The e-mail I received today is why Volvo should not have tied in their Wifi to only one service and should have just installed real wifi that allowed connection to open wifi.

It really bothered me the first time I realized that Wifi wasn't really Wifi at any and all open wifi spots. I felt a bit like I was duped about wifi and hotspots.

How many $ thousands will this cost "We will reach out to you in early 2021 via email with more information about how to upgrade your in-car modem(s) to 4G at your local Volvo retailer."

Nope - Volvo should have used open wifi standards so I could at least hit wifi spots eating my food I just purchased outside of cafe's, or the coffee I just bought at coffee shops, etc.

This is the e-mail I received.

"Connected Services

we are letting you know that AT&T will be shutting down their 3G network in January 2022. As a result, any Volvo vehicle with a 3G modem will lose Connected Services. According to our records, you currently own one or more vehicles that will be affected by this change.

Your affected Vehicle Identification Number(s):

Will anything be affected in 2021?

Your Connected Services will continue to function as normal, but starting January 1, 2021 you will no longer be able to renew your Volvo On Call annual subscription.

What will be impacted when the 3G network shuts down in January 2022?

• Emergency services will be disabled including SOS features, Roadside Assistance, Automatic Collision notification, and more

• Volvo On Call app functions and features will be turned off, including remote start, remote lock/unlock, digital service booking, send to car

• No access to Wi-Fi hotspot

• No access to connected apps in the car

How will I be able to keep my Connected Services beyond 2021?

We will reach out to you in early 2021 via email with more information about how to upgrade your in-car modem(s) to 4G at your local Volvo retailer.

Our Customer Care Team is available to address any additional questions you may have at this time. ""

 

Nothing lasts forever.

 

3G? Wow, bet their dial up modem doesn't work anymore either.

 

Did you ever have dial up and listen to that sound while it would handshake. Eeeee!

Now a 4 year old car would / could still use its wifi capabilities If the engineers had allowed other wifi access. In reality the car is not Wifi capable if you need AT&T to access a wifi signal such as a local coffee shop, etc. I wasn't interested in the talking to my car from home part but I was interested in the wifi access.

But the phone business is an animal designed for well ---- selling new phones. My local mall has minimal stores but is full of phone stores.

"Some top analysts in the space largely agreed with Boyanovsky's assessment. For example, Chetan Sharma of Chetan Sharma Consulting said AT&T's 3G shutdown will have a "very minimal" impact to its connected cars business overall because it already operated a 4G network in 2013."

But wait there is always a company to provide a work-around and less expensive than AT&T.

"Mojio offers a clear solution to the 3G shutdown problem

The company powers T-Mobile's SyncUP DRIVE offering, which plugs into a car's OBD-II port to provide connected car services across most auto makes and models, for $10 a month. "That's an attractive proposition to a customer that's just been informed that the connected car features will soon be shut down.

Although AT&T typically announces such events years in advance, it apparently can still take some customers by surprise. For example, according to IoT technology vendor Sierra Wireless, around 70% of San Francisco's buses and trains disappeared from its real-time maps due to the 2G shutdown. "The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFTMA) then faced weeks of mounting public pressure while it scrambled to upgrade its legacy monitoring devices," Sierra Wireless wrote."

But in the grand scheme of things I never used it and as long as my GPS still works I'm not losing sleep. I just think it is a messy affair when a 2,3,4 year old car has a system crippled.

Is there really a SIM card in my glovebox?

https://www.volvocars.com/uk/support...-volvo-on-call

"Cars equipped with Volvo On Call have a SIM card holder in the glovebox. This allows you to connect your car to the Internet by using a twin card (from your mobile phone) or a separate SIM card which you insert in the cardholder in the glovebox." Hm?

On the other hand I do enjoy the thousands of dollars in dividends I get from AT&T which makes my semi-retirement more enjoyable.

 

True but it seems that more and more everything has a shorter lifespan.

 

This is a costly and I wonder when people will tire of the curve of never ending updating. I contacted one of my friends that handles a fleet of trucking and he said the cost is very high.
Next I need to contact my friend that is an owner operator tractor trailer guy. Will this effect his log book, his scheduling from dispatchers, etc. and if needed who will pay for upgrades.

