# SIM Card



## moro anis (May 27, 2010)

Does the SIM card have anything to do with additional traffic information or is it purely for Audi online activities?

I've purchased the 12 month cards previously and now have one of the free 3 SIM cards (250mb/month). It seems to be a bit intermittent whether it works or not. Does the system need the card though to transfer POI to your car from your laptop?

The only time I notice is when I can't connect to Audi online services and if that's it I'm not too bothered.


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## PJ. (Dec 12, 2018)

I previously had my phone connected as a hot spot and had no problem using the my audi app to send a location to the sat nav. Then I purchased a Three sim off Amazon and although the audi connect information loads with the 3g signal the location from the app no longer arrives. Also the main reason for the sim was Internet radio and that still needs phone to create hot spot.


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## cliveju (Jun 27, 2018)

I used a SIM with 500Mb/month for a while. I found that Google Satellite view on the map ate the data allowance quite quickly so I turned it off. Now I just use a wifi hotspot off my phone.
With its proper external aerial, the built-in sim is probably offering the best mobile connection quality if you need to use it while driving a lot. The first car I've owned which supports 3 phone lines!


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## pcbbc (Sep 4, 2009)

cliveju said:


> I used a SIM with 500Mb/month for a while. I found that Google Satellite view on the map ate the data allowance quite quickly so I turned it off. Now I just use a wifi hotspot off my phone.


I have had the 12gb, 12 month Three SIM here for the 3rd year running, and have never found that. In fact every year the vast majority of the 12gb goes unused - certainly less than 500mb a month.
Mind you, I do the same weekly 40 mile commute, and not a lot outside that area. So it may well all be cached. But always my trips are with the Google map view and online traffic on.

Yes, the SIM (or a paired mobile) Is used for the online traffic. Without a data connection of some kind the MMI only has access the the TMC data provided over the FM (and I believe DAB) radio network; which isn't nearly as detailed or accurate. Although the online data is very occasionally totally borked!

If you use the built in SIM make sure your phone/tablet etc. does not connect to car WiFi and then chew through your data allowance on the car SIM. The default for most phones is to assume a WiFi connection is unmetered. You can disable sharing of the SIM data connection and reseve it exclusively for the MMI in the car menus if you need.

Data connection NOT needed for transferring POI; that is done exclusively via SDCard or USB stick.

The only other very mildly useful online feature for me, other than occasional petrol price search on Audi Connect, is being able to send destinations direct to your car from Google maps on your PC. Use it once in a blue moon though.


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## ZephyR2 (Feb 20, 2013)

250 MB might not be enough to last a month depending upon a number of factors. In which case if it runs out Audi Connect and other stuff won't be available until you get your next data allowance. A simple way to check connectivity is to look at the bottom left of the nav screen and it should say On-line if connected.
Alternatively it could be just 3 giving you a crap service as the SIM is free.
You can check how much data the MMI is using thru the menus but using it for just on-line traffic info and Google maps, even going new places frequently uses very little data and 250 MB should cope. Are you streaming music via the MMI?
Otherwise all that pcbbc said above.


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## DPG (Dec 7, 2005)

I've got one of the 3 sims in mine for traffic updates only and so far its not dropped off.

Only use my car for an hour or so a day though


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## moro anis (May 27, 2010)

Thank you all for your replies. It must be one of the most educating and on topic an certainly confirmed my suspicions.


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## Ruudfood (Apr 9, 2018)

pcbbc said:


> I have had the 12gb, 12 month Three SIM here for the 3rd year running....<snip>


I bought one last year. The blurb says that it's PAYG but how do you add more data to it? Or is the blurb wrong? Should I just be buying a new card as it's cheaper than paying to add more data/time?


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## pcbbc (Sep 4, 2009)

Yes, new card is usually significantly cheaper than adding PAYG data.
I find I need to re-login to MyAudi on the car when I install a new SIM. Hardly a big issue.


