[SFCR]

I contacted an attorney regarding the T-Mobile Dongle fiasco that Stellantis has implemented along with T-Mobile. They have been in conference and have let me know that they are following the developments in this issue. They have also been perusing the Mopar forums. I have sent a letter to Stellantis headquarters in The Netherlands and hope to have a response in a few weeks.

 

[MJS73]

Are you talking about 3G? Good luck, the entire 3G network is being dismantled for all carriers.

 

[Wizard Of Iz]

I contacted an attorney regarding the T-Mobile Dongle fiasco that Stellantis has implemented along with T-Mobile. They have been in conference and have let me know that they are following the developments in this issue. They have also been perusing the Mopar forums. I have sent a letter to Stellantis headquarters in The Netherlands and hope to have a response in a few weeks.

Thank you for taking the lead on this debacle.

I had to send the 4G dongle that I got for my Challenger back to T-Mobile as it was staying on 24/7. And since I don't drive my car all of the time (and can't drive it right now due to a bad clutch knee) I don't want any drain on my battery.

And ... the 4G dongle that I got for our Durango frequently doesn't connect until I press and hold the reset button. Admittedly not the smartest thing I've ever done while driving.

Are you talking about 3G? Good luck, the entire 3G network is being dismantled for all carriers.

I have to think the move to shut down 3G didn't just happen. Dodge should have planned ahead and worked to come up with a better solution than a wonky dongle that doesn't provide all of the features our cars came with. I shouldn't suffer because of their greed and/or poor planning.

 

[TheOldGuy]

Well this is a puzzle! I have a 3G flip phone. I will use nothing else. F anyone tracking me on a smartphone. Tracfone says my 3G phone will always work because the technology will always be downward compatible.
-John

 

[MJS73]

Well this is a puzzle! I have a 3G flip phone. I will use nothing else. F anyone tracking me on a smartphone. Tracfone says my 3G phone will always work because the technology will always be downward compatible.
-John

You are out of luck:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/10/22/wireless-service-3-g-shutdown-coming-soon/8538388002/

 

[MJS73]

Thank you for taking the lead on this debacle.

I had to send the 4G dongle that I got for my Challenger back to T-Mobile as it was staying on 24/7. And since I don't drive my car all of the time (and can't drive it right now due to a bad clutch knee) I don't want any drain on my battery.

And ... the 4G dongle that I got for our Durango frequently doesn't connect until I press and hold the reset button. Admittedly not the smartest thing I've ever done while driving.



I have to think the move to shut down 3G didn't just happen. Dodge should have planned ahead and worked to come up with a better solution than a wonky dongle that doesn't provide all of the features our cars came with. I shouldn't suffer because of their greed and/or poor planning.

The 3G shutdown was announced in 2019.

 

[Wizard Of Iz]

The 3G shutdown was announced in 2019.

Fair enough. Still ... Dodge/Uconnect/T-Mobile-Sprint have had 2 years to come up with a better solution than a wonky dongle.

 

[SFCR]

Thank you for taking the lead on this debacle.

I had to send the 4G dongle that I got for my Challenger back to T-Mobile as it was staying on 24/7. And since I don't drive my car all of the time (and can't drive it right now due to a bad clutch knee) I don't want any drain on my battery.

And ... the 4G dongle that I got for our Durango frequently doesn't connect until I press and hold the reset button. Admittedly not the smartest thing I've ever done while driving.



I have to think the move to shut down 3G didn't just happen. Dodge should have planned ahead and worked to come up with a better solution than a wonky dongle that doesn't provide all of the features our cars came with. I shouldn't suffer because of their greed and/or poor planning.

You are most welcome! I hope that we can get some positive results.

 

[SFCR]

The 3G shutdown was announced in 2019.

Perhaps so, but FCA at the time offered NO solutions to updating the hardware and/or software in the vehicles affected. What's next? Those who have purchased a 2018+ will have the same issue when 4G goes to 5G and so on? If Stellantis retains the current pattern, every 3 or 4 years a customer will lose part of the radio display functions in their vehicle. My argument with this issue is not so much with the 3G shutdown, but that Stellantis has offered nothing but a dongle, which = dingleberry.

 

[SFCR]

Fair enough. Still ... Dodge/Uconnect/T-Mobile-Sprint have had 2 years to come up with a better solution than a wonky dongle.

"Dodge/Uconnect/T-Mobile-Sprint have had 2 years to come up with a better solution than a wonky dongle, " exactly my point!

 

[MJS73]

Fair enough. Still ... Dodge/Uconnect/T-Mobile-Sprint have had 2 years to come up with a better solution than a wonky dongle.

The wonky dongle is all you’re ever going to get and, frankly, they shouldn’t have even bothered. What do you think is going to happen to every 3G device (phone, tablet, mobile hotspot, etc.) next year? Technology comes and goes. Where’s the support for Windows 95? Verizon CDMA phones? Sonos speakers? And on and on. There is none, it’s obsolete technology.

