Mobley power options change

[dzwiss]

Has anyone else noticed that the option to keep the Mobley on indefinitely is no longer available.  Two hours is the longest option available on mine today.  Has something changed.

[Dennis Henderson]

Yes.  My Mobley just updated itself and the "no time out" option is gone.

Go figure!  It was nice while it lasted.

[bigjim]

I don't want to jinx my self but I had mine on twice today for over 6 hours each time.

[Chad Heiser]

While the options in the menu have changed, there is also a new note next to the menu.  The note says:

Notes: The user may define a time period for the mobile hotspot to stay on when the vehicle is turned off or idle. The factory default is 30 minutes. Starting the vehicle will always power the hotspot on. The mobile hotspot will power off automatically if the voltage of the OBD connector drops to 11.5v.

I take this note to mean as long as the Mobley is powered, it will stay on now rather than needing to have a menu option to make it stay on.  The menu options kick in when the vehicle is turned off (I assume to help prevent battery drain).  For those of us powering our Mobley from a source other than the OBDII port, our vehicles are always “started” and running.  At least this appears to be the way mine is working so far.  I don’t know exactly when the menu option changed, but mine has been powered on for many consecutive hours.  I do have it on a manual timer that shuts it down for 15 minutes every twelve hours just so it can reboot itself periodically to prevent any possible issues with it locking up.

[rynosback]

I keep mine on for 12-16 hours a day with no issues.

[WeBeFulltimers]

I never turn mine off and it stays in our fifth wheel.

[Dennis Henderson]

My Mobley is not used in the car.  It is used with an adapter in the motorhome as we are fulltimers.  When I first got the Mobley, it would turn off after 30 minutes.  A search of internet posts alerted me to the "Power Save" menu that allowed you to change from the default "30 minutes" to "never time out."  So I changed it that one time and have never had a problem since.

Over the past year mine stayed on as long as I needed it to, sometimes for hours and hours.  

Yesterday when I turned it on a red light appeared on the Mobley indicating it was updating.  This had never happened before.  Shortly thereafter the two green lights appeared and I was connected to the internet.  30 minutes later it turned off.  I toggled it back on and it stayed on for 30 minutes and then turned off.

I remembered the long-ago internet tip and signed into the Administrative area of my Mobley using my laptop.  When I went to the "Power Save" options, the option to always remain on or never time out (I forget the wording) was gone.  The longest time available was now showing as 2 hours. 

In recent months my usage has been over 50 GB per month with one month at 79 GB.  

Perhaps this change is selective for high use?  I didn't really think 50 GB was high use.  But, in consideration of the original intent of the Mobley to be a "Connected Car" device, 50 GB is probably way more than they expected.  

So far I am happy that they haven't discontinued the device/plan completely since we are using it with a power source other than the special car port that was intended.

[Smitty77_7]

Dennis - Thanks for sharing this experience:)! 

We have to physical Mobley's, but now down to one account only as we have other Data provider's in our arsenal. I've kept the second unit as a spare if ever needed. But like many here, I've actually not had my Mobley powered on for well over 18 months now. I have the sim moved to a Unite Explore. I have that device 'Auto Update' off. But check for software updates monthly. Will watch to see if any new releases show available the next time I check. 

Every two hours time out, would be a PITA while trying to stream a movie. But other then that, it only takes a minute or so to wake everything back up(?). 

Best to you,

Smitty

[Technomadia]

12 hours ago, Chad Heiser said:

 

Notes: The user may define a time period for the mobile hotspot to stay on when the vehicle is turned off or idle. The factory default is 30 minutes. Starting the vehicle will always power the hotspot on. The mobile hotspot will power off automatically if the voltage of the OBD connector drops to 11.5v.

 

I just wanted to chime in on the above wording - it's nothing new. We compared it to the wording from the 1.0.1 firmware, and it is exactly the same.

 

Thankfully, we only have seen a handful of reports of the Mobley actually shutting down after 30m/2hrs since 1.0.3 was pushed. Ours has been running all morning. 

We've been tracking this closely over at the Mobile Internet Resource Center, and just published our article on it earlier today, which also includes potential work arounds should the power saving mode become a problem:

https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/att-pushes-mobley-firmware-update-vm6200v1-0-3-removes-no-time-out-power-save-setting/

 - Cherie

 

[Lou Schneider]

I had my Mobley update yesterday.  Scared me because I forgot the red light meant it was updating.  The only problem I see is if you're boondocking on just battery power the Mobley may not see what it thinks is charging voltage, just the lower voltage from the house batteries, and start it's shutdown timer.

