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Phone won't connect

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ember1205

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Northern Central CT
Year, Model & Trim Level
2011 Ford Explorer
Welcome to the Forum ember1205.:wavey:
In regards to the liftgate. Have you checked that perhaps the previous owner had set a height limit on the door opening? I set a limit on mine because I used to open it in the garage and it would hit the garage door if I let open all the way.
When you say the phone isn't connected, are you referring to the MFT display? I would think that it would be normal for "searching for Phone' to come up if the MFT hasn't connected to it first.

Peter

It's not a power lift gate, and it does open all the way if you muscle it up there.

It will clock looking for a phone for literally minutes and sometimes never find my phone. I absolutely expect the system to search for known phones and connect them in order they are listed in the display with the preferred phone being searched first. My phone is the only one in the system - there is absolutely no reason for it to not find it, unless the bluetooth radio is having problems (which could also explain why it washes out in static during a call from time to time).
 



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What happens when you go to the phone screen and press on Connect. Does it do so quickly?

Peter
 






What happens when you go to the phone screen and press on Connect. Does it do so quickly?

Peter

If you go to the phone screen, select the specific phone, and press connect, it connects in about 5 seconds. And, again, this is the only phone configured in the system, so I absolutely expect it to connect like this when I press the button on the wheel.
 






Something sure doesn't seem right. Once you set up your phone in MFT and you enter the vehicle with the phone already turned on, it should automatically connect. You shouldn't have to do anything at all.
What model of phone is it?

Perhaps Rebecca, (FordIVTteam) the Ford IVT rep may be able to help you.

Peter
 






Something sure doesn't seem right. Once you set up your phone in MFT and you enter the vehicle with the phone already turned on, it should automatically connect. You shouldn't have to do anything at all.

Peter

When I'm home, I'm connected to WiFi. This is a trigger event to turn BT off on my device to conserve battery. When I drive away from the house, the WiFi will disconnect, and that is a trigger event to turn BT on. Because of how long it takes to actually experience a disconnect from WiFi, the BT radio on the phone does not turn on until after the car has stopped searching for a phone.

If I need to make a call "right away", I will manually connect it to the car. And, it should find it correctly and quickly via the button on the wheel (IMHO), and it doesn't.
 






I don't believe the button on the wheel actually is a connect. It is to initiate and end calls on a phone that is already connected. The only way that I've ever connected the phone is with the 'Connect' option displayed on the MFT screen in the phone quadrant.
Perhaps other members can comment on if what you are attempting is possible or not.

Peter
 






I don't believe the button on the wheel actually is a connect. It is to initiate and end calls on a phone that is already connected. The only way that I've ever connected the phone is with the 'Connect' option displayed on the MFT screen in the phone quadrant.
Perhaps other members can comment on if what you are attempting is possible or not.

Peter

If you press the button with no phone connected, after a three second lag (way too long, IMHO), the MFT will attempt to initiate a connection to a phone. The problem is, it doesn't seem to actively use the list of phones configured in the car to seek them out.
 






I just tried this in my MKT which should be the same set up as in the Explorer. I had my phone turned OFF and turned the MFT on. After it stopped searching for a phone I turned my phone ON. I then pressed the steering wheel button to initiate a call and nothing happened. I pressed the button again and still nothing. I then turned the phone and MFT OFF. Turned MFT ON again and while it searched, I turned my phone on and they connected right away. I believe the button on the steering wheel just searches for a phone connection that has already been established prior to hitting the button. Rebecca should be able to confirm if that is correct or not.

Peter
 






I just tried this in my MKT which should be the same set up as in the Explorer. I had my phone turned OFF and turned the MFT on. After it stopped searching for a phone I turned my phone ON. I then pressed the steering wheel button to initiate a call and nothing happened. I pressed the button again and still nothing. I then turned the phone and MFT OFF. Turned MFT ON again and while it searched, I turned my phone on and they connected right away. I believe the button on the steering wheel just searches for a phone connection that has already been established prior to hitting the button. Rebecca should be able to confirm if that is correct or not.

Peter

The message displayed does not imply that... And, I have seen the "attempting to re-establish the connection wtih..." message when a phone was there but is now "gone".

