Frenetic

Can anyone tell me where the menu is to use your phone as a tether? I can never remember where this menu is at, and the user’s manual isn’t helpful.

I never got a hard copy manual, just a link to a pdf. Is there a separate MBUX manual: I know they sometimes split it because the main user’s manual is light on the MBUX part.

bishop64

This might be helpful.

https://www.mercedes-benz.co.uk/pass...-and-bluetooth

Frenetic

So I’ve been playing around with this and while I can get it to work, the connection isn’t seamless and every time I lock the car and come back it won’t automatically connect even though my phone is memorized in the system. The only way it would connect during these instances if I toggled the hotspot on and off on my iPhone. Then it would connect.

The sound quality, though—at least from Apple Music—is considerably better than CarPlay. It sounds really good, although I can’t tell if atmos is active as there is no visual cue on the screen. The only way to know for sure is if you can hear it (which is obvious in some instances) or if you refer to the song on your phone as it will indicate if it offers spatial or atmos playback.

Occasionally I would get an internet not found error but it would be still streaming music. Also, even though I have an unlimited data plan, the amount of data during this playback is enormous and I know AT&T will sometimes throttle speeds if you are a tethering hog, although I haven’t experienced this yet or at least so far as I can tell. A few hours of listening and it hits into the GB range of data. Finally, tethering drains my battery like crazy and easily overpowers the wireless charging. I had to plug in my phone to at least compensate.

crabman

I'm Android, on my phone the charge is faster than the draw-down, although not by much.

I get the same as far as having to connect when I get in the car except for me, it's every time. I used the same power cycle technique, used because I'm trying the data plan for a few months. Occasionally I have to go in the menu and cycle between the phone and plan to get it to see the plan, so it's not seamless either, although it's closer.

I'm running Tidal and saw similar data usage, Tmo didn't complain. With 4D I can occasionally hear sounds moving vertically and panning overhead, these are going to be ATMOS. No cues with Tidal either but you can see what was played in your history on the phone or PC.

There are few native ATMOS music tracks and they don't often have objects moving vertically in the sound stage. That applies more so to remastered tracks. I wouldn't say the high-def is underwhelming because I can usually tell when my copilot had switched out of Tidal to a low res source without seeing her do it. On the other hand I was expecting something more which was probably unrealistic.

Frenetic

So yesterday the car/phone would connect without me having to toggle the hotspot feature on my phone off and on, although the connection time varies. Sometimes it will take up to three minutes before it connected and started to stream whereas others it would take a few seconds. It’s just very inconsistent. However, it’s better than me having to toggle on and off each time like I did the previous day.

The music is better. I played the same song back-to-back and it’s very noticeable. The bass was much more clearer and didn’t seem over-boosted and/or muddled like it can during CarPlay and the overall sound stage was better.

Frenetic

I think I figured out what’s causing the connection upon startup issues: CarPlay. If CarPlay connects first, it won’t connect as a tether without me toggling my phone’s mobile hotspot off and on again. I can in fact have both CarPlay and tethering connected to my phone simultaneously, but it just will not auto connect tethering if CarPlay connects first.

Conversely, the exact opposite is true when it comes to tethering connecting first: CarPlay will not auto connect. Which one actually connects first is kind of random, although see my comments below.

Here’s another strange thing: if I force tethering upon startup and run errands throughout the day starting and stopping the car, four out of five times tethering would auto connect first, although it wasn’t certain. If I don’t drive it for a week, which is common for me, it’s completely random which one will connect, although anecdotally it to seems to favor CarPlay.

I’m not sure if this is an iPhone or MBUX issue as it could theoretically be one or the other or both. I wish this could get fixed and have both auto connect upon startup without me having to fiddle with the settings and/or phone. MBUX could prioritize connections sequentially to eliminate any connection issues the iPhone may be having if it sees two things trying to connect simultaneously or visa-versa.

Also, while streaming music through tethering, I will often get an internet connection not available notice pop up but it will still stream just fine. I’m not sure if the car buffers the music and I just hit a bad connection spot.