[tsalmon]

Hi all,

I have a 2019 T8 XC 60. When I bought it, I put a T-Mobile sim in for the vehicle modem. It worked off and on. A few months ago after a trip to the dealer, it doesn't work at all. Well, it connects to the T-Mobile network but it won't activate the data service. The local dealership tells me that this is because AT&T and Volvo have an exclusive relationship so T-Mobile can't work. I saw some posts related to earlier models saying that the T-Mobile sim worked just fine and I can't find any definitive statement from Volvo about exclusivity. Anyone else using a non-AT&T sim in the XC-60 and can confirm that it works? Any ideas why my T-Mobile one isn't? Thanks!

 

[Profiler]

Following.

I added a data account and put a SIM card in. It’s seem to work fine for a while, but in the last 2-3 months it’s been spotty. It is hard for me to assess, since I live in a spotty mountainous area. My commute to the airport as a definite dead zone or I have no reception of anything at all.

I called T-Mobile to get updated SIM card. My card was more than a year old, and likely not able to access all of the 4G technology.

 

[FusionRedXC60]

I used Mint mobile SIM (on TMobile network) seems fine. TMobile signal is not as good as AT&T at my area though.

 

[skibum50]

Should work with any carrier.
https://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?592449-Google-Fi-Data-Sim&highlight=google+fi

 

[tsalmon]

Thanks for the answers! The service techs as my local dealer swore that it was an AT&T exclusive thing. When I pointed out that it had been working with T-Mobile, they insisted that was an error that the new software update must have corrected. I don't really think they knew what they were talking about, though. They just wanted me to stop asking them about it. I will have to keep poking to see if I can figure out why my T-Mobile connection isn't working.

 

[timlocke]

I am in Canada but I put a Rogers sim into my 2019 XC60 to share the data I have on our mobile phones and it works really well.


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[peterwT8]

Regarding exclusive, I thought AT&T was included and complimentary for the first 6 months.

 

[Putertech]

My GoogleFI sim is still working on Tmobile, no issues.

 

[Walkabout]

For me, AT&T is complementary for 3 months. I have been thinking of just using my cell phone but I have a small data plan (5 GB maximum). If I buy the AT&T plan and pre-pay, it comes to $21 a month. That's not so bad if I wind up using it, so I'll probably try that.

 

[GrecianVolvo]

Regarding exclusive, I thought AT&T was included and complimentary for the first 6 months.

First 6 months or 3GB

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[Walkabout]

For 2019, it's actually 3gb or 3 months

 

[tsalmon]

I was able to add a line to my T-Mobile plan for only $10 and get 2GB per month I think. That was a bit better than the AT&T offering. Of course it would be even better if it works, which it still does not. Perhaps I will take it to another dealer. T-Mobile techs can see it on the network so it connects, car just won't start the data connection.

 

[WhoaVolvo]

I was able to add a line to my T-Mobile plan for only $10 and get 2GB per month I think. That was a bit better than the AT&T offering. Of course it would be even better if it works, which it still does not. Perhaps I will take it to another dealer. T-Mobile techs can see it on the network so it connects, car just won't start the data connection.

What year is the car? Did you add the APN? Why would you expect another dealer to support your non supported SIM?

For $20, unlimited, $10 for 2Gb seems silly?

 

[WhoaVolvo]

I was able to add a line to my T-Mobile plan for only $10 and get 2GB per month I think. That was a bit better than the AT&T offering. Of course it would be even better if it works, which it still does not. Perhaps I will take it to another dealer. T-Mobile techs can see it on the network so it connects, car just won't start the data connection.

If this is a 2017, did you try a new physical SIM following the upgrade?

 

[tsalmon]

The car is a 2019 and I got a new sim for it. Dealer installed it knowing it was a T-Mobile sim and said nothing about it being unsupported. As to whether a different dealer would support my "non supported" sim, I dunno. I can't find any actual statements from Volvo about what is or isn't supported. If there were a clear statement from Volvo that only AT&T works, then I would not expect anyone to support non-AT&T. I can't find any such statement, but maybe I've missed it. I also would have expected the dealer to tell me that when I got them to pop the "unsupported" sim in. The dealer only came up with that after telling me numerous other things about it that were demonstrably untrue. Maybe this one is, but I see no evidence and it makes no sense. And 2GB for car data? All it needs is to get traffic data and occasionally stream Pandora for me. It's more than enough for my purposes. My phone has unlimited so no need to tether the phone to it. Plus I don't want an AT&T account just for the car.

 

[timlocke]

I have segregated the data used by the SIM in the car from the data used by the phones. Since I put the Rogers SIM in the car it has down loaded maps automatically which I presume come through the car modem and the sim judging by the data use.
As I said above a full scale manual on all this stuff is needed.


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[wolfmon]

T-Mobile band

The car is a 2019 and I got a new sim for it. Dealer installed it knowing it was a T-Mobile sim and said nothing about it being unsupported. As to whether a different dealer would support my "non supported" sim, I dunno. I can't find any actual statements from Volvo about what is or isn't supported. If there were a clear statement from Volvo that only AT&T works, then I would not expect anyone to support non-AT&T. I can't find any such statement, but maybe I've missed it. I also would have expected the dealer to tell me that when I got them to pop the "unsupported" sim in. The dealer only came up with that after telling me numerous other things about it that were demonstrably untrue. Maybe this one is, but I see no evidence and it makes no sense. And 2GB for car data? All it needs is to get traffic data and occasionally stream Pandora for me. It's more than enough for my purposes. My phone has unlimited so no need to tether the phone to it. Plus I don't want an AT&T account just for the car.

I think you issue might be related to the RF spectrum that T-mobile use in your area. The LTE modem in the car, like cell phones, are only certified (by the hardware vendor + FCC) to work in a certain cellular band. If T-Mobile in your area has Extended range LTE (600MHz band). The modem definitely won't support it. In fact it might not even support every single AT&T bands, just the majority of them.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_frequencies_in_the_US

I am not sure if the data modem is in the VCM or somewhere else, there appears to have 2 modems (or SIM/eSIM). One is for WiFi hotspot AP and sensus data, and the other one is for VoC (VoC still works with remote start, lock, unlock etc. when the SIM is removed)