Lousy XM reception

My XM in the Northwest area of Boston, near the N.H. line is getting worst.
Reception was much better a couple of years ago, before the Sirius / XM merger took place.
Could it be, due to cost cutting, the Sirius / XM has decreased the number of satellites used?

DBCassidy

 

I had a 2008 honda with xm. The sound quality and reception was great. 2011 prius sound quality and reception poor. I will not be using xm after my free 3 month service.

 

In the last year or so my reception in the Los Angeles area has been getting worse. I've transitioned to listening to podcast on my iPhone and hardly turn my XM on.

 

Per my tech case with Toyota I now have parts on order to fix my issue.
There is hope yet for my xm signal.

 

What is the issue? What parts did they order?

Thank you in advance

 

My XM radio reception is normally fine, with the exception of two location on my commute where I drive under moderate-sized trees that are near cell phone antennas. Driving under other trees does not present a problem elsewhere, so I don't know if the poor reception results from something unique about the trees, the cellular antennas, or the combination.

 

Sorry for the delay in responding but I don't have a lot of free time to hang out at my dealership.

Cause of my issue: antenna has intermittent open circuit.
Part ordered by Toyota: Antenna assembly for satellite.

#86960-47010 Antenna Assy, Satell

Fixed under warranty for parts and labor and tested out normal. My signal is stronger than ever now so far. If your keep getting a "no signal" in normal circumstances then this may be the solution.

It was a little odd that after only one year this assembly failed, but happy to have my tunes back sounding better than ever.

 

I live in South Georgia and the reception of my XM is terrible!!! I have a Honda Odyssey with XM and the reception is much better in my Honda than the Prius!!! Now Tell me why that is? I ordered the JBL system and the sound as a base system is good, but I would have expected more out of a JBL system. For a JBL system I am disappointed and for the difference in price between a II and a III it is not worth it. I would have thought for that kind of money Toyota should have used a better Head Unit. I didn't want to go aftermarket because of compatibility issues and I wanted to be able to use the controls on the steering wheel.

I would like to hear of some units that didn't have these issues.

 

Same here in CT..way worse than my 09 Jetta with Sirius..but the same as the Garmin XM on my motorcylce..its XM's sharper angle..so trees and buildings block it. Some big cities have repeaters..but no good on hilly highways with close tree lines.

 

Terrible reception on the prius. I had xm on a honda before the merge of xm and sirius. Then it was very close to cd quality and that included a trip from illinois to florida and all over florida.Fm is about as good as my current xm which i did not and will not subscribe unless it drastically improves.

 

Another South Georgia Prius 2010 owner with Sat radio reception issues. No problems in town, but driving down highways with pine trees on both sides causes terrible reception. I do not experience this on my other XM equipped vehicles.

 

Sirius XM uses a different compression rate for different channels. The sound quality of some stations is good (I wouldn't go so far as to say CD quality) but other stations are so compressed as to be unlistenable.

 

This....
The signal is being sent obviously, some get it fine including myself, anyone having a problem should make the dealer test and fix...
Bet there's a TSB shortly

 

Compression of audio and video signals sucks. I have checked out some uncompressed sat and digital television wow what a difference.

 

I just changed my magnetic roof mount antenna (old one, the wire was fraying), hoping I would get better reception - no go. The question is: can I tune the receiver, antenna to improve reception? The reception goes in and out on cloudy days, sunny days(1 -2 bars).

I wonder if XM Sirius has lost or cut back on Satellite coverage. The reception was a lot more stable a year ago.

Just wondering.

DBCassidy

 

On Long Island the reception is generally good except for when driving under bridges and trees. The sound quality does vary from channel to channel. The most frustrating thing is that every month or so I lose the signal and have to refresh even though I have paid for the year.

 

Still in my free promo period and reception is excellent in Richmond. Only question for me is how much I want to pay for it. FM and iPod are fine too.

 

S AZ here, and XM on trial is a joke for reception. In and out all the time. No buildings, no trees, the saguaro are not that much of an obstacle! Clear skies are no guarantee of decent reception. Is there a better antenna available?

 

I'll add myself to the list of people with un-listenable XM reception, even when sitting still it drops out a lot.