Problems with Onstar...

[NOLAhummer]

So I called Onstar today and they told me they couldn't track my spakin new vehicle...They could only tell who I was from the number of the truck, but they said it might be because I'm down in New Orleans and the cell service is still messed up. They opened a file on the car and said they'd get back to me in a few days. Anyone else have problems with OnStar??


P.S. Does putting an alarm system in the truck mess with the waranty in any way?

[NOLAhummer]

So I called Onstar today and they told me they couldn't track my spakin new vehicle...They could only tell who I was from the number of the truck, but they said it might be because I'm down in New Orleans and the cell service is still messed up. They opened a file on the car and said they'd get back to me in a few days. Anyone else have problems with OnStar??


P.S. Does putting an alarm system in the truck mess with the waranty in any way?

[f5fstop]

Might be a problem if there are limited verizon towers operating in N.O. area. The GPS signal is received by the Onstar module, and sent via the verizon phone lines to the Onstar headquarters. Onstar can ping the module to get a more precise location, but the info still travels on the phone link.
However, i would have thought if they could talk to you, they could locate you, and Katrina did not mess with the satellites.
Possibly it was due to lack of bandwidth in the phone lines. Not sure.

As long as the alarm install did not screw up factory installed components, no, it won't void the warranty. Could the installer have messed with the Onstar module, or the GPS antenna?

[NOLAhummer]

I haven't added anything yet, that's actually why I was calling Onstar. Hopefully they get this stuff cleared up soon...

[Hummertech]

When you make an Onstar call, the vehicle tries 3 times to get through. If it cannot get a good line to make the call on (due to lack of towers or lack of available numbers in a certain area) then the vehicle will call on a special line that can be used by any carrier but these lines are a voice only line. I don't understand the whole cell thing well enough to explain it but this is accurate what I'm saying. If it takes your truck over a minuite before it connects to onstar, there is a good chance it had to call on a voice only line, which means onstar cannot track you, or read any data about your vehicle.

[WPBGUY]

I had the same problem with OnStar.
It turrned out that there was no record of my VIN!
My insuance company sent me a letter that said my VIN was "invalid"!
When I tried to register with "MYGM.COM" I had the same problem.
They finally put my VIN in "The System" then all was well.....

don't know which carriers onstar works with in different parts of the country, but the fall back for the connection is an old analog connection. FCC forced carriers to maintain analog until August of '07, but most carriers have maintained the bare minimum of one channel per sector (3-4 per site). quality is crap, and if anyone else is using it, you're out of luck. it also depends on which technology onstar uses as to which carrier you're going to get. if they use CDMA, you'll get Verizon or Sprint, if it's GSM you'll get Cingular or T-Mobile. if you're in a small rural community, you'll use some podunk carrier that hasn't made a profit since they went into business. onstar is not much more than a modem for a wireless line, it gives them access to your vehicle and gives you someone to talk to. if you're taking a long time to connect you're most likely ending on analog, which is slow to pass data across. there's no special line that all carriers share, each one owns a separate block of spectrum and keeps it to themselves exclusively. the only call type that you can make on any carrier, regardless of your contract, is a 911 call. any phone, whether it's programmed or not, can make a 911 call as long as the type of network it requires is available. the network your onstar subscribes to determines how many times you can try to connect, so if you're in NO, with limited sites on air, most likely you're retrying because of the congestion on the network and lack of available trunks. it's probably just a registration problem with GM not getting your info loaded in a timely manner, go back and harass the dealer.

so ends cellular 101

[WPBGUY]

It's not sattelite? Like they say...

[f5fstop]

Satellite is used only for GPS location. The signal from the GPS unit is fed into the vehicle control interface module (commonly called the OnStar module), and this is sent to OnStar via the cellular phone link.
OnStar does not beam your location, they can ask the VCIM to update the GPS information, for an update on your location.
As for the phone service, OnStar uses two different circuits; the default is Verizon (connected through carrier circuit A), and if no connection is possible, it will default to carrier circuit B. In some areas such as Alaska, Verizon has almost gone totally digital, and there are limited analog capabilities. Therefore, if OnStar cannot connect to carrier A (Verizon), they will attempt to connect to carrier B. Problem is, carrier B does not have a contract with OnStar, for the personal calling program. So Carrier B can only be used for the primary OnStar functions.
Most of the OnStar units on the road are still analog, due to the numerous numbers of analog towers still operating in this country. Many of the newer modules, known as Generation 6 Dual Mode are dual mode and will operate in both analog and digital. The H3 is a Gen 6 dual mode module, and will operate in either analog or digital.

The cellular operation of the OnStar® system may be inhibited by factors such as the user range from an analog cellular tower, the state of the cellular carrier equipment, and the location where the call is placed. Making an OnStar® keypress in areas that lack sufficient cellular coverage or have a temporary equipment failure, will result in either the inability of a call to complete a data transfer or the complete inability to connect to the OnStar® Call Center. The OnStar® system may also experience connection issues if the identification numbers for the module, station identification (STID) and electronic serial number (ESN) numbers, are not recognized by the cellular carrier local signal receiving towers. OnStar® cellular connection issues such as these require the assistance of the General Motors Technical Assistance Center OnStar® Group, which coordinates with cellular carriers to resolve connection issues.

The satellites that orbit earth providing the OnStar system with GPS data have almost no failures associated with them. In the event of a no GPS concern, the failure will likely lie with the inability of the system to gain GPS signals because of its location, i.e. in a parking structure, hardware failure, or being mistaken with an OnStar® call which has reached the Call Center without vehicle data.

One other thing, if your account is not activated, you cannot make an emergency call. Per Onstar, if you do not have an active account, you will receive a message.
"During an Emergency button press, a demo message will be played indicating the service has been deactivated."
This means if you do not have an active account, if the air bags go off, you will not be called to see if assistance is required.

OnStar uses CDMA, that is why Verizon is the main carrier, but only for the digital network. However, and I'm not sure, they might be able to use either CDMA or TDMA for circuit B. Again, not sure about this.

But you can obtain CDMA technology without Verizon or Spring. Great example is in KY. From south of Louisville to the TN border, if you have Verizon you will roam on CDMA with a local KY company. Costs nothing extra, but your cell phone will say Extended Roaming. When I lived in TN, I roamed into this network quite often with my trips to the Corvette Museum and their special functions, and I was never charged extra.
So, an Onstar Gen 6 Dual Mode should be able to connect with this same carrier if driving through KY.

[Vandakeg]

Has anyone looked into 'upgrading' the onstar service during the free first year?

I don't have my H3 yet, but I am interested to know opinions on the full OnStar service. Do you get a discount on the full package if you're still in the first year of free service?