Enlighten me on the SIM slot.......

[gilford]

So, it would appear as I'm an Apple iPhone user most of the internet features won't work.

Am I right in thinking if I get a PAYG data sim and whack it in the slot all features will work?

Also, what are these features??

Finally, is it worth it?

Cheers

[MikeFish]

The SIM slot is to use the online and Connect features.
These include:
Google maps for sat nav instead of normal map
Google search for destinations
streetview of destination as you approach
Send destinations to your car from your PC or phone
Family can surf the internet with their Wi-Fi only devices using the cars Wi-Fi via the cars 4G connection (assuming you have a facelift car and a 4G SIM otherwise it will be 3G)
Plus other stuff

I think it's worth it to spec it as an option and then pay for a SIM so if you already have it without having to pay for it as an option and all you need is to buy a SIM card then it's a no brainer. Buy one for a few quid and try it. You can get 6GB 3 month 4G EE cards on Amazon for £15 at times. Think they were about £18 last time I looked but you can probably get a 1gb one for 10 quid to try it out.

[gilford]

Yes, FL car with wifi hotspot.

Cheers Mike, such a knowledgable guy, a credit to the forum!

I'll buy a sim now and will be back with questions no doubt!

Do I just plug it in and away you go?

[MikeFish]

Thanks!

Depends on which card you get. The EE ones need to be activated before they will work. 2 ways to do this; if you have a device that uses full size SIM you can put it in there and try to surf to a web page which will take you to the EE activation page. There is a big bit about registering your SIM but you don't need to do this just scroll below and there is a button that says register, press that and your done, just need to swap the SIM into the car. The other way is to pop the SIM into the car then use your phone to connect to the cars Wi-Fi, then do the same as above on your phone ie try and open a webpage then click register. Sounds a lot but it's quite quick and easy.

PS it takes full size SIMs but most SIMs now come as full size with breakout bits for the 2 smaller sizes.

[gilford]

Cheers!

[RSphantom]

I got one of these;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00 ... UTF8&psc=1

It's supposed to last twelve months. Mines been in since last April and is still working fine. Best thing is you don't need to register three data sim cards, works straight away

[MikeFish]

That's good value. I wanted to stick with EE as they apparently have better coverage and are 4G as opposed to 3G with Three. Yes I appreciate I wil lproably never be able to tell the difference between 3G and 4G in the car but I just have to have 4G if available.

[Unomelodica]

mike just a quick question can you tether off a phone or is it a sim only deal with the card slot ? I have unlimited data on my main phone which happens to be an iphone .


G

[gilford]

I'm presuming 2gb will be adequate for all the cars needs like google maps etc?

[MikeFish]

mike just a quick question can you tether off a phone or is it a sim only deal with the card slot ? I have unlimited data on my main phone which happens to be an iphone .


G

I don't think so.

[doodlebug]

You can only tether, and use data from, a phone with SAP. Which excludes iPhone.

[MikeFish]

I'm presuming 2gb will be adequate for all the cars needs like google maps etc?

It depends on how many miles you will be doing but mainly if the kids are watching YouTube constantly for hours. On one long trip the 2 kids were both watching different things on YouTube on their ipads and used up my remaining data on a 6gb card that was fairly new.
But YouTube and kids aside, I never got through 2gb in one month. 1gb is probably enough for google maps and the odd google search etc.
What you need to be careful of if you don't have a lot of data is that my phone automatically connects whenever i get in the car. And my phone is set to unload and update as much as it likes when on wifi so can download big software / app updates or if someone sends some big videos on whatsapp, then the wife and kids do the same then it can quickly gobble up your data.

[RSphantom]

That's good value. I wanted to stick with EE as they apparently have better coverage and are 4G as opposed to 3G with Three. Yes I appreciate I wil lproably never be able to tell the difference between 3G and 4G in the car but I just have to have 4G if available.

Mike,
It is 4G, it just uses either 3G or 4G depending on what's available in the area I'm in. I only use it for the connect features as I don't have my iPhone connected to the wifi which is probably why it has lasted for nearly a year

[wildbore]

I'm presuming 2gb will be adequate for all the cars needs like google maps etc?

And my phone is set to unload and update as much as it likes when on wifi so can download big software / app updates....

I thought iPhone had a setting to prevent that? Android seems to handle it automatically (i.e. won't download updates when attached to a mobile hotspot). There's no stopping a big Whats App videos, though...

[MikeFish]

I have android. My phone asks for permission 1st but the wife just clicks on anything that pops up on her phone without reading properly. I also have a fair amount of data so not really a problem for me, just highlighting potential problems if you have limited data.