# Satellite Radio Service in Car- Keep or No? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 13, 2017, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellite-radio-service-in-car-keep-or-no/784357 "2017-04-13T03:37:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellite-radio-service-in-car-keep-or-no/784357/21 "2017-04-13T17:33:57Z")
Who else opened this thread expecting the subject to be about satellite radio telephony? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellite-radio-service-in-car-keep-or-no/784357/22 "2017-04-13T18:08:30Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Who else opened this thread expecting the subject to be about satellite radio telephony? Not me, or many of the other Americans on the board. I knew it was going to be about Sirius. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellite-radio-service-in-car-keep-or-no/784357/23 "2017-04-13T18:24:25Z")
i use my phone, streaming from any of the top streaming companies (pandora iheart etc) is free does not count against data, if i am tired of that i have 2 google music accounts (because all my music did not fit in one) which do not seem to use too much data, and i could store music directly on the phone if i needed to as well. If i needed OTA radio, my phone does do a good job tuning in FM radio, thats free too. If i wanted to go berzerker nuts, unlimited data plan on my carrier is only $45 a month with my discounts. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellite-radio-service-in-car-keep-or-no/784357/24 "2017-04-13T18:26:09Z")
> [@SamuelA](#): > > One cheapskate thing millennials do is they instead buy a good data plan for their phone (admittedly, that can easily cost you $300 a year, but you probably need one anyway) and then they stream podcasts and other content. I actually do have an unlimited data plan, but I’m still in the habit of downloading batches of podcasts at home over WiFi and not using data during the commute. I take the bus, but if I had to drive I’d probably do something similar and just plug the phone in or use Bluetooth. All my podcasts are essentially free. I’m 37, so it’s probably time to stop considering myself young (what is the millennial age range?), but I’ve totally gone down the on demand streaming rabbit hole. Netflix, etc. streaming at home, podcasts and streaming music on the phone. Despite having grown up with it, the idea of tuning into something on someone else’s schedule seems completely anachronistic to me now. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellite-radio-service-in-car-keep-or-no/784357/25 "2017-04-13T19:33:35Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Who else opened this thread expecting the subject to be about satellite radio telephony? Are you talking about satphones? We just call those satphones or satellite phones. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say “satellite radio” in conjunction with phones. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellite-radio-service-in-car-keep-or-no/784357/26 "2017-04-13T20:02:48Z")
I bought a car at the new year and it came with the Sirius XM trial package. My taste in music isn’t all that eclectic but I still had trouble finding anything I liked without a lot of flipping. I quickly decided that it was just easier to listen to Pandora over my phone or use the music on my USB stick rather than constantly hunting around. Or, hell, listen to local radio since the couple terrestrial stations I listen to aren’t any worse for randomly guessing what I’d like. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellite-radio-service-in-car-keep-or-no/784357/27 "2017-04-13T20:38:44Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > IHeartRadio, MLB AtBat, a midrange data plan for my phone, and an AUX cord. Satellite radio subscription seems redundant for an extra however much a month. The AUX cord was $5 one time and the charger came with the phone. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellite-radio-service-in-car-keep-or-no/784357/28 "2017-04-13T20:41:32Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > I actually do have an unlimited data plan, but I’m still in the habit of downloading batches of podcasts at home over WiFi and not using data during the commute. I take the bus, but if I had to drive I’d probably do something similar and just plug the phone in or use Bluetooth. All my podcasts are essentially free. > > I’m 37, so it’s probably time to stop considering myself young (what is the millennial age range?), but I’ve totally gone down the on demand streaming rabbit hole. Netflix, etc. streaming at home, podcasts and streaming music on the phone. Despite having grown up with it, the idea of tuning into something on someone else’s schedule seems completely anachronistic to me now. I’m like that, too, but I’m pushing 60! I’m not really loyal to the podcasts, either. I have favorites, buI rotate them in and out as they evolve (too). ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellite-radio-service-in-car-keep-or-no/784357/29 "2017-04-13T20:55:53Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > And not even that. Most recent models have bluetooth capability already built in, so not even an aux in is needed (I did have to install one on my 2004 Mazda 3, though. My newer one, a 2014, had bluetooth standard on the radio.) > > And some mobile phone services are not counting streaming radio against your data usage. For example, T-Mobile allows streaming from Apple Music, SoundCloud, Pandora, Napster, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Nextradio, and Amazon Music without counting against your usage on many, if not all, of their plans. > > The MINUS of this is, though, there still are areas of the country where data connections are spotty. A year and a half ago driving from Kansas City, MO, to Chicago, IL, there were a number of locations where I had difficulty accessing streaming radio without constant interruptions due to buffering. And some locations