Apparently the Mobley uses the input voltage to sense if the car's engine is on or off.  With the engine on the car's electrical system runs at about 14 volts.  With the engine off the battery goes to 12.6 volts as soon as it loses it's surface charge.

I have an AC adapter that supplies 12.0 VDC and that's low enough to make the Mobley think the engine is off and shut down after the time set on the timer.  Wasn't a problem with the "never shut off" option.

[dewilso]

Mine updated today😞

[Chad Heiser]

I’m happy with the update.  I’ve had fewer lock ups since mine updated.  My Mobley is on 24/7, but I have it plugged into a manual timer that shuts it off for 15 minutes ever 12 hours (3 am and 3 pm).  It used to still freeze up every once in a while and need to be rebooted even with the timer.  I haven’t had any freeze ups since the update though and it doesn’t shut off on its own even though the option for do not power off is gone.

[offroad]

this is the first discussion that mentioned the MOBLEY when in RED LIGHT mode that it is updating.  Had never had that happen before, and my mobley smelled like it had blown a circuit (silicon smell).  It never worked again over three days time, and never got out of RED LIGHT mode. 

Instead pulled the SIM chip and put it in a MOFY SIM4 cellular hotspot device (cost $350 unfortunately).  But now the speed is about ten times faster than the mobley ever was.  Plus I have external antenna connections I can use when I want to move antennas to the outside on a pole or such.  

http://a.co/d/14u3zXY

 

My account continues to work fine.

NOTE:  someone mentioned on the HOWARD forum threads that they sent in their MOBLEY to ZTE for repair and did get it back.  Repair is free if under warranty or $50 if not. 

[Dutch_12078]

Along with the timeout change, the update also locks the SIM to the Mobley so it can't be moved to another device like the popular Netgear Unite series hotspots. If your Mobley SIM is currently in an alternate device though, check the admin/manager page for an option to activate the SIM lock. If it's there, you can activate it and enter the default "1111" code. Then change the code to something else and deactivate it again so you won't have to enter it every time you boot up the device. There are reports that changing the SIM lock code from the default prevents the update from applying the unknown lock code when the SIM is in the Mobley.

[Technomadia]

Yes, the firmware did set a PIN lock on the SIM card.  If you're already locked, here's our article on how to obtain your PUKs from AT&T to unlock it:

https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/att-connected-car-mobley-sims-reporting-as-pin-locked/

We do recommend anyone with a CCU Mobley plan obtain their PUKs.. just in case. 

[rynosback]

23 hours ago, Chad Heiser said:

I’m happy with the update.  I’ve had fewer lock ups since mine updated.  My Mobley is on 24/7, but I have it plugged into a manual timer that shuts it off for 15 minutes ever 12 hours (3 am and 3 pm).  It used to still freeze up every once in a while and need to be rebooted even with the timer.  I haven’t had any freeze ups since the update though and it doesn’t shut off on its own even though the option for do not power off is gone.

Glad to hear the update has solved an issue you had.  What is the new version number?

[Chad Heiser]

1 hour ago, rynosback said:

Glad to hear the update has solved an issue you had.  What is the new version number?

I’m out of town right now so I can’t check, but I can let you know next week.

[Ski]

Shucks, just ordered a Unite Explore due in tomorrow. Guess I'll need the PUK?

Al

Palmview, TX

[Ski]

Contacted AT&T via chat and was given an 8-digit number. See what happens tomorrow when my Unite Explore arrives.

Al

Palmview, TX

[rynosback]

On 10/26/2018 at 12:11 AM, Chad Heiser said:

I’m out of town right now so I can’t check, but I can let you know next week.

Thanks

[offroad]

On 10/25/2018 at 7:32 PM, Technomadia said:

Yes, the firmware did set a PIN lock on the SIM card.  If you're already locked, here's our article on how to obtain your PUKs from AT&T to unlock it:

https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/att-connected-car-mobley-sims-reporting-as-pin-locked/

We do recommend anyone with a CCU Mobley plan obtain their PUKs.. just in case. 

texted ATT an got my two PUK numbers just in case. 

[chirakawa]

27 minutes ago, offroad said:

texted ATT an got my two PUK numbers just in case. 

How do you do that?  I would really like to text them instead of calling or chatting.  Thanks.

[rynosback]

11 hours ago, chirakawa said:

How do you do that?  I would really like to text them instead of calling or chatting.  Thanks.

You could also just go onto there website and hit the chat button.

[chirakawa]

25 minutes ago, rynosback said:

You could also just go onto there website and hit the chat button.

Did you read my post?  I don't like calling or chatting.

[rynosback]

9 minutes ago, chirakawa said:

Did you read my post?  I don't like calling or chatting.

Well then no PUK number for you...