Did a quick internet search and this link is from 2019. Do you think Volvo didn't know it was coming but sold cars knowing that their modems would become inoperable in the near future? I doubt if I would have happy customers if I sold them Widget ABC to them and I knew all along that within the next 2 years that widget would stop working. Ya think?

https://www.automotive-fleet.com/332...ns-3g-shutdown

"Verizon Connect, which is the largest global provider of commercial telematics software and services, hasn't disclosed the exact number of devices that need to be replaced. Trimble has said it will need to replace about 250,000 3G units."

I'm feeling old because I'm happy with the way things are now. My son on the other hand is salivating for the increased speed. I've set Dec 2021 to fully shut down my business and then I can go fully into the sunset.Fleet managers who will need to replace hundreds to thousands of units should develop a plan to attack the project.

This technology upgrade is presenting hardware and installation costs for managers of large fleets, who must find creative ways to bear the burden without help from the carriers."

1. "

 

Is there a link we can use to verifiy if our vehicle is affected?

 

My e-mail didn't have a link but I guess you could check if your vehicle has a 3g or 4g modem. If it has 4g you should be good.

Maybe having a SIM card is the answer?

"This article is applicable to
Car model/model yearXC90 and XC90 Twin Engine of model year 2016 onwards

S90, V90 and V90 Cross Country of model year 2017 onwards

XC40, XC60, XC60 Twin Engine, V90 Twin Engine and S90 Twin Engine of model year 2018 onwards

V60, V60 Twin Engine and V60 Cross Country of model year 2019 onwards

S60 and S60 Twin Engine of model year 2020 onwards

The range of models may vary depending on market.
SystemVolvo On Call"


https://www.volvocars.com/uk/support...ar-modem-p-sim

 

Thanks!

Just a quick comment about SIM cards: the actual physical transceiver modem (fancy way of saying two-way radio modem) that connects your car to the cell towers may only be 3G and a SIM card will not change that. The equipment must actually be 4G. That would mean new equipment must be installed.

It is possible, ONLY maybe possible, the equipment was 4G and "downrated" by a SIM card, but most likely not.

Looking at the video on the above link, it looks like an equipment swap will be very easy if and when Volvo supplies one.

 

We went though something similar with our 2014 BMW X1 - mainly for BMW Assist. It had something to do with the replacement of a communication box. BMW gave us the option of them giving us $250 (I think) or for them to replace the com box at no charge. It was a pretty simple take out the old one and put in the new one and then some computer lingo to get it recognized. I would hope that Volvo would do something similar.

 

I am still trying to figure out what year they installed newer modems that can handle the change to 5G?

My son is a computer guy and works in the computer field. He is thrilled with 5G coming but me, not so much.

Because of the short range of 5G We are going to be seeing more towers. What if those conspiracy people are correct about health hazards of 5G?

To me, I just don't see a good cost to benefit analysis for all of it.

So yep, I hope Volvo is reasonable about it. I wish there were third party modems that I could swap out that would give me true wifi at all open networks.

Ok, I got where they want us to head and it isn't necessarily where I want to go. I have two years until I hit 70 years old and I think my plan is to be far, far, far away from cities. To live where there isn't so much traffic that the robots will be moving my car. IMHO it is really what the reason is for the push to 5g.

Does anybody ever wonder about the vulnerability of having everything digital? There was a time as humans we were all living our separate analog lives. Now we are becoming like a single celled amoeba. Several EMP bombs going off in large cities could cripple financial systems across the nation. If we were analog outside of an army, it would be very hard to do. Then of course there is an article in Wired - "11.23.2020 This Bluetooth Attack Can Steal a Tesla Model X in Minutes"

"Applications could help the country improve traffic flow by optimizing speed limits to coordinate with timed lights, or help drivers find open parking spaces. It could also be used to help support Volvo’s “Drive Me” self-driving vehicle pilot program. "

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lianeyv...h=4803801a368d

 

I also work in I.T. and the vulnerability, and fragility, of digital devices is very scary.

 

For years I've talked about the risk of this and reading about the AT&T bombing makes the risk even more clear.

"The impacts are widespread, including calls, texts, internet, television and credit card systems, among other issues."

