Modem/dongle/portable hotspot for Grom Vline2

Lexus4Me? · October 20, 2022

I fitted a Grom Vline2 to my 2012 GS Premier with ML (an early Mk 4, the latest and last GS model) . Had some difficulties but Grom suport in the USA and in the UK as well as Herbie from this forum were very helpful. It now works well when connected through my Huwaei Mate 20 pro mobile phone personal hotspot but I'd like to use a permanent dedicated mobile modem it is ready working when I turn on the ignition and I don't have to set up the hotspot on my phone each time. I tried a Yantan Portable 4G/3G LTE car wi-fi router hotspot 150MBps USB dongle mobile broadband modem but the connection to the internet was very poor - poor aerial?. Does anyone have any recommendations for a mobile modem that works well? Grom Audio US suggested a modem supplied with a SIM from one of the major mobile broadband suppliers but these seem expensive for my purposes and I'm hoping to use a cheap Lebara SIM (about a fiver a month) and to just pay once for the modem rather than rent it monthly. Herbie suggested programming the mobile phone with MacroDroid but Huwaei kill off such programs.
Thanks in advance,
Barry

Herbie · October 20, 2022

As you know Barry, I use my phone as a hotspot so I haven't got any personal experience of any of these units but I can say that you should be happy with any of them from what I'm reading:

https://www.techadvisor.com/article/724006/best-mobile-wifi-routers.html

Lexus4Me? · October 21, 2022

Hi again Herbie,
What a helpful and knowledgeable chap you are. Thank you for the link which I've studied but I note that all these mi-fi routers have a Battery which suggests they need charging and I suspect from the mains. What I really need is a dongle which plugs into the usb socket in the Lexus and starts working when I turn on the engine. The Yantan one I tried did this but it was useless at picking up a broadband connection - I'd like to find on that works well. I have two Huawei mobile phones (great at picking up a signal) and I'm using one permanently connected to the car but I'm having to fiddle about trying to use MacroDroid, which you put me on to, thanks again, and various dodges to defeat Huawei's efforts to stop my using it. At the moment I can connect the phone to the Vline but I have to turn it on each time.

I hope that all is good with you,
Barry

Herbie · October 21, 2022

49 minutes ago, Lexus4Me? said:

but I note that all these mi-fi routers have a battery which suggests they need charging and I suspect from the mains.

Most, if not all, of these will come with a mains charger and a USB cable. The mains charger is basically a mobile phone power unit that steps down 230V to 5V.

USB is an industry standard 5V so you can be safe in the knowledge that whether you use a mains charger, or plug it into a USB port in the car, or even plug it into a laptop USB port, you'll always find 5V on the end. Mobile phones run on 5V; each of those mi-fi routers will run on 5V and so on.

I know that the cigar lighter and 12V power sockets in my 2018 RX are only energised when the ignition is on, so in your case I think you just need to plug the router into a USB port and it'll be fine.

Hope that helps my friend.

Lexus4Me? · October 26, 2022

Hi Herbie,
Thank you for the suggestions. It appears to be not quite as straightforward as one might think. I've done some internet searches on some of the mobile routers suggested by Techadvisor and apparently running them from a USB supply can be problematic. The Huawei 5576 apparently won't work without a Battery in it and people have gone to quite a lot of trouble cutting the terminals off a Battery and wiring these up with a cable to a USB port - so presumably without the Battery the supply won't work the router. Makes no sense to me and there were some doubtful reasons to justify the situation. The TP-link M7350 also seems fussy about its supply. Some members of the forum I was looking at said it didn't work without a Battery, others said it did. One contributor said "Its HW defects, you lacks) Normal modem not working without battery" - make of that what you will. Apparently the Battery can overcharge causing it to swell (and goodness knows what else - I hope not to find my lovely Lexus on fire). However, it will only be charging when the ignition is on and it has a biggish Battery giving 10 hours of use with a long standby so I'm hoping it will be OK. I've ordered one from amazon at £65 and I'll give it a thorough test and return it if it doesn't come up to scratch.

I hope it works because the present situation is frustrating my use of the Vline2, which seems to have its own idiosyncrasies anyway.

Thanks again for your help. I'll let you know how I get on. Now back to ripping plaster off my bedroom's walls.

All the best,

Barry

Illogan · October 26, 2022

Barry,

We do not have a landline at home, so have to source all our internet requirements via a Mi-Fi.

We use a TP-link M7350, (and have done for many years) and can simultaneously run a couple of laptops and a TV from it without a problem.

I leave it turned on and plugged into the 5v charger, albeit via a 240v supply, and have never suffered a problem with it, nor has the Battery ever 'swollen'.

