“CarPlay death zone” confuses drivers in Boston

In the US metropolis of Boston in the state of Massachusetts there are said to be areas where reproducible Apple’s car play, the vehicle integration for the iPhone, is canceled. Corresponding Report Has been around since last spring. The “CarPlay Dead Zones” therefore exist in at least four urban areas. Apparently not only Apple technology is affected, but also the Google counterpart Android Auto. It is “extremely frustrating” for the users, according to the local medium Axios Boston in April – “especially when it happens every day – in the same place”.

GPS away, CarPlay away, car play rejection

At least a departure near the athletics area of the Harvard University, a bridge, an area at Soldier’s Field and another place on a street are at least affected. The problems range from a no longer functioning GPS navigation to the complete crash from CarPlay or at least a failure of its advertisement. It does not seem to be affected by the cable connection via USB, but wireless carplay that uses WLAN radio frequencies (around 2.4 GHz).

On Reddit it is said by a person concerned, his car play system Switch off completely And sit back when he drives past a certain place in Boston. “This only happens here, every time, guaranteed.” It is also reported on Reddit that Android Auto also has “cut outs” in certain places – especially at the Fenway station. “My wife thought I’m crazy, but then I told her to just watch it.” Then it also happened at the point, according to another Reddit user.

Antennas nearby and microwave connections

When searching for the reasons for the problem, it was found that microwave transmitters that are used for internet connections and seem to belong to the Harvard University that trigger disorders. These also operate partially in the 2.4 GHz area, the free WLAN main frequency, which also uses Bluetooth. In addition, there is another antenna system of a radio station (WBZ), which, however, should spark in other areas.

Those affected should try to switch to the USB variant instead of wireless connections at CarPlay or Android Auto. This is standard anyway. For a long time, very few models at all had wireless carplay on board. A cable also has the advantage that the iPhone is supplied with electricity when using CarPlay.