stated elsewhere, the google earth loading screen is a separate, more recent issue. No word on resolution to this.
As for the other issues I have been experiencing, as mentioned earlier in this thread (complete lack of connectivity and suggesting no sim was installed)
Well the comical response (from Audi UK technical, as the dealers raised it with them) is:-
'Audi are aware of the issue but there is currently no fix available, they are working on a software update but no timscale for release'
The suggestion is that the sim stops working due to not been able to cope with data heavy demands like google earth, the interim answer....wait for it, set the nav to standard view and do not use google!
I'm not sure this is correct as according to the data usage, I've only used 270mb since I've had the car at the end of April and I always use google view on the nav.
The tech actually said I'm better off using my own sim!
I have now put my own sim in and am composing a little email to Audi CS
Regarding lack of advertised functionality!
For me, been told not to use google is not an acceptable answer without been given a timescale for a fix.
The most annoying part is I had to email my screen shots to the master tech today and all this could've bee done by email last week without having to book an appointment and take time off work. They didn't even plug my car in or move it.
It would be interesting to be able to test the current speed of the internal sims connection, I have seen figures from the audiworld forum before but I do not know how they tested it...
Yeah at least with my own sim as I can connect over wifi I can at least do a speed test on that connection
Thundercliffe81
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Mine is all good in West and North Yorkshire if that helps. Is it geographical maybe? Pardon the pun 
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Thundercliffe81
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Mine is all good in West and North Yorkshire if that helps. Is it geographical maybe? Pardon the pun
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Since posting earlier I've been out and about using my pre paid 3 data sim from my old car, works like a dream, not a single error message. Plus I get wifi in the car!
I called CS earlier and told them I wanted them to cover the cost of my data sim until the problems fixed, waiting for a call back lol.
I called CS earlier and told them I wanted them to cover the cost of my data sim until the problems fixed, waiting for a call back lol.
Thundercliffe81
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Me and Audi CS go way back, they love it when I call
Thundercliffe81
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Haha
I bet you do. They'll probably cover you for 36 months! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Twice today google maps has loaded very quickly, almost instantaneously, then on the way home it was stuck at loading. Trouble is it is difficult identifying where the issue is, other connections work ok, such as weather, news etc. Google maps are not located on audi servers so it could be the connection between them. As the A3 owners are experiencing similar it suggests its not a local issue so we will have to sit it out until the issue is resolved.
yuppyflyer
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Mine seems fine here in Durham. I always have the Google maps showing on either the main screen or driver display.
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Somebody in Doncaster had the issue, I don't think it is about local reception it just appears to be random to any A3/A4/A5 and probably more...
Same here in Newcastle and Durham area. Started intermittently over last 7-10 days
Hi guys, probably none of this info will be helpful and has already been said before. I also apologise in advance as I'm new and I like to waffle... 
I use my own data SIM to avoid paying for the non-so-cheap rates, so I can't really comment on the intermittent-ness. Although I did use the eSIM briefly when I got the car and performance was poor compared to my EE SIM.
To be fair, those prices are ok-ish if you want to do a European road trip and want data for your WiFi devices!
However, I was interested in how it works considering Audi ship these cars all over the world. As some members probably know, the eSIM is from Cubic Telecom which seems to be a startup of ~100 people. http://www.cubictelecom.com/Technologies
Cubic have contracts globally with network operators (looks like EE in the UK and Tele2 in Sweden, for instance) and then the eSIM has multiple IMSI numbers so when you go to another country it can change to be a "local SIM". Cubic seem to run their back end for this out of Microsoft's Azure cloud service, so all of the billing and account information and whatnot isn't being sent to a single data centre based far away from the customer - seems sensible!
If I'd have to take a guess as to why the Audi connect services occasionally stop working, I'd say that it's probably an issue with some of Cubic's systems doing the backend connection stuff - or maybe Audi forgot to pay their phone bill that month?
Although, if the replacement unit has fixed some of the issues maybe their embedded SIM is just ***** 
Either way, it's a bit of a poor show from Audi to not be making customers aware if their 3rd party SIM supplier is having issues; if someone is ringing customer care maybe they can ask if they can look into giving customers an option to subscribe to outage emails from Cubic?
