GPF

The weather is finally getting cold here in the morning. I recently bought an OttoCast box so I could do wireless Android Auto. It has worked very well until the cold hit.

When I come out in the morning and it's below 65, the Ottocast box powers up but the message on the screen says "Apple Carplay could not connect". If I plug my android phone into the same USB port with the same cable, Android Auto comes up with no problems. At first, I thought the Ottocast box had a problem, but I was able to duplicate the error message with my wife's IPhone 13. Once the car has warmed up by sitting in the sun, CarPlay will connect to the Ottocast and will work the rest of the day.

I'm stumped. Any ideas?

Car: 2017 W213 4Matic, Original firmware, Premium 2.

DFWdude

Buy a puppy sweater for your Ottocast...

CarFan1

Your car is outside or in the garage?

GPF

Parked outside.

CarFan1

Mine is parked inside. I'll have to wait till winter actually starts to see what it does.

Constant.12

The Ottocast I use on my car also has a problem with being disconnected, or suddenly disconnects on the way. I chose to give up. My friend recommended another small box for me to connect wireless carplay and Android AUTO. So far, there is no problem. I recommend you try.
https://carlinkitlife.com/products/t-box-mini-carlinkit-android-11-0-ai-box-wireless-carplay-adapter-dongle-convert-your-carplay-to-android-os
​​​​

Dohan

I have carlinkit 3.0 and can confirm it works well.Never had any disconnect issues but it does take a few seconds to connect once the car is started. This seems to be the latest version, right? How about your experience?

Jeride

Wireless carplay is worth using, which is also essential for me.
I’ve been using Ai box plus for a month and it is working great. Set-up was easy. Once paired, it boots carplay automatically each time I start the vehicle. Carplay seems to work just the same as when connected via USB. I don’t notice any lag or glitching. Audio quality is great (wireless CarPlay uses WiFi not Bluetooth, so you don't have the music quality issue you have with Bluetooth). Now I use it when playing music from my phone, watching videos(YouTube or Netflix) etc.
I used both Music and Maps during my driving and both responded as I expected. There was no lag in getting directions. Overall, this adapter is worthy and the performance is still OK. It works well with my car, no issues so far.
Carlinkit Ai Box Wireless Apple CarPlay & Android Auto Dongle
Share with those owners who want to use wireless CarPlay and AA.

Jerary

I have always considered buying one of these adapters, because if it works, I don't need to plug my phone in every time I get in the car. According to your feedback, I think I prefer to buy carlinkit.

GPF

The thing that is strange is that Android Auto always connects no matter what the temperature is. CarPlay, whether it is the Ottocast box or a wired connection with an iPhone, will only connect if the car is warm enough.
How is CarPlay/Android Auto implemented? Is it a separate module somewhere in the car or is it imbedded in the COMAND system? Is there somewhere I can unplug a connection and give it a good cleanup, or is this a subtly broken module issue I'll have to just put up with?

CarFan1

I used to have the AA wireless device which worked just fine. I switched to the Ottocast becasue it uses the full screen for Android Auto the same way that anyone can with Carplay. If you don't have an Android phone this may not matter, but since the traffic subscription can't be renewed, using Android Auto (with satellite. view) really looks impressive on the big screen.

I'll be very disappointed if it turns out that there are temperature issues to be concerned about. For now however it works amazingly well.

Constant.12

Works great until now. Plug and play easy to install. The connection is fast. What surprised me was that it allowed me to watch videos on my radio, whether it was YouTube or Netflix! Sound quality is good and haven't seen any audio/video lag.I think it's due to Android 11.0 system

Jeride

Yes, I also have the Ai Box and the experience is very good.

Janster

The challenge with any of these wireless CarPlay (or Android Auto) 3rd party solutions is the number of moving pieces:
1. The Comand software. I have had multiple updates to my car software and notice difference.
2. Your phone OS version.
3. CarPlay compatible app versions (e.g. earlier this year there was some issue with Waze, which exhibited itself as a freezing and audio issues with CarPlay. I blamed the adapter but I think some of those issues were Waze).
4. The adapter firmware itself.

All these 4 stars need to align and play nice with each other to have a good user experience.
After testing several of these wireless CarPlay adapters, I have narrowed it down to Ottocast U2 Air (latest version). It is not that it is perfect but because:
1. They have excellent and responsive support. I email with a problem and they quickly provide firmware update. They also replaced my unit when it got bricked during one of the updates (I think...).
2. It is overall responsive and more stable than other adapters I have tested (e.g. I drive frequently 3+ hours in one go and Carlinkit would regularly freeze after 1-2 hours of driving with a painfully long restart)
3. I use the wireless CarPlay to make calls (both phone and voip like Teams, etc.). The Carlinkit I was using had terrible audio delay, like in the 90's making international calls. This made it a no-go.

I believe your experience will greatly vary depending on how long drives you make and how much of CarPlay functions you use (e.g. navigation - and which app, streaming, calls, voip) AND what software versions all your pieces of the puzzle are on.
And your initial startup and connection when you first get in your car could also be affected by things such as your home (or office) Wi-Fi your phone may be connected to when you are starting your car in your garage. My understanding of CarPlay (and Android Auto) is that it requires Bluetooth connection only for initial pairing and initial connection (once paired) to the wireless adapter. The actual data transfer from your phone to the head unit, via the wireless adapter, actually takes place using Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connection because it has much more bandwidth than BT. If your Wi-Fi connection is doing something else, it may affect the wireless CarPlay connectivity. I have not done enough testing to prove this, but I have some incidental experience where CarPlay startup in a strange parking lot goes quicker/smoother, than when I am sitting in my garage and still connected to my home Wi-Fi.

Dohan

Wow~ Great! If I upgrade later, I think I'll consider replacing it with this Ai box. lol.