LaserSVT

Now the system may work with my Motorola Z Force but since reading on here they usually dont I see people buy a sim card to keep the Google maps thing going. I assume they only work from the factory while under warranty/service contract.
So where is the best place to get one? I understand its only 3G and I asked the guy at Verizon if I could just buy a card and pay $10 a month like my tablet but he was clueless. So what are you all using on yours?

MP4.2+6.0

You should sort through the archives and posts on this. Your 2014 would have been TMobile originally. The older modems got swapped out when the old TMobile frequencies were no longer 3G, but as TDI/Dieselgate cost cutting set in, apparently only owners with the service from day 1 got swapped out as a service action. Our 2013 Q5 with it (called AudiConnect) did for example. Later ones also use AT&T, or you can use their cards. Audi Connect does run the maps overlay as you mention, but it also provides a WiFi hotspot set up that could be of some use. Again, search is your friend. Info is pretty similar for any of the platforms w/ Audi Connect--C7, Q5, D4, etc. The newer ones have a different system now, so don't get distracted by that.

LaserSVT

See thats the problem, I searched and got conflicting answers. Then in one thread it said there was a sim card with no monthly fees and in another thread a gent in the UK got one for $10 per month but the carrier was unspecified.

Why the VAG didnt back a horse like Verizon thats been around forever and went with T-Mobil is just stupid. So I had hoped I could get a sim card like for my tablet but as mentioned, Verizon had no idea how to do it.

Its not that I use the nav system a lot but having the Google interface would have been nice to show off.

dyc1077

i am using a freedom pop sim card in California. No monthly fees and i think the sim card is only a few dollars. They do require you to load the sim with 20 dollars though. I think you get 200 mb free per month

MP4.2+6.0

Typed a long response with content, but then decided basically, why? Yep, go with "free". Good luck with that, and the 14 year old who maybe typed it for kicks, the scam artist, click baiter or what ever it may have been. I'm a real poster, with real experience using it and who went with it from the get go circa 2013. In an Audi, in the USA. But whatever. The answers were in the prior replies, whether you want to accept them or not. Verizon is a dead end for it. Given neither the technology nor the radios are the same as for GSM, anyone posting who was suggesting to the contrary frankly isn't credible to me. I won't even bother with the UK reference beyond saying the carriers are different, and again it is a GSM market which once again says Verizon = non-starter. I'll move on though rather than waste more time trying to say or explain that round holes and square pegs just don't fit.

LaserSVT

My point was the archives didnt help me as the responses were so different. Had nothing to do with your info. I trust what you say. I understand Verizon wont work, I see what you said MAY work and was just doing research. I read your responses and understand them and will probably just not use the system.
I was simply asking for clarification. Didnt mean to **** in your Post Toasties this morning. I simply try to get as much info as I can and then research that information to see if it corroborates with anyone elses. So I did not mean anything against you. You know whats up.

So Please accept my apologies, was not trying to discredit what you had told me, simply wanted to cover all variables. Its like when I built my RS6, some info was right and some was wrong. Same with th AMG CL65, some people were really right and some were wrong. If I only spoke to one person my Vette wouldnt be pushing 1500HP. I am new to this area and trying to figure out who knows what. You always proven to know much. So again, I dont want to start any animosity.

I took your advice and registered with Audi and when the car gets here today I will see if it does have the SIM card in it still and what Audi wants to make it work. I may just not use the system if its too expensive as my phone is a faster hot spot and I dont really need Gppgle Earth mapping although it would be a neat feature to show off.

RED HORSE

My opinion is that no one, not even Audi, really knows or understands. Personally, I have an AT&T SIM that works fine. However, when I talked to Audi about it they insisted that it didn't work and wouldn't work. So, find a provider who is willing to work with you and try. It may work or it may not. The AT&T store I was at made several attempts before they got it right.

2015 S8

Good luck.

dwboston

Your options:

• Official Audi Connect service/data packages - you're limited to T-Mobile as the service provider given your model year, even though the car has the 3G radio bands to work on AT&T. Audi Connect would not activate my SIM for AT&T service and insisted it would not work. It does.
• Activate a data-only (tablet) SIM on AT&T or T-Mobile - may or may not be difficult, it all depends on how helpful the carrier store/reps are. If AT&T, don't try to activate as a connected car device, activate a SIM for a tablet and add to an existing mobile share plan for $10/month.
• Activate a data only SIM on some GSM MVNO.

The cellular radio in the US-spec cars is a SIM-unlocked data-only device. You can use a SIM from any GSM carrier (AT&T, T-Mo, the various MVNOs that run on those two networks) that is provisioned for data service and it will work, dependent on the radio bands deployed in your area. You may get 3G service or even 2G in some places, or no service at all. In my 2015 A8, I use an AT&T SIM that I activated for an LTE-capable NVIDIA Shield tablet we own, which I then swapped into the car. It works perfectly and gives me 3G speeds in most places, which is fine for Google Earth/Audi Connect services, but may be less so if using as a hotspot in the car and attempting any streaming via WiFi.

The forum search is lousy, but using Google to search the forums here works better.

LaserSVT

My buddy has a 2014 S4 and says he just uses his phone (I think as a hot spot) and the google maps works.

"You can run it through your phone. That’s what I do. I did the monthly Audi connect. 25 a month through t mobile. Sucks because it was 3g. Haha. I turned it off. Works faster off my phone. Yeah you can run it as hotspot or another way. Stumbled across it yesterday. Bad *** when you get into large cities with the 3D buildings"

dwboston

Then have your buddy explain how he did it. I'd like to hear how he did it. He would have to be using external hardware of some kind, if it's even true.