Are any of you going to use a mobile hotspot instead of using Connect+?

[PBRAZ]

There appears to be a lot of features tied specially to a Connect+ membership. And at $15/month (less annually), it's hard to beat the pricing on an essentially an unlimited hotpot data plan.

Curious if any of you a) are not going to purchase Connect+ after the trial and b) are instead going to use some sort of dedicated mobile hotspot tethered to the car instead of your phone.

I ask because I know on a lot of cell phone plans you get throttled after a certain amount of data use. And that happens pretty quickly if you are consistently tethered and sucking up hotspot data. So curious if anyone is planning on using a mobile hotspot with an extra line on your current mobile plan so that data usage doesn't impact your cell phone data speeds.

Asked another way...does anyone wish they could just use a 3rd party SIM card in their Rivian?

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[Cycliste]

It would have to be an eSIM unless they buried a card slot somewhere. But sure, why not? Someone might need a different carrier in some locations

 

[PBRAZ]

It would have to be an eSIM unless they buried a card slot somewhere. But sure, why not? Someone might need a different carrier in some locations

Right, different carrier or perhaps a need for 5G.

 

[TheIglu]

I wish the hotspot would stay on and/or transmit stronger outside of the truck. If I'm working remotely -remotely- from my camper, I can't get signal inside of it from the truck, and it shuts off unless I do the seat belt trick.

 

[kozak79]

I wish the hotspot would stay on and/or transmit stronger outside of the truck. If I'm working remotely -remotely- from my camper, I can't get signal inside of it from the truck, and it shuts off unless I do the seat belt trick.

A WiFi to Ethernet adapter might work for you. Connect it to the hotspot and run an ethernet cable to your camper. Would the hotspot stay on in Camp Mode?

 

[TheIglu]

No, it doesn't, unless a seatbelt is buckled. But that's been iffy for testing, and keeps the truck fully on which isn't ideal in an off-grid situation.

Being an IT pro, I hadn't even though of a wifi-eth adaptor. Duh. I can probably make one out of these countless Raspberry Pi 3's I have kicking around doing nothing.

 

[SANZC02]

I was on the fence but when I was in Yellowstone I saw how the external antenna on the vehicle does boost the range of connectivity compared to my cell phone so decided the 150 a year was probably worth it to me.

 

[natcc99]

No, it doesn't, unless a seatbelt is buckled.

Hello, can you explain what the seatbelt trick does?
Does it trick the vehicle thinking the driver is seated and keep everything on?
Thanks

 

[TheIglu]

Yes. I buckled the passenger side seatbelt this past weekend and left my laptop downloading a file for about an hour this past weekend. I also had a backpack on the passenger seat, so not sure if the weight sensor was triggered as well.

I really don't mind paying for the Connect+ subscription, but I'd hope they would understand that we'd expect some improvement in functionality so we wouldn't have to use these workarounds to utilize the service we pay for.

 

[Rivdog]

I was on the fence but when I was in Yellowstone I saw how the external antenna on the vehicle does boost the range of connectivity compared to my cell phone so decided the 150 a year was probably worth it to me.

I’ve noticed the same. I can’t get signal on the phone but I can on the hotspot due to the extra power/antenna/whatever. Either way, it’s been the only way I’ve been able to connect several times while out in the backwoods. Totally worth it for me too.

 

[QuadMonster]

Does anyone know where to locate the eSIM information. I wouldn't mind adding it to my existing plan.

 

[Cycliste]

Does anyone know where to locate the eSIM information. I wouldn't mind adding it to my existing plan.

I believe the vehicle operating system would have to have the API for activating an eSIM with 3rd party carriers. I don’t see why Rivian couldn’t do that in the future. But I'm not aware of any vehicle that lets users add a 3rd party eSIM now.

 

[iansriv]

Can someone splain what we get for connect+; please? If I need to pay $15/m to be able to remotely start the a/c; so be it. What else do I need C+ for?

 

[Dark-Fx]

I wish the hotspot would stay on and/or transmit stronger outside of the truck. If I'm working remotely -remotely- from my camper, I can't get signal inside of it from the truck, and it shuts off unless I do the seat belt trick.

Camp mode always on would keep my hotspot active, but I haven't used it since the connect+ updates, so it's possible something has changed.

But for sure, the range on it is absolutely terrible. I end up putting a repeater in my truck when I needed it.

 

[godfodder0901]

Can someone splain what we get for connect+; please? If I need to pay $15/m to be able to remotely start the a/c; so be it. What else do I need C+ for?

Covered many times, but really it's an unlimited data plan with hotspot for the truck. The only features tied to it are remote Gear Guard view (which likely uses data plan depending on where it's parked) and satellite view for maps. Oh, and Connect+ gets 'priority' updates... Whatever that means.

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