New “Airstream Connected” LTE-WiFi Dealer Installed

[stevejones]

If you have had this system installed, could you please post what you were charged by your dealer for parts and labor? If you don't want to post here, a PM would be appreciated.

I am being quoted $1,999 from Airstream of Tampa which seems nuts. That is a $1,000 charge for 3-4 hours of labor to install. Holy moly!

Steve

[kittmaster]

Originally Posted by stevejones

If you have had this system installed, could you please post what you were charged by your dealer for parts and labor? If you don't want to post here, a PM would be appreciated.

I am being quoted $1,999 from Airstream of Tampa which seems nuts. That is a $1,000 charge for 3-4 hours of labor to install. Holy moly!

Steve

We are having it installed in our new '19 serenity when they receive it, around $2K is what I was also quoted.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by kittmaster

In this vein: Anyone know how good it may be in Vermont, NH, Maine areas?
. . .

Just as good as your cell phone reception is, in those portions of New England IMO.

Have you journeyed north from Rhode Island and used your cell phone? [without the trailer] We have traveled extensively in the NE, and our AT&T cell service has been just fine. Verizon too I guess.

Earlier comments about coverage were more focused on rural areas out west I think.

Peter

PS -- Coverage maps:
ATT: https://www.att.com/maps/wireless-coverage.html
Verizon: https://www.verizonwireless.com/feat...map=4glte#maps

[kittmaster]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Just as good as your cell phone reception is, in those portions of New England IMO.

Have you journeyed north from Rhode Island and used your cell phone? [without the trailer] We have traveled extensively in the NE, and our AT&T cell service has been just fine. Verizon too I guess.

Earlier comments about coverage were more focused on rural areas out west I think.

Peter

PS -- Coverage maps:
ATT: https://www.att.com/maps/wireless-coverage.html
Verizon: https://www.verizonwireless.com/feat...map=4glte#maps

Been with Sprint for more than 23 years, traveled all over the world with it......sometimes a PITA. But in NE, going north beyond Kennebunk port, we end up roaming....I hear AT&T doesn't have that issue and with the low cost and data rates for a year, it makes sense to install and convert from Sprint. I'm not a huge data user, so almost any service with 4GB per month will do.....but the all year cost unlimited will be more than fine and a good rate IMO.

Seems like it will be useful and good foe east coast traveling. Our goal is to get to Alaska with the Yukon and serenity...

[Wyo Silver]

I was quoted $1600 total for the dealer install. They checked to see if it could be a factory install on an International, but it has to be a dealer install.

I like the idea of having enough bandwidth to work while traveling.

Does anyone know if or how this works while traveling in Canada?

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by Wyo Silver

. . .
Does anyone know if or how this works while traveling in Canada?

The AT&T coverage map linked in Post #63 shows Canada in orange as being "Off-Net coverage." Suggest calling your AT&T cell phone customer service number for details. Please let us know what they say.

Thanks,

Peter

[GT2018WA]

Originally Posted by wulfraat

Uncapped data - meh. Get that all day long on any major carrier with mobile handset hotspot service.

Un-throttled speeds - now we’re talking.

1 grand for equipment. Booo! All I want is the SIM card chipset and LTE radio so I can associate with my VIN, qualify for AT&T’s in automotive vehicle-hot-spot-airstream-special-service and integrate with my existing in-trailer network... [emoji6]

Where do you see un-throttled in the fine print? Every carrier maintains a clause to throttle when they deem fit. Without exception, for technical reasons I’d rather not go into details on.

Read https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandwidth_throttling, specifically the United States section and the last sentence.

[wulfraat]

Based on my review of the publicly available airstream-plan-specific terms and conditions, att has stayed silent on firm / mandatory data-cap-based throttling trigger for this plan. These restrictions are clearly outlined for post paid hotspot plans, and mandatory hotspot (mobile handset or hotspot hardware) bandwidth throttling is typically triggered at either 10GB/15GB data usage (for hotspot plans) and 22GB for in-car specific automotive plans such as GM onstsar (I’ve had both types)

Based on others early usage observations (some in this thread above) it appears that there indeed is no standard / firm imposed cap on bandwidth that is applied to all users once they hit a data usage threshold. Again att have stayed silent on this, which could be viewed as a positive or negative thing. My interpretation is that this is positive.

Now, congestion-based throttling may occur of course, but att even stay silent on this item in their main ts&cs with regards to not providing a firm data usage cap at which point congestion-based throttling could begin to occur per network conditions. This trigger is typically 22GB on post paid mobile handset, non-hotspot plans.

Details can be found in the fine print here:

https://www.att.com/plans/connected-car/airstream.html

And here:

https://about.att.com/sites/broadband/network

Att could definitely change plan terms and conditions in the future, but at a minimum they would normally / likely / hopefully operate on current ts&cs for at least the first year due to this being a prepaid plan with an up-front commitment by the customer for 12 months of service.

PS - still working to get my hands on the airstream-issued serial-number locked hardware for self-install. [emoji4]

[ghaynes755]

The fine print. Network management is referenced at att.com/broadbandinfo. Also doesn't work in Canada and limited roaming.


AT&T Connected Car Airstream Annual Unlimited Plan (Prepaid). U.S. customers only. Prepaid session-based data plans provide you with access to AT&T wireless data services for your Airstream, including but not limited to features that may be used with wireless data services, content and applications. Eligible vehicle, data plan and compatible SIM card required.

Duration: Annual Unlimited Plan is 365 days. May cancel at any time, but pro-rata refund of payment is not available (subject to applicable law).

Data plan not transferable if vehicle is sold. Pricing: $360, plus taxes.

Devices: Sold separately.

Data: For use in the U.S. only.

