Onboard WIFI vs tethered to phone in 2021

Not worth the money. I love free trials as much as the next person so it was nice to mess around with it. I found out I didn't use the wifi much. Found myself too busy driving the car to use it I also I dont use my car for rideshare. And even if i did, I dont share wifis.

 

If you have kids it might be nice for their iPads etc.

 

I am still in the free trial period for the Wifi Hotspot. Can I expect a lot of emails about signing up for a paid subscription? More importantly, should I keep my eye out for any discount offers? I like the idea of having in-car Wifi for traveling.

 

What does it do that WiFi Hotspot on a SmartPhone can't except eventually put a bigger dent in your wallet?

 

I don't have that kind of phone.

 

No Verizon is not desperate like Sirius (or AOL in the 90s -00s)

 

If you dont have that kind of phone, then a wifi hotspot in your car is no use either?

 

I want to destroy the cellular radio in the car. If I only knew where it was. I'll bet some serious money that thing is transmitting stuff about your car and your driving without your explicit permission.

 

Some GM owners do unplug the GPS antenna for Onstar for that reason.

 

You can opt-out connected service. That's what I did with my 2020 PP LE soon after I purchased it. I haven't done with my new 2021 PP, but plan to do it soon.

Here is my write-up on how I opt-out from the Saftey Connect on my 2020 PP LE.
No more Entune for 2020 Prius Prime, but... | PriusChat

 

I don't trust opt-out. There's no legal consequence for lying about it. Google and Apple have been repeatedly caught storing information that users had "opted out" from keeping. In my opinion it's more likely to be a setting that merely tells the vendor to hide the existence of the data from the customer that requested the opt-out. I only trust it when it's no longer possible to transmit information.

What would really be better would be to figure out how to hijack the device and allow it to send random, meaningless data back to wherever that information is going.

 

I know what you mean. But it is getting exceedingly hard to keep any information private. I use to not carry any cell phone with me. Avoided smart appliances and connected devices around the house or with me. But it is now almost impossible to avoid all of the data collecting devices in your life. So, I gave up mostly, but I still would not agree to freely give away my private information, so I will Opt-out although it may mostly be a symbolic gesture than an effective defense.

Good luck. If you find out how to disable telematics on the PP, please let us know.

 

At some point (if it hasn’t happened already), telematics will be so intertwined with other vehicle systems it will simply be impossible to shut off in any physical sense (opting out will be the only possible thing to do). And it may become a moot point as insurance companies will inevitably move from “would you like to lower your rates by using our monitoring system” to “if you don’t use our monitoring system, your premiums will quadruple” or “we won’t insure you”. This all stems from the fact that while moving about freely is a right, access to any method of transport beyond walking is a privilege, in legal terms.

 

That's when you just put a little Faraday cage around the antenna, or a microWatt celllular jamming device.

That's illegal in some states ... so far, anyway. They can't even offer that in California.

 

As long as regular contact with the network is not required for the vehicle to function… It may be a decade or more before it reaches this level of inter-connectedness but it’s bound to happen.

“So far” being the operative words. Again, not an imminent change, but one that is very likely inevitable.

I certainly don’t look forward to such an outcome but I have little faith it won’t happen.

 

There's always a way, depending on your level of determination. One could always "schedule" network contact right after a couple of nice degaussings performed near the car's data storage chips. Or just build a little electromagnetic device to zip tie onto the storage chips that emits a mini-emp every 30 seconds or so.

 

Or just unplug the antenna.
Of course, that doesn't address anything actually going through your phone, like those insurance programs.

 

I've heard that GM vehicles will throw a fit if you do that. I do not have first-hand knowledge. I guess you could replace it with an appropriately sized resistor and the car would never know the difference.

 

Can't say.
ALL of my personal cars are GMCs, and yet I have never been tempted to try to disassociate the GSM, GPS, or Wifi from the rest of the electronics in the car.
I suppose it's possible with circuit diagrams and a good soldering iron....but even though I used to be 2M solder qualified and I'm not going to render a 4000# car into lawn art in a fruitless pursuit for privacy.
Besides.....there's probably more than one antenna...just like your (other) phone.

Cellular operators usually allow you to tether more than one device, although throttling may be an issue for some "unlimited" plans.
All of the data providers used to sell portable hotspots, and the advantage of using one of these if you travel is that you don't have to worry about trying to get your car into the room with you.
So...
I would lean well away from a vehicular plan personally just because you can do better in the market.......unless cost is not a factor.
For some people, the convenience of onboard wifi is worth it.

As far as cars and privacy?
We opened that box a looooooooooong time ago, and all the nasties have already flown out.

I never ceased to be amazed at the number of people who carry their phones into their cars, and then object to their car having an IMEI number and a GPS.
I opted out of the "free" trials on my GMC when I bought it, and told the dealer that I would become their social media nightmare if I got solicitations.
I still got them of course but one of the advantages I have found in living in a small town and buying IN THAT small town (first local purchase in 30 years!) is that they took my warnings to heart!!!
My credit card offers and other solicitations were greatly attenuated with this purchase.

So.....
About a month after I got my car it did its first OTA "update"...which is a data scrape that is not at all cleverly disguised as a "software upgrade."
So...yeah.
My car (like most, now) IS EQUIPPED with most of the input devices that my other connected devices have.

The TWO key differences are that I don't pay for it, and I don't presume that I'm interesting or important enough to monitor.
I 'presume' that my data is constantly being added to the gumbo since I always have at least 2 phones, a watch, tablet, etc....with me all the time...AND I already know the real odds of living that "care-free" early 19th century "private" life that some people yearn for, but most would never voluntarily live.

I grew up in Amish country, so I KNOW some of the key differences.

...I'll take this.