Chrysler's in-car wi-fi makes weak first impression
A man who purchased Chrysler's uConnect in-car wi-fi recently gave his impressions... and he wasn't exactly impressed. His three main issues were: it's slow, there are no instructions for encryption, and you're limited to 1 GB for downloads.
The Autonet site lists speeds as 600Kbps-800Kbps, and the reader didn't give any idea of the speeds, but he said the router had a hard time keeping an EVDO connection and would go to 1x. Autonet says the "connection is secured with WEP encryption, MAC address restriction or WAN port restricton," but according to the reader, it isn't shipped with any encryption in place and the manual doesn't tell you how to do it or even that you need to do it.
As for the 1 GB cap, that's for the $29 plan. There's a $50 plan that gets you 5 GB, which would be the way to go if you really are going to have the kids on YouTube in the back seat. Of all he writes about, it seems the biggest gripe is the speed -- nothing like trying to watch a 30-second clip that takes eight minutes to download. That's not a minor drawback, but for the convenience of using any wi-fi equipped device, and not having to listen to that American Girl DVD again, it could be worth it.
UPDATE: The co-founder of Autonet Mobile, Doug Moeller, contacted us after reading this post to address some of these issues. He says the user was in a rural area of Vermont where coverage is very poor, so he was moving between 1x networks and no network at all. In fact, the area didn't have any of the EVDO networks that the company supports. Autonet's device can handle maintaining connections as you move between 1x, EVDO-0 and EVDO-A networks very well, but not much can be done if there's no network at all. Also, they don't do usage based billing so it's impossible to get a $800 bill. They even offered this customer a full refund, which is standard practice if anyone is unsatisfied with the service. Finally, Moeller offered Autoblog a unit to test, so look for our own hands-on review of the technology soon.
[Source: Gizmodo via Kicking Tires]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Chris 6:37PM (9/15/2008)
I'll stick with my mobile broadband via Windows Mobile and WMWiFiRouter on my HTC phone. Thanks.
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MajorGeek 6:59PM (9/15/2008)
Good, it should suck, its a bad idea.
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tankd0g 9:41PM (9/15/2008)
Oh come on it's a great idea, revolutionary even. This is still 1993 right?
MajorGeek 9:54PM (9/15/2008)
Its not a good idea, in any way. Its bad enough with morons texting while driving. The year is irrelevant. Frankly, were connected too friggin much thats all. But someday you will realize its overkill and realize everything you do is tracked and start complaining about it.
Lar 3:14AM (9/16/2008)
"Its not a good idea, in any way."
+1
"Its bad enough with morons texting while driving."
+1
"... someday you will ... realize everything you do is tracked and start complaining about it."
+1
Conversation. Too much to ask? Keeping quiet during the drive. Too much to ask?
Torrent 7:01PM (9/15/2008)
Well what can I say? It IS Chrysler- the Poster Child for malfunctions.
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SPG 8:28PM (9/15/2008)
We'll you've never driven a first gen Cirrus before I see.
Just kidding.
Torrent 8:37PM (9/15/2008)
OMG I almost strangled you over the computer.
gmoney706 7:15PM (9/15/2008)
Are we really that surprised?
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Falcom 7:26PM (9/15/2008)
kids have it good these days. I just had to sit still and not piss off my parents while we drove long distances. I'm probably a better person for it too.
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Purifoy 7:42PM (9/15/2008)
LOL!!! I remember those days, Falcom. And you're right. You probably are a better person for it.
Falcom 8:28PM (9/15/2008)
f**k i feel old now.
jcar302 7:33PM (9/15/2008)
Sounds like tethering a cell phone is alot better/cheaper.
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JD 7:56PM (9/15/2008)
Why in gods name would you get this kind of tech built into your car? To make it lose value even faster? This is what the wireless providers have wireless cards for- my friend had a sprint wireless card that his last job paid for, doesn't anymore, but it was plenty fast on our road trip from seattle to the bay area in CA, and it very rarely lost signal. I was very pleased, and it was about $50/month.
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Torrent 4:45AM (9/16/2008)
Just more stuff to waste energy with. Anyone heard of a freakin iPhone? who needs laptops when you have internet on your phone? Not to mention a psp.
ehisforadam 8:43AM (9/16/2008)
Perhaps because you want Flash support?
JD 1:51PM (9/16/2008)
Torrent, the internet on the iphone is a sad excuse for the internet as seen on a real computer. It's cheaper to get a cellphone and a wireless data card anyways.
John 8:01PM (9/15/2008)
Overpriced and under preforming. You can get a mobile broadband card and drive around with your laptop for that price. Not to mention use it for home internet.
This is as big of a waste as paying $1000+ for an OEM's navi system when a $200 portable unit works nicely.
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dakota 8:34PM (9/15/2008)
Are you able to connect multiple devices to that card? X-box, PS3, other laptops?
It's an option, if you don't want it. Then don't order it.
Yes portable navigation systems work fine, if you want wires hanging out, not to mention having to take the thing down every time you park so it won't get ripped off.
speedypeterson 8:23PM (9/15/2008)
anyone notice the two girls aren't buckled up?
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