Stream Saver feature not available for this Plan.

Hotspot: Connects a limited number of Wi-Fi capable devices per Airstream hotspot, as specified by the vehicle maker. Devices connected to hotspot use data from your Airstream plan. Performance varies based on number of devices connected and other factors.

Roaming: You get an off-net (roaming) usage allowance for each svc. If you exceed the allowance, your svc(s) may be restricted or terminated. International and domestic off-net data may be at 2G speeds. Other restr’s apply & may result in svc termination. AT&T svc is subject to AT&T network management policies, see att.com/broadbandinfo for details.

Stream Saver feature not available for this Plan. General Wireless Service Terms: Subject to AT&T Session Based

Wireless Data Services Agreement available at https://www.att.com/legal/terms.sess...ment.list.html Pricing, offer & terms subject to change & may be modified or terminated at any time without notice. Coverage & service not available everywhere.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by ghaynes755

. . .
. . . Data: For use in the U.S. only.
. . .

Thanks for all the details everyone.

Wyo Silver -- N. B. above.

Peter

[Colossus]

Great conversation. I’m interested in the AS connected as well.

I have a 2018 TB 27FB, Dealer quoted me labor for the installation at $150 per hour for anywhere from 3-9hrs labo, model dependent.

Thank you all for sharing.

[turk123]

Originally Posted by Colossus

Great conversation. I’m interested in the AS connected as well.

I have a 2018 TB 27FB, Dealer quoted me labor for the installation at $150 per hour for anywhere from 3-9hrs labo, model dependent.

Thank you all for sharing.

Sounds like they haven't done any of these yet and can't give you a firm labor quote. As more and more dealers get acquainted with the installation, maybe the prices will go down. Unfortunately, the early adopters will pay for their education.

[Colossus]

Originally Posted by turk123

Sounds like they haven't done any of these yet and can't give you a firm labor quote. As more and more dealers get acquainted with the installation, maybe the prices will go down. Unfortunately, the early adopters will pay for their education.

Exactly! That’s my thoughts as well. My words to the service department was,
“I’ll check back in a few months after you’ve done a few”.

[Colossus]

It baffles me that AS/JC has so many different models in different phases of the assembly process yet they failed to roll this deployment out without a standardized process for installation/routing.

I understand that older models have been customized but the recent models should be safe to offer routing solutions/standard work.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by Colossus

. . .
. . . yet they failed to roll this deployment out without a standardized process for installation/routing.
. . .

What is a "standardized process for installation" . . . that is a new one to us . . .

[Wyo Silver]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

The AT&T coverage map linked in Post #63 shows Canada in orange as being "Off-Net coverage." Suggest calling your AT&T cell phone customer service number for details. Please let us know what they say.

Thanks,

Peter

I saw the coverage map and was hoping to get input from an actual user.

After several calls to various AT&T customer support areas, I was able to find out that they know even less than I do. I was not able to get one person who had even heard of the Airstream Connect. The closest I got was a manger that told me about something you can put in your fleet cars to track their location.

For now I am not going to get the equipment installed and I will look at other options.

[OTRA15]

See Posts #69/70.

[wulfraat]

Originally Posted by Wyo Silver

I saw the coverage map and was hoping to get input from an actual user.



After several calls to various AT&T customer support areas, I was able to find out that they know even less than I do. I was not able to get one person who had even heard of the Airstream Connect. The closest I got was a manger that told me about something you can put in your fleet cars to track their location.



For now I am not going to get the equipment installed and I will look at other options.

Perhaps you called att wireless care. Largest part of att, easy to find the care # for, but wrong customer service group.

They have a separate customer service and sales function for the connected car division, which this Airstream solution falls under (in vehicle hotspot services). And no, they don’t make it easy

Don’t get your hopes up when you do find the number for connected car (I’ve spoken with them several times in this) - the call center agents will basically pull up an internal knowledge base and read back information from their internal system, they have too many vehicle manufacturers and permutations to support - no agent can know them all they’ve probably received a grand total of 15 or 20 calls about this service since launch (actual account setup is done online).

To to put in perspective att have about 50,000 call center agents domestic, near shore and off shore. Chances of you finding an agent who know a anything about this particular solution first hand is less than slim.

This forum is a pretty good place for answers though!

[Wyo Silver]

I appreciate everyone's input on this topic.

I have called AT&T and Verizon support enough to know that you don't get your hopes up.

I was transfer several times as each person was not the person to whom I needed to speak with, but they knew who would have the answer about the Airstream connect. I have idea of the areas to which I was transferred.

On a lighter note, my favorite customer support call story. Where my dad lives there are no land lines, only spotty cell service. He had both a Union cell and a Verizon cell as one would work where the other one would not. One day my dad called me using his Union cell phone to say that his Verizon phone and all of the neighbors Verizon phones had stopped working that day. He wanted me to call Verizon and see if the knew what had happened as he didn't know if he would be in service long enough to wait on hold.

I called Verizon and she looked at everything she could see and said there were no outages in the area. She put me on hold and checked various things. She even called my dad on his Union number to verify some things on his Verizon phone. I believe she was actually trying to help and did everything she could and was surprised she could not find anything.

She finally took my information and said she would have a technician call me. When the technician called, he asked me for some information on location, etc. As soon as I told him the location he said "I know exactly what happened". He proceeded to explain how the nearest (only) cell tower in the area was an AT&T tower that Verizon was renting. This was the day that the lease ran out on the tower, so they turned off the service.

So when I call customer service, I am rarely surprised.

[rmkrum]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

What is a "standardized process for installation" . . . that is a new one to us . . .

It's the one designed, managed, and carefully documented by the team of experts at the Airstream factory...these guys. Know them well.