Loss-of-comms questions for every vehicle vendor
Every vehicle's response to a dropped network is set by its maker on timers the access point cannot see, so send these questions for every vehicle type and get the answers in writing.
One page on Letter or A4. Print it, laminate it, and share it, unaltered with its footer. The card condenses 2 pages on this site, which carry the full reasoning.
OT Wireless field card
Loss-of-comms questions for every vehicle vendor
Your access points decide how long a drop lasts; the vehicle decides what the drop costs.
Send these for every vehicle type
- On losing the fleet manager, does it continue, stop at the next decision point, stop, or power down?
- Does that change while loaded, docking, at a door or lift, or inside an enclosed area?
- List every timer: its default, its range, and who can change it.
- How far can it travel on the route it already holds, and who sets that distance?
- Does any stop, interlock, or safety data reach it over Wi-Fi? With what timeout?
- Which stop does it use on loss of comms? Is it the same one it uses for an obstacle?
- How does the fleet detect the loss, how long does that take, and what holds its path meanwhile?
- Does it run its own Wi-Fi watchdog or forced reconnect? Can a fault elsewhere trigger it?
- When the link returns, does it resume, or need a reset, a restart, or a person? Where?
- What does it log about a drop, with what timestamps, on which clock?
- What is the longest gap it tolerates, worst case, without starting any response?
- Which infrastructure settings does the vendor require or forbid?
Why the numbers matter
- Timers differ by orders of magnitude: a 10 s keepalive action, a 40 ms safety limit.
- MQTT 3.1.1 waits 1.5 times the keep alive before the broker drops a vehicle.
- Ask for every answer in writing, with the software version it applies to.
About this page
Built from 8 sources: 1 standards body or lab, 1 protocol owner or alliance and 6 vendor documents. Researched and drafted with AI assistance, then reviewed and approved by Ben Rutter on . How pages are made
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Cite this page
Plain
Ben Rutter. "Loss-of-comms questions for every vehicle vendor." OT Wireless, published October 6, 2026, updated October 5, 2026. https://otwireless.com/cards/vehicle-loss-of-comms-questions/
APA 7
Rutter, B. (2026, October 6). Loss-of-comms questions for every vehicle vendor. OT Wireless. https://otwireless.com/cards/vehicle-loss-of-comms-questions/
BibTeX
@misc{rutter2026vehiclelossofcommsquestions,
author = {Rutter, Ben},
title = {{Loss-of-comms questions for every vehicle vendor}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://otwireless.com/cards/vehicle-loss-of-comms-questions/}},
organization = {OT Wireless},
}