GM to offer $500 Autonet Mobile WiFi option in select vehicles
By Darren Murph 
posted Oct 28th 2009 8:02PM
posted Oct 28th 2009 8:02PM
First came Cadillac (naturally), and now some of General Motors' other remaining brands are finally scratching the WiFi itch. Beginning next month, Buick, Cadillac, GMC and Chevrolet dealers will all begin offering up Autonet Mobile's $499 WiFi router as a dealer-installed option, though it's on you to pony up the $29 (or more) it takes to get said device online month in and month out. As always, you'll also get a docking station to take it from one GM vehicle to another, though (at least initially) it'll only be offered in SUVs, crossovers and trucks, which are whips most likely to be used by internet-addicted families. 'Course, those looking to do a little retrofitting need only head to gmextras.com to snap one up themselves, but don't say you heard it from us.[Via Autoblog]
Might as well get yourself a MiFi and hide it in the glovebox.
That's what I would do...
I agree completely!
Now we can have a Borderlands LAN party in the back of our Honda civics.
i guess GM engineers dont read engadget.
mifi or phone tethering make a whole lotta sense.
MiFi is only 3G. If you live in a Clear 4G city, why not get speeds at several times 3G with their service? Worst case, you can get their 3G/4G card for $70 per month and stick either your 4G card or the 3G/4G card into a little specially equipped wireless router by Cradlepoint they call a CLEARspot (actually a special Cradlepoint PHS300) and stick that in your glove box. Now you are a rolling hotspot with super fast Internet. Also, I found a great place to purchase Clear where I received a PlayStation 3 for $99 and my girlfriend received a free iPod Touch when each of us bought a Pick 2. We went to progizmos.com. I just received my PS3 on Monday and this was the best deal I have seen.
If you are in a Clear 4G WiMax area, your modem will eat this expensive piece of crap for lunch!
Except the monthly fee is half that of a Mifi at $29.99, granted no indication on how much the bandwidth cap is but the Mifi isn't exactly high with a 5GB limit. Also it has the option of going vehicle to vehicle with a dock kit so you could probably McGyver an external power supply/battery setup and take it outside of the car and use it else where. At half the monthly fee the hassle of coming up with an alternate power set seems well worth it.
I'm starting to become worried about all the radio waves around me 24 hours a day.. I feel like a test rat in a radiation experiment
Non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation does not pose the same risk that ionizing radiation such as X-rays and other cosmic rays do. The real risk from NIER is heating of tissue. As long as tissue heating is not occurring, the risk is generally regarded to be low.
EM Radiation is a function of power and distance:
-The lower the power, the safer you are.
-The farther away from it, the safer you are.
Routers are low-power things, and are generally not right next to your skin.
Wifi in laptops is low-power.
Both are anywhere between 20mW and 500mW.
An amateur radio handy-talkie or commercial walkie-talkie runs from 1W to 5W (6W if you're lucky). Antennas for these are usually an inch or two farther away from your head than a cell phone antenna, and sometimes people will use a corded microphone to help keep it even farther away from their heads.
Microwaves... I'm not even going into. Suffice it to say I don't stand next to the microwave while it's in use. Try talking on a 2.4Ghz phone or using a 2.4Ghz wireless headset next to a microwave. It's NOT pleasant.
As to what Shane said, "The real risk from NIER is heating of tissue. As long as tissue heating is not occurring, the risk is generally regarded to be low." The microwave's raison-d'etre is to heat things up, and it uses energy at 2.4Ghz to do it. So it's one of the exeptions to the "Safe to put against your ear" list...
So if you live beside an FM radio tower transmitting at 10,000W into the antenna, or hang out infront of a multi-megawatt RADAR unit to keep warm in winter... Find a new hobby :) Otherwise, you're probably OK. But as with anything, moderation is key.
its everywhere though and you can't get away from it.. my blackberry.. it's one of the highest rated phones for radiation. if I knew that at the time then I probably wouldn't have bought it. I just fear that we'll find out how harmful it is after it's too late and we all have cancer already.. microwaves have only been around since the 50's, thats not a very long time.. and now all these new waves. when your talking about long term changes with your body, no real research has been done.. Maybe I'm just paranoid. I can't wait to move to new zealand
"which are Whips most likely to be used by internet-addicted families." Haha hip-hop has such an influence on everything.
We are surounded 24/7 by ambient radiation in the form of X-rays, gamma rays, ultraviolet rays, and of course, radio waves.
I doubt this thing is gonna hurt you.
Great, we need another distraction while driving...
I have a T-Mobile G1 with a wireless tether. My car has had Wifi since june.....
same here i love the the wifi tether app...
but i have been doing this for three years when i was on sprint with my Moto Q's and Razr's. I would tether them, enable Internet Connection Sharing, and then turn my laptop into a wireless Ad-Hoc Router. I still dont understand the need for the Mifi, but obviously the need escapes me. I was able to Travel from St Louis Mo to St Paul Minn on Amtrak with close to 2MB all the way. Every one in my car with a computer could get on the net.
