The Demise of 3G on the Horizon
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 31
Likes: 6
CLS 550
The Demise of 3G on the Horizon
With pretty much all the wireless carriers scheduled to turn off their 3G services over the next 3-6 months, at least in Canada, it is bound to impact the wireless connections in our cars. I am completely devoid of any tech knowledge, so could someone help me understand what might stop working and is there anything we should be doing now to convert to 4/5G?
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 303
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2011 E550 (RIP), 2014 CLS 550C4
Ryan, if the built-in communications relies on a 3G signal only then the emergency/SOS system will cease to work. As well, if your car supports the Mercedes Me functionality via a smart phone app that is also likely to stop working. While the emergency/SOS system does use satellite to determine vehicle position I don't believe either of those use satellite based communications for voice. While the navigation system does of course use satellite, it might also use 3G to augment its ability to accurately determine where the car is, just as smart phones do.
I've not read anything about what the actual impacts will be, nor about needing to upgrade the built-in communications package. I have to believe that Mercedes would be all over this, sending notifications to owners that certain functionality isn't going to work when 3G is dropped.
I've not read anything about what the actual impacts will be, nor about needing to upgrade the built-in communications package. I have to believe that Mercedes would be all over this, sending notifications to owners that certain functionality isn't going to work when 3G is dropped.
