See if this sounds familiar. You’re driving around enjoying Sirius XM in the car. All of a sudden you have a problem with reception. You don’t think about it, because it goes away quickly. The next day, you have a problem with reception in exactly the same spot. Over time, you realize that whenever you drive past a particular cell tower, you lose signal on your radio. How frustrating!!
If that sounds like your personal experience, you’re not alone. Over the years, many SiriusXM users have reported this same problem. Thousands, possibly millions, have the same problem but don’t report it. Those who do have figured out the problem: T-Mobile’s cell sites cause problems with Sirius XM radio. It’s a fact. It’s been reported on the internet for four years, and we’re no closer to fixing it.
Why does this happen?
T-Mobile, like most cell providers, uses a system called AWS for some of its cell traffic. You can learn a lot more about AWS here, but if you’re looking for a quick primer, read on.
AWS is a technology that lets your cell phone use one set of frequencies for broadcasting and a very different set for receiving. This makes everything much more efficient because most phones receive a lot more data than they transmit.
T-Mobile uses two frequencies for data. One frequency set is in the 1700MHz range, while the other is in the 2100MHz range. Together, they are referred to as Band 4. Sirius XM uses the range from 2332 to 2345MHz for its services. While that’s far enough from the Band 4 frequencies that there shouldn’t be interference, there is.
You see, as frequencies get higher the wavelengths get shorter. There is only about one millimeter difference between 2100MHz’s wavelength and 2345MHz’s wavelength. Because antennas do their best work when they are close to the same size as the wavelength they pick up, that’s a problem. An antenna designed for 2345MHz (like a SiriusXM antenna) is also going to do a very good job picking up 2100MHz (T-Mobile’s frequency.)
When you drive close to a T-Mobile cell site, the 2100MHz signal is so strong that it literally overpowers your radio. That’s why you get interference problems.
How can this be fixed?
There are two possible answers: First you could have better quality antennas that are more closely tuned to the frequencies they pick up. This would help somewhat but probably not a lot.
You could also build in what’s called a notch filter. A notch filter lets some frequencies through and masks others. This would specifically let the SiriusXM frequencies through and reject the other frequencies. This would probably work unless the T-Mobile frequencies were so strong that they were actually interfering with the antenna’s reception.
Can you get parts from Solid Signal to fix this problem?
At this point, no. However I’m asking you, my Solid Signal Blog community, to help us decide if we should look further into this issue. As many of you know, we not only sell parts from other manufacturers but we also design our own parts and have them made under contract. If it looks like this is a big issue we’ll investigate and hopefully come up with a low-cost solution.
What do you think? Leave a comment below if you think that we should look into it further.
This personally happens to me in at least three specific locations between my workplace and my home, along a 10 miles route. It is annoying, especially given that this only happens in my current vehicle that I have owned for just over a year. previous vehicles with Sirius XM did not have this issue. This leads me to believe that the specific antenna type, which looks like a 6 inch black rod with black wiring loosely wrapped around, on my new car is the issue. My “shark fin” antennas of vehicles past did not have this problem. I asked my dealership about it and they were clueless.
This is a problem in my 2005 GMC Yukon XL with an XM radio. The 15 fwy between Fontana and Corona is the worst. Our 2011 Mercedes does not have an issue on this same route. I think it is a Sirius radio from the factory in the Benz. This may be an issue with older vehicles with XM and the problem will die out due to vehicle age, thus the lack of interest in finding a fix. In four years there has been no resolve and it looks like I’m one of two posts here!
Yes this happens to me a lot around town and my research led me to the same conclusion you describe. I read somewhere that Sirius sued T-Mobile for relief from the conflict but they did not win the case. So that had me thinking perhaps i could find a solution and market it. In my first search i found your article. Suffice it to say that I would love to create or be able to buy a solution.
Same issue here. I drive 14 miles to and from work each day…it cuts out in a very specific area across the street from a large tower. About 30 to 45 seconds of signal disruption driving at 50mph. It does it again on a highway between 2 mountain ridges with a tower on the west side. Consistent 30 to 45 seconds of disruption at 70mph at this location. SO ANNOYING!
Same issue with 2008 Nissan Altima factory stereo with XM that started happening for a little over a year now, always at same locations around town. Has smaller puck roof antenna. Our newer Kia vehicle with factory shark fin antenna thus far has only showed slight weak signal signs in the same areas. Maybe lost signal once or twice in one of the particular areas. Figured it has to be some kind of interference since the two different year vehicles are obviously affected. My searches led me here, hmmm.
Why do I have this problem in a 2007 Honda CRV with factory SiriusXm and not with a 2018 after market Pioneer SiriusXm radio installed in a Ford F150?
Probably due to a difference in antenna design.
They look the same
So Basically there isn’t much I can do ?
Some people have had luck replacing the antenna, but others are still finding it’s a problem no matter what.
My drive to work in Denver metro is about 55 min each way. Starting in June my SXM receiver started losing the signal in several spots between home and work. Same spots. End up being a good 15 minutes of my drive with no signal. Ludicrous.
Receiver/antenna was installed in 2012.
Same issue with a 2007 Nissan Frontier with factory installed radio/antenna. Signal gets blanked at the same cell tower(s) and all over town at various spots.
