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Bluetooth connects, then immediately disconnects

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by brian515, Jan 2, 2010.

  1. brian515

    brian515 New Member

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    Hi all,

    We have two Priuses in my family, a 2010 package 5, and a 2007 package 6. Today, we got new phones. A family member chose the Pantech Impact (from AT&T), and I cannot get it to pair correctly with the 2010 Prius. The phone and car say the pairing is complete and the bluetooth connection is successful, but then the phone immediately disconnects from the car. At that pint, it is possible to manually reconnect the phone, but it only stays connected for 10 seconds at best.

    Oddly enough, the phone works perfectly on the 2007 Prius. I should probably mention that the 2010 Prius works fine with other phones including an old Moto Rokr Z8 and iPhone.

    I've scoured Google for answers, and I've come across several threads mentioning firmware updates for the Nav system. Would that solve the problem? Also, as I was one of the first to get the 2010 Prius (it was delivered in August), the Prius lacks the USB port (which I am now mad about) and has the 8.1 Nav disk. Could the nav disk and/or the outdated head unit be the problem?

    Thanks in advance!
     
    #1 brian515, Jan 2, 2010
  2. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

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    Have you tried the toyota.letstalk.com web site? Enter your car year, make and model along with your phone service company. This will give you a list of phones that have been tested with the car's bluetooth, along with what features work with a particular phone.

    I had a work phone from Casio that had intermittent problems similar to yours. After talking with Casio and Toyota tech support it was determined that the Casio phone would not work correctly with the Toyota Nav. So, I had to get another phone that would work.

    It is interesting that the phone will work with the earlier Prius but not the 2010.
     
    #2 jdcollins5, Jan 2, 2010
  3. brian515

    brian515 New Member

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    I did try looking at the letstalk site. However, they only have about 8 phones listed for AT&T, a couple of which I don't even know if AT&T still sells. Do you know anything about a firmware update? I'll try calling my dealer on Monday, although I doubt they'll be any help, but maybe...

    Yeah, I guess if worst comes to worst, I'll have to take back the phone or live for a few months without bluetooth in hopes the phone manufacturer will issue a firmware update.
     
    #3 brian515, Jan 2, 2010
  4. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

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    Casio had me look at the firmware rev level in my phone and then came back and said that I had the latest firmware available for my particular phone.

    It turned out that the Casio model had been out for a while and did not have the latest Bluetooth firmware and features that the Toyota Nav had. Evidently, the Bluetooth firmware updates are not always backwards compatible. Casio admitted that the problem was on their side and not Toyota's.
     
    #4 jdcollins5, Jan 3, 2010
  5. brian515

    brian515 New Member

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    Hmmm... I hope that isn't the case. I'll try calling the manufacturer tomorrow when they open, but I do believe I have the latest firmware.

    I just can't get over the fact that it works flawlessly with my older Prius, but not the new one. Even if the newer Prius has a newer spec of Bluetooth, I thought Bluetooth was supposed to be backwards compatible... Seems like Toyota screwed up big time here.
     
    #5 brian515, Jan 3, 2010
  6. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

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    I would not be so quick to blame Toyota just yet. Bluetooth is a standard technology that Toyota uses in their system, like many other manufacturers. In my case it was the phone manufacturer's issue.

    You will probably get more results talking with AT&T and Toyota tech support than with your dealer in this particular case.
     
    #6 jdcollins5, Jan 3, 2010
  7. thbjr

    thbjr Member

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    I have the EXACT same symptoms with an ATT LG Vu phone. Solution, eBay and for $49 shipping included I got a Samsung A777. When it arrived, I inserted my SIM card and paired it up. It does almost every feature except transfer my contacts and since that would only be a handfull, I hand loaded those. Works great with a compatable phone, but I understand the OP's flustrations. Love using the voice command to make calls, also.
     
    #7 thbjr, Jan 4, 2010
  8. Bobsprius

    Bobsprius BobPrius

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    I have no problems with my normal Samsung M330 Cell phone.

    Works fine everytime. I even will have it connect via buetooth from the phone about 15 feet away in the house on the charger unit while the car is in the garage.

    But it works well all the time. I have heard of issues with some of the Iphones and other higher end phones, but you can go to the Toyota Website and get a list of Compatible Phones if ever in doubt.
     
    #8 Bobsprius, Jan 4, 2010
  9. ejwood

    ejwood New Member

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    I have the same car, the same phone, and the same problem. Did you ever find a solution?

    Thanks
     
    #9 ejwood, Feb 12, 2010
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