Uconnect Guardian Sirrius WiFi Subscriptions worth it?

[Cmerkert]

Uconnect/Guardian subscriptions with 2019 1500's. So what subscriptions come with the new 1500, terms and satisfaction?

Is Uconnect with traffic for life? is the guardian free for a year? And internet for a few months? And what do they run after that? Curious to know what this is subscriptions include and how long they last. What do you find to be worth continuing with? And if you keep everything, what toes that cost month or year?

 

[Maple]

Traffic is 5 years (if you have Nav, it's an option and doesn't come standard with the 8.4). Guardian is free for a year, music is free for a year. Internet, you can sign up for a limited trial (3 months, and I think 1gb). It's through ATT and there are different plan options after that, I think it works out to about $20 a month.
Personally I can't see continuing anything except maybe the music. Traffic and maps are better covered by my phone (maps are way, way out of date, several years at least), music is nice, but there are other streaming services, and you might even have a "free" one with your cell phone plan. Guardian I'm currently on the fence, I like the apps and stuff, but it's really expensive and I'm not sure I can justify being able to use the app to start my truck when I'm too far away to use the fob. Internet is again probably best covered by my phone, it has high enough hotspot limits, and I would only really need it on road trips, which unfortunately don't occur that frequently.
Really boils down to what you want your phone to do as a replacement for the services and whether or not you want to pay ~$120 a month for the extra services.

 

[Cmerkert]

Thanks. I was thinking that. Cell phones already give internet. WiFi would only be useful for say a tablet that does not have cellular.

How reliable is the App? How well does the remote start on App work? I use my MyLink (Chevy) to remote start my truck from inside work and it's great. Saw mixed reviews on Guardian.

Traffic: Google Maps better or just as good as Guardian? Although Android Auto in 1/2 screen.

Was afraid of the fact that it's a lot of bells and whistles but things that are already done better elsewhere. It's maybe a packaged product of b-level features?

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[Maple]

I haven't had any trouble with the app, but as you've mentioned, there have been some folks with issues where the truck doesn't respond after a certain amount of time. In my experience, the nav maps are "ok", they'll get you there (if there was there 3-4 years ago), but they might not do it the best way. Google maps is always more up to date, and you can use Waze, which adds another layer of data and is superior even to Google maps. B-level features is probably fair, with the caveat that I think built-in features will always be behind, due to the nature of the business. You can buy a new phone every six months, you probably don't want to get a new head unit that frequently.

 

[Johnvan]

The nice thing about the AT&T wifi is that you can pay for a month and cancel. I'll subscribe only on the months I'm doing road trips with the kids so they have data.
It gives you 22gb at 4g speeds and then gets throttled supposedly. We used it one month on a trip and the kids watched Netflix and YouTube. It works in Canada and Mexico with no additional charge. We traveled into Canada and everyone had WiFi which was nice.

 

[Gondul]

@Maple is spot on that built in features will always be behind the curve.

I find Google Maps and Waze much better than the baked in NAV. I usually use Google Maps for long distance trips and Waze once I start to get near places where I need a better handle on traffic... the 1/2 screen doesn't bother me.

I've used Amazon music to supplement the XM when it starts to get repetitive (or CD player)... but the nice thing about XM is that it doesn't burn through my data.

 

[Cmerkert]

The nice thing about the AT&T wifi is that you can pay for a month and cancel. I'll subscribe only on the months I'm doing road trips with the kids so they have data.
It gives you 22gb at 4g speeds and then gets throttled supposedly. We used it one month on a trip and the kids watched Netflix and YouTube. It works in Canada and Mexico with no additional charge. We traveled into Canada and everyone had WiFi which was nice.

Nice. Out of curiosity, How much of the 22GB data did they go through. h

 

[Johnvan]

Nice. Out of curiosity, How much of the 22GB data did they go through. h

They're old enough to be able to select the lower resolution settings on the videos so they only used about half the data after about 10 hours of driving.
That was mixed with a bit of online games and messaging friends.
You can check the usage online and will also get emails with the useage listed.

 

[EMS_Pilot_66]

Uconnect/Guardian subscriptions with 2019 1500's. So what subscriptions come with the new 1500, terms and satisfaction?

Is Uconnect with traffic for life? is the guardian free for a year? And internet for a few months? And what do they run after that? Curious to know what this is subscriptions include and how long they last. What do you find to be worth continuing with? And if you keep everything, what toes that cost month or year?

To answer your actual question.
AT&T 3G/4G = free for 3 months once you activate it. Then like said whatever package you pick or month to month.
Travel link/weather/sports = 5yrs
Uconnect/XM music - free for 12 months most times then whatever $$ package you chose.
XmGuardian = free 12 months then roughly $250 annually. What they try to sell you on is “Vehicle theft tracking, roadside assistance and SOS service” the app; i.e. remote start, lock/unlock, health info(if they ever activate it on 12” screens) and send and go directions are just a bonus.

As for me. The only thing I’ll keep/use after the trial period is the Sirius/Xm radio. I’ve had it for over 10 yrs now and feel it’s worth the money.

 

[Cmerkert]

To answer your actual question.
AT&T 3G/4G = free for 3 months once you activate it. Then like said whatever package you pick or month to month.
Travel link/weather/sports = 5yrs
Uconnect/XM music - free for 12 months most times then whatever $$ package you chose.
XmGuardian = free 12 months then roughly $250 annually. What they try to sell you on is “Vehicle theft tracking, roadside assistance and SOS service” the app; i.e. remote start, lock/unlock, health info(if they ever activate it on 12” screens) and send and go directions are just a bonus.

As for me. The only thing I’ll keep/use after the trial period is the Sirius/Xm radio. I’ve had it for over 10 yrs now and feel it’s worth the money.