I have a friend that is an over the road trucker and a company he pulls for expects to have driver-less tractors withing the next few years. So it is a hacker / terrorist dream. It becomes easier to destroy commerce and destroy the system of food delivery infrastructure. Are we really being walked into this scenario without someone saying timeout and lets think about this???

 

I too received the message that they would not renew any subscriptions in 2021.

Unfortunately for me, my subscription is renewed on 1/14/21. I have been in contact with Customer Service for about a month to see if I can get a short-term plan to continue with needed services, but they said no.

Even thought the 3G network is still functioning, they will not allow me to have access, until I update to the new system, which is not available yet.

My wife is a nurse working nights at a large hospital and we live in Maine. Since it is winter she has to get into a cold car each morning. I explained this situation to Volvo CSR, but to no avail.

The FAQ that Volvo put out on the subject says they will have a remedy available in "early 2021" so that "no customers will experience a loss of connectivity". I guess they overlooked the fact that some customers have their subscriptions run out in January/ February.

I'm not too happy, but not much can be done now except to wait. Too bad Volvo didn't see this coming and have a fix already.

Kevin

 

Take note who it benefits most on the roll out. It is cost effective for the telecommunications industry. "Telecommunications companies are closing 3G because they need the spectrum space for today’s 4G LTE users and to prepare for the eventual rollout of 5G. The fact is, it is also more cost-effective to operate at 4G LTE than on a 2G or 3G network because more devices can share the available spectrum."

Then of course we've been watching all the advertisements about the great 5G race. Not everyone is buying it and if you live in the rural areas well ya can just forget about cell coverage. In the digital age we are no more than servants to do and buy as we are told. Errrr!!!

"The more I hear about the race, the more I don’t buy it. I think the “race” framing is there to make some big decisions seem urgent and important — to make it appear as though some serious trade-offs are worth it in order to “win.” And those trade-offs are indeed serious: 5G networks will require a serious rethinking of how we use wireless spectrum. There are incredible privacy implications around putting millions of IoT devices in a “smart city” on 5G. Investment dollars will naturally flow toward building 5G networks in cities instead of expanding our networks to rural areas, exacerbating the digital divide.

Oh, and it appears that some of the required 5G spectrum might interfere with important weather sensors, a concern raised by NASA, the Navy, and the NOAA in hearings before Congress last week. How did the wireless industry respond to these concerns? By writing a blog post accusing meteorologists from across three government agencies of “risking our 5G leadership.” The implication, of course, is that worrying about detecting major weather events could make us lose the race."

Volvo had to see this coming. An article from August 3, 2018 -- 05:23 GMT (22:23 PDT) | was about Audi " Ericsson has announced signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Audi for the use of 5G technologies during automotive production."

This is from 2014 "Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Ford, GM, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo, and others are rumored to have autonomous vehicle initiatives underway." But Volvo has a tendency to not follow the rules of simplicity "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." Kind of why on most cars changing that PCV valve takes 10 minutes but the PCV system on the Volvo takes much much longer. So they probably saw it but didn't know how to produce a "fix".

https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/23/1...-china-fcc-lte

 

There is nothing in my experience or information gleaned from this forum that would suggest that Volvo will respond in a timely, cost effective fashion to this issue.

 

From my experience you are probably correct.

 

Has anyone with an older Volvo had the 4G upgrade installed yet? My local dealer is asking $649 for it (including installation). I have a 2015.5 S60 and that's a lot of money to pay for remote start.

 

I just brought my XC60 home from having it upgraded. Yes, it costs $649, but that also includes 2 years of membership to the OnCall App. Since that is normally $200 per year, that means we are paying about $250 for the upgrade. Still a lot of money, but I really do need the remote start capability and the ability to send maps to the car when traveling. I am currently waiting for OnCall to credit my account and open the App back up. They said it might take a day or two to process.

 

FWIW: You can most likely get remote start added to your remote if all you care about is the remote start function. I am lucky and my 2018 has a 4G modem, but I am still getting the ERS (engine remote start) added to my key fobs for $500. My volvo app can only be used to lock or unlock my doors and remote start, so its a waste of $200 after my free year is up. Its still expensive but a little less so than $650. I would check you owners manual on it.