[Mikeyvolt]

Hey,
got a letter in the mail about a month ago, didn't give it much thought but now i'm curious. We all know the new volts come with OnStar's 4G network settings and the current version is 2G. In the letter, it stated that in Canada (maybe US as well) the 2G networks were being dropped and that they will send me another letter in the future regarding servicing my OnStar system because it uses a 2G connection. THAT BEING SAID, anyone know if they are going to be upgrading the system to 4G free of charge? or will there be a cost? or if they aren't going to install the 4G system and perhaps just a 3G system?

The letter wasn't clear on what they were going to do. Just pretty much said my OnStar system is using 2G and the 2G network was being dropped so they would send me more info after about servicing the system so it can continue to operate.

Anybody know more? or receive something similar?

thanks

 

[Breezy]

I got the letter as well. This is a thread discussing the changes.

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?114922-Canadian-Volts-will-get-4G-LTE-hardware-upgrades!

Looks like we will be getting hardware so the car can communicate over 4G, but there will be no changes to the feature set.

I don't know about the pricing, but I would hope this will be a no-charge upgrade. I bought a car that's supposed to include 3 years of OnStar Directions and Connections service. The way GM/OnStar chooses to deliver that service (whether 2G, 3G, 4G or whatever) should be transparent to me. Looks like they didn't future-proof the hardware very well but that shouldn't be our problem.

 

[Neromanceres]

I got the same letter. It's not that 2G is being dropped. It's that Bell and Telus will be shutting down their CDMA network.

All GM vehicles 2014 and older have OnStar systems that run on a CDMA network (I believe it's Verizon that GM uses in the US). The new 2015 OnStar systems run on GSM networks (now AT&T in the US). In Canada OnStar uses Bell's CDMA network.

Around half of the Cell providers in the US use CDMA based networks (other half uses GSM). Most of the rest of the world is on GSM. Bell and Telus both have their own independent CDMA networks. However several years ago Bell and Telus got together and built an all new GSM network. They did this because GSM is the more popular global standard and the new phones are often released on GSM before the CDMA versions come out (and some phones never get released with CDMA compatibility). Rogers was always GSM. So Bell and Telus got tired of having Rogers get the new phones first.

Now that it's been several years and most people on Bell and Telus have switched to GSM based phones they want to shut down their old CDMA network next year. However this means that all GM OnStar services on 2014 models and older will no longer work in Canada.

The letter from GM Canada was very vague. It basically states we know this is going to be a problem. We are going to do something about it but we don't know what yet. So stay tuned.

 

[Rampage_Rick]

I should point out that one advantage to having all providers using one technology (GSM) is that in the event of an emergency your phone will use any available tower from any provider. Here in BC Telus has been spending millions of dollars on new towers along highways. (They just turned on 3 towers which now provide continuous coverage along Highway 3 from Princeton to Keremeos) These towers will also benefit Rogers' customers, as they will also have the ability to call 911 in those areas.