Herbie · October 26, 2022

1 hour ago, Lexus4Me? said:

Thanks again for your help. I'll let you know how I get on.

Cheers Barry, hope you get it sorted to your satisfaction.

One thing I can't work out is this 'it may not work properly without a Battery in it' - why would anyone want to operate it without a Battery anyway?

Lexus4Me? · October 27, 2022

Hi Dave,
Thank you for those reassuring words. I feel considerably more optimistic about my purchase now. I've been struggling on with trying to use an Huawei mobile for far too long. I just hope the broadband reception is good enough.

All the best,

Barry

Lexus4Me? · October 27, 2022

Hi Herbie,
Well, I'd be happy to run it without a Battery, getting its power supply via a USB connection, so it turns on when the ignition turns on and off when the ignition turns off. I don't mind having the Battery there but I don't want to find that it goes flat over a period of time when I'm not using the car - a long holiday in the Bahamas comes to mind as it does on any wet winter's day in England - and then the modem won't operate on USB alone. My mobile phone will operate from a USB supply when the Battery is fairly flat but if the Battery falls below 2% the supply is given over just to charging the Battery and the phone won't operate. To be fair it won't do this for long because it charges quickly. Let's hope the TP-link behaves OK although it is going to take a long time for the Battery to flatten so I can find out - perhaps, with luck, I never will.

All the best,

Barry

Lexus4Me? · October 27, 2022

Hi Dave,
Well I've bought a TP-Liink 7350 and it seems to work in the car even with the USB connection charging it. However I did some more internet research and this is not recommended:-

From the TP-link https://www.tp-link.com/fi/support/faq/793/

Q7: Can I buy an extra Battery from TP-Link?

A: Sorry to tell that we do not have separate batteries for sale. If you want to use the MiFi device for a longer time, power bank is a good choice.

Q8: Can I use the 4G Mobile Wi-Fi when charging it?

A: Yes, but after it is fully charged, it is recommended to disconnect it from the charger.

Q9: Can I use the 4G Mobile Wi-Fi without a Battery?

A: No, In order to protect the Mobile Wi-Fi device, it cannot work without Battery by directly connected to a charger.

I've not had chance to give the device a thorough test and I've only used it in the garage. The Vline starts flashing on and off after a while and I think this may be because of the car Battery getting flat - I hope I won't need to buy another. Anyway I had to stop as a result.

I'm concerned that the power saving mode, which turns off the Wi-Fi if it hasn't anything connected to it for a period will mean that I have to turn it on at the beginning of every journey. Not what I wanted which is why I abandoned the mobile phone. It looks like it is possible to turn the power saving mode off but I've yet to achieve this.

As long as I can get it to stay on or turn on automatically I shall keep it. I hope that neither you nor I suffer from any connection or Battery problems.

Regards,

Barry

Exdee · October 28, 2022

I hope you are aware of and utilising the wireless android auto capabilities of the Grom unit.

Lexus4Me? · October 28, 2022

Hi Exdee,
Thank you for your post. I am aware that there the Vline2 does have android auto capabilities, and I seem to recall that Grom suggested that using them may be a good start to using the Vline2. I know they work using Bluetooth but I don't know what their advantage is. There seem to be quite a few Grom videos staring Android Auto and phone calls. Is this what I need to do if I want to make calls? Once it is set up will the Vline2 initiate Android Automatically when I start the car if my phone is nearby with Bluetooth turned on. Can I still use the other apps stored on the Vline, please?
Regards,
Barry

Lexus4Me? · October 28, 2022

Hi Herbie and Dave,
Well, initially things are looking good although I still haven't moved the car out of the garage. The TP-link turned on when I turned on the ignition although the Vline had chosen my home WiFi in preference. I forced it to use the TP-Link router and it worked fine and transitioned from one to the other without problems. I can't see any reason why it shouldn't work OK when I take the car out for a drive - I'll let you know. I also managed to turn off power saving mode on the TP-Link, which ought to be a Good Thing. I abandoned things because the screen started flashing again.
Regards,
Barry

Herbie · October 28, 2022

It's all very confusing but there's no good/bad, right/wrong, better/worse - it's all just personal preference.

Android Auto (AA) is just an 'umbrella' app that allows some other apps to run within it. The interface is optimised for use in the car. Icons and text are bigger than normal so that it's easier for the driver to see/read them. Some apps (such as YouTube and Netflix) can't be run in AA because it's illegal for a driver to see an active screen while the car is in motion, so rather than just disabling these apps when the car is in motion, AA won't let them run at all and takes the decision out of your hands.

