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Stronger Wifi Encryption

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I'm a little confused about the Hotspot and wireless app projection. What's the difference? I know one lets your phone have wireless connectivity, what's the other for? Sorry for the dumb question.
The Hotspot is something that requires a monthly subscription. The Hotspot will provide internet access. This would be handy in areas where your phone service isn't available but you can hopefully fall back on your Hotspot (I've read in this forum that some folks rely on the Hotspot whenever they're in spotty connection areas).
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The wireless app projection is for?
 

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Man reading the string for this thread is like:

Ford F-150 Stronger Wifi Encryption 200w
 
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Man reading the string for this thread is like:

200w.gif
Yea completely unnecessary, but the internet always has folks ready for war. Lol. You a fool for that gif. ?

The wireless app projection is for?
I'm sorry. I assumed that's the one you said you knew about. Wireless app projection allows you to use Android Auto and I imagine Apple Car play via wireless connectivity.
 

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I knew it was there but I didn't really know what it was used for. Sorry to bug you.
 

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This may be a little off topic, but i live in an area that has spotty coverage with only 2 providers att and verizon. To cover myself i use verizon for carrier and att for wifi. However when i went to call over wifi, it shows weak security and apple states that wifi calls cannot be made over sync with wpa/wpa2 security settings after apple 14 update. Any suggestions or workarounds?
 
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This may be a little off topic, but i live in an area that has spotty coverage with only 2 providers att and verizon. To cover myself i use verizon for carrier and att for wifi. However when i went to call over wifi, it shows weak security and apple states that wifi calls cannot be made over sync with wpa/wpa2 security settings after apple 14 update. Any suggestions or workarounds?
Just to make sure I'm on the same page, you're trying to use the truck's wifi Hotspot to make wifi calls, but your provider isn't allowing the connection because it's a wpa/wpa2 security protocol, right? If that's the case, you may have to switch carriers. Very interesting.
 

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I'm a little confused about the Hotspot and wireless app projection. What's the difference? I know one lets your phone have wireless connectivity, what's the other for? Sorry for the dumb question.
Pardon me for hijacking this thread but can someone please explain how does the wifi work in vehicles with wifi?! Is it a hotspot? Does it have an "account" with an ISP? I don't understand how it works.
 

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Pardon me for hijacking this thread but can someone please explain how does the wifi work in vehicles with wifi?! Is it a hotspot? Does it have an "account" with an ISP? I don't understand how it works.
It has a cellular modem in it that connects to AT&T’s network. Really no different than just using your cell phone to enable a hot spot other than it being tied to a specific carrier and probably having a more powerful signal it puts out to support better range or more devices than your cell phone’s own WiFi network.
 

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Pardon me for hijacking this thread but can someone please explain how does the wifi work in vehicles with wifi?! Is it a hotspot? Does it have an "account" with an ISP? I don't understand how it works.
So to clarify, Wifi is a technology use for network connection, it has nothing on its own to do with internet. I see people say "the wifi is slow" or whatever, indicating wifi is the cause of slow internet speed. While that can be the case in a weak or crowded connection, it's usually the actual internet provider.

So just clarifying the terminology before going forward. The F-150 has a couple Wifi radios. It has one it uses for Wireless App Projection, which is what your phone connects to for Wireless CarPlay or Android Auto.

It can also advertise a WiFi hotspot which others in the vehicle (but not the phone using the Wireless App Projection) can connect to in order to get a data connection through AT&T, currently the only provider for Ford.

You have to sign up for the AT&T Vehicle Hotspot plan. You get 2 GB free with the truck to try it out. They had a deal for it for $15/mo for unlimited data, which I had for a while. But the hotspot on the truck goes through a proxy server which in this gen seems to limit to around 20 or 30 mbps. Better than last gen where it was hard capped at 10mbps though.

In any case, you can turn off the Wifi advertisement, and for someone to take advantage of it they would have to be relatively close to your truck while it is running and have all the tools to do something with it. It isn't like your home Wifi which is advertising 24/7. So security is a minor concern for the time being, especially since the brute force hacking method required is more often done in movies than real life.
 
