How do new cars connect to internet ?

[CheemsK1500]

Yeah, a friend bought an Alexa. The device is always listening. He got rid of it. Heard Apple phones are the same way.

All modern smartphones are. My Samsung Galaxy shows me various things I talk about in person on various apps pretty regularly. As long as your phone has a functioning mic, and internet connection, it is capable of detecting certain words and phrases, and letting the various AI algorithms act accordingly.

 

[Radiohead]

And we did this to ourselves.

 

[AaronW]

Not trying to stir up s_ _t but if computer chips are the scourge of our lives why does everyone on this forum Cary around a chip filled cell phone?? Don't forget about your big screen TV. Not to mention medical devices that have improved our lives. In fast 99 defense nuclear bombs have chips too. Maybe he's right?

I don't carry a cell phone. Haven't got a tv that's connected to anythingother than a dvd and an old vhs player. Never had a facebook, this forum and one other are the closest I get to social media.

I've also got 7 kids, who will hopefully inherit their parents' skepticism as to adopting whatever shiny new objects the tech world thinks they've got to have. Marshall McLuhan's dictum that "the medium is the message" has never been more true.

Aaron

 

[idahovette]

EXACTLY @Radiohead

 

[Frankenchevy]

For the original question, most of the connected services are cellular. The cars show you how many bars of reception and whether it’s 4g or 5g as well on the screen.

The gps antenna may or may not be different. I know many phones don’t have an actual GPS (glonass, etc) antenna. It’s mostly cellular based for mapping, tower and Wi-Fi ping triangulation for location and accelerometers for movement.

 

[Bextreme04]

For the original question, most of the connected services are cellular. The cars show you how many bars of reception and whether it’s 4g or 5g as well on the screen.

The gps antenna may or may not be different. I know many phones don’t have an actual GPS (glonass, etc) antenna. It’s mostly cellular based for mapping, tower and Wi-Fi ping triangulation for location and accelerometers for movement.

Right. The short fin looking antennas are a combination SXM, AM/FM antenna and there is also sometimes an LTE antenna in them. The ones that don't have the LTE antenna in them just have a puck mounted under the dash. Same thing with cars that have GPS navigation in-dash, they will usually have the GPS puck mounted under the dashboard.

There is a look up system that can use triangulated signal strength data from multiple cell towers to get a rough location. It isn't super accurate, but good enough to get a general area.

 

[80BrownK10]

The biggest fear generated from all of this, is the ability for someone with the right access to brick a vehicle at will. Someone with programming experience could likely make a bricked car run again, but it would take much time and effort to do every vehicle. A skilled cyber terrorist or government hell-bent on limiting transit could cause a giant mess by making millions of vehicles inoperable at once. Everyone with vehicles old enough to be unaffected, would have to guard them with their life in such a scenario...

I don't own a vehicle that even knows what connecting to anything besides an OBD2 scanner is!! My newest vehicle is 18 years old. Oldest is the square at 42 years old!

 

[Turbo4whl]

So one of my scout leaders preorders a Tesla. He has it just a short time, long enough to learn all the features he can access with the cell phone app. The car gets hit by a guy running a red light. The insurance company totals the car even though it is not wrecked that bad. They don't want any responsibility for it not being repaired correctly or safely.

So he can see it on his phone and it is sitting in a lot, dockside in New Jersey. Three months it sits then the battery must be dead, he cant't see it. Six months later the battery must be charged and he can see it again. The car is now in Ukraine, sitting at a little repair shop.

He can see on his phone the hood is open, the door is open. He can beep the horn! He locks the doors when they are closed. He messes with the new owner a few weeks before they must finally figure it out and pull the chip or reprogram it.