How to update StarLink head unit maps over WiFi
 

Is there a sane way to update the maps in the StarLink head unit via WiFi without multiple failures and resets?

I have the push-button ignition switch. At home, I push the ignition button once to get to "Accessory" mode, then turn on the radio head unit. It is programmed with the home WiFi password, so it connects to my home's WiFi automatically. Then you go into Settings and the map location settings and hit "Check for updates". It starts to update the nearby state road maps, then the car shuts off after 20 minutes in ACC mode. So repeat, but after two or three times, it says "U.S. State so-and-so failed to update." Then you wait a few days and try again.

On the road, enable the WiFi hot spot on the smartphone, the StarLink head unit recognizes and connects to the phone's WiFi hot spot. Then go into Settings for the map, select "Check for updates" and it starts the update process. But if you go through a bad cell service area, the update fails. So you try again the next time you're in the car.

It seems to take a couple of hours total to update 6 or 7 states worth of street maps, but the on-time of "Accessory" mode or the reliability of a cellular connection when the car is turned on is much shorter than this. It can take a week or two to babysit the update process.

Suggestions for a better way?

I'm quite new to owning and cars overall, but I was not happy with the stock unit within an hour of getting my car. I'm most likely doing a head unit swap so I can bring in android auto/apple car play and just use my phone for navigation without mounting it. Have you thought about that? I've seen some amazing things done for the push ignition and dual climate models

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Nah, I'm an Android user, and Android Auto started behaving a little better after one or two of the head unit's firmware updates. The GPS map updates are nearly impossible to manage, though.

I asked about after-market head units at an auto sound installer, and they said all the firmware and map updates for the after market units are typically done via USB stick, which sounds even more painful than WiFi.

Actually, in my experience its infinitely easier via USB then wifi or mobile app.

You download the files to the USB stick, insert it into the plug, and away it goes after either a restart or selecting the option from the setup menu depending on the radio.

I just wish I could do that to the 2014 Pioneer I have. They restrict it to being done by the dealer. Might as well just buy a new headunit for what they want to charge for a map/firmware update.

I just did this last weekend. I spent 4.5 hours with the car running in my garage because in accessory mode it shuts off after 20 minutes. I updated 7 maps and firmware. I think @Dadhawk is onto something with the USB stick.

My process started going faster by downloading to my phone using Starlink then plugging my phone in the car.

i found this link that explains that it can take up to 30 minutes over Wifi to do the update. I think they have really slow wifi cards in them and they seem to be as reliable as my $20 blu-ray player.

Good luck!

Can't imagine idling the car in the driveway for 4.5 hours just to update the maps in the head unit. That's why I've been doing one or more 20 minute "Accessory mode" sessions over a week or two.

Are there any web pages or YouTube videos with detailed instructions on how to use the Starlink app on the phone to download the map updates?

I picked up the AT&T/Harman "Spark" WiFi hot spot that sits on the OBD2 connector. Figured I run that in the car and point the head unit to the WiFi hotspot in the Spark and put the head unit's navigation map setting in "auto update" mode. In this way, when the car is turned on and running about town or on a trip, the head unit can decide to try to update autonomously over ever-present WiFi, without me having to run my phone as a hotspot.

Cost for the Spark was $80 for the hardware and $10/month for data. It is on my existing AT&T data plan as another device sharing the 20 GB/month data plan. The cost to have it sitting on the existing mobile data plan for my smartphone is $10/month, same as adding another smartphone to the account. My guess is it would be a bit more per month for the device to have its own (unshared) data plan?

I am not an expert... just like to poke around. I have been trying to update the maps with little to no success since the day i bought the car. Here is what I ended up doing. The 4.5 hours included some trial and error in the beginning before I got a winning combination.

Open the Starlink app on the phone and select the More... option on the bottom menu Then I selected Map Update Settings... and it shows all the update selections from the head unit.

i selected Start Update... and it downloads map data to the phone. Once all the maps were updated I plugged the phone onto the car, turned on Auto Update and it pulled the maps over from phone.

i performed the firmware update directly from the head unit. I wouldn't normally update the firmware but I was experiencing the storm warnings that blocked my screen and I read somewhere there was a firmware update to fix that.

For good measure I also cleared STARLINK application data from the app as I was having issues with the map freezing while in motion.

So far so good - no storm warnings or frozen maps.

So here's an idea for you guys:

Pull the head unit out of the dash so that you can access the wiring harnesses behind it. Jumper the +12 volt constant wire to the +12 volt ACC wire to keep the head unit on constanly whether the car is powered on or not. Connect a battery charger to the battery under the hood. Then perform your updates and use as much time as you need to do so.

Found out today this isn't the case as my base mobile phone data plan would have to be AT&T's "unlimited" plan to share it with the Spark. So instead, the choices are $10/month for Spark "telematics" only (car telemetry from OBD2 connector transmitted to the Spark app), $25/month for 5 Gbyte/month of WiFi data, or $40/month for 10 Gbyte/month of Wifi data.

Yeah, that's a great idea. I have a battery charger already I could use for that.

Trying the WiFi hot spot for now, because I also picked up an Escort MAX 360c radar detector in the last few months, and it is a "networked" or "connected" detector that reports detections into the cloud, and receives detections from the cloud. So it wants a WiFi hotspot available in the car, and using my phone can be a pain. Also, the kids want WiFi for their handheld devices (Nintendos, whatever). So there's a couple of reasons to try the WiFi route. Getting navigation map updates into the Starlink head unit was the final straw that had me pull the trigger on an aftermarket WiFi hotspot.

After 3 or 4 days of running the AT&T/Harman Spark hotspot on the OBD2 connector with the Starlink head unit in "Auto update maps" mode, I tried to manually check for updates. The head unit reported "All maps are up to date". So the trick of having an ever-present WiFi hotspot available to the head unit and enabling the navigation map setting to "Auto updates - on" did the trick. You don't have to babysit the update process.

Another option: I think there's an Android app that will enable an Android phone's WiFi hotspot mode every time the phone connects to the car head unit's Bluetooth. So that might be a way to run a hotspot in the car in a semi-automated fashion. Then point the head unit to the phone's WiFi hotspot and set "Auto Update maps" in the navigation settings to have the head unit pull new maps whenever they become available.

Maybe you can find the answer in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=tp7yYGLlFDo