Picked up a MY16 F-Type S a month ago, really loving it. I also love using the inControl app to remote start the car when it's super cold. I knew that the wireless carriers were turning off 3G services starting in 2022 but it wasn't until I read this article that I thought about my car. I also noticed that Jaguar wasn't on this list...

https://jalopnik.com/here-are-the-wa...for-1848265836

As far as I can tell it wasn't until MY2019 they started putting 4G modules in the cars (and not just for F-Types), so getting a 4G sim card wont help anything and that is a lot of warranty JLR cars with this issue.

Has anyone spoken to their local dealership service center about this? It would be great if they could do a 4G module upgrade, even if it was a paid upgrade for out of warranty cars...

 

I wouldn't count on any help from the dealerships. After getting my 2017 S, two dealers in my area were of no help in getting my navigation updated. Jaguar infotainment and navigation systems were designed extremely poorly. There is no level of standardization, and the owner was obviously not a consideration of their design process.

 

There is a very simple way for you to upgrade to 4K or even 5k and you don’t have to involve your dealer ( why even get them involved?) go buy a 4 or 5G hub and keep it in your car. That’s what we did on a first gen F-Pace. I bought the hub before we even picked the car up from the dealer back in 2016. Set the car up to connect to the hub and you’re golden!

 

That won't help. If one has an InControl system that uses 3G to connect and 3G systems are shut down, communication ceases.

 

FYI, my MY18 XE has 4G.

 

You are quite right. I was on a completely different wavelength when I posted. It will take action from JLR to get around the 3g shutdown and I don’t see this happening. Even if you could replace the 3G module in the car you would need a new SIM card from JLR as it probably would not work on 4 or 5G network.

 

I asked Jaguar Customer Relations the same question and got this for what it’s worth

Our engineering team is aware of the 3G sunset happening in 2022 and working diligently to provide a solution; however, we have not received any word of when this solution will be available nor what form it will take. Once that has been determined, we will be making an announcement to all potentially affected vehicle owners.

 

Dropped my Pace at the dealer this morning, getting a new TCU under warranty. Asked about 3G and they didn’t have an answer.
Just picked it up and they said my 2018 Pace is 4G.

 

.Thanks for that info. Not a full answer, but at least its an acknowledgement of the issue!

 

And more importantly, I just renewed my InControl subscription for another year so if the lights go out in a few months, I'm going to be looking at a refund. Anybody else who is 2016 and up for renewal might want to pause the buy button...given the way Jaguar had little or no interest in replacing the applications that went missing (Spotify etc) I wouldn't hold your breath for the "solution".

 

On the other hand - some brand are offering an upgrade to 4G - but only to current subscribers. Some in the F-Pace camp have renewed against that possibility for JLR (and will presume to get a refund if there is no solution). Meanwhile, I've set up my phone as a hotspot and let the car connect to it when traveling so I can still use Waze & get realtime traffic.

 

Thank you. Hopefully they'll have a simple solution. My 2016 F-type S seems to contain a "Bosch" head unit - so perhaps Jaguar is working with Bosch (along with other car companies? - do any of the supported/mentioned in the Jalopnik article car companies use Bosch systems too?

Bosch has expertise in this area: https://www.bosch-motorsport.com/con.../65538827.html

 

I don’t think that the head unit has much to do with this part as I believe that the InControl telematics like remote start are handled by the telematics module between the seats cubby. I guess it’s conceivable that JLR might be able to swap this out for a reprogrammed unit from a later model 4G unit….

 

I added the CarPlay module from idcore to regain access to those type of apps but that won’t handle the remote start and journey tracking stuff which InControl handles.

 

Thanks....agree. Any chance all the telematics/high end electronics would be Bosch?

 

Sorry no idea. Not sure what the manufacturer would have to do with it...

 

Just thinking if the issue was a "system" sold to JLR by Bosch and was 3G...Bosch has the means to solve it rapidly and affordably....most of us would pay a nominal fee to update things, perhaps 150 dollars. The hope would be it would be a simple 15m install so JLR would at least break even. I was just guessing that a company like JLR probably would want to have all of the bus parts be from one source so as to avoid finger pointing if problems arose down the line....

I asked them about my service and they told me I'd be able to renew in May....so at least at the dealer communication level they are telling dealers that consumers with 3G cars can upgrade in May of 2022. That was a month ago. And the dealer checked with JLR on that....so here's to hope.

 

My thought would be this telematics module would be separate from any dependencies on your system being Bosch or Harmon. This should be the equivalent to changing out your modem from DOCSIS 2.0 to 3.0, the way you interface with that modem in your home network stays the same, but the communication to the back end network is different. Since they already have 4G modules in the newer F-Types, if the current 3G telematics module is replaceable then an upgrade should be possible. How much effort JLR is willing to put in however... who knows.

 

Agreed given that there are 4G modules out there, it should be feasible for JLR to come out with a software revision for the 3G telematics cars to allow them to function with 4G. As you say, the big IF is whether JLR consider it worthwhile at a business level. Maybe when the 3G lights go out, some enterprising hacker modders will decide to experiment and share their skunkworks projects...

 

Perhaps said very bluntly: as a consumer I will openly wonder if I should by an EV from JLR if they cannot even address the need to move 3G cars to 4G cars ...EV's are bigger computers that will need more of this sort of thing (and may need more security updates....). Why invest in a company that cannot take care of its customers.....at some point that matters a lot to most people. From my point of view, JLR has taken very good care of me for the record so I am optimistic here. But the "update" department will need to be empowered into the next world we are about to enter....a lot.

For the record, discussed this on the home front and there is unanimity here that we'd be happy to pay to upgrade out car to 4 or even 5G from 3G. JLR, please just give us that option.