Have problems with 3 vehicles, 2 2018 and 1 2019. If the vehicles are within about a thousand foot of any tower with active AWS the Sirius receiver gets swamped. Confirmed that the AWS sites are clean. If intermodulation is occurring it is a function of the Sirius receiver or antenna. I have confirmed this is happening on any AWS equipt cell site. I suspect it is just basic swamping of the front end not intermodulation. So many of problems are blamed on intermodal but are just poor receiver designs. That’s the problem with most ASICs. They do not have adequate filtering to handle high rf environments and no body wants to throw a 3 or 4 pole bandpass in the front end because it costs a buck or two.
My issue is similar but I notice I lose my signal even when there is a slight tree cover (not a thick canopy or anything), under overpasses (understandable), occasionally at random times. I am wondering if I need a new, stronger antenna since my car is a 2010. Is this likely?
A stronger antenna could help. We have many at SolidSignal.com.
My 2015 Accord has been solid XM-wise until about a month or so. Now it’s nearly always reporting No Signal. There used to be specific spots where it would drop out and come right back, but now it’s rare to get a signal. Dealer says it operating normally and blames cell towers. I’m wondering if the new 5G towers re to blame? Antenna?
#METOO I have a 2012 Toyota Sienna, and I notice dropouts, and a cell tower nearby every time. I’d be curious to see if you have an update to this nearly 2-year-old article.
Sadly there’s been no change, because the problem seems baked into the technologies in use.
I see it happen on the 101 Freeway through Hollywood somewhere around the Capitol Records building. I can’t remember the exact spot, because I don’t drive that route much lately.
build it!
Have a 2011 Durango with factory Sirius XM. Interference has slowly become a real irritation. There are now can antennas on top of telephone poles at just about every intersection. If I have to stop, there is loss of signal. It would be excellent if there is a viable solution
This is exactly what’s going on with my 2017 Ram 1500. I have not tried to replace the antenna yet, but I believe that is what I will do, unless you guys plan to create the fix you were speaking of, or if you could let me know when I could get that fix.
I have a unique situation to add here. I have two vehicles. One with an outside mounted Skyfi3.
The other is a 2011 Prius with a built in XM. The Prius built in goes out in about 1/3 of the area around my home here close to downtown Monterey. There are a few military areas and an airport close by that might interfere The Skyfi3 has close to zero problems in any areas.
Notes: I cut the Skyfi3 antenna cord cause it was to long and joined the two ends back together in Mickey Mouse fashion by twisting some copper wire around the outside of the cord.
I purchased an 8 inch screw on antenna to replace the 4 inch one on my Prius–didn’t help.
You can reply to me directly: [email protected]
This happens in two vehicles I own and the past 6 months the number of areas this occurs in in my home town is increasing. Besides the adjacent frequency interference, also consider the use of the 700-800MHz band by T-Mobile for 5G and a second harmonic being the SiriusXM frequency. If you do build a filter, I would be happy to perform some field tests with a spectrum analyzer here in Toledo for you.
yes this remains an issue every single day. Can I just pop open the antenna cove and see if there is a connector that is loosening up? This never was an issue with my add-on Onyx feeding my tape player in my last car.
My XM cuts out every time I am close to any cell tower every single time! When it cuts out I immediately look around for a tower and find one every time. Problem is cell towers are everywhere so my radio cuts out constantly. I want to buy a subscription once my trial ends but won’t because of this.
Our home Sirius radio cuts out too often when we are using our phones with AT&T. Would a stronger antenna help?
It probably would
Who cares!?
After so many years this is still an issue. I’m in the remote area near the Everglades. XMRadio was working great around town and there used to be a Sprint tower in the area. Sirius XM was working and then all of a sudden it was starting to cut out in my ‘19 Q50 and continued to get worse. Then I couldn’t get any signal from XM anymore and would show as No Signal from the screen. I started driving north of Fort Lauderdale and barely got any signal. A couple times in certain areas i would get signal and then it would drop out. And since i have T-Mobile as a provider now, they told me at a certain date that 5G will be “Improved” in my area and would replace the equipment at the Sprint Tower. That was back in 2020.
After so many years this is still an issue. I’m in the remote area near the Everglades. XMRadio was working great around town and there used to be a Sprint tower in the area. Sirius XM was working and then all of a sudden it was starting to cut out in my ‘19 Q50 and continued to get worse. Then I couldn’t get any signal from XM anymore and would show as No Signal from the screen. I started driving north of Fort Lauderdale and barely got any signal. A couple times in certain areas i would get signal and then it would drop out. And since i have T-Mobile as a provider now, they told me at a certain date that 5G will be “Improved” in my area and would replace the equipment at the Sprint Tower. That was back in 2020.
PLEASE find a solution to this. It drives me absolutely crazy especially around the city. It renders my Sirius radio almost useless, and at least annoying. It has caused me to consider stopping my (expensive) Sirius service. First, the bandwidth problem SHOULD be addressed and fixed by Sirius. I’ve heard that adding a new antenna may fix the problem but after reading the review above, I’m glad I didn’t disassemble my dashboard to explore it. If you need support in helping fix this annoying mess, I am supporting it.
I’ve had this problem for years in my Ford Escape. Sirius cuts out and I look around and I am always close to a tower. I live with it. But, this never happens in my BMW. I wonder what BMW did better than Ford?
Now it is out of hand. Two mile trip to the mall, lose Sirius XM signal 6 times. When are the folks at Verizon and TMobile going to give paying subscribers filters, better antennae, or a whole new frickin radio? Time to bombard the FCC with interference complaints. I have had XM since 2004 and they were on that frequency long before the spectrum was sold and the UHF TV Band raped for wireless frequencies (5G) etc… Or, give me a phone for free to stream the SXM app, but can’t do that as Verizon 4G LTE is total crap here in Ohio. So what next folks!!