Sometimes it will find the phone, but not often. And, if it does, it takes forever.

Don't discount the fact that I often have issues with heavy static from the BT connection while on a call and there could absolutely be a problem with the BT radio.

I haven't yet tried this in my wife's car.
 






When I'm home, I'm connected to WiFi. This is a trigger event to turn BT off on my device to conserve battery. When I drive away from the house, the WiFi will disconnect, and that is a trigger event to turn BT on. Because of how long it takes to actually experience a disconnect from WiFi, the BT radio on the phone does not turn on until after the car has stopped searching for a phone.

If I need to make a call "right away", I will manually connect it to the car. And, it should find it correctly and quickly via the button on the wheel (IMHO), and it doesn't.

Hey guys,

I apologize, but I'm confused by the above statement. ember1205, are you saying that once Wi-Fi is disconnected, you turn Bluetooth on, or your phone does? Also, which phone and carrier do you have, and what happens if you turn Wi-Fi off prior to entering your Explorer?

Rebecca
 






My phone has a profile manager installed that can react to "events". Disconnecting from the WiFi network at my house is considered an event, and that event triggers enabling the BT radio on the phone.

Phone and carrier are irrelevant beyond knowing that they are supported.

The point here is this:

Start the car and this puts MFT into a "search" mode to attempt to connect to a paired device. Once it is determined that a paired device could not be connected, the search process ends.

At this point, enable BT on the phone. Pressing the phone button on the steering wheel at this stage will put MFT into a search mode again that either never connects, or takes FOREVER to connect to the only phone that is in its list of paired phones.
 






I suggest removing the "events" you have set up in order to allow the MFT search to find your phone. For a fast connection, please ensure your Bluetooth is turned on prior to starting your Explorer.

Rebecca
 






I suggest removing the "events" you have set up in order to allow the MFT search to find your phone. For a fast connection, please ensure your Bluetooth is turned on prior to starting your Explorer.

Rebecca

Since the MFT doesn't work in an intelligent manner, I should change how I use my phone to accommodate poor programming? Sorry - I've been down this road before with my '10 Flex that used the old system. While MFT is "better", it's still largely junk.

I want to understand why the MFT system doesn't connect properly when the button is pressed. Who can tell me the process that the software is going through when that button is pressed and a phone isn't connected?
 






Since the MFT doesn't work in an intelligent manner, I should change how I use my phone to accommodate poor programming? Sorry - I've been down this road before with my '10 Flex that used the old system. While MFT is "better", it's still largely junk.

I want to understand why the MFT system doesn't connect properly when the button is pressed. Who can tell me the process that the software is going through when that button is pressed and a phone isn't connected?

This isn't a Ford problem, it's your events (BT off on Wifi)... The process is, you initiate a call, and there is no connection because the handshake has not occurred, thats what happens when you hit the phone button on the steering wheel. When you get in the Car , it looks for the phone for a bit and not finding it, stops... JUST LIKE YOUR PHONE WOULD... There are times when I don't have BT on, when I get in, and all I have to do is touch the "connect a phone" button, and it initiates... No one can design a system to plan for every eventuality, and to deride the MFT and FORD for this is really not fair... My Audi's, BMW's, Porsche's and Corvettes all "acted" differently when connecting phones... It's amazing we get what we do...
 






This isn't a Ford problem, it's your events (BT off on Wifi)... There are times when I don't have BT on, and all I have to do is touch the "connect a phone" button, and it initiates... No one can design a system to plan for every eventuality, and to deride the MFT and FORD for this is really not fair... My Audi's, BMW's, Porsche's and Corvettes all "acted" differently when connecting phones... It's amazing we get what we do...

Wrong. It is not my events. It's an issue with how the BT program listens and searches for devices. I have never had a vehicle other than Fords that a phone does not auto-connect when the BT process starts up. This includes iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry devices.

When the BT radio is enabled on a device, it initiates a search and connect sequence. The SYNC system (it is NOT limited to the vehicles with MFT/MLT) does not respond correctly unless an active search is initiated from the phone ("SCAN") or the SYNC system.

If you leave the system alone, the next iteration of the SYNC system's scan process will find the phone. But, sometimes that's up to 15 minutes later.
 






