SIM card question

[Sammie__]

I bought my car certified pre owned from the Audi dealership about 3 months ago. Car didn't have a SIM card when I bought it, Audi ended up sending one in the mail for me. They sent me an AT&T card, but my car being a 2013 is supposedly matched only with Tmobile. Is there any way around this..... ??


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine mobile app

[Jflow23]

Your car probably has the hardware retrofit to support att. Audi checks by VIN before sending the card. I asked for an att card and they refused to give me one stating that my system needed to be upgraded.

[poweredbyaudi7]

Your car probably has the hardware retrofit to support att. Audi checks by VIN before sending the card. I asked for an att card and they refused to give me one stating that my system needed to be upgraded.

That is BS. If you have a facelifted car, you can run ATT. They claim mine cannot, but I run it daily. We added it to our family shared data plan for $10

[chaos2984]

That is BS. If you have a facelifted car, you can run ATT. They claim mine cannot, but I run it daily. We added it to our family shared data plan for $10

You just popped an ATT chip in your car (14) and it just worked now issues?

[Jflow23]

That is true, since Audi gave him the att card, he will surely be ok.

[DannyDeez]

That is BS. If you have a facelifted car, you can run ATT. They claim mine cannot, but I run it daily. We added it to our family shared data plan for $10

How do you add it to your share plan? Like what info does ATT need in order to get it added? Normally they assign phone numbers to the sim like when I added my tablet. My fiancés 2016 Q5 has the ATT sim and instead of paying Audi, it might be better to add it to our plan once the free trial expires.

[superswiss]

That is BS. If you have a facelifted car, you can run ATT. They claim mine cannot, but I run it daily. We added it to our family shared data plan for $10

For a 2014 and 2015 that's correct. They technically have the proper telephone module to support AT&T's 3G frequency bands and the new refarmed T-Mobile frequency bands, however that's not true for a 2013 with original hardware. On those models, you will only get 2G on AT&T and if you live in a market where T-Mobile has recently "upgraded" their network, you will also only get 2G on T-Mobile.

There is indeed a hardware upgrade that adds full support for AT&T for all facelifted cars and restores T-Mobile 3G service for 2013 models in all markets. Audi connect won't sign you up for AT&T service, unless you have a 2016 or a 2013,14,15 with upgraded telephone module. Otherwise the MMI's IMEI won't be accepted by AT&T's system. In order to get AT&T service with a 2014 and 2015 you have to activate service with a fake IMEI or an IMEI from another device.

I've gone through this whole process myself. My 2013 MMI got replaced with a 2015 MMI due to sat nav issues. Once replaced, I took an activated AT&T SIM from one of my old tablets and used it in place of the T-Mobile SIM. Then a few months ago, I requested the hardware upgrade and officially signed up for AT&T service through Audi connect.

My experience has shown that if you go the unsupported route of using your own SIM, it doesn't quite work a 100%. I frequently lost the data connection for a few seconds. With the upgraded telephone module, the connection is much more stable. Also, you can't sign up for a myAudi account unless you have an official Audi connect AT&T or T-Mobile subscription. If you already have a myAudi account, it continues to work at least for now, but there is always the risk that Audi may start locking down the accounts to official subscriptions only. For the 2017 A4 and Q7, that's already the case.

[chaos2984]

For a 2014 and 2015 that's correct. They technically have the proper telephone module to support AT&T's 3G frequency bands and the new refarmed T-Mobile frequency bands, however that's not true for a 2013 with original hardware. On those models, you will only get 2G on AT&T and if you live in a market where T-Mobile has recently "upgraded" their network, you will also only get 2G on T-Mobile.

There is indeed a hardware upgrade that adds full support for AT&T for all facelifted cars and restores T-Mobile 3G service for 2013 models in all markets. Audi connect won't sign you up for AT&T service, unless you have a 2016 or a 2013,14,15 with upgraded telephone module. Otherwise the MMI's IMEI won't be accepted by AT&T's system. In order to get AT&T service with a 2014 and 2015 you have to activate service with a fake IMEI or an IMEI from another device.

I've gone through this whole process myself. My 2013 MMI got replaced with a 2015 MMI due to sat nav issues. Once replaced, I took an activated AT&T SIM from one of my old tablets and used it in place of the T-Mobile SIM. Then a few months ago, I requested the hardware upgrade and officially signed up for AT&T service through Audi connect.

