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XM Signal - Poor

25K views 30 replies 18 participants last post by  raxelgun 
#1 ·
I can't believe how often the XM signal drops. It seems if you are near any small hill the signal drops. Are others having the problem?? I don't have the same reception problems with FM or AM.
 
#2 ·
Ours is still having this problem. I reported it to the dealer and its got a little better but its still very annoying. A 3 story building will kill our signal whenever we drive beside it. Dealer said that no codes were stored and they couldnt replicate the problem so their hands are tied. It still works 98% of the time but when it drops out its super annoying.
 
#3 ·
thats XM in general. think of it as satellite TV...if a buiilding is in the way of your dish you will not get signal, same goes with XM radio. Large metropolitan areas have what are called "repeaters" which esscentially takes the signal from the sky and shoots it horizontally "beefing" up reception.

so i'd say your vehicle is fine.
 
#4 ·
Nope. Its not fine. In our Malibu we had ZERO reception issues in our town. With the Terrain there are about 20 areas of town where we will lose signal and there will be NOTHING blocking the direct view. IE, we lose signal in the middle of a parking lot at the mall.
 
#5 ·
djmodifyd said:
thats XM in general. think of it as satellite TV...if a building is in the way of your dish you will not get signal, same goes with XM radio. Large metropolitan areas have what are called "repeaters" which esscentially takes the signal from the sky and shoots it horizontally "beefing" up reception.

so i'd say your vehicle is fine.
+1

AM and FM signals bounce around between the atmosphere and the earth; so when you go behind a building you still get the signal. Satellite is "line of sight"; so when something is between the antenna and the actual satellite in orbit, it blocks the signal.
 
#6 ·
i sometimes have signal loss when I pass by tall buildings that block the signal. They are usually to the south of me when it happens. I am in Ontario.
 
#8 ·
Our Terrain also has poor xm performance. I let the 3 month trial period expire because we live on the fringe of the satelite footprint, (St John's, NFLD). Recently, I did a driving trip to Boston (2 weeks 5890km) so I signed up for 6 months at 3.95/month. We still had the same dropouts all over whenever a hill or tall trees were present. When the 6 months are up I will be sure to cancel it permanently. Other than that the vehicle was super on the recent trip.
 
#10 ·
We haven't really had any dropouts. The only times we've ever lost the signal is when we are filling up at the gas stations that have the large overhangs. Of course, we live in Nebraska, so we don't have the mountains and huge buildings some of you guys deal with.
 
#11 ·
For what it's worth, the only XM reception issues I've had have been driving on narrow country roads with lots of trees. I had the same trouble on the same roads with a previous XM receiver I owned. Other than that, I've not had any problems with reception.
 
#12 ·
Although the 2 systems have merged, they are still separate. Currently I have a lifetime subscription to Sirius and will need a separate subscription for XM in the Terrain.
 
#13 ·
I haven't had any issues with reception in the VA, MD, DC, DE areas. The only time I've had the signal drop is when pulling into a parking garage.

I'm up for renewal soon, so I'm looking into what package is the best deal. I only listen to the music channels, so I'm hoping I can drop the talk stations and save some $.
 
#14 ·
Even my salesman was complaining . I do not live in an area with large mountians but the Terrain is a bit hilly. At this point I doubt I will keep it. The only reason would be for the Kids channel. The FM reception near me NEVER drops so why pay for inferior reception.
 
#15 ·
My signal only drops when under a freeway or in a parking structure. Xm is waaay better than FM radio because FM radio plays the same songs over and over again. So much variety with xm... but i guess if it cuts out as often as you guys say it does then i would get an ipod lol.. :eek:
 
#16 ·
RhythmiC said:
My signal only drops when under a freeway or in a parking structure. Xm is waaay better than FM radio because FM radio plays the same songs over and over again. So much variety with xm... but i guess if it cuts out as often as you guys say it does then i would get an ipod lol.. :eek:
Funny .. My kid complains that the Kids Channel plays the same songs over and over and some you hear rarely. I live near NYC so we get a lot of FM stations and great reception. I like XM but the reception drops happen often. With FM I never get drops.
 
#17 ·
My XM drops out in a few places downtown when large buildings are to the south of me.
Strangely enough, it work when parked in my garage and when inside most above ground parking structures although not in any underground ones.
I didn't expect any reception in the parkades, even the above ground ones so I was happy with my results.

The reception has been the same as what I had in my 07 Canyon and the 2010 Canyon we recently picked up seems to have the same reception & drop outs as the other two but I have't spent nearly as much time driving that last one to be 100% sure.
 
#18 ·
I go by hills and it goes down. If anyone knows of the Palisades Parkway in NY and NJ it drops often on that road. Well the 3 months will be up in a few days. I guess I'll just play my CD's (I have over 500 of them). Yep I'm not that young
 
#21 ·
Xm has sent me so much to renew they drive me crazy! By the way.. just took a road trip and went through the gorge going on the 15 freeway going from nevada to arizona and it only cut once for about 5 sec
 
#22 ·
RhythmiC said:
Xm has sent me so much to renew they drive me crazy! By the way.. just took a road trip and went through the gorge going on the 15 freeway going from nevada to arizona and it only cut once for about 5 sec
You have better luck than I do. It drops out at least once on every trip and sometimes for longer than a minute. In these areas the FM does not drop at all or even the AM. A matter of fact I never have the FM or AM drop. I think today is the last day anyways
 
#23 ·
RNOX said:
I'm surprised they haven't called me to renew which I won't. Got 1 letter. Wonder if Howard Stern is going to leave Sirus and if that causes people to cancel.
If you dont renew every now and again they will tease you by letting you enjoy XM again for a few days then its dropped again. The first time it happened to me i thought someone over at XM screwed up and started sending me a signal again without me paying.
 
#24 ·
cottonseed said:
If you dont renew every now and again they will tease you by letting you enjoy XM again for a few days then its dropped again. The first time it happened to me i thought someone over at XM screwed up and started sending me a signal again without me paying.
Mine ends tomorrow. I wonder how they expect someone to test XM if you have cancelled the service and are just using the other radio functions (ex FM, AM CD USB)? 1 ::)
 
#25 ·
RhythmiC said:
Xm has sent me so much to renew they drive me crazy! By the way.. just took a road trip and went through the gorge going on the 15 freeway going from nevada to arizona and it only cut once for about 5 sec
If you set up an account they have an area where you can thell them which ways to be contacted or not Ie: Phone, email ...
 
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