What does OnStar use?

George wrote:
>
> I just wondered what system OnStar uses. Is it direct to satellite,
> or AMPS, or what?
>
> If it's AMPS, what are they gonna do in 2008?

http://www.onstar.com/us_english/jsp...technology.jsp

Notan

---

› See More: What does OnStar use?

as far as i kno its connect via sattelite because, consumers need to be reached anywhere inc ase of an emergency, so if u cant reach anyone where theres no cellphone service in the area u r in, they contact you using sattelite connection, so theres no loss in connection

hope this helps

"Notan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> George wrote:
> >
> > I just wondered what system OnStar uses. Is it direct to satellite,
> > or AMPS, or what?
> >
> > If it's AMPS, what are they gonna do in 2008?
>
> http://www.onstar.com/us_english/jsp...technology.jsp


So if your car is 2003 or earlier you may have a problem? What sort of
"Digital"? If it's TDMA you're just as SOL as if it's AMPS.
This answers the question a little more clearly:
http://www.onstar.com/us_english/jsp...iew=tech_equip

Q13. What is digital?
A13. In a digital wireless system, voice is converted to a digital signal
and then transmitted over air. Digital wireless service operates in both the
800 MHz and 1900 MHz frequency range. The three dominant systems in the U.S.
and Canada are CDMA, GSM and TDMA. OnStar-equipped vehicles with dual-mode
(analog/digital) hardware have been engineered to work in the 800 MHz
frequency for analog or CDMA digital networks, in addition to the 1900 MHz
CDMA digital networks.

--
Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

"Korean_Boi" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> as far as i kno its connect via sattelite because, consumers need to be
> reached anywhere inc ase of an emergency, so if u cant reach anyone
> where theres no cellphone service in the area u r in, they contact you
> using sattelite connection, so theres no loss in connection
>

Satellite? I don't think so.

that was a useless post

either elaborae my mistake or dont post at all

Korean_Boi wrote:
> that was a useless post
>
> either elaborae my mistake or dont post at all

The cited page on the OnStar website mentions cellular, not satellite at all
(okay, GPS, but it doesn't refer to the use of satellite phones at all).


--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl ** Linux/*BSD/Windows
Apple Valley, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED

It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.

ok

thats better

This may be a surprise to many but it is more than mere speculation. Onstar uses CDMA and AMPS which service is provided by none other than Alltel Communications, "Americas largest wireless network". Onstar provides the equipment ans trademark and Alltel provides the signal, which is exceptional in most areas one may be inclined to take a vehicle.

"Korean_Boi" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> that was a useless post
>
> either elaborae my mistake or dont post at all
>

I was very clear- I don't think they use satellite, which was a polite way
of saying that you were mistaken.

I'll be a little clearer this time- OnStar does not use satellite for voice
transmission. You were wrong and didn't know what you were talking about,
as you claimed.

Is that better?

Crossposted into alt.cellular.alltel...

bigdaddyek82 wrote:
> This may be a surprise to many but it is more than mere speculation.
> Onstar uses CDMA and AMPS which service is provided by none other than
> Alltel Communications, "Americas largest wireless network". Onstar
> provides the equipment ans trademark and Alltel provides the signal,
> which is exceptional in most areas one may be inclined to take a
> vehicle.

America's largest wireless network? I doubt it.

One of the largest, to be sure. But let's look at company history:

(a) Alltel started as a company that only serviced landlines in rural and a
few smaller metro areas. Their wireless coverage initially continued that trend.

(b) Through mergers and acquisitions, they got bigger. They also swapped some
markets with Verizon. They also got a couple markets as a result of the
merger that created Verizon; for example, my hometown, which already had
AirTouch Cellular flipping to Verizon Wireless. Alltel got Cleveland's old
GTE Mobilnet network.

(c) The biggest deal was their recent purchase of Western Wireless, owner of
the CellularONE brand. They were already reasonably large by then, but that
deal added a decent amount of real estate.

(d) Yet even now, although they *are* now a major player, they don't service
any of the three biggest markets. Nothing in NYC, nothing in Los Angeles,
nothing in Chicago. Not only do they not serve Los Angeles, they have no
coverage in California at all. The closest location to my house where I can
use Alltel's network is the Grand Canyon, a few hundred miles away from here.

I have a problem believing that a cell carrier not serving *any* part of
California qualifies as the largest in the country.

I mean, I'm pretty sure Alltel's a decent carrier; I was a customer of theirs
for a while and they treated me well. They're just not "the largest in the
country."


--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl ** Linux/*BSD/Windows
Apple Valley, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED

It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.

"Steve Sobol" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I mean, I'm pretty sure Alltel's a decent carrier; I was a customer of
theirs
> for a while and they treated me well. They're just not "the largest in
the
> country."

To paraphrase Bill Clinton, it may just all depend on how you define
"large". Of course, if network coverage is the prime factor, the "largest"
wireless carriers in the US are really either Globalstar or Iridium.

--
Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

> America's largest wireless network? I doubt it.

It's not their network that is the largest, it's their coverage
(through other networks).

[email protected] wrote:
>> America's largest wireless network? I doubt it.
>
> It's not their network that is the largest, it's their coverage
> (through other networks).

So to make the claim whats-his-name made is, strictly speaking, inaccurate.
Since the person making the claim sells for Alltel, I would recommend that he
be a little more careful about such claims in the future.

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl ** Linux/*BSD/Windows
Apple Valley, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED

It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.

Noodles Doesnt Matter wrote:
> On Sun, 06 Aug 2006 18:06:29 -0700, Steve Sobol <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>> [email protected] wrote:
>>>> America's largest wireless network? I doubt it.
>>> It's not their network that is the largest, it's their coverage
>>> (through other networks).
>> So to make the claim whats-his-name made is, strictly speaking, inaccurate.
>> Since the person making the claim sells for Alltel, I would recommend that he
>> be a little more careful about such claims in the future.
> I read on the Alltel web site that they purchase their roaming
> services from Sprint/Nextel.

Some, probably. But Alltel's biggest roaming partnership is with Verizon
Wireless, unless the big roaming agreements they signed a few years ago
expired and weren't renewed.

But the claim is still inaccurate.

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl ** Linux/*BSD/Windows
Apple Valley, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED

It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.

Steve Sobol <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> Some, probably. But Alltel's biggest roaming partnership is with
> Verizon Wireless, unless the big roaming agreements they signed a few
> years ago expired and weren't renewed.
>
> But the claim is still inaccurate.
>
> --
> Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl **
> Linux/*BSD/Windows Apple Valley, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED
>
> It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living
> room.
>
>

Did OnStar figure out how to get the signalling tones the cars use through
the low res crappy CDMA/GSM audio codecs good enough for the decoders to
reliably open the doors in the country, yet?

I heard the tones got too much intermod distortion from the poorly encoded
audio. The tones are nearly as high frequency as the sampling rates!