When you say "the app; i.e. remote start, lock/unlock, health info(if they ever activate it on 12” screens) and send and go directions are just a bonus." by bonus do you mean they are already provided free of charge (bonus) or are an extra bonus but only if you purchase the XmGuardian?

 

[EMS_Pilot_66]

When you say "the app; i.e. remote start, lock/unlock, health info(if they ever activate it on 12” screens) and send and go directions are just a bonus." by bonus do you mean they are already provided free of charge (bonus) or are an extra bonus but only if you purchase the XmGuardian?

You lose the ability to use the app (remote start, send and go, health info) without purchasing the xmguardian plan for $250 a year or $20ish a month. So in my humble opinion it is just a bonus. That’s either app, Sirrius or xmguardian

 

[Tjd]

My free trials are coming to an end next month. I’m having a hard time justifying cost of guardian for what you get. I’m liking the on demand stuff with Sirius 360l service but it looks like you need the most expensive package to get that. Any get a deal for Sirius all access + guardian for a good price ?

 

[EMS_Pilot_66]

Mine won’t be up until the end of the year. I doubt there will be any “package deal” as they are separate divisions. At basically $250 for guardian and $225ish for all-access, the only thing I’ll be keeping is all access as I’ve had it for years. My take on guardian is it isn’t worth the money. I could go on but I won’t.

My plan is keep the all access on my truck and drop the package on my wife’s Jeep. Then we can stream Sirius through the phones in hers. If we go on a long trip with hers we can get a monthly plan to save data plan then cancel after the month.

 

[Tjd]

Thanks that’s where I’m getting stuck Apple Music is about 1/2 the price of all access while Sirius is more convenient through uconnect and doesn’t use my data on cellphone. Thanks for the comments. More thinking to do I guess.

 

[myram2019]

I know you get the first year for free but, a lot of times i start the truck and the prom commercial is playing to subscribe to XM. I have learned that by changing the channel up or down one returns the service back to normal. This is very annoying. Anyone else experiencing this ??

 

[SemperGumby]

I know you get the first year for free but, a lot of times i start the truck and the prom commercial is playing to subscribe to XM. I have learned that by changing the channel up or down one returns the service back to normal. This is very annoying. Anyone else experiencing this ??

I experience the same thing when I start the truck where the satellite signal is being blocked or very weak, generally once I move a bit it will switch back over to the station I had playing before and all is normal, I don't have to change channels or anything.

 

[MJP]

I know you get the first year for free but, a lot of times i start the truck and the prom commercial is playing to subscribe to XM. I have learned that by changing the channel up or down one returns the service back to normal. This is very annoying. Anyone else experiencing this ??

Been going on in my truck for months. I called Sirius a number of times over the past few months about it and they said it's a known issue. If it's a known issue then when are they going to fix it? It's really annoying. I have to change the station manually to get rid of the preview.

 

[Cmerkert]

So which Apps do I really need???

Just picked up my truck yesterday - it's perfect! I downloaded a bunch of Apps but not sure which ones I really need, and which are lesser versions or redundant. Here's what I found.
My Ram
Uconnect
SXM Guardian
Sirrius XM
My Mopar
My Chrysler

Which ones are needed, and what does each do?
Which can I get rid of?
Are there any I am missing?

 

[EMS_Pilot_66]

So which Apps do I really need???

Just picked up my truck yesterday - it's perfect! I downloaded a bunch of Apps but not sure which ones I really need, and which are lesser versions or redundant. Here's what I found.
My Ram
Uconnect
SXM Guardian
Sirrius XM
My Mopar
My Chrysler

Which ones are needed, and what does each do?
Which can I get rid of?
Are there any I am missing?

1. Uconnect and xmguardian are basically the same app. If you have the 12” system either app will work. 8.4” system use the Uconnect as you get the info (vehicle health) tab. Also these apps will allow the remote start, lock/unlock of the vehicle. Of note after the 12 month trial it costs approximately $250 a year for the use of the app. This covers theft tracking, s.o.s assist, and oh yeah the use of remote start and lock unlock from the app. So IMHO I don’t know of many that will be paying that just to use the app for unlocking and starting the vehicle.

2. My mopar and my ram are the same. It’s a vehicle info app, recalls, services, and things like that. Either can be used. I assume my Chrysler is the same, I don’t use it.

3. SirriusXm is for music and is only available if you have and after trial period pay for SirriusXm all-access or streaming package. You can stream your music on your phone/iPad/tablet away from the truck or after trial period and you pay for streaming only, you can stream it through android auto/apple CarPlay, bluetooth/usb(in any vehicle)

 

[Lil Miss Always Wrong]

My free trials are coming to an end next month. I’m having a hard time justifying cost of guardian for what you get. I’m liking the on demand stuff with Sirius 360l service but it looks like you need the most expensive package to get that. Any get a deal for Sirius all access + guardian for a good price ?

Xm/Sirius will offer he best deal once ur subscription completely comes to an end and they "want you back". Guardian, i believe is a set price with no "specials", but i could be wrong. To me, everything that is offered can be offered/is better if you're willing to do a few extra "taps". To me, the ONLY reason to partake of the subscription service is pure, unadulterated "convenience" (fewer taps, or tapping all in one screen)...

In all honesty and my past experience with Uconnect subscriptions, their pricing is definitely aimed @ ppl that never "think about what are they truly getting" and just plunk down the cash each month or yearly even....... If you're one to think about "price & budgeting", the answer is an unequivical "NO WAY".... For budget conscious consumers, there are much better uses for your 20 bucks+ a month....

And if you lock yourself out of your vehicle, all it takes is a one time charge of $19.99 for a month of remote service and they will unlock it and then you just cancel it....