CarPLay2Air - adapter for wired Apple CarPlay to wireless

**twr7cx** · 5th August 2020, 08:40 AM

With a number of people fitting new headunits with Apple Carplay into their older vehicles (e.g. the Alpine Halo9), I thought it would be worth sharing this that I recently found:

CarPlay2Air
CPLAY2air wireless adapter for factory CarPlay on CARPLAY2air.com

I've purchased one and paid via PayPal so that I've got the Refunded Returns incase it doesn't work with my Alpine iLX-F302 Halo9 etc..

From the reviews I've read it seems that it has regular Firmware updates and that it's improved substantially over the year it's been out. Firmware is updated by:

Firmware update instructions:

Connect your phone to the adapter and wait until the CarPplay will appear on the screen
Enter 192.168.50.2 in your browser and click go
If the update is available, click to update it
Wait for until update bar will go to 100% and CarPlay will relaunch and appear on the screen
Done!

Please make sure to turn on your mobile data.

**twr7cx** · 24th August 2020, 08:10 PM

I can happily say that this arrived and has successfully worked to convert my Alpine Halo9 iLX-F309E from USB only Apple CarPlay to wireless Apple CarPlay.

My only complaint is the loading time is a lot longer than I expected. Based on a discussion thread I had read on another forum, I didn't think it would take so long as other users of the device with various car brand OEM systems had reported loading time reducing from 30 seconds to 15 seconds with some of the updates over the past 12 months.
For me it's around 34 seconds from turning on to playing content via wireless Apple CarPlay. About 20 seconds of this seems to be the boot time for the CPLAY2air unit then 14 seconds connecting up to the Apple iPhone. In comparison my Apple iPhone via Lightning USB connection for wired Apple CarPlay takes around 9 seconds, my old Apple iPod Nano connected via USB 30-pin takes 8 seconds and the radio takes only 2 seconds. I've updated my device and double checked that it is on the latest update. 34 seconds actually is longer than it sounds.
We had our MY12 D4 TDV6 headunit upgraded to a Pioneer DMH-Z6350BT < DMH-Z6350BT - Pioneer > which has inbuilt wireless Apple CarPlay - testing this today I've found it takes 15 seconds if I press and acknowledge the start up warning or 19 seconds if I don't and let it time off. So comparatively this adapter is slow.

A bonus feature that I didn't realise prior to this is that it has a USB connection on it so that a wired connection can be used through the device instead which prevents you having to uplug it from the headunits USB.

**loanrangie** · 25th August 2020, 10:30 AM

Wow not cheap, i would probably just put up with using a cable.
Is possible to just play music over bluetooth with an iphone ?, i know my daughter plays her music over BT in my car.

**twr7cx** · 25th August 2020, 08:16 PM

Originally Posted by loanrangie

Wow not cheap,

I disagree. Comparatively I think it is. We just had an aftermarket headunit fitted to our Discovery 4 and the price difference between a wired only Apple CarPlay enabled unit to a wireless version was $350.00. So in comparison, this option is cheaper.
When considering a $1,200.00 headunit, it's not a huge percentage extra to enable a fairly substantial additional feature.
As a user of it I believe it to be well worth it - but that's subjective if it's something you'd use and of value to you...

Originally Posted by loanrangie

i would probably just put up with using a cable.

Depends how often your plugging in and out that cable. For me, no thanks.

Originally Posted by loanrangie

Is possible to just play music over bluetooth with an iphone ?, i know my daughter plays her music over BT in my car.

Yes, but Apple CarPlay it's a much deeper experience that's much more than just playing the music.

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