SiriusXM Rates

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SiriusXM Rates

Postby kal » Mon Jun 13, 2016 6:39 pm

My three-month SiriusXM trial has ended. The radio now receives only Channel 1 I believe; the others all show as unauthorized.

I'm wondering about "good deals" that subscribers to the service have been getting.

I've heard there is a $5/month for five months offer that can be renewed for quite a few cycles. I've heard of offers as low as $1/month but presumably that sort of rate requires a lengthy period in satellite radio purgatory before it is offered.

And I've heard of various tricks such as the one requiring your radio to be shut down for a period of around two months so that it doesn't actually receive the deauthorize code. In my case I can't try that one. According to various reports, after that interval the radio is essentially good to go for ever!

In any case, I'm only interested in legitimate offers and wonder what BC users have run across.
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Re: SiriusXM Rates

Postby radiofan » Mon Jun 13, 2016 9:13 pm

They used to offer a lifetime plan for a few hundred bucks, but that no longer exists.

The $5 a month for six months is a one time offer. I almost went for that and asked if I could keep renewing every six months. NO was their answer.

I went for the one year for $7.50 a month ($87.50 plus taxes and fees = $112.00).

Now, if they'd just eliminate Cousin Brucie from 60's on 6 and a couple of the MTV burnouts on 80's on 8, I'd really be happy!
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Re: SiriusXM Rates

Postby jon » Mon Jun 13, 2016 9:26 pm

I checked and I paid $577.49 for a lifetime subscription to XM. So far, I'm just about to complete my 6th year of it, which works out to $8/month with all fees and taxes.

Nothing like that now on their web site. And I don't see any promo codes on Plans in a quick on-line search.

It's a long shot, but if you send me your SiriusXM Canada car radio ID by Private Message through this board (see User Control Panel link above), I'll see if you would save anything by having someone with an existing plan add you to their account.

The investment reports I've read on SirisXM Canada say that they dumped a lot of their better deals under a new CEO to try to make enough money to start paying down their enormous debt.
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Re: SiriusXM Rates

Postby Sleddog » Thu Jun 16, 2016 1:42 pm

When they called to renew mine at something like $130.00 I told them I was only willing to pay $75.00 a year. When I told them to cancel it then I was referred to a supervisor. I told him the service was worth $75 a year to me and he said ok. Five years now. They "hate" cancellations.
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Re: SiriusXM Rates

Postby kal » Wed Jul 13, 2016 7:04 pm

A couple of SiriusXM observations.

Eventually held out for a $5/month rate. I was annoyed that the company phoned while I was away and got another member of the family to renew what had been my trial subscription with a new vehicle. The company did not have my credit card on file. When I phoned back to complain, the company support person said that was strictly against company policy and the renewal was cancelled. I then negotiated the $5/month deal but refused to pay the "music tax" on top of that. I also requested that the credit card details be removed once the transaction had been completed so that an auto-renewal is not possible.


Today, in driving through the Cassiar Tunnel in Vancouver I noticed that the SiriusXM signal was present for the last 1/4 of the tunnel northbound. This can't have been a satellite signal. Returning later, southbound, the signal was present throughout the tunnel. How is this possible? Is there a repeater somewhere in that area?

BTW: my favourite channels: Watercolors, The Bridge, CNN, BBC World Service, MSNBC Business.
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Re: SiriusXM Rates

Postby Howaboutthat » Wed Jul 13, 2016 7:10 pm

Pretty sure the Sat signals are well buffered, so you're probably hearing on a 20+ second delay, so while you are in the tunnel, it's still playing what it has 'recorded'
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Re: SiriusXM Rates

Postby kal » Wed Jul 13, 2016 7:38 pm

They are buffered alright but the buffer is on the order of 3-5 s. I test this regularly in the tunnel connecting Highway 1 to the Mary Hill Bypass. If I go through that tunnel at under 90 km/h then I get signal loss. At 90 or more there is no signal loss.

Now it is possible that the buffer was increased today but I'd be surprised at that development.
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Re: SiriusXM Rates

Postby radiofan » Wed Jul 13, 2016 8:33 pm

kal wrote:They are buffered alright but the buffer is on the order of 3-5 s. I test this regularly in the tunnel connecting Highway 1 to the Mary Hill Bypass. If I go through that tunnel at under 90 km/h then I get signal loss. At 90 or more there is no signal loss.

Now it is possible that the buffer was increased today but I'd be surprised at that development.


I haven't yet lost the signal thru the Mary Hill bypass tunnel. I guess I haven't gone thru slow enough to lose it yet.

The last time I went thru the Cassiar tunnel it was there most of the way with a dropout for maybe 5 or 6 seconds in both directions.

The minute I start to go into my underground parking here, it's gone instantly.

There are still a few momentary drop outs along the Mary Hill bypass in both directions and also a few along Lougheed between Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge. North Road is also bad between Hume Park
and the freeway.
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Re: SiriusXM Rates

Postby jon » Wed Jul 13, 2016 8:34 pm

kal wrote:Is there a repeater somewhere in that area?

I forget where I read or heard this, but my understanding is that the urban terrestrial repeaters are high powered and centrally located: in Sherwood Park, on the CBC transmitter, for Edmonton, which gives great coverage even where I live, which is just about as far away as you can get and still be in Edmonton City Limits.

An interesting one is garages in houses. Reception seems to disappear, as you drive in, a few feet after the outside wall of any part of the house that is over the garage.
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