This is one reason why I don't use AA, preferring instead to download any apps to the Vline and run them natively from there.

Regarding phone calls, the Bluetooth on the Vline has always been a bit flakey for that, so I use my phone as a wifi hotspot to give the Vline a gateway to the Internet (which is what your TP-Link unit is doing for you), but I always let Lexus OEM Bluetooth handle calls as the quality is much better.

15 minutes ago, Lexus4Me? said:

I abandoned things because the screen started flashing again.

Not sure what's going on there Barry. Any chance you could take a short video and upload it so that we can see exactly what's happening?

Lexus4Me? · October 28, 2022

Hi Herbie,
Thank you for the post. I was aware that you weren't a fan of Android Auto and I reasoned that if it were bad enough for you it would probably be bad enough for me. I've certainly no wish to watch YouTube and Netflix while driving nor having them on for someone else to watch. I even doubt that I'd watch either of them in the car at all.

I'll try both methods of phone calls and see how well they work. Last time I tried, I phoned my daughter while Vline was running - the call got through but then my mic cut out - or was it the sound? Certainly phone calls via Lexus with my mobile phone worked very well and the phone wasn't even bad at making a call to a contact using a voice command. The Lexus calling system, as with voice navigation was brilliant as a joke eg. Me, in front of a friend, "Navigate to Bristol" Lexus "Dialling 234234567". Not so amusing when one actually did want to go to Bristol of course.

I've tried to get a video of the screen and interestingly the flashing is just the Grom screen, which was displaying Google Maps, the right hand third was displaying fuel consumption and was solid and clear. Unfortunately I've recorded virtually every other part of the car when I thought I had the camera off, but it was on, then when I got the screen into view I turned the camera off! It is getting on for 10 pm and I'm in my dressing gown so I will await until tomorrow. In any event the flashing screen isn't causing me any trouble in normal use.

One other oddity that you guys may be able answer to save my contacting Grom is the microphone on the bottom right of the Vline screen. If I press it, it asks "Where do you want to go?No match" with no space to squeeze in even the briefest destination. Any ideas. Using the microphone on Google Maps does the job well enough. The question it poses occurs whether one is on a navigation screen or otherwise.

Regards, and thank you again.
Barry

Exdee · October 29, 2022

With Android Auto, your phone does the heavy lifting and projects the apps installed on it to the cars infotainment screen.

The screen is split to show a main app and a secondary app. The main app is normally Google Maps or Waze

The secondary app will normally be a music app like spotify or youtube music. It's quite customisable.

There is also the advantage of seeing notifications from your phone such as Whatsapp messages or text messages on the screen of the car.

This video below should give you an idea.

Yes if using AA wirelessly the initial connection for android auto is made using Bluetooth however Bluetooth is not powerful enough for wireless display. A simultaneous connection is also made using wifi for wireless display purposes.

I personally have the factory Bluetooth turned off as it's not needed. Grom uses the factory mic and it works fine. This is vehicle dependant so your car might be different.

If you are going on a long journey, you will probably want to plug your phone in so that it can charge. Wireless Android Auto consumes a considerable amount of the phones Battery.

Lexus4Me? · October 29, 2022

Thank you for Hi Exdee,
I'll have a look and see if it might suit me.
Regards,
Barry

Lexus4Me? · October 29, 2022

Hi Guys,
Sorry no video. I went to the car this morning and just got a black screen on the Vline side of the screen. I turned the ignition off then on again and not only a black screen but, on the speedo display, a plethora of warning about virtually every system that the Lexus runs. As I suspected a flat auxiliary Battery. I'm charging it up now and hope that I've not flattened it too much with all this sitting in the garage fiddling with the Vline with the ignition off - it would add about another £200 to the price of the Vline if I have to replace it. The Vline appears to be a bit more sensitive to low voltage than the main Lexus system so starts misbehaving first by flashing.
I've still not tried the TP-Link 7350 in earnest and I also need to test out Android Auto and the various methods of making a phone call that Herbie suggested. On that point, Herbie, could you please tell me what I have to do to set, and use the Lexus OEM to handle phone calls, please.
Regards and thank you,
Enjoy the rest of the weekend,
Barry

Exdee · October 31, 2022

You will need to go into the Bluetooth device settings on your phone and disable phone calls on the Grom, only have them enabled on the Lexus Bluetooth.

Similarly, it's probably best to switch off media audio on the Lexus.

