AT&T brings 5G connectivity to Rivian R2

[SANZC02]

All the major car makers use AT&T, otherwise they would be out of business, their service sucks. GM upgraded their AT&T service from 4G to 5G in 2024, not sure why this is newsworthy.

I guess it depends on where you live. I’m happy with my AT&T service, I’ve had it for decades.

Sponsored

 

[CrazyOne]

I'm not entirely sure how Rivian's contract with AT&T works. But multiple times I've been in places where I did not have service on my iPhone (ATT), but the R1T worked well if not great.

Perhaps to a create a full network ATT leases bandwidth where they don't have their own network?

Anyone else have this experience?

ATT network is different for postpaid vs prepaid. Not sure if that was the case.

 

[NinjaWrap]

Rumor has it that Tesla is contemplating ditching AT&T and going with Starlink, if they can manage to shrink it even more than the Starlink Mini and incorporate it into the car.

Considering they've had direct to phone Starlink for a while, and they showed it being good enough for video calls early on, it could happen already. But needing a clear view of the sky isn't ideal where I live. Of course, cell service can suck in some places thanks to mountains too.

 

[Mos Eisley]

I guess it depends on where you live. I’m happy with my AT&T service, I’ve had it for decades.

Ditto

 

[tivoboy]

Rumor has it that Tesla is contemplating ditching AT&T and going with Starlink, if they can manage to shrink it even more than the Starlink Mini and incorporate it into the car.

I doubt they will completely abandon a cellular carrier of some sort. It would mean that nothing works in a garage, a tunnel, a dense forest, sometimes heavy cloud cover, etc..

 

[tivoboy]

I'm not entirely sure how Rivian's contract with AT&T works. But multiple times I've been in places where I did not have service on my iPhone (ATT), but the R1T worked well if not great.

Perhaps to a create a full network ATT leases bandwidth where they don't have their own network?

Anyone else have this experience?

Any prior Rivian AT&T connection was most Likely LTE at best, not 5G.. many ppl have their phones preset to the 5G connection almost exclusively or not to fall back to LTE quickly.. so it can often be true that the LTE connection is getting through fine and stable, while the 5G attempt is having trouble resolving and not falling back To LTE seamlessly. And it can be power and tower dependent.. A cars antenna and attenuation are much better than a cell phone. In those cases I suggest ppl hold the phone in one hand and put the base on the top of your head, to enhance signal attenuation..

you think I’m kidding, but im not. ;-)

 

[tivoboy]

Considering they've had direct to phone Starlink for a while, and they showed it being good enough for video calls early on, it could happen already. But needing a clear view of the sky isn't ideal where I live. Of course, cell service can suck in some places thanks to mountains too.

Only 2-3 years late, but yes they opened up the beta early 2025.. not sure about video calls though i dropped out of the beta when t-mobile started charging. (The STARLINK partner, has anyone else joined up with STARLINK on the device side yet? I know T-mobile allow other carriers customers to join for a limited fee, but using only a 2nd e-sim if the device supports it.)

 

[NinjaWrap]

Only 2-3 years late, but yes they opened up the beta early 2025.. not sure about video calls though i dropped out of the beta when t-mobile started charging. (The STARLINK partner, has anyone else joined up with STARLINK on the device side yet? I know T-mobile allow other carriers customers to join for a limited fee, but using only a 2nd e-sim if the device supports it.)

I also stopped when they started charging for it. The video call was an internal test from SpaceX IIRC, not someone using T-mobile's public service.

EDIT: Here's the video call article

 

[tivoboy]

I also stopped when they started charging for it. The video call was an internal test from SpaceX IIRC, not someone using T-mobile's public service.

EDIT: Here's the video call article

Yes,
what is interesting and ironic, is that the whole Starlink to Cell phone protocol is based on 4g/LTE connections, not yet 5G. So, for direct to cars, or cell phones will still require Cellular modems that can do 4g/lte connections reliably.

 

[VSG]

I suggest ppl hold the phone in one hand and put the base on the top of your head, to enhance signal attenuation..

Pictures or it didn't happen ....

 

[rbdavis808]

And it can be power and tower dependent.. A cars antenna and attenuation are much better than a cell phone. In those cases I suggest ppl hold the phone in one hand and put the base on the top of your head, to enhance signal attenuation..

Should it be touching the aluminum foil or perhaps slightly air-gapped?

 

[tivoboy]

Should it be touching the aluminum foil or perhaps slightly air-gapped?

ya'll make all the fun you want, but the next time your out in Yosemite or remote and are trying to get that text message out in low or near zero data - and don't have a satellite enabled phone or plan, you're going to try and it and when you hear that little WHOOOSH, you're going to remember this thread. ;-)

 

[morph860]

For gods sake don't update the software away from home if you can help it! If it goes wrong for some reason, it's one thing to be in your driveway and an entirely another thing to be far away.

They let you pick when they happen? Wow. My Jeeps just do the updates whenever they want to. When you first turn the vehicle on, when you're on the highway, when you're about to park and shut it off. Good times.

 

[Zathras]

Rumor has it iPhones are getting new satellite capabilities to be announced at their Worldwide Developer Conference next week.

 

[VSG]

ya'll make all the fun you want, but the next time your out in Yosemite or remote and are trying to get that text message out in low or near zero data - and don't have a satellite enabled phone or plan, you're going to try and it and when you hear that little WHOOOSH, you're going to remember this thread. ;-)

If I'm ever in the middle of the nowhere and I hear a WHOOOSH from over my head, it will probably look like this:

Sponsored