ZDNET | Charlie OsborneI recently purchased a vehicle that includes Android Auto, and I was excited to finally be able to use that functionality with my phone. However, one of the first things I noticed was how unreliable the phone/car connection could be. One minute, Android Auto is open, and the next — it’s gone. Also: Finally, I found a wireless Android Auto adapter that’s snappy, functional, and won’t break the bankI did some troubleshooting and discovered there are a few reasons why this keeps happening. Hopefully, what I found will help you. Let’s dive right in. 1. Incompatible USB cable I’ve written about how you can avoid getting burned by bad USB cables. The truth is, not all USB cables are created equal. Some cables are cheap and incapable of maintaining a constant connection or data rate. The problem here is that Android Auto is rather finicky about its connection when USB is required. If you have a bad cable, a damaged cable, a slow cable, or a cable that is too long, the connection between the phone and the car will not be reliable enough. To that end, I would suggest you either locate the OEM cable that shipped with your phone or purchase one of the brands I mentioned in the article above, which are: One of the most reliable (but cost-effective) cables is the Belkin BoostCharge More