Lexus4Me? · October 31, 2022

Hi Exdee,
Thank you for your post. So I go to the Bluetooth settings on my phone and select Vline/settings. Call audio and Media audio are already turned off so I'll leave them like that. Internet access and Contact sharing are also off but I'll turn Contact sharing on because I'd like my contacts available for phone call information and maybe for address location on the SatNav map. I'm using the TP-link for internet access so I guess that I won't need to turn the Internet access on here. Do you know if this is the same as setting the phone as a Hotspot?

But you say that " If using AA wirelessly the initial connection for android auto is made using Bluetooth however Bluetooth is not powerful enough for wireless display. A simultaneous connection is also made using wifi for wireless display purposes." So do I turn on Bluetooth on the phone and then turn it off again? Will I need to do this for each journey or will it sort itself out after the initial set up? Lastly, I think I can only have one wifi connection at a time. Vline is set up to connect to the TP-link for its Internet connection. How can I set the phone up for wifi connection at the same time? I do have an AA symbol on the Vline menu screen, perhaps I set that up using Bluetooth some time ago.

I really appreciate your guidance, Exdee. Many thanks,

Barry

Exdee · November 1, 2022

You will need to turn on media audio for the Grom. You should turn on internet access too.

On the Android Auto screen on the Grom, ensure that the 'Activate AAAuto UI' is set to automatic. You can tick Bluetooth tethering if you want to use the phones internet on the Grom unit (outside Android Auto).

You must keep Bluetooth switched on your phone to use wireless android auto. You must have wifi enabled on your phone too although you don't need to connect to any network as the Wifi connection for Android Auto is a background process.

I would suggest turning off your TPlink whilst you set up and demo wireless android auto to avoid any interference.

Make sure wireless android auto is enabled on your phone too. It's not enabled on some phones by default.

Go to settings, type android auto in search and open, if you see wireless android auto under system turn it on, towards the bottom you will see 'version', tap on it till you unlock developer options, click on three dots and enter developer settings, make sure 'add wireless projection to settings' is turned on.

Lexus4Me? · November 5, 2022

Hi Guys,
Well I regret that I've not managed to check things for Auto Android yet. I've not had the car out for over a week and when I took it out today the Battery in the TP-Link had gone flat and there was no internet available from it. It appeared to take over 20 minutes for it to charge and send out an internet signal to the Vline which isn't at all what I wanted. i could turn on the Battery saver in the TP-link but again this would require me to turn it on every time I wanted to use it. Surely it isn't too much to expect a mobile hotspot to turn on with the car ignition. I suppose I must send the TP-Link back and try something else.
All the best Guys,
Barry

MJB18 · November 8, 2022

This is probably no help at all, but when I originally installed my Grom I was using a xiaomi phone and found the hotspot to be extremely flaky (especially with macrodroid). Ever since changing to a Samsung phone it's been problem free.

Could be that American hardware and Chinese phones just don't mix

Lexus4Me? · November 8, 2022

Hi Mick and thank you for your post. My phone, an Huawei, is of Chinese manufacture but in fact the hotspot works splendidly. What doesn't work is MacroDroid, or at least not without a lot of hacking to remove the phone's Battery saving programs so I would have to turn the hotspot on manually each time I started the car. What I am looking for is a modem which turns on when the ignition turns on, and off when it turns off again. Not too much to ask one might think and on searching the net there are many others wanting the same thing but completely, as far as I can see, unavailable. I suspect that the small thumbdrive? (100 X 35 X 12 mm) sized USB modems without a Battery may do this but the one I purchased was useless at picking up a signal. I'm presently using a TP-link 7350 which is great apart from the fact that I need to turn it on or off manually and if I forget to turn it off and its Battery goes flat I need to wait 20 minutes for it to charge before it starts working again. Car manufactures obviously have found a way to achieve what I want but perhaps they can purchase special modems from the modem manufacturers.
ATB
Barry

Herbie · November 8, 2022

42 minutes ago, MJB18 said:

This is probably no help at all, but when I originally installed my Grom I was using a xiaomi phone and found the hotspot to be extremely flaky (especially with macrodroid). Ever since changing to a Samsung phone it's been problem free.

Could be that American hardware and Chinese phones just don't mix

My Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite and Macrodroid work very well together with the Grom.

I only use my phone as a hotspot because Sky Mobile let you roll over any unused data so I've got over 75GB available at the moment. When I run out I'll be buying a TP-Link 7350 to act as hotspot/gateway to the Internet.

I have it set so that as soon as I boot the car, the phone detects the connection to Lexus Bluetooth which triggers it to activate the Xiaomi's hotspot, which in turn acts as a gateway to the Internet for the Grom.

When I switch off the car the phone detects that Lexus Bluetooth has dropped, so it turns off the hotspot.

Works flawlessly, first time, every time.