[Krislovesbmw]

My vehicle in connected drive shows that it has WiFi Hotspot subscribed till 04/23 does this mean...I don't have to pay till 04/23 ?

[thenew3]

Originally Posted by Krislovesbmw

My vehicle in connected drive shows that it has WiFi Hotspot subscribed till 04/23 does this mean...I don't have to pay till 04/23 ?

You have 3 month or 3gb trial from AT&T. After that you have to pay for data.

[MomoM3]

Originally Posted by thenew3

You have 3 month or 3gb trial from AT&T. After that you have to pay for data.

What do they charge for unlimited 4G if you don't have a current AT&T account?

[thenew3]

Originally Posted by MomoM3

What do they charge for unlimited 4G if you don't have a current AT&T account?

Last I checked it was $25/month

[Skyrider]

Originally Posted by MomoM3

What do they charge for unlimited 4G if you don't have a current AT&T account?

I am about to activate mine today. I will let you know what comes up on the sign up screen.

[jmciver]

Originally Posted by Krislovesbmw

My vehicle in connected drive shows that it has WiFi Hotspot subscribed till 04/23 does this mean...I don't have to pay till 04/23 ?

Actually, what that means is that your X7 will have the capability to use this feature until April 2023 - it is part of BMW's subscription services which you will have to subscribe to again (i.e. pay) after Apr 2023. Typically, BMW includes their premium subscriptions services as part of the original purchase for the new car for 3 or 4 years. However, during that subscription period, you will still need to pay AT&T, the data service provider, a separate monthly fee to use the service in your car.

The monthly fee will vary depending on what data plan you purchase from AT&T. I am personally not a fan of it as I already have unlimited service from my cell phone provider (Verizon). But if I were an AT&T customer, I may have considered it as the rate plans are cheaper for existing AT&T customers.

[thenew3]

Here's what my options show. I am not an ATT customer, these are the rates available.

[Krislovesbmw]

Oh gotcha... I got confused when it said my subscription is valid, few of my friends who has Audi Q7 told me that their HotSpot is free.. not sure how far that is true.

[ComingInHot]

Can you allow the hotspot to connect through your phone instead of paying for the AT&T service?

I have unlimited on my phone already paid for by work...or am I just misunderstanding how this all works.

[jmciver]

Originally Posted by ComingInHot

Can you allow the hotspot to connect through your phone instead of paying for the AT&T service?

I have unlimited on my phone already paid for by work...or am I just misunderstanding how this all works.

No, it does not work that way. Your X7 basically has a built in phone with a SIM card, just like your personal/work cell phone. It connects to the cellular network via AT&T to provide a cellular wifi hotspot in your car.

[ComingInHot]

Originally Posted by jmciver

No, it does not work that way. Your X7 basically has a built in phone with a SIM card, just like your personal/work cell phone. It connects to the cellular network via AT&T to provide a cellular wifi hotspot in your car.

But do you need it? Let's say I put my phone on personal hotspot would that do the same thing? Or is the vehicle using its hotspot for its functions as well so it would require me to activate the hotspot regardless.

Thanks for the replies!

[unfoundnemo]

Originally Posted by ComingInHot

But do you need it? Let's say I put my phone on personal hotspot would that do the same thing? Or is the vehicle using its hotspot for its functions as well so it would require me to activate the hotspot regardless.

Thanks for the replies!

No, you don't need it for any of the car's features. The only advantage over your phone would be that you don't have to turn it on/off, it isn't dependent on your phone, it's not using your phone battery, etc.

For us, all of our kids devices have Verizon sim cards with unlimited data, so I wouldn't have to worry about spinning up a personal hotspot on my phone for them, but I still pay for the AT&T hotspot in the car. I basically use it as a redundant and pseudo load balancing connection. There are some areas we travel don't have service for one or the other carriers for a stretch, but I never seem to loose both. A lot of carriers tend to throttle "unlimited" data after you hit a certain useage cap for the month as well, so if you have 2+ kids streaming HD movies in the car, you could likely hit that limit on a longer trip and suffer for the rest of the month on your own phone. The AT&T hotspot in the car "may" start to throttle after 22GB.

[760Lifan]

I have the hotspot subscription on my X7 and on my mother's Explorer. We both have Alexa-units in the vehicles and Blackvue-cameras running on that connection which allows live-streaming of video of the cameras to either my cell-phone or home-PC. In addition, on my X7, my fire-TV is running on the hotspot, too. I simple don't want to constantly switch around with my phone's hotspot. My phone is with T-Mobile and I have the feeling that the vehicle hotspot is more stable.

[ND40oz]

Originally Posted by 760Lifan

I simple don't want to constantly switch around with my phone's hotspot. My phone is with T-Mobile and I have the feeling that the vehicle hotspot is more stable.

If you're using all iOS devices, starting with iOS 13.1 the hotspot is always available to any device signed in with the same account. If you have a family sharing setup, you can configure it to allow family members to automatically connect to your phones hotspot without needing to intervene as well. No need to mess around with your phone's hotspot at all.

[760Lifan]

Originally Posted by ND40oz

If you're using all iOS devices, starting with iOS 13.1 the hotspot is always available to any device signed in with the same account. If you have a family sharing setup, you can configure it to allow family members to automatically connect to your phones hotspot without needing to intervene as well. No need to mess around with your phone's hotspot at all.

Thanks, but I'm an Android-user..

I also consider the hotspot as a backup. In case I forget my phone, I can still make calls with Alexa.

[Heimdall]

My 3GB trial lasted about 20 min with two fire tablets 🤣

[Dogmatick]

Spoke at length to the TMobile Hotspot guys today, essentially the cost here is so high because TMobile and Deutsche Telekom don't have a payment presence in the UK and are doing it via BT which adds to the cost

He suggested setting the connected drive (not the language) to another country like Germany and you will be able to buy 50GB a month for about £30

Haven't had chance to try this as yet but will report once I do