Comments on: Sirius' on-again, off-again signal problems

Are your satellite radio signals not as strong as they used to be? Are service interruptions becoming more frequent? If so, you're not alone.

[ksustarling]

I live in NE Kansas and haven't had any problems with the reception. The only thing I've noticed is that I have to turn the volume a little higher than I used to back in the summer. Maybe my hearing is going bad after listening to loud music when I was younger as well as from being in the military firing many different weapons. I mainly listen to Sirius NFL Radio which I listen to all day long at work with no reception issues. I wish I could pick just a few select stations for a decent price since the majority of the stations I never listen to like Howard Stern, nor most of the news stations CNN, Fox News, etc.). If I could get NFL radio along with one or two each of classic rock, hip hop, metal, jazz and oldies stations I'd be good to go. I've had Sirius since Feb 2004 and have enjoyed it.

[tjmile1]

I'm in San Bernardino, CA and I have Sirius with a home antenna. I guess I'm lucky because I haven't had a loss of signal in the last six months since I installed an aftermarket home antenna on my roof.

Stern has become lazy. He's extremely talented, and he the funniest impersonations I've heard, but I can't stand the rest of his crew, none of them. Sorry, all Stern does is whine is whine about having to do his show and wax on about being in touch with his feminine side and his "gold digging" bride. The show has gotten very lame and I stopped tuning in to it. If it were just Stern yucking it up with callers, guests, and commenting on the news I'd be a regular listener again. All of the ridiculous contests they come up with are gross and pathetic. Shock radio is interesting to 15 year olds.

[thefilebunch]

Signal strength in my area (Cold Spring Harbor) is terrible. Need to turn off and go to AM/FM/iPod. Merger is a disaster. Can't improve signal strength and pay Howard.

[thetony81]

I'm in New York and the signal is fine. Your radio and more importantly your point of view are busted. Are you making another sequel to Three men and a baby?

[pwachleman]

I have XM, Ive had it for 4 years, it gives me problems sometimes but you know what? As long as the Blend is commercial free itll be on in our van. I'd rather to listen to someone's nails on a chalkboard than go back to 57 minutes of talk, 3 minutes of music, commercial-loaded terrestrial radio. If in the future something better comes out I will give it a try but till then its XM for me.

[Bill_I]

The Blend is always fun, they play it at my dentist's office. At home I listen to the classics (XM78).

[rusfr01]

I never have a problem except when I don't have a direct line-of-sight to the sky - under an over pass, under trees, etc.
What I'm curious about is the technology. I thought this was *sattelite* radio - where and how to ground repeaters come into play? Forgive my ignorance on this but the way he says it, it doesn't seem to make much sense to me.

[sting7k]

The only time my signal drops are when I go under big bridges, I drive by the giant satellite dishes at work (On a military base), or when it is very cloudy. So, typical satellite drop outs.

FYI - In your house you might be better off doing the internet stream, it never cuts out.

[dorb]

Why are you using Cnet's main page to complain about your petty connection problems?

[molotov]

For those considering taking a financial dip into this 'future' of radio - beware. This blog is the warning you have from the current users; the infrastructure of satellite radio is crumbling to bits. Before you go ahead and buy into those overpriced receivers just to hear some dead radio - think again.

I think that in the end this whole operation will be considered as a big blunder by historians. A new, exciting idea for a technology that was not sustainable. Sorry Mel.

[MusicMan0985]

I received SIRIUS for X-Mas in 07 and for 6 months it worked great. I had it hooked up in the car to a Kenwood 25th Anniversary deck and when SIRIUS merged to XM I started to receive to ACQUIRING SIGNAL message and it would drop out for long periods of time. I called SIRIUS and was put on hold for Customer Service for so long I always hung up. When it came time to renew I had a customer service rep tell me they needed a new card to disable it. I thought this was funny and she promised my card would NOT be charged. I gave her an older card and the next day I got a message saying unable to process card ending in the digits I gave her.

I HATE lairs! (who doesn't) I used to enjoy the commercial free radio (why I got it) but to lie to me and then not offer 6 months of service or a trouble shoot to my problems is ridicules. I guess like many big companies (now that there merged there is no competition) I am just another number...

Someday I was hoping to own sat in my home, but after this I may buy a HD radio receiver and receive free broadcasts and live with commercials. At least I will know it will work and its FREE...

[moon_brain]

I haven't had signal issues. I've had other issues. Even before the merger, the sound quality was horrendous. Since before the merger but now even moreso, the playlists seem shallow and more repetitive on the music stations. Yes, I do have a built-in receiver that came with my Honda so the bad sound is just the way it comes in. It's compression, the killer of music.

I keep threatening to quit, but Underground Garage is great (when they have a real host and aren't repeating the same bands/songs)

[rmyurick]

I never have a problem out on the road in my car, except when going under bridges. At home, it is sometimes hit-or-miss. Sometimes playing with the antenna angle/direction helps. I just have an indoor antenna. Oddly, placing near the window doesn't work too well.

[ktaylor100]

Sad to hear that about the stock. I thought about jumping in on that, back when they brought in H S.

"It's all ball bearings nowadays." Fletch

[gregorysreid]

I purchased a new car in Boston about 6 months ago with Sirius and the signal was terrible. Dealer said that Sirius had fewer satellites than XM over NE. I put XM into the car and all is well. The signal is definitely worse for Sirius than XM.

[lkyoung0210]

I live in Erie, PA. Have a sirius reciever in 1 car and the house, and an XM unit in the car. I have noticed a few issues with reception but they are minor. However, programming since the merger is simply terrible. Good channels have been lost. I was hoping for an allstar lineups like like Alt Nation, Lithum, Ethel, Lucy, Classic Rewind. What they play know is just a downgrade compare to either before.

[mzupan]

I like Sirius, but really the only reason why I have it is for Howard Stern. I'll probably drop it if Howard decides not to renew his contract.

[TMU1006]

I'm in Northern Virginia, and have had no problems with my two-year-old Sirius car unit at all. There is ONE spot in Fairfax County where I know I will lose the signal for about thirty seconds, and that's it; I assume it's some kind of interference. Basically, I'm happy.

[kevingeyman]

I have a brief cut out about every morning in the same place while driving to work. But, no trouble on the way home. Many a few others through out the month. But, it is still better than listening to regular radio.
BTW, you really should check out Covino and Rich on the same station.

I have Sirius service for my cars in California and in Massachusetts. I started experiencing service interruptions almost as soon as the service has been turned on. They haven't stopped after two years. Mostly, the interruptions occur when I drive down a tree lined street or when I pass a freeway bridge or overpass.

[green2u]

Thank God I'm not the only one experiencing this! Like yourself I called a Sirius rep yesterday as I noticed dropouts and having to move my indoor antenna outdoors when I was forced to upgrade the S50 software package (ANOTHER nightmare which no longer allows me to capture my fave songs are automatically record my 3 most listened-to stations). With the new upgrade, I am constantly outdoors on my balcony having to move my antenna around based on the time of day. Now that they have swallowed up XM and hold us hostage for satellite radio, I don't think they much care WHAT the subscribers think.