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No worries. I too haven’t had a car with this much tech in it.
Good news is that if you don’t need/want the Wi-Fi, then everything will operate as it did in your previous vehicle (as did mine.)
The Wi-Fi in your car operates much like a router in your home. You’ll be able to connect devices to the car and those devices will be able to communicate with the car, but you won’t have any internet connectivity unless you buy a plan that includes data.
Like you, I opted not to go that route and just use my phone via Bluetooth and occasionally use Android Auto if my wife is with me and wants the additional features.
No worries. I too haven’t had a car with this much tech in it.
Good news is that if you don’t need/want the Wi-Fi, then everything will operate as it did in your previous vehicle (as did mine.)
The Wi-Fi in your car operates much like a router in your home. You’ll be able to connect devices to the car and those devices will be able to communicate with the car, but you won’t have any internet connectivity unless you buy a plan that includes data.
Like you, I opted not to go that route and just use my phone via Bluetooth and occasionally use Android Auto if my wife is with me and wants the additional features.
Thanks. So, it wasn't that my last car "...did't have much tech in it". It had A LOT more! And....some of it I will miss. I really love the C8 and back in the mid 1990s up to 2009 I had five new Corvettes which I really loved. It is good to be back. As far as the "tech" goes it's the Chevy tech is so different, or at least that's the perception I get. And it works in a weird way. I keep turning off the wi-fi on my phone and somehow the car turns it back on. I would like to operate with just bluetooth connected. Sometimes it works and sometimes not. I will stay patient until my "free trial period" ends for Onstar and the GM data packages. Then we can see how it is going to react. Thanks again for your information, it really helps me move forward.
ugh.....my one month subscription to all the GM crap and Sirius (also crap IMHO) was up today and yes, I started getting messages that I cannot use Alexa without buying a data plan from GM. I love the car but do not have the same love for GM and their LACK of up to date technology in this car. Selling the lame ONSTAR and also lame data plans seems to be their priority. Oh well, it is what it is.
What if you turn your phone into a hotspot and connect your c8 via wifi to the phone. That should theoretically work unless there are some restrictions built in by Chevy.
Yes there is and you will hang both you phone and your head unit. It will kill the AGM battery trying to connect to onstar. Android auto menu will not appear. Audio will not get to headunit as the streaming audio is data. The Bluetooth profile is phone use only and does not have data. The Wifi and bletooth signal are so fast and strong it will connect and try and pair with anything. It will disable anything else connected to the phone. Teathering your phone does not work even if you set the password of the teather as
the same as the wifi password. You also get a message on your phone that the car was trying to turn off teathering and auto connect wifi. It also tries to auto connect wifi when you have bluetooth. So, it looks like GM decided not to use satellite data and take over the wifi data without permission. The screen is gone that allowed manual connection from the phone to connect to wifi but left the screen that says the dumb "You better check the phone for messages" but is connecting repeatedly unchecking the data connection and reconnecting.
The dealer left me with a car that only plays the am/fm radio as it can not read the usb any more as it was part of android auto. XM radio channels are gone completely including presets. I have disconnected the onstar box today and am shopping for a new head unit.
What if you turn your phone into a hotspot and connect your c8 via wifi to the phone. That should theoretically work unless there are some restrictions built in by Chevy.
No data on bluetooth connection, does not even get time from phone any more, says checking for messages (unasked) and locks up phone and car radio.
No Android auto with no data (even tethering) so no maps, usb, pandora, spotify, or mychevrolet in the car. It will even disable a usb speaker, you have no access to the "home router" after 90 days and it just quits. BTW, it is $25 a month just to get your access back to your head units "home router".
It is related, without internet data from the car, Android auto will freeze up trying to get internet data that the car refuses to provide from ANY source in the car.
Dumbly it thinks it can auto connect to anything and get data from it without a passcode. Some people are reporting that the car does try to auto connect to your home router without permission while the car is turned off, killing the AGM battery till it is dead. It also happens with remote start if it is in ANYONES wifi range and you do not have a data plan.
This is an old thread. But this is relevant to the question - and the answer is yes for some on board apps on model years 2020-2023. It has not been confirmed for 2024 that a phone in hotspot mode and support the Google based nav app which does require a source of data.
The term hotspot, at least in this context: A hotspot allows multiple devices to connect to the Internet, typically using Wi-Fi, via a wireless local area network. The C8 will allow multiple devices to connect to it, and if you have a data plan, it provides internet access to those devices.
But, your cell phone can also act as a WiFi hotspot, allow multiple devices to connect to it, and it will provide internet access to those connected devices.
The C8 can also wirelessly connect to an external, internet connected "network", which means it can connect to your internet enabled home WiFi or to a cell phone that is in the hotspot mode. That has the potential to support on-board apps in the car infotainment system that would otherwise require a data plan via the OnStar subscription. Forum members have reported successful use the phone as a hotspot (2020-2023 model) for some apps.
The phone connection will show differently in the menu (2021 shown) depending on whether it is connected to car hotspot, or connected to the phone in hotspot mode as a network,
This first image shows the relevant options. WiFi Hotspot will show the devices connected to the car hot spot. WiFi networks will show available external networks, such has your home WiFi, you neighbor's WiFi, your cell phone if it is in hotspot mode,etc.
This next image show the screen that comes up when I select WiFi Hotspot. It shows name of the C8 WiFi (myChevroletb2af, and show 1 device connected. Selecting that leads to the next screen that shows my iPhone is connected to the car "hotspot".
This is the screen showing the devices connected to the C8 WiFi Hotspot. My phone is shown. Now, to complicate matter - or not - none of this requires a subscription, and I do not have, and have never had a subscription. So, while my phone will connect to the car like this, this connection does not provide internet access to my phone. However, this is also exactly how the phone connects for the purpose of supporting Wireless CarPlay. If you use Wireless CarPlay, you can verify this for yourself by stepping through these menus steps.
Finally, go all the way back to the first screen image, and now instead of selecting WiFi Hotspot, select WiFi Networks. And you get this screen showing the available networks, as well a connected network if there is one. In this case, it is showing that my Phone is connected as an external network (I disconnected it from the C8 hotspot, put the phone in hotspot mode, then connected it this way). I is showing other available networks including my wifes phone in hotspot mode, and a neighbor's WiFi network. Normally it would be connected to my own home WiFi network - in the garage - but I turned it off for this demonstration.
I did not discuss it, but the phone also connects to the car via Bluetooth. And in fact, it requires the Bluetooth to be enabled, as well as WiFi on the phone, in order to connect and support CarPlay (as most already know because it has been discussed extensively on the forum and it is in the manual). But the BT connection alone will not provide a source of internet data necessary to support the on board apps hosted in the infotainment system.
