Android Auto drops signal

[JeffKeryk]

I finsihed the install of the JVC car radio with Android Auto and Apple Car Play on my grand niece's 2013 Civil LX.
Easy peasey except the steering wheel control module; I had to take it to a shop. Oops.

Anyways, using Android Auto with my Google Pixel 3A had issues; the signal kept dropping every 30 to 40 seconds. Constantly...
The USB-C cable was maybe 3' long; I replaced it with a shorty cable, maybe 6". So far so good.
I have more testing to do; hopefully this solves the problem.

Has anyone seen a similar issue?
Thanks in advance.

 

[UG_Passat]

Did you install any updates to the pixel recently?

It's a phone issue, not the cable/head unit issue

 

[dishdude]

Did you install any updates to the pixel recently?

It's a phone issue, not the cable/head unit issue

Sounds more like a bad USB cable to me, he swapped it and now it is working.

 

[Jimmy9190]

I had the same problem with the radio in my Nissan. A cheap 6 foot usb cable caused all kinds of trouble with shorting out, signal dropping out, Waze not working, songs on Pandora and MP3s on the phone skipping and cutting out. I updated my phone and updated the radio but it did not help at all. I had no problems at all with the shorty OEM cable that came with my phone but I wanted the longer one to be able to keep my phone in the console box while driving. This cable here from Amazon works great, it is plenty long enough and I have had zero problems with it:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M5GMZ6X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[UG_Passat]

Communication errors are usually cable.

Signal, ie wireless signals are phone.

 

[JeffKeryk]

We took the Civic up to the Stanford campus, Palo Alto and Menlo Park. The 6" cable worked flawlessly.
Stopped at Starbucks and grabbed a coffee and put the 3' USB-C back on. The signal didn't even last until we got outta the parking lot.
Put the 6" back in and all's well.

By the way, a similar JVC radio in the old Tundra has always worked perfectly; that's where I snagged the 6" cable.
Thanks for the replies.

 

[Leroybrown]

On the surface it seems like Android Auto is picky about cables but really the problem is most of the cables that have the right connectors aren't made to carry data at the rate that AA requires (some don't cary any data at all and can only be used for charging). Before the pandemic I was a frequent traveler for work and I ran into problems with this in rental cars.

When I seeked out cables that were rated to handle USB 3 speeds, that fixed the problem for me.

 

[Andrew1972]

The length of cable is no relevant, the quality is.

There are charging cables and data cables and guessing your 3' is either poor data cable or charging one.

Anker makes decent stuff alongside Amazon brand and Aukey.

 

[JeffKeryk]

The length of cable is no relevant, the quality is.

There are charging cables and data cables and guessing your 3' is either poor data cable or charging one.

Anker makes decent stuff alongside Amazon brand and Aukey.

Quality is certainly relevant, but length is important too.
Funny thing; I put the 3' cable into my Tundra which has a JVC radio as well.
Android Auto works fine. Go figure.

All good.