[jslipman]

Wife has recently started experiencing poor quality sound on her cell phone when using the BT connection in her Range Rover. There is a lot of static/crackling on her end. Upgraded to a new phone and still persists. Dealer can't figure it out unless we want to pay to tear the whole thing out. Hoping to figure out without incurring that expense (or paying and not solving).Any ideas?

 

[RRToadHall]

What kind of phones are you referring to? Are they on the latest updated firmware/software? Being 7 years old perhaps your BT module is failing.another option is corrosion at the harness.

 

[rjsimmons]

Try and isolate the issue. 1st step would be to verify whether or not the radio is having the same static injected. If not, then the most probably culprit is the BT antenna/ rx module. I believe RR integrates these into the radio chassis, Toad could probably give you further guidance on that since I have not torn down the radio.

 

[cba20k]

I've noticed the same thing in an '11 LR4 which likely runs the same software and bluetooth stack. Common searches for bluetooth crackling often recommend updating your firmware on all devices but this isn't really an option for the vehicle. They also note that Bluetooth is an imperfect wireless technology that is as prone to interference as any other wireless band. In my experience, I noted that since 2015, I've started carrying additional bluetooth peripherals like AirPods and my Apple Watch that may cause just the type of interference that leads to calls crackling and cutting out in the car, but haven't bothered to test my theory, rather, I use an AirPod for calls now as it's a preferable connection for audio calls anyway. The '11 never worked well with the lightning adapter for iOS devices either and I just plug in to the aux port for audio. I think that the infotainment system from that generation of vehicle worked really well with the tech of the day, but didn't make accommodations for stuff that would come along later and/or provide an easy path to upgrading the infotainment software like many cars do now.

Wife has recently started experiencing poor quality sound on her cell phone when using the BT connection in her Range Rover. There is a lot of static/crackling on her end. Upgraded to a new phone and still persists. Dealer can't figure it out unless we want to pay to tear the whole thing out. Hoping to figure out without incurring that expense (or paying and not solving).Any ideas?