My experience has shown that if you go the unsupported route of using your own SIM, it doesn't quite work a 100%. I frequently lost the data connection for a few seconds. With the upgraded telephone module, the connection is much more stable. Also, you can't sign up for a myAudi account unless you have an official Audi connect AT&T or T-Mobile subscription. If you already have a myAudi account, it continues to work at least for now, but there is always the risk that Audi may start locking down the accounts to official subscriptions only. For the 2017 A4 and Q7, that's already the case.

So you asked audi for the upgrade and did you have to pay for it?

[superswiss]

So you asked audi for the upgrade and did you have to pay for it?

Yes, and no I didn't pay for it. The upgrade was free of charge.

[B8_Jim]

I tried to reactivate my audi-connect service and they told me that since I was in a T-mobile "turndown" area and since I didn't have active service at the time of the turndown, my VIN was tagged as not being eligible for the hardware upgrade, They will not activate my SIM/service.

I've asked Audi of America if this means that if, in effect, a feature I payed for is worthless even though I'm still within warranty? They have assigned a case and will get back to me - sounds promising that they will approve the HW upgrade, but ... we'll see.

[S4Flyer]

How do you add it to your share plan? Like what info does ATT need in order to get it added? Normally they assign phone numbers to the sim like when I added my tablet. My fiancés 2016 Q5 has the ATT sim and instead of paying Audi, it might be better to add it to our plan once the free trial expires.

The key is in how you ask for the SIM card. DO NOT tell them it's for an Audi or any other car. They will immediately ask for your year and model, and the 8.5s won't come up on their list of compatible cars. Then, when you convince them to give you one anyway, they will charge you $20 a month, not $10 a month, because it's for a car.

What you want to do is tell them you have a tablet which requires a full size SIM, that you'd like to add to your plan. You can't remember the make or model, but you are 100% sure it takes the full size SIM.

Get the SIM, install it in your car, and you're good. This is what I did for my 2015.

At the store, they will also tell you there is no activation fee. You will see the fee on your next bill. Call ATT and have them remove it.

[DannyDeez]

The key is in how you ask for the SIM card. DO NOT tell them it's for an Audi or any other car. They will immediately ask for your year and model, and the 8.5s won't come up on their list of compatible cars. Then, when you convince them to give you one anyway, they will charge you $20 a month, not $10 a month, because it's for a car.

What you want to do is tell them you have a tablet which requires a full size SIM, that you'd like to add to your plan. You can't remember the make or model, but you are 100% sure it takes the full size SIM.

Get the SIM, install it in your car, and you're good. This is what I did for my 2015.

At the store, they will also tell you there is no activation fee. You will see the fee on your next bill. Call ATT and have them remove it.

Thanks for the info and taking the time to write that up for me!
My 2016 already has the ATT SIM card in it. I was more curious on what info they need to add that to the share plan, rather than getting a new SIM card.

[superswiss]

Thanks for the info and taking the time to write that up for me!
My 2016 already has the ATT SIM card in it. I was more curious on what info they need to add that to the share plan, rather than getting a new SIM card.

Don't call AT&T. Call the dedicated Audi connect phone number or go to myaudiconnect.com and add you car to your existing AT&T plan once your 6 months trial has expired. All they need is the primary account holders phone number and your VIN.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DannyDeez]

Don't call AT&T. Call the dedicated Audi connect phone number or go to myaudiconnect.com and add you car to your existing AT&T plan once your 6 months trial has expired. All they need is the primary account holders phone number and your VIN.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ok cool thanks for the info

[poweredbyaudi7]

The key is in how you ask for the SIM card. DO NOT tell them it's for an Audi or any other car. They will immediately ask for your year and model, and the 8.5s won't come up on their list of compatible cars. Then, when you convince them to give you one anyway, they will charge you $20 a month, not $10 a month, because it's for a car.

What you want to do is tell them you have a tablet which requires a full size SIM, that you'd like to add to your plan. You can't remember the make or model, but you are 100% sure it takes the full size SIM.

Get the SIM, install it in your car, and you're good. This is what I did for my 2015.

At the store, they will also tell you there is no activation fee. You will see the fee on your next bill. Call ATT and have them remove it.

I just took it from my iPad and used a sim converter. I rarely use it in my iPad. And when I need it, I take it back. ATT knows it is in a car still because it shows when you look at your online account.