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Old 01-21-2019, 05:34 AM   #1
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How to hotwire GM vehicle LTE hotspot?

Good day all. I seem to recall seeing somewhere some posts about direct wiring the LTE modem in connected cars so the hotspot stays online indefinitely even while the ignition is off. I'd like to do that with our 2019 Colorado so the hotspot is available all the time while camping.

If anyone can point me to a resource here or elsewhere it's much appreciated. If not I'll post up what I find later.

Thanks in advance.

PS- if you have a GM connected car, get your data plan direct from AT&T, not via Onstar. Costs only $20 that way.
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Old 01-21-2019, 05:42 AM   #2
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Signing on to see answer I’d like to do the same
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Old 01-21-2019, 07:17 AM   #3
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How to hotwire GM vehicle LTE hotspot?

I have the connected car plan in my Chevy Volt. I think you have it backwards .. the plan via OnStar is 20 bucks flat .. no additional fees. In fact I don’t know that it’s possible to get service via Att directly. Is it?
I have followed this since over a year ago when I got my Volt ( loosely) and have never heard of any way to circumvent the “car must be on to work “ at least for several hours. I would love to find out different.
One advantage the volt has is I can trick it into being “on” as long as I want evidently by a strap on the gear lever . I haven’t tried it and it wouldn’t apply to any other car. People use it to keep the ac / heater on while “sleeping” in the car . Not my idea of fun . I still use the separate Mobley plan as it’s more convenient
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Old 01-21-2019, 09:30 PM   #4
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I have the connected car plan in my Chevy Volt. I think you have it backwards .. the plan via OnStar is 20 bucks flat .. no additional fees. In fact I don’t know that it’s possible to get service via Att directly. Is it?
I have followed this since over a year ago when I got my Volt ( loosely) and have never heard of any way to circumvent the “car must be on to work “ at least for several hours. I would love to find out different.
One advantage the volt has is I can trick it into being “on” as long as I want evidently by a strap on the gear lever . I haven’t tried it and it wouldn’t apply to any other car. People use it to keep the ac / heater on while “sleeping” in the car . Not my idea of fun . I still use the separate Mobley plan as it’s more convenient
I have a 2018 Sierra 3500 Denali. I activated the Hot Spot via AT&T for $20/mo. (supposed to be unlimited). At first, I signed up with AT&T for the 1 GB plan for $10/mo. AT&T rep explained that after the first GB, they would charge me another $10 for the next GB (and I guess so on). Rep said the $20/mo. had unlimited data. Did not go through OnStar, all through AT&T.

On the OP's question, I'm guessing you have to supply it to a 12 volt always on instead of through the ignition, but I'd be concerned about driving the battery down. You could never turn it off without a kill switch or something. At any rate, I'm interested.
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Old 01-22-2019, 05:45 AM   #5
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Good morning. With respect to plan costs, Onstar requires bundling with their other service plans, which I do not value or want. You can't get just LTE hotspot alone from them. AT&T will service your vehicle with hotspot data ONLY, so it's just $20 (plus obligatory government fees ).

On another GM forum, I found accounts from people who tow travel trailers who leave the key on, and the truck connected to the trailer so the 12v converter in the trailer backfeeds the tow vehicle and keeps the battery charged. I could rig up a charge cord from the MH to use in camp but it's not my preferred solution.

I have obtained the GM upfitter manual for the truck; however it's 950 pages so that's going to take a pot of coffee and some research to find the relevant info for the hotspot radio. The vehicle has several onboard networks for control data. It may be that one of those has to be online to connect the LTE radio to the WIFI radio. Time will tell. The LTE and at least some of the vehicle control network never sleeps, because these cars are capable of remote start and remote control via the LTE modem.
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Old 01-22-2019, 06:22 AM   #6
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How to hotwire GM vehicle LTE hotspot?

Well maybe with my volt something is different as I just pay for the internet connection , nothing else. 20 bucks even no fees . Perhaps because it’s a Volt and Chevrolet has included diagnostic connections to it with no charge .. it’s different. Good to know ATT is a option.
When I looked into leaving the internet on I was told the OnStar was too integrated into the car to power separately, again info from a Volt forum and a internet tech forum who were discussing the same thing so YMMV. I’ve never heard of anyone be able to do it but it would be great it you can find a way.
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Old 01-22-2019, 06:41 PM   #7
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I have a 2017 Buick Enclave, I canceled the Onstar after the free trial ran out and bought the stand alone unlimited internet from Onstar for $20/month.
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Old 01-22-2019, 08:02 PM   #8
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I have a 160 watt solar panel on my Leer cap on the back of my GMC 2500HD. I have a 50 amp-hour LiFePO4 battery in the truck bed when traveling. I use it to power an Engel DC freezer. I have a 5 amp DC smart charger plugged into a small inverter in the truck bed. When I want to listen to the truck radio for a long time I turn on the inverter and charger to feed 5 amps back into the trucks starter battery while leaving the truck in accessory mode. The 5 amps is plenty to keep the battery from discharging.
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Old 01-23-2019, 07:08 AM   #9
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Interesting to hear that GM will sell data alone, even though they don't show that as an option on their plan website. Sort of like Sirius XM and their pricing practices.

Jeff, thanks for sharing your system, we plan to do some short excursions away from the coach and I've considered an extra battery and a fridge in the truck for that.
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Old 01-24-2019, 07:43 AM   #10
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Interesting to hear that GM will sell data alone, even though they don't show that as an option on their plan website. Sort of like Sirius XM and their pricing practices.

Jeff, thanks for sharing your system, we plan to do some short excursions away from the coach and I've considered an extra battery and a fridge in the truck for that.
I'm a new 2018 Equinox owner with an OnStar trial period which started yesterday. They said that they could extend that for 2 more months but my "account" has a problem that only a senior tech can fix - and I'm waiting for that call.


I tried both through the OnStar button and through a direct landline phone contact with them to talk about a hotspot only but all of them played dumb. Is there a way to get hold of someone who actually knows what is going on?
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Old 01-24-2019, 08:04 AM   #11
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Maybe they have changed policy on the hotspot. In looking at the online options today it looks different than when I changed my "free all in Trial" to hotspot only. The onstar folks I talked to a little over a year ago ,after my free Trial, certainly tried to sell me on a higher plan, but Knew clearly I could just get hotsopt for 20 bucks.
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Old 01-24-2019, 03:39 PM   #12
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I just hung up with OnStar. The new plan with unlimited data is $25/month which can be turned on and off every month - no contract.


I'm still not clear about whether I would have to have an OnStar service in effect (they told me that is $34.95 a month and there are extra charges for cell minutes with it) in order to have the hotspot work. I'd gladly pay $25 a month for unlimited data when we are traveling.
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Old 01-24-2019, 09:10 PM   #13
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We already had an unlimited data family plan with AT&T Wireless. The truck just shows up as another device on the plan along with all the cell phones. But you are right. I know I talked to dozens of different people (both OnStar and AT&T) over weeks trying to figure it out and never seemed to be able to have a repeatable conversation...it changed with every call, with a lot of people not being knowledgeable about plans and prices.
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