Car LTE Hotspot

Has anyone got the BMW Car Hotspot on their i3?

This is the listing on the UK site:
http://www.bmw.co.uk/en_GB/topics/owners/accessories/accessoryDetail.accessoryId=8952.html
"Available For" lists the i3.

I use an 150mbit LTE modem connected to a small TP-Link router in my current car. If the Car Hotspot is available and can use the in-car antenna it would be a better option.

crossie said:

Has anyone got the BMW Car Hotspot on their i3?

This is the listing on the UK site:
http://www.bmw.co.uk/en_GB/topics/owners/accessories/accessoryDetail.accessoryId=8952.html
"Available For" lists the i3.

I use an 150mbit LTE modem connected to a small TP-Link router in my current car. If the Car Hotspot is available and can use the in-car antenna it would be a better option.

Click to expand...

Really $1000 not me for sure what a waste.

Verison has a hotspot using the OBD2 port for a lot less.

mindmachine said:

Verison has a hotspot using the OBD2 port for a lot less.

Click to expand...

I'm not in the US. And I can get this hotspot for less than half the UK price (via a dealer in Germany).

The setup I currently have is great (150 mbits Category 4 LTE) but requires the use of an external antenna to get decent signal outside the city.
I have the enhanced bluetooth prep as well so I already have the extra antenna.

Ios8 allows you to turn tour iphone into hotspot if i am not wrong

Cedriclekine said:

Ios8 allows you to turn tour iphone into hotspot if i am not wrong

Click to expand...

Exact opposite of what I'm doing. I connect my phone/tablet/macbook/ereader/OBDII etc. to the car hotspot. My phone and tablet then don't need to maintain an active data connection to the cell network , battery life is maintained better using the low power wifi radio in the phone instead of jacking the LTE radio to 2W to maintain a signal. Also the car hotspot uses the external antenna so it maintains solid LTE signal outside the city center with no dropoff in coverage.

With the OBDII conencted to the hotspot I can read OBDII data from multiple devices. I'm hoping a future OBDII adapters will report directly to Dash or similar services without requiring a phone.