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OnStar Personal Calling -- DFW

K

kps

Charter Member
Full Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2002
Messages
270
Location
McKinney, TX
Anybody in the DFW area use the Personal Calling feature of OnStar? I tried to set it up yesterday, the OnStar folks said there was insufficient coverage of the area for the cell network to work.

Hmmm, five million people in the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area? And I'm talking to them through the cell network now?
 
I use it in the Los Angeles area and it works fine. It is generally the analog cellular service. (that apparently depends on the area that you are in).


Gary
 
I live in the Albany NY area, situated between the Catskill & Adirondack Mountains in upstate NY. I travel 25 miles between work and home, and have not had a problem. I would say DFW is just slighlty larger and more urban than my area ;D, so I would think it would be even better there.
 
kps said:
Anybody in the DFW area use the Personal Calling feature of OnStar? ?I tried to set it up yesterday, the OnStar folks said there was insufficient coverage of the area for the cell network to work. ?

Hmmm, five million people in the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area? ?And I'm talking to them through the cell network now?
Click to expand...

Yep, 8th largest metropolitan area in the country and no service. I've contacted OnStar three times since December, and you are correct, there is insufficient coverage and they won't even give me a commitment as to when they will have it.

helmet
 
Thanks, Helmet. I was hoping it wasn't just me. On the up side, our 60 free trial won't start until the service is active. ;D
 
I don't understand this. Onstar contracts with the wireless providers for service..In LA they apparently use Verizon.. I know this for a fact as they changed my original Onstar Phone number.. There must be several cellular providers in DFW that they could use.. What are they waiting for? Possibly not enough Onstar equiped vehicles sold?? I would stay on Onstar's butt to get the service up. :8:


Gary
 
What got me was they said initially that there were no numbers available in my area code. Dallas has gotten so big that we have at least three area codes that overlay each other.

And they still can't find room for new numbers?
 
I had that problem with the Av, it came with an area code that was 100 miles south of me...I asked them if I could have an area code for the area that I live in and they said there were no numbers available.. Approx 2 months later I was assigned my local area code as the numbers became available. All calls out from Onstar no matter where you are calling cost the same. (no long distance charge) so they arn't concerned that the area code does not match the area that the vehicle is sold. However if someone wants to dial in to your vehicle via Onstar that could be a long distance charge.

Gary ? ? :8:

 
Too Many Problems with it. Doesn't work like advertised.
Canceled mine and installed a Nokia car kit!
 
I have tons of drop problems in Seattle/Puget Sound. Almost unusable. No problems when I use my handheld analog cell phone. The dealer says the dropouts are normal. I'm going to investigate the "upgraded Onstar antenna" option for the 2003.
 
ICEMAN said:
Too Many Problems with it. Doesn't work like advertised.
Canceled mine and installed a Nokia car kit!
Click to expand...

Iceman, I live in Jacksonville and the Onstar Personal Calling is not available. Is it available in Fernandina Beach?

 
I had lots of problems with OnStar itself and the Personal Calling. I kept getting the same excuses, busy system, coverage, etc. I finally found someone who knew what they were talking about and got my system working. :mad:DON'T GIVE UP AND DON'T BUY THEIR COVERAGE HOOPLA! STAY ON THEM AND GET IT FIXED! You might even get some extra time from them!

Kevin
Lexington, KY
 
There isn't OnStar Personal Calling coverage for most of Texas and the east coast of Florida (as well as some other places). I can only figure that the folks controlling the cell towers want more than what OnStar wants to pay for access.

Bruce - I haven't had any problems with OnStar on the west side - as a matter of fact I generally have better coverage with OnStar than I do with my cellphone (Nokia 3360 AT&T Wireless).
 
I just returned from a trip to West Virginia. My Verizon cellular phone was useless, but On-Star worked just fine. Other than being too darn expensive, I have no complaints.
 
Works Great In The Houston, Galveston & Freeport Area, Better Recieption Than Verizon.

But, I Didn't Renew The Personal Calling Option.

Only The Safety Part For $0.59 Cents A Day, I Think It's A Good Deal.


BlackZ71
 
Amen Iceman! Nokia hands-free car phone kit is the way to go. I hated the thought of putting a hole in roof but it was over in a minute and worth it.

On-star is full of promises. WE have been waiting for two years for phone service in my area B'ham/huntsville. When we bought my wife's car they promised within a year HA! :rolleyes:

The only offer On-star give is emergency assit on air bag deployment. A hidden key will prevent lock-out.

Car phone,way to go.

MTCW
 
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