Telematics upgrade for US import to Canada

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Please let me know if this is off topic (and I'll move it to a new thread) but has anyone in Canada gone to the US to do the 3G update? If so, does it work in Canada (Carwings with the 3G hardware)?

Let us know (I'm buying a used 2015 SV and was planning to have the 3G update done before I import it to Canada).

Thanks,
Mike
 
+1 on the above post. I'm mid-process on the purchase/import process from WA state into BC, hopefully taking delivery early next week. The seller made me aware of this, so not a surprise... but I didn't know until i started looking deeper that this couldn't be sorted out directly in Canada... 'soft' workarounds aside from earlier in this thread.

My seller has a good relationship with the Nissan dealership in Bellingham, so I've asked him to reach out and find out for me what the situation is so I too can perhaps get the hardware upgrade prior to the import.
 
I have had mine updated but I cannot get it to work. I am going back down to get the dealer that did the upgrade to have another look. I am getting the issue of Connection to center failed. Looking at another thread it appears a lot of people have had this in the US after an upgrade. No one is sure what the fix is.

Will update after the dealer takes another look.
 
Great to hear a few are making the leap.

The 2G units still roam up here (albeit with Nissan perpetually kicking our VINs out), so I doubt there is any difference with the 3G units once the dealerships set them up correctly. If it works down there, it should work up here.

I've contemplated driving across to Bellingham Nissan as well, but wanted them to have a few upgrades under their belt before spending a day (or more) there.

Chiv.
 
So, is the root cause that Nissan is deliberately deactivating our Leafs from roaming on Rogers with a US TCU? I was going to troubleshoot this some more, but there is no point if this is just going to be an ongoing battle.

Has anyone successfully lobbied Nissan Canada to register their VIN on the Canadian system? Perhaps Nissan Canada takes care of registering the SIM card built into the TCU with Rogers directly to avoid roaming, but I'm just speculating. If so, then it would be in Nissan's best interest to avoid roaming charges from AT&T by having our cars registered directly with Rogers instead (i.e no roaming).

Anyone know definitively?
 
chivalryx said:
Great to hear a few are making the leap.

The 2G units still roam up here (albeit with Nissan perpetually kicking our VINs out), so I doubt there is any difference with the 3G units once the dealerships set them up correctly. If it works down there, it should work up here.

I've contemplated driving across to Bellingham Nissan as well, but wanted them to have a few upgrades under their belt before spending a day (or more) there.

Chiv.

As previously mentioned, I've got a window of opportunity here pre-import to have it done in Bellingham, far less hassle than dealing with it myself after the fact, wasting a day etc.... but I'm also wondering if it's worth it if it's still flaky in Canada with the 3g unit accessing the US system. Might as well wait until Rogers forces Nissan Canada's hand and we can get it done with Nissan Canada in 12-18 months. Until then, use the workaround described in this thread?
 
Unfortunately, it seems like Nissan is blacklisting our VINs or something as a bunch of Canadian owners of US Leafs are having issues with Nissan Connect (Carwings) now. Mine hasn't been working for days and I've tried every trick
 
So, I just spent over two hours on the phone with Nissan Connect EV support.

I explained the following to the Nissan rep:

- up until a few days ago, the 2G TCU in my car was roaming on Rogers network
- just last week I called Nissan Connect EV support, had them add my VIN to a US account after proving title, and then I was able to accept the EV agreements
- I was given a PIN and password to enter into the car and Carwings became active
- Carwings/NissanConnect is no longer working, as of just a few days ago

Before calling Nissan, I removed the vehicle from my account (via https://owners.nissanusa.com/nowners) and then tried to add the VIN again. The website wouldn't allow that, so I called Nissan Connect EV support and they added the vehicle VIN again (it shows up on the Manage Vehicle tab).

However, after they set that up I clicked on the "NissanConnect EV(CARWINGS)" tab and tried to accept the agreements in order to obtain a new PIN and passcode. It's now refusing to accept the agreement. My old PIN and passcode don't work either. Sigh

After another call to Nissan, the rep claimed that there has been no corporate policy change and that my US Leaf won't work in Canada anyways, so there's no point in fixing the agreement acceptance issue. I explained again that it was working and if I could get past the agreement acceptance page, I could try again to see if it will work. She wouldn't budge so I escalated to a manager. The manager says he'll sort out the agreement issues so I can try again, but he says there's been no corporate policy change and that most likely Rogers is starting to block the roaming. He also stated that they do not block VINS.

I would encourage everyone to email [email protected] to voice your TCU concerns. Nissan just needs to state definitively whether upgraded TCUs (3G) will likewise be blocked from roaming on Rogers network. I don't want to throw away $300 US on a gamble.

I'll post my email to them next...
 
