13brv3

Greetings,

I've never been a fan of Onstar, but I've read that the built in phone may have more range than a typical cell phone. This is believable because it should have a better antenna, and also possibly more power. Here in East TN, my cell is often out of range on the fun roads, so it would be nice if the Onstar phone has more range.

Has anyone ever noticed a time when their cell was out of range, but the Onstar phone worked? To be fair, they'd have to both be on the same service, which I "think" is AT&T.

I'm waiting for a 2017 that's on order, which will be the 4th Onstar vehicle I've owned. I've never used the phone in the previous vehicles, but I might be willing to try it if there really is more range.

Thanks,
Rusty

dmhines

It is AT&T .. I doubt signal is better than a phone. FYI .. since it is AT&T .. you can add your C7 to your MobileShare plan so it shares your Data ... cost the same as adding an iPad .. $10/month.

vbdenny

Never used onstar. Didnt even know it had a phone on it. Luckily, my Verizon phone has never lost a signal. Well except in a few remote areas in Alaska. Cant see the point and dont use AT&T so no need for me.

13brv3

I have read about adding it to the mobileshare plan, and plan to do that if the range is any better than my phone. Pity I can't add the cars built in phone capability as well (without Onstar).

It's a different world here in East TN. Roads I travel every day have no usable cell service from any provider, and they don't seem to have any shoulders either. It's a good thing cars are a LOT more reliable than they used to be

Cheers,
Rusty

Kraz8s

Up until mid 2014 they used the VZ network, then they went over to the AT&T network. Check out the service foot print maps to see the coverage areas. Fun fact: AT&T actually leases towers from other providers so coverage areas are relatively similar.

z28lt1

Bigger antenna plus higher power (3 watts, versus less than 1 and usually closer to a half for handheld cell phones) means it almost certainly will get reception in more places than your handheld phone. Very few real-world reports of what that translate to in the area you are in. I do recall a post on one of the car forums (not here) that someone who was in the mountains of NY got reception with Onstar he could never get with his cell. That was when Onstar was on Verizon though.

13brv3

I had thought they used to use Verizon, but didn't know when they switched. I have AT&T on my phones, because their service works better where I live. Coverage maps that you can find online are too vague to really help much if you're on the fringe, but AT&T can pull up much more detailed maps if you're at one of their stores.

There are clearly differences in phone reception, and my Galaxy S7 gets better reception than my Gear S2 watch. There are a lot of compromises made in electronics to squeeze it all into a small package that uses minimal battery power, so there's reason to hope that the cellular system in a car will do better than the phone.

I was just curious if anyone had experience with this, but in a month or so, I guess I'll be able to test it for myself.

Cheers,
Rusty

nmvettec7

Check out this link, as it may answer many questions.

https://www.onstar.com/us/en/services/coveragemaps.html

..

PaulB

If I remember correctly the OnStar phone is better as its a satellite phone where the cell phones use towers. At least that's what I was told or read or something. When I drive from Iowa to Arizona there are a few places where cell phone reception is non existent. In those cases, when needed, I have used OnStar.

z28lt1

Onstar phones use cellular service for phone calls.. As noted, used to be Verizon and now AT&T and are more powerful than your handheld.

wgood

My guess is maybe you need a different cell phone carrier or have a friend ride with you in your car to check out the signal on their phone !!! I have a friend who lives near me and his cell service ( new tower) is only 1 or 2 bars ( Verizon) and mine is 3 or 4 bars T-Mobile !!! Wayne

13brv3

Thanks for the thought, but there's no cell carrier that's significantly better than another here. If you have one particular spot that needs to be optimized, you may be able to find the best carrier for that spot, but it might not be the best overall. I already changed from Verizon to AT&T because it was better at my house, and just as good in general.

Terrain is the issue, and lack of towers, so a weak signal is the best you can hope for most of the time. In many areas the best cell phone in the world likely won't get a signal, but if the built in phone can improve my range, it might be worth dealing with Onstar.

Cheers,
Rusty

Bill Dearborn

Haven't particularly noticed it in my Corvettes but I have in my Tahoe. In areas of limited coverage my cell phone will say out of service and I can keep right on talking with the OnStar phone. The Tahoe with its all metal body probably has a better antenna than a Corvette but the Corvette is still going to have a much better antenna than any hand held cell phone. Transmitter power is the same for all of them the antenna is what makes the difference. It isn't the receive range of the phone it is the transmit range that determines whether your on in service or not. The cell phone may receive the tower's signals but the system doesn't know the cell phone is in that tower's range if the tower can't pick up the weak signal from the cell phone. Where I used to live and drive in UpState NY there were plenty of out of service areas due to hills or towns that prohibited cell towers. My cell phone didn't respond in those areas but the OnStar phone in the Tahoe didn't notice a problem. It didn't matter which carrier you were on the dead areas were pretty much all the same due to topography and regulations.

I have OnStar turned on in all 3 of my vehicles. I have the lowest cost plan on each. When it comes to dealing with OnStar they are no where near the worst company to deal with. I have never been cheated by them or treated disrespectfully like XM used to do after Sirius took them over. They were bad. It was like dealing with one of those crooked stock brokers. Luckily, over the last few years they seemed to have cleaned up XM's act.

Bill

owc6

I can tell you from first hand experience that the car has greater range than any hand-held cell phone.

I was in a remote section of NM, and came across a horrific one car accident. There were perhaps a dozen + people who were already on the scene, but when I called OnStar and informed them, they told me I was the first to call for help. I stayed and relayed info via OnStar until the first responder arrived (with whatever radio setup they had) and it was over a half-hour until the ambulance arrived. AFAIK, they still had no other phone communication, but me.

13brv3

Thanks to you both. That's really encouraging! I joke that if you go off the road around here, no one will ever find you, and you can't call for help even if you're still conscious. I have a 2014 Silverado that I never even activated, and I bet that shark fin antenna on top is better than what the Corvette has hiding under the skin. When I do the factory tour, I need to remember to look for the antenna.

Thanks,
Rusty

Travis Kirbyson

I've lost reception once in a freaking Sonic.

​​Even when I was over 30 miles out of range from service on my phone in rural mountains in Washington, I still had service via onstar.

Everyone uses my car when we go camping for phone calls etc. Lol

JFJr

More range with the OnStar phone has been my experience in the past. On a related note, does the OnStar phone function on the latest C7's search your Contacts when you say "call"? In older cars I had to use a separate memory for the call function.

St!ngray

Yes it does.

DarthKickA

No experience in the Corvette, but I live in Middle Tennessee and for many years I had a lake house at Center Hill lake. In my work 2007 Silverado, the only way to make a call from our remote Lake House was with Onstar. Many tried with Verizon, ATT, and (lol) Sprint and all failed. But had flawless reception with the Onstar. Back then they were using Verizon. Most signals stopped when the asphalt turned to dirt roads near Austin Bottom. Onstar worked all the time.

I purposefully kept minutes on the plan just for that reason as we liked to use poor judgement and make terrible decisions while at the lake. Just in case we needed an ambulance or a pizza delivered.

owc6

Amblance or pizza? Both good reasons.