Real-World Speed Test of OnStar’s 4GLTE Hotspot
If you’ve turned on the television lately, you’ll have noticed that General Motors is pushing the 4GLTE connectivity of OnStar heavily in their promotions. While it may seem odd to some having a hotspot built into your car (that you have to pay a separate data fee for), there are plenty of reasons to take advantage of the 4GLTE. One of those main reasons is signal strength in fringe areas.
If you look at coverage maps for all the major carriers, you wouldn’t think there’d be a single reason why I couldn’t get good 4G signal anywhere I go near my house. However, there are certain areas where signal strength and speed drop off pretty significantly. Over the weekend, I was in one of those locations.
I was on the south side of Findlay, Ohio watching the balloon festival at Emory Park. While I was stationary, I ran a speed test on my phone and got these results.
For a modern 4G cellphone still inside the city limits of a decent-sized community, this is terrible. That makes even sharing a brief video to Instagram impossible.
But how well did the truck do in the same location? Better. Much better.
At the exact same GPS coordinates I ran both speed tests and noticed a huge difference between to the two. The antenna in the Silverado (and all 4GLTE-equipped OnStar vehicles) is larger than the antenna on the phone, improving signal quality.
While this is one circumstance and your mileage may vary, this does make a strong case for using GM’s 4GLTE in the future.
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