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Is there a good reason to require cell service to unlock a door or just car companies taking on external dependencies for no reason?

whoisburbansky 5y ago
It isn’t “unlock a door.” It’s “unlock a door from your phone regardless of where you are as long as you have cell signal and the car has cell signal, it doesn’t have to be in range of the fob.”
- Waterluvian 5y ago
  Correct. My fob works the way they have for decades. With this service I can lock my car from a different city. I can see where it is. I can set a polygon zone where it emails me if my kids leave the city and whatnot. It requires cell service and servers. So I get that it requires a subscription.
  - batiudrami 5y ago
    It'd be nice if you could put your own SIM in though.
    - Waterluvian 5y ago
      I wonder if there is a SIM or if it’s just software managed in some proprietary chip.
  - monkeybutton 5y ago
    >I can set a polygon zone where it emails me if my kids leave the city and whatnot. That is really interesting. How did you handle that conversation with your kids? Or am I imagining that it's a bigger deal than it really is since they've grown up in a world where everything and every one is connected to the internet and tracked all the time?
    - ghshephard 5y ago
      I guess I saw it differently - which is, in what world are parents handing over a motor vehicle to their children, and good lord are there going to be a billion+ restrictions/safeguards on what they can do with that vehicle if their parents are not present in it. Also - tracking when a vehicle leaves a polygon zone feels like a minor subset of the already more privacy invasive "Where is this vehicle" that presumably exists already.
    - Waterluvian 5y ago
      My kids are 3 and 4 so it’s hypothetical for now… I hope. But I think it’s a very good question. The way I would handle it is: “I won’t set an alert. If I ever feel like I have to, you won’t be loaned the car. As always, please endeavour to text me a couple times to help me rest easy that you’re safe. You’ll understand when you’re a dad. If I don’t hear from you I might peek at your location just to know you’re where you planned to be.” Naturally the conversation is much longer and spans a great many years.
      - croutonwagon 5y ago
        They have these on ODB2 connectors and have for a while. It would work on any car. And have some with cell service capable as well. You can use it to monitor specifics on a car (ie oil pressure) in real-time. But you can get cellular enabled ones that would alert you or track the vehicle as well. You absolutely don’t need something new for this and you can decouple it from your make/model so if you want to swap/change/upgrade or cancel it’s trivial.
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chrisseaton 5y ago
How else are you going to do it except using a cellular signal? Conventional RF in a tiny key fob only has limited range.
JKCalhoun 5y ago
I picked up a new Mazda CX-5, was told that a satellite was involved in the signal routing for the remote start? Not sure if I believe that.
- davchana 5y ago
  Satellite, same way a satellite might be involved in a mobile call or text or call..
- hrrsn 5y ago
  Sounds like how a salesman would describe the feature.
SkyPuncher 5y ago
I've found it handy, it not critical. Cell phone based remote starts handy. I can start the car while out of fob range. I really only use the cell unlock when I forget to grab the key to get something out of the car. I could walk back inside to get the key, but it ain't worth it.
- BuildTheRobots 5y ago
  Honest curiosity, but in what situations do you use it? I'm having a hard time imaging a scenario where I'd want to remotely lock or unlock my car, nevermind starting the engine when it's out of sight
  - Waterluvian 5y ago
    Sometimes I park outside my garage and then forget if I locked it. It’s nice that I get an email confirmation because it’s too far away to hear the horn.
    - C19is20 5y ago
      Peeve: cars/ car owners that lock the car and the horn beeps.
      - Waterluvian 5y ago
        Yeah. I love that my car doesn’t do that when I remotely lock it. They thought it all through.
  - SkyPuncher 5y ago
    I was on mobile, so I didn't elaborate in my original comment. Skiing is the most common case for me. On my last run, I'll typically get the car going while I'm on the lift. That means it's ready to drive (not just pre-hot) when I get my ski gear put away. I think my wife uses it sometimes at work. She's on the far end of the building from her vehicle, so out of range of the fob.

whoisburbansky 5y ago

It isn’t “unlock a door.” It’s “unlock a door from your phone regardless of where you are as long as you have cell signal and the car has cell signal, it doesn’t have to be in range of the fob.”

