[werdup]

My 2014 volt doesn't have the option for LTE. So was curious if anybody attached a normal phone to the external antenna. It would be nice to get some use out of it for an old cell phone. I have a plan for my iPad and plenty of archaic phones to rig up to the car itself. It could theoretically find power in many different places in the car, but wasn't sure where to attach it to the external antenna.

 

[freshcut]

Why would you need the external antenna? Wouldn't the phones original antenna work just fine?

 

[werdup]

Our house is on the edge of cell service. I had to install a weboost, but even that only covers one room of the house. I think the bigger antenna will dramatically increase service to my house. Also would be nice for that antanne to do more than let OnStar spy on me

 

[freshcut]

Gotcha. Unless your handheld phone has an antenna port, which my understanding is that almost all modern phones don't have that feature, you may need a dedicated antenna since I'm not aware of any sort of Y cable that will attach to the existing onstar antenna.

For the record, if you have wifi already in the house, most newer phones will automatically connect and complete calls through your wifi network if cell service signal is poor. This is without having to use an extender. I know Verizon has this feature on their Droid models. I'm sure most newer android and iPhones have a similar setting. Not sure with other carriers though.

 

[edk-austin]

The antenna must be tuned to the frequency band of the service in use. Your 2014 uses an older Verizon 2G CDMA band. It's matched to that service. Unless you want Verizon 2G service, it's not going to work. I don't think Verizon would even provision you service to use that band anyways. They want to get GM and others off that band ASAP.

Wait. You're in Austin, and you have crappy cell service?!

 

[ianjay]

Our 2012 was upgraded to 4G from 2G as 2G was being phased out. I'm sure the modification did not involve changing the antennae in any way. I doubt the 2014 would be so different (although the radios are different) but you never know. The factory upgrade was free.

 

[edk-austin]

There is also a difference between Canadian Volts and US Volts. US 2011-2014 have 2G Verizon, while CD 2011-2014 have 2G AT&T. AT&T has already terminated the service, while Verizon keeps it active till end of 2019. Ford had AT&T 2G service in the US, and has already updated those cars (or offered to). Not sure what GM will do with 2014 and older Volts in 2019. Note that when GM introduced 4G LTE in 2015, the antenna definitely did change.

 

[llninja]

The antenna must be tuned to the frequency band of the service in use. Your 2014 uses an older Verizon 2G CDMA band. It's matched to that service. Unless you want Verizon 2G service, it's not going to work. I don't think Verizon would even provision you service to use that band anyways. They want to get GM and others off that band ASAP.

Wait. You're in Austin, and you have crappy cell service?!

As an ex-manager of a bunch of computational electromagnetics engineers, I've learned through osmosis that bigger isn't necessarily better, but the size needs to be closely match the wavelength of the signal as edk says. It might be easier to change service providers rather than find a way to plug your cell phone into a better antenna. By the way, don't fall pray to those folks who sell stickers with some fancy patter on it that is supposed to help your reception. Those are snake oil, to be put into the same bucket as that magic wax that de-oxidizes horribly worn paint, or that vortex air turbine system that is supposed tp give you incredible fuel mileage.

 

[werdup]

Is there possibility of upgrading the cell system if this happened to the 2012 volts?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Cord]

R. Goldberg here :

Take a long stick and duck tape an iPhone to the end
order a set of Apple wireless bluetooth airpods (wait 6 weeks)
then hold stick up in the air and make phone calls.

For extra credit use a kite or a balloon.


-----------------
Thinking llninja my be one of the few that got his BSA radio merit badge.
http://www.scouting.org/filestore/jota/pdf/RadioMB_module1.pdf

 

[llninja]

R. Goldberg here :

Take a long stick and duck tape an iPhone to the end
order a set of Apple wireless bluetooth airpods (wait 6 weeks)
then hold stick up in the air and make phone calls.

For extra credit use a kite or a balloon.


-----------------
Thinking llninja my be one of the few that got his BSA radio merit badge.
http://www.scouting.org/filestore/jota/pdf/RadioMB_module1.pdf

Better yet, just duct tape the iPhone to the volt's antenna... no need to hold the stick. And it is technically what the OP wanted to do, hook the phone to the external antenna.

As for the BSA radio badge, nope. I managed a bunch of electrical engineers who used computational electromagnetics to create a radar simulator for the Air Force. They fully understood maxwell's equations and fast Fourier transforms. I only understood enough to be dangerous.my graduate school work built a way to visualize this in 3D on a quarter million dollar SGI workstation which today can be easily done with a PC and a decent 3D graphics card. So I also managed a bunch of computer scientists who loved and understood OpenGL and 3D graphics. I could tell you more, but then I'd have to kill you.

 

[Cari]

I got a device from T-mobile that plugs into the OBD port on pretty much any car that has the port. I get 4G LTE on any wifi device in the car. Not sure if range is any better than a good cell phone, but doesn't seem like what you are wanting to do is worth it vs. something like I purchased.

 

[Norton]

..... Also would be nice for that antanne to do more than let OnStar spy on me

Bwahaha... Now Onstar is even more interested in all the things you do and say while in your '14 Volt.
You let the car out of the bag.
Your only hope for privacy now is to sell the Volt and by a car without a cell connection built in.
And don't forget to remove the battery from your cell phone too.

 

[hellsop]

There is also a difference between Canadian Volts and US Volts. US 2011-2014 have 2G Verizon, while CD 2011-2014 have 2G AT&T. AT&T has already terminated the service, while Verizon keeps it active till end of 2019. Ford had AT&T 2G service in the US, and has already updated those cars (or offered to). Not sure what GM will do with 2014 and older Volts in 2019. Note that when GM introduced 4G LTE in 2015, the antenna definitely did change.

Probably they'll do what they did with the Canadian Volts: update the hardware in the vehicles of people that agree to keep up their subscription. Might mean paying full price for a year, but I get that level of fun out of having VoltStats work, so the difference won't be critical for a year.

 

[ianjay]

I know the external antennae was not changed in order for us to get 4G and the 4G LTE enabled internet access in our MY2012. The actual upgrade must be pretty plug and play. Apart from waiting months and months for the kit to arrive, we were in and out in about the same time it takes for a oil change. Radio and phone presets were lost, but I don't think the dash even got taken apart. My wife uses it when we are travelling (just spent a month and a half in Florida - works great).

 

[werdup]

This appears to be the best option for improving cell reception. https://www.amazon.com/weBoost-Drive-Phone-Signal-Booster/dp/B00RHMFPEU/ref=dp_ob_title_wld

I have a house one that works great, not quite ready to pull the trigger on this.