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Honda and Acura Team with AT&T to Offer Unlimited In-Car Wi-Fi with WarnerMedia RIDE Premium Entertainment Included

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May 27, 2021 — TORRANCE, Calif.

• Honda and AT&T extend connected car relationship

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. and AT&T* have teamed up to help families create summer memories during road trips. Included with AT&T unlimited In-car Wi-Fi®1 and available on certain Honda and Acura models, the WarnerMedia RIDE™ App now allows passengers to connect multiple devices in their vehicles to browse, stream and share premium content from the WarnerMedia library while on the road.

Since 2017, Honda and Acura owners have been able to turn their compatible vehicles into Wi-Fi hotspots connecting up to 7 smartphones or tablets at once. With a growing number of compatible vehicles and greater consumer demand for mobile connectivity, American Honda and AT&T have extended their relationship and expanded available entertainment options for subscribers through the WarnerMedia RIDE App.

With access to the WarnerMedia RIDE App, passengers can enjoy 1,000+ hours of live and on-demand entertainment. The app includes hit TV shows and movies from top brands such as Cartoon Network, CNN, HBO Max™, TBS, TNT and TruTV, spanning animation, entertainment, news, sports and more.

In the newly updated WarnerMedia RIDE app, owners can set up multiple profiles and personalize it with popular avatars from the WarnerMedia library. Profiles also ensure age-appropriate content with options for adults to restrict access to their profiles with an access code.

“Wireless connectivity and connected car services continue to be key features for customers and our long-standing relationship with AT&T continues to be one way we deliver exciting new content to Honda and Acura owners,” said Art St. Cyr, vice president of North American Auto Strategy for American Honda. “Honda will continue working to enhance the in-car experience, including the capabilities of the AT&T network and access to top content with WarnerMedia RIDE.”

“We’re always looking for new and innovative ways to elevate the connected car experience for our customers. With WarnerMedia RIDE, we are delivering a connected experience that’s perfect for journeys,” said Joe Mosele, vice president, Mobility & Internet of Things, AT&T. “Our collaboration is keeping Honda and Acura owners connected wherever they travel with hours of news and entertainment for the whole family.”

WarnerMedia RIDE is available now in the App Store (iOS 11+) or Google Play (Android 9+) for all U.S. unlimited data plan subscribers. WarnerMedia RIDE is included at no additional cost for existing and new unlimited subscribers. WarnerMedia RIDE automatically detects your AT&T In-car Wi-Fi without the need to log in, making setup a breeze.

WarnerMedia RIDE is intended for passenger use only when a vehicle is in operation.
Consumers can take the pledge to drive distraction free at ItCanWait.com.

Compatible Acura Models
Year

Model

Trims

2019-present

RDX

All

2021

TLX

All

2022

MDX

All

Compatible Honda Models

Year

Model

Trims

2018-present

Accord

Touring

2018-present

Odyssey

Touring, Elite

2019-present

Insight

Touring

2019-present

Passport

Touring, Elite

2019-present

Pilot

Touring, Elite, Black Edition

*About AT&T Communications
We help family, friends and neighbors connect in meaningful ways every day. From the 1st phone call 140+ years ago to mobile video streaming, we @ATT innovate to improve lives. AT&T Communications is part of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T). For more information, please visit us at att.com.

About the Honda and Acura Brands
Honda offers a full line of clean, safe, fun and connected vehicles sold through more than 1,000 independent U.S. Honda dealers. The Honda lineup includes the Civic, Insight, Accord and Clarity series passenger cars, along with the HR-V, CR-V, Passport and Pilot sport utility vehicles, the Ridgeline pickup and the Odyssey minivan. Honda’s electrified vehicle lineup includes the Accord Hybrid, CR-V Hybrid, Insight hybrid-electric sedan, and the Clarity Fuel Cell and Clarity Plug-In Hybrid.

Acura is a leading automotive nameplate that delivers Precision Crafted Performance – a commitment to expressive styling, high-performance and innovative engineering, all built on a foundation of quality and reliability. The Acura lineup features 5 distinctive models – the ILX and TLX sport sedans, the RDX and MDX sport-utility vehicles and the electrified NSX supercar.

Honda and Acura combined have the highest fleet average fuel economy and lowest CO2 emissions of any major full-line automaker in America, according to the latest data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Honda has been producing automobiles in America for 38 years. In 2020, more than 95 percent of all Honda vehicles sold in the U.S. were made in North America, using domestic and globally sourced parts.All 2021 model year and newer Acura vehicles sold in America are made in the

U.S., using domestic and globally sourced parts.

More information about Honda is available in the Digital Fact Book.

hans471

When I first got my 2019 Advance it came with a free trail subscription for an AT&T wifi hot spot. Of course after that it cost $30 or $40 a month or something. Thing is, as hard as I tried to get that AT&T thing to work it never would. I finally gave up. But then I discovered that I could connect my Verizon (Samsung S10) to the vehicle and share its connection. I have unlimited data plan so it was all free. So $40 a month for a service that didn't work or ZERO for a hook up that worked great. By now I am guessing you have figured out which choice I made.

sonyfever

Actually the price is not that bad these days, unlimited for $200/yr. For me sometimes the hotspot takes a while to establish datalink when LTE signal is low, however it generally works as intended. The downside is the speed is much slower and latency is much higher compared to phone, the best I have seen is 10MBps up/down and latency is always 30+ms I believe. On RDX the hotspot can only run 2.4GHz wifi, but this is probably not an issue since the bottleneck seems to be on LTE side.

pcmcia

Does that mean you can do share internet using "cell phone internet" <--> acura RDX wifi hotspot <--> another device (ie. tablet) ? How did you do that? I know when connecting bluetooth between the phone and car, there's an option called "internet tethering". I never got that to work.

hans471

Yes, you can "tether" your phone to your RDX and make the car a "Hot Spot" via you smart phone.

