Wireless Carplay Interference

JediMcMuffin
Jan 18, 2024

Rank IV

Jan 18, 2024

So I'm sure many other folks will relate to this.

When wireless Carplay/AndroidAuto works its a GREAT experience. Just get in the rig and go.

I have found though, that in certain places around town, the same highway sections, the same EXACT spots each time I drive by cause wireless carplay to disconnect, and within about a minute or two it will reconnect and go back to normal. It's quite annoying. I've taken a spectrum analyzer with me to test and sure enough, the 2.4Ghz spectrum is just getting annihilated with interference in these same spots and that will disrupt both the initial Bluetooth handshake, and the wifi connection that wireless app projection uses to do implement a remote screen. What I'm hoping to figure it out, is a way to force the bronco to use it's 5Ghz radio for wireless carplay (just like the LTE hotspot can use, its there, its just not using it!)

If anyone knows any under the covers ForScan stuff for this, I'd seriously appreciate it, perhaps someone from FMC monitoring this forum can just weigh in and give us a yes/no on if this is even possible.
BuckYeah, AngusMac13

That's a terrible idea, when do we start?

Jun 18, 2025

#20
Sounds to me like there might be two different issues here. If you always disconnect in the same location it is likely an interference issue. Wireless CarPlay uses a Wi-Fi Direct connection on 5 GHz between your iPhone and your car. In some areas — like near dense apartment complexes, office buildings, airports, or even police stations — you’re exposed to tons of competing Wi-Fi traffic, which can:
  • Disrupt or weaken your car’s Wi-Fi signal
  • Temporarily confuse the handoff between your iPhone and the infotainment system

⚠️ Especially common near high-power Wi-Fi zones or industrial wireless systems

Fix:

  • Temporarily disable Wi-Fi scanning:
    On iPhone, go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services, and turn off Networking & Wireless
  • Enable Airplane Mode, then manually turn on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (to block cellular handoffs that confuse CarPlay)
  • In very noisy RF environments, switch to wired CarPlay as a fallback

The random disconnect/reconnect is likely a bug somewhere.
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