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It has a cellular modem in it that connects to AT&T’s network. Really no different than just using your cell phone to enable a hot spot other than it being tied to a specific carrier and probably having a more powerful signal it puts out to support better range or more devices than your cell phone’s own WiFi network.
So to clarify, Wifi is a technology use for network connection, it has nothing on its own to do with internet. I see people say "the wifi is slow" or whatever, indicating wifi is the cause of slow internet speed. While that can be the case in a weak or crowded connection, it's usually the actual internet provider.

So just clarifying the terminology before going forward. The F-150 has a couple Wifi radios. It has one it uses for Wireless App Projection, which is what your phone connects to for Wireless CarPlay or Android Auto.

It can also advertise a WiFi hotspot which others in the vehicle (but not the phone using the Wireless App Projection) can connect to in order to get a data connection through AT&T, currently the only provider for Ford.

You have to sign up for the AT&T Vehicle Hotspot plan. You get 2 GB free with the truck to try it out. They had a deal for it for $15/mo for unlimited data
, which I had for a while. But the hotspot on the truck goes through a proxy server which in this gen seems to limit to around 20 or 30 mbps. Better than last gen where it was hard capped at 10mbps though.

In any case, you can turn off the Wifi advertisement, and for someone to take advantage of it they would have to be relatively close to your truck while it is running and have all the tools to do something with it. It isn't like your home Wifi which is advertising 24/7. So security is a minor concern for the time being, especially since the brute force hacking method required is more often done in movies than real life.
OK, this is what I was missing. So it's basically a stand-alone "service" that the car has, as if it had a "built-in SIM card with a separate cell service" that you can use to connect to the internet. I believe I'll see how my phone's hotspot works before I pay another $15 (or whatever the cost is) for another service.

Thank you both.
 

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OK, this is what I was missing. So it's basically a stand-alone "service" that the car has, as if it had a "built-in SIM card with a separate cell service" that you can use to connect to the internet. I believe I'll see how my phone's hotspot works before I pay another $15 (or whatever the cost is) for another service.

Thank you both.
Yeah, your own phone service should be plenty for most things. I only did it because I got the $15/mo deal, and we have Verizon which is great 95% of where we go even on trips, but it was nice to have a back up service from another carrier. Plus, the signal reception through the truck is outstanding. Others that have done comparisons that have AT&T have said they get signal on the truck where their phone cannot. Having roof mounted antennas compared to sitting in the truck with your phone definitely has advantages.

In the end, even the $15/mo deal wasn't that attractive for a hotspot that can't leave the truck. I got a deal from Verizon for a 5G hotspot that also is only costing me $15/mo. I can take it with us wherever we go though, get about 5x the speed, and am happier with it overall. I think the onboard hotspot is a nice offering if you do a lot of work on the road still, due to the improved reception even over a handheld dedicated hotspot, but otherwise there are better options.
 
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Yeah, your own phone service should be plenty for most things. I only did it because I got the $15/mo deal, and we have Verizon which is great 95% of where we go even on trips, but it was nice to have a back up service from another carrier. Plus, the signal reception through the truck is outstanding. Others that have done comparisons that have AT&T have said they get signal on the truck where their phone cannot. Having roof mounted antennas compared to sitting in the truck with your phone definitely has advantages.

In the end, even the $15/mo deal wasn't that attractive for a hotspot that can't leave the truck. I got a deal from Verizon for a 5G hotspot that also is only costing me $15/mo. I can take it with us wherever we go though, get about 5x the speed, and am happier with it overall. I think the onboard hotspot is a nice offering if you do a lot of work on the road still, due to the improved reception even over a handheld dedicated hotspot, but otherwise there are better options.
And is AT&T the only service provider for the in-truck wifi?
 

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Yes, i can browse the internet on the hotspot but not wifi calls. Both verizon and att say that it is a ford problem, that any iphone running on 14 and above update must have strong security to make wifi calls. Since Ford is operating on wpa2/wpa on the router it is considered too weak tk make wifi call..

it does work in my home, office and my wife’s Honda Odyssey.
 

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And is AT&T the only service provider for the in-truck wifi?
For now. I hope Ford moves to a 5G network and also a non-carrier tied modem. But I suspect that won't be in the cards because the modem used for hotspot is the same one used for the live weather/navigation, OTA updates, etc. So Ford probably has a very good (for them) deal worked out with AT&T, and offering more choice would complicate things too much.
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