Schedule Climate Control

[Dan Albrich]

There's already been some threads talking about issues with Honda Link being unavailable for periods of time. When the pandemic hit I stopped driving (mostly) but have been going to work again since around Fall of 2021. Anyway, a few times over I tried to schedule climate control and it didn't work. Since it's winter, I'm looking to heat the cabin before leaving for work. I'm lucky to have level 2 and a garage, so the car is plugged in. It also isn't more than a convenience given that its not *that* cold here (Oregon) in the winter.

So the questions:
- Do we know how the enabling works? I mean do I just need one connection to work to set the schedule, then the car remembers it internally, and keeps it until a change? Or does my smartphone need to send each signal on programmed days?

- Every time I click turn on climate 'now' the command looks like it takes with no error, then returns me to the screen with no confirmation. If I tap it again, it then tells me details like the climate will be set for 30 minutes, etc, then says 'sending command' -- but I have to tap it twice to get there.

- Sometimes I don't get any confirmation, but the command takes. Other times, I get no confirmation and the command fails. Maybe attribute this to the hondalink issues. Don't know.

I do know that Climate won't turn on, by design, unless the car gets cold enough. So although my garage is not heated, maybe the car isn't cold enough. In that case, I wish the HondaLink app with say something like "can't turn on climate, not in range of temperatures that need it..." or some such, but in my experience when it fails, it fails silently.

None of this is a huge deal, but would be interested in others experience and tips.

-Dan

 

[Frankwell]

do I just need one connection to work to set the schedule, then the car remembers it internally, and keeps it until a change? Or does my smartphone need to send each signal on programmed days?

Neither. The HondaLink smartphone app does not communicate directly with the car it communicates with the Honda server via standard Internet. The climate schedule that you set using HondaLink is stored on the Honda server. When the appointed time comes the Honda server sends the command to the car via the cellular network. If communication fails at that moment, climate will not start. This is different than how scheduled charging works, because charge schedule is stored in the car. If you use HondaLink to set a charge schedule, you can afterwards turn on the car and go into timer settings and you will see the schedule that you set. However you won't a find climate schedule in the car because the schedule is stored on the Honda server.

My experience, and I think most people's experience is that scheduled climate is unreliable. Starting climate using Turn On Climate seems to work more often (I am guessing that is what you meant when you said "I click turn on climate 'now'". But when using turn On Climate it is time consuming to wait for the confirmation, and frustrating when it fails. The most reliable way to start climate is using the keyfob which seems to almost always work, plus the feedback confirmation that it is working is instantaneous via the flashing lights. Depending on how important climate is to you, I would suggest using the keyfob if at all possible.

 

[JFon101231]

Agree, the app/connection unreliability is the only thing I don't like on this car....

As above usually use the app to turn on then when go downstairs I'll pop m head into garage and make sure my charger is blinking

 

[su_A_ve]

If cell connection is poor in the garage, it will probably not work. Try adding your car to your WiFi network (as long as the signal in the garage is decent).

Worse case, just pop into the garage some time before you leave and start it with the remote.

 

[Frankwell]

If cell connection is poor in the garage, it will probably not work. Try adding your car to your WiFi network (as long as the signal in the garage is decent).

Worse case, just pop into the garage some time before you leave and start it with the remote.

I think I remember at least one person saying that for them WiFi worked better. However that in itself may not indicate a problem with cell connection, because my experience is that communication problems seem to more often be on Honda's side. I say that because occasionally when I use remote charge scheduling, after several seconds of trying, the app will pop up an Unable to Connect message. If I then try again, the Unable to Connect message pops up way too quickly, almost instantaneously. When it gets into this state I can try repeatedly but will keep getting Unable to Connect. But more often than not if I simply close HondaLink and reopen it again, the first attempt connects. That sounds to me like the Honda software gets stuck in some sort of a failure loop if it doesn't connect on the first attempt, and essentially rebooting the app is needed. Whether that glitch when it occurs is in the app on my phone or a problem on the Honda server requiring reconnection with my phone, I don't know.

Even worse was when I tried to use SmartCharge, it worked maybe half the time, even when I tried Charge Now. Closing HondaLink and reopening it did not help while SmartCharge was enabled. I disabled SmartCharge and immediately all connection problems were gone. I did this test twice, enabling SmartCharge and having connection problems, then disabling it and everything worked fine.

That being said I'm sure there are also situations where someone has poor cellular coverage in the garage and WiFi works better. But that may not be enough to make climate scheduling reliable.

 

[Dan Albrich]

Many thanks to each of you for your kind and thorough replies. I have good wifi in the garage so I'll try adding the car to my wifi. And come to think of it, I think I did have it that way some time ago and forgot. But when I went to check, it didn't have a wifi "device" so I added a network name (SSID) from the house that's strong in the garage.

 

[Dan Albrich]

Just a quick update. I did add my house wifi that has strong signal in the garage. Same issue. The Honda Link shows my scheduled but it has not worked thus far. Every day at 7:15am it fails to start. But if I manually select it from the app or use the FOB that does work...