The only reason that attorney is showing any interest is because he’s going to do what every attorney does in these situations, he’s going to lean on the company for a settlement , take 90% of the settlement and leave you with a $3 coupon toward the purchase of a new device.

 

[Wizard Of Iz]

The wonky dongle is all you’re ever going to get and, frankly, they shouldn’t have even bothered. What do you think is going to happen to every 3G device (phone, tablet, mobile hotspot, etc.) next year? Technology comes and goes. Where’s the support for Windows 95? Verizon CDMA phones? Sonos speakers? And on and on. There is none, it’s obsolete technology.

The only reason that attorney is showing any interest is because he’s going to do what every attorney does in these situations, he’s going to lean on the company for a settlement , take 90% of the settlement and leave you with a $3 coupon toward the purchase of a new device.

AT&T offered me a free phone to replace the old 3G flip phone on my account that my mom had been using. It became a moot point when she passed away in June ... at 100 years!! But I appreciated the offer.

The free phone offer depended on what phone people had/have, but all customers were at least offered a deal on a new phone.

It would go a long way if Dodge at least offered a deep discount on new hardware ... and the software programming so everything continued to work. But to only offer a "wonky dongle" that doesn't do everything that the existing 3G technology does ... and to raise my annual Uconnect subscription from $75 to $120 ... doesn't cut it.

 

[SFCR]

The wonky dongle is all you’re ever going to get and, frankly, they shouldn’t have even bothered. What do you think is going to happen to every 3G device (phone, tablet, mobile hotspot, etc.) next year? Technology comes and goes. Where’s the support for Windows 95? Verizon CDMA phones? Sonos speakers? And on and on. There is none, it’s obsolete technology.

The only reason that attorney is showing any interest is because he’s going to do what every attorney does in these situations, he’s going to lean on the company for a settlement , take 90% of the settlement and leave you with a $3 coupon toward the purchase of a new device.

Civil litigation usually gets 40% for the attorneys and we'd be lucky to get $1.00. If a judge agrees to certify the claim, I'm going to ask that the display/radio head be replaced. The parts cost would be less expensive than to ask for the $1500.00 - $1800.00 for the customer to replace it at retail price.

 

[SFCR]

AT&T offered me a free phone to replace the old 3G flip phone on my account that my mom had been using. It became a moot point when she passed away in June ... at 100 years!! But I appreciated the offer.

The free phone offer depended on what phone people had/have, but all customers were at least offered a deal on a new phone.

It would go a long way if Dodge at least offered a deep discount on new hardware ... and the software programming so everything continued to work. But to only offer a "wonky dongle" that doesn't do everything that the existing 3G technology does ... and to raise my annual Uconnect subscription from $75 to $120 ... doesn't cut it.

Well stated! Retaining brand satisfaction goes a long way with a manufacturer, if nothing more than to retain reputation. Losing their brand reputation will lose sales, so it's more than only cost at stake for them.

 

[waumo]

Good luck. When the analog cell service was shut down GM offered us a $500 discount off MSRP to by a new $45,000 Yukon as a remedy and got away with it.

 

[Wizard Of Iz]

Well stated! Retaining brand satisfaction goes a long way with a manufacturer, if nothing more than to retain reputation. Losing their brand reputation will lose sales, so it's more than only cost at stake for them.

Thanks.

And Dodge's hard cost on an updated radio is certainly far less than retail. They should lean on T-Mobile/Sprint for putting them in this position.

And, yes, I realize that Dodge didn't create this problem. The wireless carriers are all shutting down their 3G networks so they can expand their 5G networks and they don't want to maintain both.

But since Dodge's potential financial exposure is tremendous when you consider that there are 3G-reliant systems in vehicles across all of the Chrysler Group / FCA brands, they're the ones in a better position to put pressure on either the carriers - or the FCC - to keep the 3G networks active. Perhaps more auto manufacturers will speak up in the future when things like this happen if they think there will be financial repercussions.

And as @MJS73 said ... this effects way more than wireless phones and cars with Uconnect. Home and personal security systems, trucking industry technology, and even school bus dispatching systems. All because the carriers want the 3G space to expand their 5G capability.

 

[JTR18SHAKER]

You are out of luck:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/10/22/wireless-service-3-g-shutdown-coming-soon/8538388002/

I just found out that our largest carrier in Canada Rogers started to remove their 2G and 3G networks on June 17th this year. holy.

 

[TheBlasterMaster]

Removing 2G and 3G is good news for everyone. Most 5G and 4G lite unlimited plans throttle your speed down when they reach a certain usage or when they are on a heavy load. Now they will be forced to continue high speed.

 

[jkelly16]

Removing 2G and 3G is good news for everyone. Most 5G and 4G lite unlimited plans throttle your speed down when they reach certain a certain usage or when they are on a heavy load. Now they will be forced to continue high speed.

Or cut your service until the next billing cycle.

 

[TheBlasterMaster]

Or cut your service until the next billing cycle.

That would not be an Unlimited plan.