On 1/12/2012 8:40 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

As for being unsuitable for terrestrial, please note that Sirius is
using 2320 to 2332.5MHz and XM at 2332.5 to 2345MHz. While allegedly
a satellite based DAB system, much of the urban coverage is via
terrestrial repeaters, primarily to deal with "urban jungle" building
blockage. If 2.3Ghz works, certainly 1.5Ghz will also work.

I've only had a rental car with satellite radio once, but I was amazed
at how poor satellite radio performed. There apparently is little
buffering, so if I were under an overpass for more than a few seconds
the signal would be lost. The audio quality was mediocre. Maybe
satellite radio is good for Howard Stern, but not for music. I thought
that maybe the GM car I had simply had a sound system that didn't do
satellite radio justice. I see a lot of complaints about satellite radio
signal loss and audio quality, i.e. "their quality isn't even FM Quality."

What is the bit rate for XM/Sirius music channels? I've seen people say
that it's as low as 32 kb/s, but that their streaming is 128 kb/s. But
if you're streaming, you may as well get Pandora rather than satellite.

"I just thought I would give you guys the heads up for those who are
interested. The increased audio quality of XM in my car (via streaming
through my phone) has allowed me to re-discover and enjoy the music XM
offers. If only they could bump up the quality though their actual
satellite service..."

So now this person is paying for unlimited data on their phone PLUS an
XM subscription.