where there simply was no data available. So that’s one plus to satellite radio (I assume; I don’t have satellite radio, but my assumption is the coverage is pretty much universal.) I have Bluetooth, too. I got my children (well, they have recently turned in to adults) phone service with Virgin mobile. They get 5 GB of data and no-data streaming, too. But as far as connection to the satellite, I have had more disruptions in my city than I have had while on the road. I’m in Houston and I lose service regularly under bridges and overpasses (some of which are quite large now) and in certain areas for reasons unknown to me. I always lose service twice at the intersection nearest my home. This intersection sometimes takes a couple of light cycles to get through, too. I lose service again as I turn on to my residential street. The link comes back about half a block later, but I find that interruption particularly annoying, especially when I’m coming home from work and listening to the one satelllite radio program that I look forward to hearing. I remember driving across the desert (Texas to California) in the '80’s with a battery operated radio. I recall that when I ran out of radio, I did a crossword puzzle using the steering wheel as a table. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellite-radio-service-in-car-keep-or-no/784357/30 "2017-04-13T21:54:42Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > But as far as connection to the satellite, I have had more disruptions in my city than I have had while on the road. I’m in Houston and I lose service regularly under bridges and overpasses (some of which are quite large now) and in certain areas for reasons unknown to me. > > I always lose service twice at the intersection nearest my home. This intersection sometimes takes a couple of light cycles to get through, too. I lose service again as I turn on to my residential street. The link comes back about half a block later, but I find that interruption particularly annoying, especially when I’m coming home from work and listening to the one satelllite radio program that I look forward to hearing. The nature of the satellite signal is that you have to have an unimpeded line-of-signal from your car’s antenna to the satellite to get reception. ISTR that they have a buffering system built into their signal, so that programming isn’t interrupted every time you drive under an overpass, for example. But, if you’re under something for more than a few seconds, that’s long enough to exhaust the buffer. AIUI, it’s similar to the problems that users of satellite TV, like DirecTV, run into from snow, heavy rain, and tree branches interfering with their dishes’ “view” of the satellite. I know that, in major cities, they have repeater antennas set up, as they recognize that things like highrise buildings and multi-level highways play havoc with that line of signal. I would have to believe that Houston has those repeater antennas, but maybe where you drive is far enough away from them that their signal doesn’t reach you. I live in suburban Chicago, and the repeaters work just fine when I’m in downtown Chicago (say, in a parking garage, or on Lower Wacker Drive), but I live about 10 miles from downtown, and that seems to be far enough away that going into a parking garage in my town will cause me to lose the signal. Also, there may be sources of interference that are causing you to lose your signal near your house. I know that there’s a “dead spot” for my satellite signal just north of downtown Milwaukee – there aren’t tall buildings in that area, so I imagine that there’s some manner of radio transmission there that’s interfering. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellite-radio-service-in-car-keep-or-no/784357/31 "2017-04-13T22:57:14Z")
I cancelled my Sirius XM service this year after many years of use simply because I don’t drive much. I work at home and drive occasionally. If I were commuting, I would keep it. It’s sure nice to have specific channels of commercial free music by genre, no matter where I am. One thing I learned: you have to threaten to leave in order to get them to offer you the best deals. It got to the point where every year I would call them up and say “We can do this the long and painful way or we can cut to the chase and get the same price I had last year.” They usually didn’t mess around. Sadly, this seems to be the way it is with any kind of service these days. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellite-radio-service-in-car-keep-or-no/784357/32 "2017-04-15T22:48:06Z")
> [@SamuelA](#): > > One cheapskate thing millennials do is they instead buy a good data plan for their phone (admittedly, that can easily cost you $300 a year, but you probably need one anyway) and then they stream podcasts and other content. Whatever it is you are interested in. Much wider selection, no commercials, and it’s all on demand. Variously music stream services are far cheaper, coming at just a few dollars a month, and most podcasts are free. Or book on tape, and I think there’s a similar service you can just subscribe to and listen to a large variety of books on tape. I’m a Gen-X’er, I guess, and not cheap, but I listen to podcasts and audiobooks exclusively. I get free Sirius every time I turn my car over, but other than just playing with it while figuring out the difference between Sync 3.0 and Sync 3.1, I don’t bother to listen to it. I don’t need a data plan (although I certainly have one!); I just download at home. > [@](#): > > All you need is an aux in audio jack on the car and a car charger for your phone. Oh, goodness, no. I need a Bluetooth connection, or USB if I want to use CarPlay for Navigation (yeah, I’m too cheap to pay for GPS, even with discount company cars). Analogue audio is just such poor quality, especially with some of the low bitrates some podcasts and books are recorded with. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellite-radio-service-in-car-keep-or-no/784357.md?page=1)