KK22

So my phone reset itself and I had to link CarPlay to the car again this weekend, and while I was doing it I remembered this key setting change you have to do for it to work flawlessly every time. Thinking of other folks on this board struggling with this I thought it’s worth posting. Try this and get back to me:

wireless CarPlay needs BOTH Bluetooth and WiFi turned on in car. After you join the iPhone to the Bluetooth CarPlay, Connect your phone WiFi to your cars WiFi network mine is KK’s A8. There will also be a 5ghz network, connect to that if it’s possible. CarPlay should start after multiple tries and your phone giving an error that there is no internet connection.

AFTER you’ve connected to CarPlay, go to WiFi settings on your iPhone, click the blue circled i logo next to your A8s connection and there switch ON Auto-Join. Also turn off low data mode, don’t know if this is necessary but I have.

Then CarPlay should connect seamlessly every time you get in the car even before you click on you seatbelt.

Hope this PSA helps a few people on here.

DJBOB

So do you suggest removing network from iPhone and pair device again?

KK22

Yes. Delete device add again. Join WiFi and the rest of it.

fl0950

I will try this, and if it works, I owe you one!!

pcc125

I do not understand why wifi has to be connected and I do not like that turned on, but you are correct it wants the wifi connection for whatever reason. The question is how do you get an internet connection via wifi if you do not want to subscribe to the Audi service for that? The wifi stays connected if you do not subscribe but you have no internet via Audi. I found the Audi internet connection to be lacking versus the 5g connection of my phone which is much better that the Audi provided internet. I much rather prefer using the internet on my phone. Any way around this?

KK22

Your phone has multiple antennas. Connecting to the car even without the ATT internet subscription will not stop your phones access to the internet. It will still get internet with its cellular service while connected to the non internet connected car WiFi.

The WiFi connection is required because wireless CarPlay needs screen mirroring which is a much higher bandwidth task that cannot be supported via bluetooth. BT= 3MBps vs 10 GBps for WiFi !!

pcc125

@KK22 thank you for the explanation. On my way to work this morning, wireless carplay connected perfectly with the wifi function on, and midway to work, the connection dropped without any notice other than wireless deviecs cannot be connected...I stopped and started the car again, and it connected fine. Go figure...Even with the Audi wifi on and connected, the phone will not access any site using the Audi wifi. Am I missing something here? Without the Audi wifi, it connects perfectly to the sites I have to use like disabling an alarm system at work or home or opening a garage door using my iPhone...
Wonderful complicated world of tech...

fl0950

I’ve tried following your protocol and get stuck when I’m trying to enter the Wi-Fi pass word for the cars Wi-Fi. I’ve entered it six or seven times very carefully and it comes back with a message saying incorrect password. So I can’t connect my phone to the cars Wi-Fi without that password working.

KK22

You can change the password in MMI. Keep it simple, you should not get the password issue.

The critical thing here is turning on Auto-Join after pressing the “i” symbol next to your cars WiFi on the phone. That’s what helps connect to the car as soon as you enter it.

pcc125

I am in the same boat as well. Cannot connect to the Audi wifi, and my password is correct and matches the password of the Audi network on my phone.