[Rick_vdl]

I've scoured the forum, the only threads that come back when doing a wifi search are the threads about Audi vehicles being hotspot enabled.

Did I really just buy a 50k car that isn't hotspot enabled, even with a subscription??

Is that right? Is something coming with the fall software update?

 

[maddsiick]

I haven't seen anything about any Infiniti having hotspot capabilities.

 

[Rick_vdl]

Crap.....I'm looking at a new Grand Cherokee right now, which does have hotspot. I guess I got confused and thought surely the Q50 had it

 

[maddsiick]

I use my iPhone as a hotspot wherever I go. Works great and LTE tethering is a lot faster than the 2G chip in the Q50. That's an alternative. I know there are some other companies that have hotspot devices you could install into your car and pay for a subscription to do it if you need it. I just use the phone method though.

 

[Soon2Q50]

Most phones are hot spot enabled, so I can't really see a point to having your car as a hot spot, at least not for me. I mean I guess your passengers could stream stuff, but I couldn't imagine you'd get a very good experience with the 2G network it uses compared to LTE that most people have access to.

Whether the car had a hot spot or not was never a deciding factor for me because I know I would probably never use it, but to each his own. Since you're cross shopping with a Jeep Cherokee, you're probably looking for different things in a car than I was when I purchased the Q50. Good luck with whatever you buy though

 

[CheekEman]

I personally would NOT want my car to be able to turn in to a hotspot. That's what your phone is for! Just charge it with the car and there you go. Plus you can take it with you once you leave your car.

 

[toonman]

Hot spot in cars is really just a marketing tool. I dont see how you benefit from it when you can get hot spots from your phone etc.

 

[maddsiick]

Especially when you have to pay for it monthly just like your cell phone data anyway.

 

[Slurm!]

I don't think a hotspot is really necessary. I just imagine that it would be pretty useless. how often to you take out your laptop in the car to use the internet? If you want to use your smartphone's internet in the car it has 3G, and you can also use your phone for a hotspot. I guess I'm just wondering what you would use the hotspot for?

 

[maddsiick]

I guess if you have kids with iPads or wifi enabled devices, it might be easier to pay for a plan for your car on road trips than a separate data plan per device. But you would still be limited to the amount of data per month on a hotspot plan for your car.

 

[Sinecure]

Explain to me why you want your car to be a hotspot? You want to pay Infiniti to have crappy, slow internet access in your car? Why not just get a MiFi and be done with it? You'll have faster speed, and you'll be able to upgrade it two years from now when wireless technology has improved. Or you could have the same slow crap in your car ten years from now and have it be completely useless (****, we have cars with DVD players in them we currently sell and those are almost pointless already).

 

[Rick_vdl]

Good feedback, and I agree. However, those of us with company phones can't always add the hotspot feature as easily as you guys make it sound. Such is the case with me.....having a free phone and iPad with unlimited use has it's perks but also has it's drawbacks

 

[SimpsonTide985]

Hmmm. Unfortunately the cost of a car doesn't really entitle one to any and everything specifically.

I mean, one car is one car. They all operate a little differently especially the features and options each has. When it comes to wifi hotspots, it's such of a niche option right now, I would never assume it to be on any given car at this point. It hasn't quite reached that point yet.

 

[Rick_vdl]

Hmmm. Unfortunately the cost of a car doesn't really entitle one to any and everything specifically.

I mean, one car is one car. They all operate a little differently especially the features and options each has. When it comes to wifi hotspots, it's such of a niche option right now, I would never assume it to be on any given car at this point. It hasn't quite reached that point yet.

Completely agree, and I still love my Q50, which I didn't buy b/c I thought it had a hotspot feature. Hope I didn't come across as whiny, or snooty. My shopping for the Jeep coincided with our purchasing the Q50 so there was overlap with features/benefits

 

[BellaQ50]

I don't think this is such a bad idea. I get free WiFi with my internet provider and they have thousands of hotspots in my area and it's super fast. I can see this being a beneficial feature for me.

 

[Rick_vdl]

I don't think this is such a bad idea. I get free WiFi with my internet provider and they have thousands of hotspots in my area and it's super fast. I can see this being a beneficial feature for me.

A few of you asked why someone would want a hotspot in their car - when my company phone did have the ability to provide wifi, I would often find myself needing to fire off an e-mail with an attachment, which couldn't be done with either my iPhone or iPad - it needed to be done with my laptop. And because I drive quite a bit and often find myself out of proximity to a Starbucks/McDs/Panera, the hotspot really came in handy. My company has since done away from the hotspot on our phone option.....something about reducing non-critical expenditures????

Another instance where a hotspot in the car might be handy came up yesterday when my wife and I had an 8 hour drive to make and she really could have spent that entire time doing work while I drove.

It's definitely not a necessity, just a nice to have - I think more and more cars will offer this feature in the near future. Per my earlier post, the Jeep GC I'm considering (as well as most of the Chrysler line up have this as a subscription feature)

 

[Sinecure]

For the record, I wasn't questioning why you want a hotspot in your car. I was questioning why you want a car - which should last at least ten years - to be the hotspot. We don't use the same wireless tech from three years ago, let along 6 or ten years ago. So why tie yourself to that tech in the car. Just get the mobile, replaceable version.

I feel even more strongly about "docks" or special cables built for specific devices. Aren't you glad your 3 year old car has a 30-pin cable attachment for ipod/iphone? Because that's going to work really well with your iPhone 5. And I'm nearly certain Apple will cook up something different for the iPhone 7 or 8.

 

[maddsiick]

I feel even more strongly about "docks" or special cables built for specific devices.

I have to agree with this. I had a dock for my iPhone 3G which was pretty expensive for my TL, it was custom made for the TL. When the iPhone 4 came out, I had to buy a case big enough so that it would fit in the 3G dock. After the 5 came out and I upgraded, I was going to bite the bullet and buy a new dock for it but ended up trading in the TL for my Q50. No more dock needed with BTA!!

 

[Rick_vdl]

For the record, I wasn't questioning why you want a hotspot in your car. I was questioning why you want a car - which should last at least ten years - to be the hotspot. We don't use the same wireless tech from three years ago, let along 6 or ten years ago. So why tie yourself to that tech in the car. Just get the mobile, replaceable version.

Understood, I don't think I have an answer that will satisfy your question. I don't necessarily want a hotspot in any of my cars, I was curious initially because I couldn't recall if the Q was equipped with that feature or not....I certainly hadn't found it when scrolling through the Intouch system - but there seems to be a whole slew of things that are going to magically become reality when the fall software update hits.

 

[BNB-Ryan]

A few of you asked why someone would want a hotspot in their car - when my company phone did have the ability to provide wifi, I would often find myself needing to fire off an e-mail with an attachment, which couldn't be done with either my iPhone or iPad - it needed to be done with my laptop. And because I drive quite a bit and often find myself out of proximity to a Starbucks/McDs/Panera, the hotspot really came in handy. My company has since done away from the hotspot on our phone option.....something about reducing non-critical expenditures????

Another instance where a hotspot in the car might be handy came up yesterday when my wife and I had an 8 hour drive to make and she really could have spent that entire time doing work while I drove.

It's definitely not a necessity, just a nice to have - I think more and more cars will offer this feature in the near future. Per my earlier post, the Jeep GC I'm considering (as well as most of the Chrysler line up have this as a subscription feature)

You are still missing the point. Why not just get a MiFi and leave it plugged in inside the center console? If Infiniti offered WiFi, you would pay for that service, or you can pay for MiFi service, on a better network, and have control over it, which includes being able to take it out of the car when you want it.