Wrong. It is not my events. It's an issue with how the BT program listens and searches for devices. I have never had a vehicle other than Fords that a phone does not auto-connect when the BT process starts up. This includes iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry devices.

When the BT radio is enabled on a device, it initiates a search and connect sequence. The SYNC system (it is NOT limited to the vehicles with MFT/MLT) does not respond correctly unless an active search is initiated from the phone ("SCAN") or the SYNC system.

If you leave the system alone, the next iteration of the SYNC system's scan process will find the phone. But, sometimes that's up to 15 minutes later.

I respectfully do not agree with you... due to your WiFI / BT event, BT is not active on your phone when you get in the SUV... This is why you don't get the auto connection... I don't turn off BT, don't see a good reason for it personally and I never have a connection problem... I fell the system is working as intended, and other manufactures implement this differently... It doesn't mean Ford is bad, or Porsche is good, it's just different...

To me, knowing what is going on, means, that in order for it to work for me, and always connect, I have to do "xxxxx"... Well, then I just do "xxxxx"... It's pretty simple to me...
 






I respectfully do not agree with you... due to your WiFI / BT event, BT is not active on your phone when you get in the SUV... This is why you don't get the auto connection... I don't turn off BT, don't see a good reason for it personally and I never have a connection problem... I fell the system is working as intended, and other manufactures implement this differently... It doesn't mean Ford is bad, or Porsche is good, it's just different...

To me, knowing what is going on, means, that in order for it to work for me, and always connect, I have to do "xxxxx"... Well, then I just do "xxxxx"... It's pretty simple to me...

I don't subscribe to the "just change how I manage my phone in order to accommodate a poor programming setup from Microsoft." And I never will.

Do what works for you. What works for me is using products that follow industry standards. Microsoft is KNOWN for not following standards and trying to make things work "their" way to influence the industry. Well, given Microsoft's complete, abject failure at actually being a recognized player in the mobile phone space, they will NOT influence this area.
 






I don't subscribe to the "just change how I manage my phone in order to accommodate a poor programming setup from Microsoft." And I never will.

Do what works for you. What works for me is using products that follow industry standards. Microsoft is KNOWN for not following standards and trying to make things work "their" way to influence the industry. Well, given Microsoft's complete, abject failure at actually being a recognized player in the mobile phone space, they will NOT influence this area.

Obviously it's your world, and we are just glad to be in it...

I've been in IT and Tech for 30 plus years... "Industry Standards" are a joke, because they are whatever someone wants them to be at the time... Look at Flash vs HTML5... Who's right? (rhetorical BTW)

Thanks and have a good day... I'm out...
 






Obviously it's your world, and we are just glad to be in it...

I've been in IT and Tech for 30 plus years... "Industry Standards" are a joke, because they are whatever someone wants them to be at the time... Look at Flash vs HTML5... Who's right? (rhetorical BTW)

Thanks and have a good day... I'm out...

Thanks for trying to tell me my view is wrong and I should subscribe yours.

I've got plenty of time in technology myself - and not just limited to IT. Standards are NOT a joke. And Microsoft's inability to adhere to them is now causing them issues in a variety of areas. I know what companies are moving toward because it's my job to know tech trends. Lack of adherence to standards gets products, technologies, and companies passed over. MS was chosen for this SYNC garbage because they were cheap and was another way MS was trying to shove themselves down consumers' throats. There's a reason that the next generation system is likely NOT going to be written by MS...

I've had enough. Not interested in anyone else trying to tell me why my attempt at understanding why this product isn't working correctly is simply the result of not buckling to the pressures of "having to use" the system a certain way.

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I'm by no means an authority on this connection issue but I am tempted to side with Eticket on the way the current system is set up. I have never had a problem connecting if the BT on my phone was on before starting the vehicle. I have the connection problem if the BT was turned on after the connection/searching procedure ended. I then simply went to the appropriate screen and pressed on Connect. I know that you don't approve of the way it works but that won't change it. Unless you are willing to change the way you currently have your system set up, then unfortunately you will have to live with the current issue you are experiencing. I may be wrong but I don't think any similar issue like this has been posted before. I'm sure I'll be corrected if there has.;)

Peter
 






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