Porsche Connect and Car Connect Plus 2018+
 

^agreed. I don't get it....

Thanks, Cyberbug for the simple clarification and links. I am still debating if I want either of them or just stick with CarPlay only.

I also think your phone and service need to have "hotspot" enabled as well, anybody verify this?
ATT charges extra to be hotspot enabled.

Thanks Cyberbug. You will find that about 30 seconds after setting everything up, you'll stop using it .... it's useless, provides no value and is a waste of time and money, especially when you leverage Apple CarPlay.

I set it up in my C2S that I bought last January. Just traded that on a GT3 and I didn't bother to set it up this time. After a year of not using it, I figured why bother.

There are two things about the Connect / Car Connect bundle that are valuable to me, but I am still not sure they are worth the cost:

1. The ability to click on a calendar event and have it pass the address to navigation. I know I can do this on my phone, but in car navigation works even when there is no cell service (unlike Carplay);
2. Automatic crash notification if the airbags go off. This one is probably invaluable, since this is my daily driver and my kids often ride with me.

Craig

Thanks, Cyberbug! Was planning on looking into all of it this weekend, so this was a great start. Wish I knew about the dealer part because I was there today. Oh well -- road trip! :)

I think it is bizarre that I can lock the car form my phone...but I can't unlock it. I see more need to unlock. Am I missing something?

That is built into the special AT&T/Porsche plan that uses the phone number assigned to your car (although it is a data-only number). It does not require anything special on your personal phone.

If you use your phone you have to manually rebind it each time to use it (at least on my 2017). With Car Connect the connection is automatic. The most visible benefit I see is using Google Earth maps with satellite imagery, but you could easily get away without it. It is handy in unfamiliar areas since you can see all of the non-mapped side-roads, buildings, alleys, etc, in great detail. Overall it is a luxury that I can see skipping if you aren;'t interested in such things.

The data connection can be used to interact with the car from your phone,

I posted screenshots of most of the screens in my earlier thread at this post: https://rennlist.com/forums/991/1056...l#post14870471.

Cyberbug's post certainly calls out some improvements that have been made since I did this. They've improved both the process of enabling these things and you no longer need to get the external SIM card in the later 2018 models.

Since I occasionally let my son take the car for special occasions (he's a very good driver!), I can use the app to set geo-fences and speed-fences on the car to keep an eye on him and to help discourage from getting a little too frisky with the car. When I take the car in for service I've also set fences and can tell if the car leaves the dealership. I can even tell if it is sitting out in the lot or is in the service area..,. which came in handy when I was getting unhappy with them for an extra-long dealership stay once.

Finally, since I sometimes like to go out solo for back-road aggressive drives in the Hill Country sometimes I like that if something does go wrong, the car will call for help for me. For me it is a worthwhile insurance policy .

Yeah, that is an oddity. Has to have been some lawyers' idea.

Here's a couple of photos I've taken of the Google Earth screen to help clarify what I was talking about there. It's a bit sharper in person

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...d2ba234aaa.png

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...377e649b8c.jpg

I had the free year, sort of used it...found out that having the ATT service wasn't necessary if I had car connect...I mean really, who needs a hot spot in a 911?

I use the speed and geo fence frequently (when I drop the car off and when I travel)...

I guess it boils down to personal preference, but I like having the location, and fencing options.

YMMV

I drive a Porsche. Waze shows the cops so that's what I use every time I drive it. Car connect whatever is worthless to me.

You couldn't log in because it requires a pairing code to be entered in the car. Good to know there is a work around available.

Porsche said my 2018 came with 1-year free of Connect Plus. I confirmed via the online portal that 1-year of service is activated. That includes Google Earth, live traffic, online search, live weather, etc. Those are the features I use the most, and would consider paying for when renewal comes up.

You also get Online Search with Connect Plus. I use that ALL the time. It is basically google search. Want to go to x place? Just enter the name of the place. Super fast and much easier than searching for an address. Also the real time traffic is a great addition with Connect Plus. Every time I have to drive a longer distance in traffic, just do Online Search for the location and the Real Time Traffic will re-direct you based on, you guessed it, real time traffic! It has saved me from hours in traffic so far.

Another nice feature of the "WiFi hot spot" is that my BlackVue cameras can upload footage to the cloud wirelessly.

In regards to locking unlocking...definitely useless. There is more opportunity I would want to lock my wallet keys in the car and just take my phone with me like I can do with every other car I own. Furthermore...remote unlocking is awfully useful when you are on the outside without the keys.

Connect Plus is actually free for a year if you set it up through Porsche, and the embedded SIM, which is pretty simple. The AT&T SIM card is only free for 3 months, but that card is totally unnecessary for Connect Plus services, unless you have some compelling reason to go that route. It is only necessary if you want a wifi hot spot in the car.

My first year is almost up, so I've got notices from Vodaphone about renewing the Car Connect services, but have decided to pass on them, as I can't recall ever actually using any of the services after setting them up on my phone. I suppose one could make a case for the emergency response service, but their pricing seems ridiculous to me. I have renewed the Connect Plus services through Porsche, which I got for $99 for the next year during a Cyber Monday sale. The regular cost is $189/year, which includes the internet connection. I tossed the AT&T Sim card the dealer put in, as I don't need a wifi hotspot.

I am completely confused over this. When I go to my renewal page they want $299, not $189. I do remember paying the $189 a year ago. All I really want is my cellphone bluetooth, Nav. and the info on the traffic condition of the road. I do have a decent education, but feel pretty stupid attempting to figure this out. It just doesn't seem to make any sense.