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## Ruudfood (Apr 9, 2018)

pcbbc said:


> Yes, new card is usually significantly cheaper than adding PAYG data.
> I find I need to re-login to MyAudi on the car when I install a new SIM. Hardly a big issue.


Cool, thanks. Thought that might be the easier route but I wasn't sure what the implications might have been. Good to know there are no big issues.


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## ZephyR2 (Feb 20, 2013)

pcbbc said:


> Yes, new card is usually significantly cheaper than adding PAYG data.
> I find I need to re-login to MyAudi on the car when I install a new SIM. Hardly a big issue.


I recently got a new SIM and it connected online for sat nav and Audi Connect automatically. But it needs me to login to myAudi for Audi contacts / Destinations, etc. 
Unfortunately when I enter my correct login details it comes back as incorrect login. Yet if I connect my phone via hotspot it logs in and connects straight away. I wondered whether I had to log out from my phone first but there doesn't seem to be an option for that.
Stumped. Any ideas?


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## Barmybob (Nov 4, 2015)

ZephyR2 said:


> Stumped. Any ideas?


Check that the SIM settings are correct. For example - If it's a Giff Gaff card it defaults to O2 and this does cause connection issues. The Giff Gaff page has a guide for setting the correct MMI settings.


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## Barmybob (Nov 4, 2015)

Did a bit of playing with this today.

My SIM card has been set as the data connection for MMI and this gathers data for the navigation and the Audi connect services.

I then connected my mobile via WiFi and got the MMI to access Amazon Tunes & on-line radio services. It appeared that this was using data from my phone, if I turned off my mobile data the services stopped. But I then discovered a WiFi setting that enables connected WiFi devices to use data so turned that on. When I did the same test again everything continued to work.

NOTE: When you have your mobile connected by WiFi, and the Audi App open, it is also possible to edit news feeds. Sadly when you disconnect the phone and or the my Audi app it all reverts to standard.


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## ZephyR2 (Feb 20, 2013)

It can all get a bit confusing when you're using the MMI SIM and your phone connected by WiFi. What you need to watch though is that some settings on your phone allow it to start downloading large amounts of data when its connected to a WiFi, on the assumption you are at home or work with a broadband connection. This can eat into your data allowance for your MMI SIM.

I had a look at those GiffGaff help pages you suggested but they did't help. I've got a 3 SIM and it does connect to the internet and is fine for maps and Connect. Just won't / can't log into myAudi.


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## Barmybob (Nov 4, 2015)

ZephyR2 said:


> I had a look at those GiffGaff help pages you suggested but they did't help. I've got a 3 SIM and it does connect to the internet and is fine for maps and Connect. Just won't / can't log into myAudi.


It seems that your SIM is ok if you are getting access to the MAPS data and Audi Connect?
Are you just having an issue logging into connect?

Press MENU - Select AUDI CONNECT - Select RIGHT CONTROL BUTTON - Select LOGIN
Then either enter account data USERNAME and PASSWORD (All case sensitive) or use the Code on your My Audi page.
This should give you access to things like on line destinations and apparently twitter (I don't have that).

To access "On-line Media" the process is a little different. For this you must:

[*]Install the "My Audi" app on your mobile device.
[*]Log into your app and select the correct vehicle.
[*]Connect your mobile device via WiFi to the car MMI.
[*]The "On Line" elements should now appear "On" (Gold icons, not greyed out).
[*]I've managed to set up Amazon - Napster and Internet Radio.

Hope this helps.

Bob


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## ZephyR2 (Feb 20, 2013)

Thanks for your suggestions Barmybob. I tried doing the login thing before using my user name and password and tried the PIN but it wasn't having it.
I updated the myAudi app on my phone which required me to log in to it again and then I was able to access myAudi Contacts / Destinations in the car. But I still couldn't get Napster or Web radio to play. Then I remembered that I had disabled WiFi connections on the MMI to stop my phone eating up all my data like it did last time. Enabled that and then everything worked fine.


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## Barmybob (Nov 4, 2015)

Great, glad to hear you got there in the end.


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