I think I'll only be using the eSIM so I don't burn through my data when I want to do those very very large online map updates...
I use my own data SIM to avoid paying for the non-so-cheap rates, so I can't really comment on the intermittent-ness. Although I did use the eSIM briefly when I got the car and performance was poor compared to my EE SIM.
To be fair, those prices are ok-ish if you want to do a European road trip and want data for your WiFi devices!
However, I was interested in how it works considering Audi ship these cars all over the world. As some members probably know, the eSIM is from Cubic Telecom which seems to be a startup of ~100 people. http://www.cubictelecom.com/Technologies
Cubic have contracts globally with network operators (looks like EE in the UK and Tele2 in Sweden, for instance) and then the eSIM has multiple IMSI numbers so when you go to another country it can change to be a "local SIM". Cubic seem to run their back end for this out of Microsoft's Azure cloud service, so all of the billing and account information and whatnot isn't being sent to a single data centre based far away from the customer - seems sensible!
If I'd have to take a guess as to why the Audi connect services occasionally stop working, I'd say that it's probably an issue with some of Cubic's systems doing the backend connection stuff - or maybe Audi forgot to pay their phone bill that month?
Although, if the replacement unit has fixed some of the issues maybe their embedded SIM is just ***** Either way, it's a bit of a poor show from Audi to not be making customers aware if their 3rd party SIM supplier is having issues; if someone is ringing customer care maybe they can ask if they can look into giving customers an option to subscribe to outage emails from Cubic?
I think I'll only be using the eSIM so I don't burn through my data when I want to do those very very large online map updates...
A couple of guys this the A3 8v forum have had Audi tweet this back to them:
"Reply from Audi CC to my Tweet:
There is currently a technical fault with Google Maps. We’re looking at solutions to get the service running again. Thanks for your patience"
"Reply from Audi CC to my Tweet:
There is currently a technical fault with Google Maps. We’re looking at solutions to get the service running again. Thanks for your patience"
Thank you, and I apologise for my terrible grammer however I was feeling rather poorly when I write that post... ;-)
So sorry to hear that.
On the plus side, your post are usually very informative, so well done you.
Thank you, I appreciate it, it does seem, these days, that even a two hour car wash knackers me out....:-(
I've got the basic MMI Navigation (no tech pack) with Audi Connect working on the 3 months eval. Works ok but I keep having to accept the service agreement every time I use it (!).
If I use a Three 12Gb data SIM (tethering allowed) in the MMI SIM slot, what do I gain/lose compared to the embedded SIM?
Peter
If I use a Three 12Gb data SIM (tethering allowed) in the MMI SIM slot, what do I gain/lose compared to the embedded SIM?
Peter
If using you own sim, you gain wifi hotspot for passengers, but looks like you loose some of the Audi connect things like weather etc. Not a deal breaker for me
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The service manager from my dealers called today to apologise after CS had been on to him after my little note to them.
As I mentioned I was now using my own sim they offered to pay for a new 12gb/month sim. As a token of good will until a fix is Available. Not much but a nice gesture.
One thing he said was that Audi technical advised the auto zoom function at junction may help with google earth!? I was sceptical but thought I'd try it today. Didn't notice a difference but did notice something weird which I may have just missed before.
Anyone else seen this?
The RH side of the VC, when zooming in at junctions was displaying google map behind!
As I mentioned I was now using my own sim they offered to pay for a new 12gb/month sim. As a token of good will until a fix is Available. Not much but a nice gesture.
One thing he said was that Audi technical advised the auto zoom function at junction may help with google earth!? I was sceptical but thought I'd try it today. Didn't notice a difference but did notice something weird which I may have just missed before.
Anyone else seen this?
The RH side of the VC, when zooming in at junctions was displaying google map behind!
Thundercliffe81
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No it's always just a graphic for me. It's dropped out again for me today but Audi Connect services still working
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I guess on the plus side it suggests that the RH side of the screen can display more, so might mean it can be customised using Vcds by peps in the know!
No further updates, other than the initial "There is currently a technical fault.....thanks for your patience".