I do this the same as I do when I use my phone as a hot spot for my laptop.. From memory it goes something like this (using my Samsung Verizon S-10).
Settings menu on phone: Then "connections" then select "Mobile Hotspot and Tethering. Next turn on "Mobile Hotspot". I have found in my case to use "USB tethering with my phone connected by USB cable to the connection inside the center console.
Next I have to tell the device (in my case its my wife's Samsung tablet) to connect to the hot spot. I am not in my car at the moment but from memory I think she went into the wifi menu on the device I wanted to connect and found a "network" which was my RDX. Also there was a password she had to type into the device. I believe the phone generated a password for me and then I typed this in the device to allow it to connect.

Sorry for not giving you detailed instructions step-by-step for your car. You can do a web search and find loads of good instructions on-line on the general tips and tricks for doing this. I can assure you 100% that it works fine as we have done it many times while traveling.

Madd Dog

I never got the ATT to work either. Since my Verizon cell worked, I could not figure out what good it would be anyway? A slightly better antenna, theoretically?

Nobody in my car ever needed to share my connection; everyone has their own phone nowadays.

DrWoo

Curious, what is the advantage of doing this vs. just connecting her tablet directly to you phone’s hotspot? That’s what we do.

pcmcia

Thanks, I was hoping that internet can be shared via the bluetooth connection instead of usb-cable via the center console or manually fiddling with the phone to enable hotspot. I usually find that my kiddo will scream to want to watch something middle of my drive. She knows how to operating her tablet (w/ out internet). I was hoping that I can share my phone's internet without any action on my phone prior to driving (ie. my phone's bluetooth is always on). I don't want to have to turn on phone hotspot or plug-in usb cable while driving on the highway. I don't want to keep my phone's hotspot on all the time (eg. battery-drain and security risk).

hans471

We only use the hot spot while traveling, and even then only part time. My wife is the "navigator", it gives her busy mind something to do while I drive. She will be on her tablet finding sites, looking at different travel options, using the internet, whatever. I am not certain but it seems we had trouble connecting the phone to her tablet using Blue Tooth. I forget now, but I seem to recall we had to go to the USB connection to make this work on our S-10 phone to connect to one of our laptops or tablets.(in or out of the car...seems Blue Tooth never worked right). By using the car's port I am able to keep the phone charged up at the same time we are sharing its data connection. I am thinking that is why we went that route.

ToniRDX19

It’s not unlimited. I can’t believe all these providers still selling their bullshit marketing lies. Read the fine print. Heavy data users will get throttle after 22 GB of usage per billing cycle. You can still use it but it’s slow and quality of videos is questionable. I’ve been through this before. This is not a lot considering streaming movies or watching YouTube videos if you have kids. Not worth it in my opinion.

AT&T Connected Car Unlimited Plan: U.S. only. Consumer and Individual Responsibility Users only. Eligibility: Requires eligible vehicle and new or existing AT&T wireless account. Data Restrictions: After 22GB of data usage on vehicle Wi-Fi hotspot in a bill cycle, for the rest of the cycle AT&T may slow data speeds on vehicle Wi-Fi hotspot during periods of network congestion. Pricing: $20 per vehicle monthly plan charge (3 vehicles on plan results in $60 monthly plan charge).

hans471

Cell phone service providers have a team of people figuring out all the ways they can make plans so complex no one can actually understand them. Then they update these schemes like every few days so you don't have time to actually figure them out. To them its a big game as to how they can confuse and abuse you while wringing out every penny they can squeeze out of their customers.

Waetherman

I think the in-car hotspot was only ever $20 a month, which I think is the same that AT&T charges me for tethering anyway. I used the free trial and it was very handy a couple of times when I needed to work out of my car.

Back to the OP; is what is being offered just access to Warner Media Ride for paying customers, or is AT&T offering free hotspot plus Warner Media Ride?

Yotrek

US only offer, sucks!!!

thetrev68

"1. WarnerMedia RIDE is included at no charge in AT&T unlimited In-car Wi-Fi data plans, available in certain Honda and Acura vehicles, starting at $20 per month."

The post title is misleading. The free part is RIDE, not Wi-Fi.

Showkey

Why would anyone want another “cell phone and associated bill” for their car? When everyone already has a cell phone in their pocket.

hans471

Exactly my point....I already have unlimited minutes on my S-10 with Verizon and it serves as a hot spot in the car. Case closed.

sonyfever

Because for some people, limited phone + unlimited car is cheaper than unlimited phone.

RBP3072

In addition to this, another possibility is where they may live/work/commute/spend any amount of time with adequate reception. In our case, I love my Verizon cell, ‘but’ at our house, I can barely make a call without issue. Using data? Literally not an option on Verizon. When our home internet goes out & I lose access to wifi calling & data, it’s a showstopper. (Actually happened just the other week after a construction crew cut the fiber line near a road project by us, resulting in having to go into the office for the remainder of the day since Verizon wouldn’t get enough to serve as a hotspot for my work laptop).

On the other end, AT&T does remarkably better here in this part of town & the surrounding areas. Not enough to make me switch, as outside of this area, I’ve had better success with my Verizon service.

For $20, I’ll take the option to not have any interruptions in my service. I spent 50k on a car, if I was so frugal that was a no-go, I wouldn’t have purchased the RDX.

To each their own as they say.