This is pretty nice, but it's a bit costly and you can just get phones that do the same thing, and they work outside of the car too...
This brings out a new meaning to wardriving.
ill stick with using my hacked phones internet connection for free to connect to my laptop via bluetooth. (well, my phone bill that has unlimited internet is $70/mo)
This is gonna sound weird, but I find the pricing to be a little on the low side.
For example, if I purchase this, my total cost for two years (29 x12 = $348) + $500 equals $848. If I buy a 3G enabled network data plan from ATT/Verizon/Sprint at $60 per month, my cost over two years is $1440. I realize the network plan offers greater freedom and flexibility, but that's a huge price difference.
Oh that's right.........ATT AND THE REST ARE RAPING US ON DATA PLAN CHARGES!
Uh - you may want to re-read your math. 2 years=24 months, not 12.
29x24 + 499 = 1195.
Also, that $29 plan is bogus - it only includes 250MB transfer. Their 5GB plan is $59.95, putting it way more in line with all other operators. Verizon and Sprint offer similar cheap plans with low transfer limits.
You can even buy a MiFi from Verizon with the 250MB plan.
I stand corrected - $29 is for 1GB. Still, not a huge amount.
But don't you have to drive with that long Ethernet cord trailing your house?
I already have wifi thru my hacked iPhone/ toggling no thanks.
i was looking at autonet's website, and they offer this thing for $199. They have two plans, one that is $29 a mounth that gives you 1 gb of data, then another that is $59 a month that gives you 5 gb of data. Is this thing that is $500 the same deal or is it unlimited?
Couple of other issues with this thing:
1) You always go through a "don't surf and drive" warning web page on it. You can disable that on a MAC level, but that means you need to edit the list any time you want to use it with a PSP, DS or other device with a bad browser (or no browser). New device in the car? Get out the laptop so you can add the MAC address to the "stop bugging me" list.
2) Only supports WEP encryption
3) Speeds suck. I get 1.5-3MB/s on Sprint and Verizon here. At the same location, the Autonet router only gets about 600KB/s
4) Hardware is clunky - there is no reason the box has to be this big, other than making you feel you got value for money
Another great idea from General Motors!
You can buy these direct for $199 so why would I think I need GM to dealer install for $499? I'm sure GM is getting a kick-back from AutoNet for a subscriber so why would they discount it to get you to buy their car? Maybe those GM execs are so rich they don't understand how the cell phone market works
What network does this thing use? Is it Satellite or piggybacking on one of the carrier data networks?
Their coverage map seems to overlap exactly with the Verizon one:
http://www.autonetmobile.com/service/coverage-map.html
I would guess it's related to OnStar. Last I heard, OnStar runs on the Verizon network.
I was testing this for a car company and it worked fairly well... But not as fast as I would've liked.
This is ridiculous, why would you even want WiFi in your car?
It's not like you have several people using laptops in there at the same time. And if you only have one person with a laptop in the car he can just plug his phone in via USB, he has no need for a WiFi. Or alternatively if he really wants to have wifi he can buy any 3G WiFi router on the market at a fraction of this ridiculous price.
ok nerds i know a lot of u don't get out of your caves but a lot of peoples jobs use the "Internet",its not all Games and porn lots of oil and gas companies today use sat connection which are much slower, their a market for this.
If they are anywhere near civilization they can use a 3G network for data, if they are not near civilization they can't use 3G data, but this device doesn't work either so i don't see your point.
My Tether on Palm Pre. Done.
Working in a Chevrolet Dealership this is the first I have heard of this. So I am guessing its still in trial. But I can see this being a big sealer for fleet vehicles like pipline workers, construction, rental cars. I bet this is a big hit. And by the time this hits most of the GM line it will prob be cheaper if your order the car from the factory that way. Hell it might just become a standard option with 3 months free like XM. I am really curious what kind of network and what network(s) it will use.
This is def. one thing I am excited to see. But not too excited because I wouldn't use it.
Oh great. Now everyone is going to overshoot their destinations by 150 miles.
The MiFi has a LOT of limitations and the technology is not even close to as advanced and is mush more expensive in the long run … do your homework kids!
The technology that autonet uses is patented for a reason .. and is the only auto industry certified product for a reason. This technology will be what takes us all to the next level… MiFi will be obsolete in a year.
When this thing is syncing with your home pc… transferring music and movies to your car.. allowing you to pay for gas without getting out of your vehicle… and also giving you a non interrupted internet connection so you can play poker online from the backseat or make a skype call with video .. it will dawn on all of us the other possibilities.
Also, the flat $29 a month is WAY less than a cell card or a MiFI .. which your bill will be anywhere from $60 – $100 per month … depending upon lots of factors.
As for them cutting you off at 1 gig… check your facts .. I heard that because the technology they use does not drop connection .. you don’t end up paying for data that you lost… so you never actually go over a gig.. and if you do … they don’t care… because almost nobody goes over as it's only used in the car.