As soon as the car companies started putting this tech in cars the cellphone companies all rushed to stop sellling unlimited data. But im sure that was just a coincidence
My question has been, and will continue to be, what is the method by which a strong, uninterrupted WiFi signal will be delivered to vehicles regardless of their location? I live in one of the largest population centers in the country here in south Los Angeles county and you can't go three blocks without momentarily losing your data connection. Not a big deal if your simply web surfing, but it makes the seamless streaming of content impossible. Likewise, there are large sections of cities here that have no coverage whatsoever. I'm certainly not trying to defend the fuckheads that run SiriusXM, I'm just afraid that, short of some kind of satellite based delivery system, the technology isn't yet where we need it to be to make Sirius obsolete.
There's the other issue. My "unlimited" data plan with AT$T is great when I'm using a gig and a half per month. But as soon I streamed a couple of World Cup soccer matches this summer via the excellent ESPN app, I received an automated text message telling me that, because of my overuse, they were throttling back my connection speed for the remainder of the month. This after being their customer and paying for this same plan for many years. I can hardly imagine how much deeper they'd try to get in our pockets if we all started streaming our radio content.
That fucking sucks, I switched to sprint with their unlimited plan this fall. So far, 60 gigs last month and no throttling. I'm lucky that I average around 10 down too. I know most aren't that lucky.
Man, you are a power user. There was a discussion here a couple of months back about some pending litigation to be pursued against these providers who engage in these bait and switch practices. I hope they get fucked for what they're doing.
I got rid of cable and internet and just airplay everything from my phone to my apple tv. Works like a charm.
They aren't delivering WiFi directly to vehicles. They are simply using high speed cellular network access and creating a personal Internet enabled WiFi hotspot within the vehicle. Like I said in the other thread. The incompatible Sirius and XM SAT/FM networks and the billions of dollars it will cost to replace the aging SAT constellations will eventually cause the demise of SXM..
My apologies if my language was somewhat imprecise, but I think we're arriving at basically the same point. You can't stream Pandora for three blocks here in south LA county. I'm not sure how it is downtown, but regardless, as things currently stand, Internet radio is nowhere near to being a prime time player for literally millions of Angelenos. I do agree with you about the long term costs associated with satellite replacement. That'll be a tough nut for them to crack.
I don't even bother to use my SAT car radios anymore. I just use my iPhone and it's 4G cellular Internet access to stream SXM in the car. I do have to shut-off WiFi on the phone or the stream cuts in and out as I drive around while it connects and drops hotspots.
Trying that where I live in LA would result in nothing more than an endless torment of "buffering" and "acquiring signal" interruptions as your mobile device constantly tried to negotiate hand-offs between 3G, 4G and LTE signals.
But just about everyone already has the data with them already on their phones? Who is still paying for this compressed shit sandwich of a service? Everything can be piped through Bluetooth right into your car. Once Apple Carplay and Android Auto start appearing in more vehicles that's the death knell of bullshit manufacturers and 'developers' within the automaker's grasp.
My work phone is the same way. I use it as a radio in the car and by the 10th of the month I get a text saying it is going from 4G to 3G until the next billing cycle.
