I've been having reception problems in my g37 for some time now and this weekend I had a thought. For some reason the radio cuts out frequently when driving I95 up here in CT. I've taken it to the dealer and they replaced the head unit but the problem persists. My thought was to use one of my old puck antennas and run that directly into the head unit (provided i can buy and splice in the proper connector if needed). In theory would that work?

 

Does it only cut out on I95? Maybe for some reason that's a poor reception corridor. You can call XM and ask probably.

To answer your question though, if you have the NAV unit then you may be able to splice in your own antenna directly to the head unit. (the non-nav XM receiver is in the trunk). I have to believe an infiniti XM antenna is generic to every other XM antenna. The connector terminals are 108/109 on pages 405 & 411 of the AV manual.

 

The reception cuts out on other roads too not jsut I95. When I was getting my oil changed a few weeks ago I was given a 2013 loaner. While driving those same routes the XM station did not cut out. Last week I took it to a different dealer since I was getting nowhere with the first dealership. They said everything was in spec when they tested it. I made a few videos this weekend showing the what was happening that I am debating on showign them.

I have a 2010 G37Xs so the antenna runs to the head unit unfortunately.

 

I also have a 2010 G37xS.
My XM was cutting out all the time too. The dealer replaced the XM antenna and all has been good since.

 

The first thing I would think of is the antenna, I don't understand why they did the head unit first.

 

My roof antenna isn't great. When I had my Sirius tuner and puck antenna installed (only came with xm, so I installed my factory Sirius tuner piggy backed through the trunk connection) it wasn't any better. If you want a permanent solution, pay $4 month extra on your satellite radio account and download the siriusxm app on your phone. I Bluetooth stream on every car I have at home as well. I never lose reception and have the added functions of rewinding and fast forwarding.

Edit: if you have more than one receiver, you can cancel all but one and use your phone to stream on all the other devices.

 

Don't you lose sound quality?

 

The sound quality is better than with the factory teathering cord imo. I did have some sound quality issues with the first few options for Bluetooth I tried, but the latest audio streaming solutions have very good fidelity. Kinivo Bluetooth to RCA in with power supplied by the cigarette lighter port in the center console.

 

I meant comparing the XM radio feed vs streaming. My hunch is Bluetooth has a lower bandwidth.

 

honestly, i don't think you're getting that great of a feed or strong enough signal if it's going out all the time. choosing between bluetooth in a foot proximity to the source compared to a satellite signal that gets lost easily is an easy decision. the latest bluetooth technology probably produces results that most people won't be able to discern from a live feed from a satellite source.

i'm no audiophile snob, but i own some high end stuff. being in a car with all the ambient noise isn't the perfect environment to listen to music. even so, the music streamed is better than i've ever had through the receiver in the car.

 

I just bought a 2013 Sedan and IMO the reception sucks. I mean it will cut out going under a tree branch. I have to take it back as the first time they tested it was supposedly in spec. I switch channels and it says no signal before it kicks in. Is that normal with this car? Out of all the other cars I have had (most Nissan) I havent had this problem.

 

I wonder if the buffer is too small on the radio or if the antenna is a poor quality? Since there's no way to check the signal strength on the AV unit it might be question to ask the techs.

 

The quality of the stream is acutally pretty good using the Sirius app. It just irks me that a feature on my car is not performing like it should and so far no one (dealerships) has been able to explain why.

 

Yeah, it should work like it's supposed to. But, in the long run, the Sirius app is saving me money. I cancelled Sirius in both cars and only pay for on line service. The bill went from $26 a month down to $9.

 

Can't argue with cost savings. When you play though bluetooth do you get the song titleor station? When using Tunein I get the song name and station but with the Sirius app I do not. I'll have to check my data plan to see how much data using Sirius would eat up. My commute is maybe an hour total each day.