Here's the email I sent to [email protected]:

I'm among a group of frustrated owners who congregate on mynissanleaf.com. I'm sure there's a much larger group of Leaf owners who are likewise frustrated by Carwings/NissanConnect issues, but don't engage in online owner forums.

Here are just a few of the active threads from mynissanleaf.com on the topics of TCU upgrades and Carwings/NissanConnect issues:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=23291
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=23349
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21573&start=560

For Leaf owners with a 2G TCU, it's understandable that Carwings does not work since AT&T killed their 2G network at the end of 2016.

However, there are two other groups of owners having issues:

• Those owners who've already paid for the TCU upgrade to 3G and are still having problems
• Canadian residents who purchased a Leaf in the USA and imported the vehicle to Canada (I'm in this group)

For the latter group, up until a few days ago, the original 2G TCU was working fine with Carwings. That's because, in Canada, the car was roaming onto Rogers 2G network.

There appears to have been a silent corporate policy change with regards to US Leafs that have been imported into Canada. What's happening is two fold:

• Carwings/NissanConnect is no longer working in Canada, despite the fact that the 2G TCU was roaming on Rogers network and Carwings/NissanConnect was working up until a few days ago
• Canadian owners are no longer able to accept the "NissanConnectSM EV Subscription Agreement" and "NissanConnectSM EV Consent" agreements on https://owners.nissanusa.com/nowners

In my case, I called Nissan EV support (877-664-2738) and was told that I'm no longer able to accept the agreements because, since the car is in Canada, it's not possible for the TCU to roam to a non-existant AT&T 2G network. This is despite the clear evidence to the contrary (that 2G TCUs in Canada do roam on Rogers 2G network and Carwings works but stopped working only a few days ago).

Even more frustrating though is that there is no guarantee that upgraded TCUs (3G) will work in Canada, according to the Nissan rep that I spoke to.

I'm looking for Nissan's advice on how I can get Carwings/NissanConnect working again in Canada. If I can do that by upgrading the TCU then that's fine, but I don't want to do that only to find out that it still doesn't work in Canada.
 
I should have added that I was told by two different Nissan reps that I should definitely use a Nissan Connect USA account, rather than a Canadian account, for a US market Leaf.

I'm guessing that the root cause of our issues is that Rogers is the one blocking the roaming. Just speculation though...
 
Thanks for all the updates. Please let us know if / when you hear anything.

In my case, I'm bringing in a used 2015 SV which qualifies for the free 3G upgrade and since the 2G seems flaky at best, I think I'm going to take a leap and push to get the upgrade done before I bring the car to Canada (although it remains to be seen if the 3G will work in Canada :( )

I'm hoping to have the update done early next week and have the car in Canada by late next week so I'll keep you up to date on my progress but please let us know if you have anything else to add.

Thanks,
Mike
 
alozzy said:
Here's the email I sent to [email protected]:

I'm among a group of frustrated owners who congregate on mynissanleaf.com. I'm sure there's a much larger group of Leaf owners who are likewise frustrated by Carwings/NissanConnect issues, but don't engage in online owner forums.

Here are just a few of the active threads from mynissanleaf.com on the topics of TCU upgrades and Carwings/NissanConnect issues:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=23291
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=23349
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21573&start=560

For Leaf owners with a 2G TCU, it's understandable that Carwings does not work since AT&T killed their 2G network at the end of 2016.

However, there are two other groups of owners having issues:

• Those owners who've already paid for the TCU upgrade to 3G and are still having problems
• Canadian residents who purchased a Leaf in the USA and imported the vehicle to Canada (I'm in this group)

For the latter group, up until a few days ago, the original 2G TCU was working fine with Carwings. That's because, in Canada, the car was roaming onto Rogers 2G network.

There appears to have been a silent corporate policy change with regards to US Leafs that have been imported into Canada. What's happening is two fold:

• Carwings/NissanConnect is no longer working in Canada, despite the fact that the 2G TCU was roaming on Rogers network and Carwings/NissanConnect was working up until a few days ago
• Canadian owners are no longer able to accept the "NissanConnectSM EV Subscription Agreement" and "NissanConnectSM EV Consent" agreements on https://owners.nissanusa.com/nowners

In my case, I called Nissan EV support (877-664-2738) and was told that I'm no longer able to accept the agreements because, since the car is in Canada, it's not possible for the TCU to roam to a non-existant AT&T 2G network. This is despite the clear evidence to the contrary (that 2G TCUs in Canada do roam on Rogers 2G network and Carwings works but stopped working only a few days ago).

Even more frustrating though is that there is no guarantee that upgraded TCUs (3G) will work in Canada, according to the Nissan rep that I spoke to.

I'm looking for Nissan's advice on how I can get Carwings/NissanConnect working again in Canada. If I can do that by upgrading the TCU then that's fine, but I don't want to do that only to find out that it still doesn't work in Canada.