Waterluvian 5y ago
Correct. My fob works the way they have for decades. With this service I can lock my car from a different city. I can see where it is. I can set a polygon zone where it emails me if my kids leave the city and whatnot. It requires cell service and servers. So I get that it requires a subscription.
- batiudrami 5y ago
  It'd be nice if you could put your own SIM in though.
  - Waterluvian 5y ago
    I wonder if there is a SIM or if it’s just software managed in some proprietary chip.
- monkeybutton 5y ago
  >I can set a polygon zone where it emails me if my kids leave the city and whatnot. That is really interesting. How did you handle that conversation with your kids? Or am I imagining that it's a bigger deal than it really is since they've grown up in a world where everything and every one is connected to the internet and tracked all the time?
  - ghshephard 5y ago
    I guess I saw it differently - which is, in what world are parents handing over a motor vehicle to their children, and good lord are there going to be a billion+ restrictions/safeguards on what they can do with that vehicle if their parents are not present in it. Also - tracking when a vehicle leaves a polygon zone feels like a minor subset of the already more privacy invasive "Where is this vehicle" that presumably exists already.
  - Waterluvian 5y ago
    My kids are 3 and 4 so it’s hypothetical for now… I hope. But I think it’s a very good question. The way I would handle it is: “I won’t set an alert. If I ever feel like I have to, you won’t be loaned the car. As always, please endeavour to text me a couple times to help me rest easy that you’re safe. You’ll understand when you’re a dad. If I don’t hear from you I might peek at your location just to know you’re where you planned to be.” Naturally the conversation is much longer and spans a great many years.
    - croutonwagon 5y ago
      They have these on ODB2 connectors and have for a while. It would work on any car. And have some with cell service capable as well. You can use it to monitor specifics on a car (ie oil pressure) in real-time. But you can get cellular enabled ones that would alert you or track the vehicle as well. You absolutely don’t need something new for this and you can decouple it from your make/model so if you want to swap/change/upgrade or cancel it’s trivial.
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chrisseaton 5y ago

How else are you going to do it except using a cellular signal? Conventional RF in a tiny key fob only has limited range.

JKCalhoun 5y ago

I picked up a new Mazda CX-5, was told that a satellite was involved in the signal routing for the remote start? Not sure if I believe that.

davchana 5y ago
Satellite, same way a satellite might be involved in a mobile call or text or call..
hrrsn 5y ago
Sounds like how a salesman would describe the feature.

SkyPuncher 5y ago

I've found it handy, it not critical. Cell phone based remote starts handy. I can start the car while out of fob range. I really only use the cell unlock when I forget to grab the key to get something out of the car. I could walk back inside to get the key, but it ain't worth it.

BuildTheRobots 5y ago
Honest curiosity, but in what situations do you use it? I'm having a hard time imaging a scenario where I'd want to remotely lock or unlock my car, nevermind starting the engine when it's out of sight
- Waterluvian 5y ago
  Sometimes I park outside my garage and then forget if I locked it. It’s nice that I get an email confirmation because it’s too far away to hear the horn.
  - C19is20 5y ago
    Peeve: cars/ car owners that lock the car and the horn beeps.
    - Waterluvian 5y ago
      Yeah. I love that my car doesn’t do that when I remotely lock it. They thought it all through.
- SkyPuncher 5y ago
  I was on mobile, so I didn't elaborate in my original comment. Skiing is the most common case for me. On my last run, I'll typically get the car going while I'm on the lift. That means it's ready to drive (not just pre-hot) when I get my ski gear put away. I think my wife uses it sometimes at work. She's on the far end of the building from her vehicle, so out of range of the fob.