Yup, sadly that's where things stand now. They simply blocked us from accepting, which was our way around the VINs getting kicked out of the system. Keep us posted if management budges. It's not a Rogers issue, it might be an issue with their end provider (jasper?). It's irrelevant if AT&T 2G is dead in the US, as the TCU is able to connect to 2G in Canada, gets onto a network, and is able to talk to the server. If we drove across the border to the US, our TCU's would stop (obviously). Banning us from accepting the agreement is a Nissan level blockade.

I understand they never intended for US LEAFs to go north to Canada, but really what difference should it make? Really it costs them nothing to leave things as is for those who brought LEAFs up here and still have it working. Sounds more like they just want us to "pay up or shut up" and have the TCUs updated.

Chiv.
 
Alozzy - have you received any sort of official response from Nissan? Any kind of explanation as to the very oddly-timed off-and-on connectivity to the AT&T (oops!) Rogers 2g network?
Liz
 
I probably would upgrade if I know getting a 3G TCU would work once I get back to Canada. I don't think anyone has verified that yet although I think a few have or have ordered the TCU.
 
They promised a response but so far I haven't heard back from the manager I spoke with. He did seem sincere, but he may not know what's going on at Nissan corporate if they secretly made changes.

I just tried again to accept the agreements, still fails so they haven't done anything to my account yet.

The more Nissan hears feedback from us, the more likely they will listen.

I would encourage all of you to email [email protected] and ask them why you can't accept the EV Services agreement and why Carwings was working only a few days ago in Canada, yet appears to have stopped working for all Canadian owners of US Leafs at the same time.

Wouldn't hurt to direct them to this forum thread too...
 
alozzy: some of us are following a facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/408848509465939) just for resolving this issue.

There were comments that Nissan claimed we will not be able to reset our accounts anymore to get them to work, and we must update the TCU. However, we still don't know if that will really work for Canada.
 
This sh!t is crazy stupid! Why doesn't Nissan just give us a straight answer. Total waste of everyone's time (including the hours that Nissan reps must spend on the phone making up reasons for things not working).

I really doubt that updating the TCU to a 3G version will work for owners of US Leafs in Canada as either way (2G or 3G), the car's SIM has to roam on a Rogers cell tower. If Rogers is either blocking the SIMs in the Leafs (to prevent roaming), or Nissan is refusing to pay for roaming charges by kicking us out of the Nissan Connect system, then it would be the exact same issue with a 3G TCU.

It's also crazy stupid that Nissan didn't replace the 2G TCU with a Wifi only version. 99% of the time, we use Carwings with the car parked in our driveway/garage anyways. If I was in the car and for some reason wanted to use Carwings, then I would turn on my cell hotspot and connect to that. Another option would have been to make a Wifi/3G TCU where you pop in your own SIM card if you really need 24x7 connectivity. Either option gets Nissan off the hook for paying the cell bill, so it seems like a no brainer from their perspective.

FYI, I'm just venting, I'm not directing my anger at anyone on these forums :D

Thanks for the Facebook page URL, I'll monitor that too. Honestly, I'm probably going to ignore this for a couple of weeks as I have better things to do with my time and I don't need the negative energy of dealing with it.
 
American bystander here.

Have any of you tried replacing the AT&T SIM card in the TCU with an active Roger's SIM card?
 
garsh said:
American bystander here.

Have any of you tried replacing the AT&T SIM card in the TCU with an active Roger's SIM card?

Good point, I don't have my car yet, hopefully will do next week... but I am with Rogers for my mobile service so this should be easy to test. Anyone know what SIM size it uses? Shouldn't matter, I have a set of adapters. Only thing then of course is would the extra Rogers fee for a data only SIM be worth it.... they charge $10/month to add one to your existing plan.
 
tysoncooper said:
garsh said:
American bystander here.

Have any of you tried replacing the AT&T SIM card in the TCU with an active Roger's SIM card?

Good point, I don't have my car yet, hopefully will do next week... but I am with Rogers for my mobile service so this should be easy to test. Anyone know what SIM size it uses? Shouldn't matter, I have a set of adapters. Only thing then of course is would the extra Rogers fee for a data only SIM be worth it.... they charge $10/month to add one to your existing plan.


If I remember correctly, the TCU uses a "shadow" network. So not the same as our regular cell networks. This is why no one was able to build a micro cell tower to talk to their car. From what I read, the sim card # is 1 digit short of a normal one as well.

Either way, this is moot, as Nissan themselves have blocked us. So even if our car is able to talk (which it is able to on 2G in Canada), Nissan won't authenticate it at their server level. It's all Nissan that's blocking us at the moment.

Chiv.
 
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