[SpookShow'84]

Originally Posted by Chad0311

Doing a lot of illegal street racing in the Trax eh?

So when your speed data is sold to insurance companies and it shows that a driver habitually drives 3-5 mph over the speed limit what happens to your rate? It's safer to not impede traffic and drive a little faster on the interstate, is that taken into account? How is the speed data differentiated from normal driving vs. a track day? Even if you always drive the speed limit, on a challenging road it will register as aggressive driving. If you spin the tires a little on a road that has traction gravel still present after the snow has melted it will register as tire slippage and imprudent driving.

My Kia UVO system registers some of these events. It shows on my monthly driving score as a detractor from a perfect score of 100.

[trax]

Originally Posted by Chad0311

Doing a lot of illegal street racing in the Trax eh?

Nah, I've raced a few horses (the four-legged kind) back in my glory days (I'm 63), but no illegal street racing.


** Just wanted to ask - does the module actually say 'Onstar'? How do you know it's the correct module? Thanks.

[cellsafemode]

The OnStar module is made by lg, but the give away is it will have the imei number displayed which tells us it has a cell radio in it.

[trax]

Okay, thanks. Have been scouring YouTube for info about the location of OnStar module and it seems the most likely location is behind the radio or glovebox, but those vids were a couple of years old. It's raining today so will have to wait til tomorrow to investigate more.

Thanks again. Really appreciate the help.

[cellsafemode]

Next up is killing the wifi without losing anything else. (it's the black box adjacent to the onstar unit).

Lots of connectors going into that little black module. Makes me think it does more than just connect wifi.

[nearwater]

The PCB you are removing is what we call a NAD board, short for Network Access Device.
Think of it as a modem with a GPS chipset on it, while the other board is the computer.
Removing it will not trigger any CEL, but it will record a DTC within the OnStar module.

Originally Posted by cellsafemode

The OnStar module is made by lg, but the give away is it will have the imei number displayed which tells us it has a cell radio in it.

Correct. LG is the supplier for these modules and Verizon network is used for CDMA connection.

I understand why some will want this off of their vehicle.
You'd be surprised what this module is capable of.

[fastball]

Originally Posted by nearwater

You'd be surprised what this module is capable of.

I'm not of the tin foil hat crowd, but that right there just irks me because I know exactly what you're saying.

OnStar should be an option. The entire system should be an option. If you want it, great, you get it and you pay for it. If you don't want it, the car is built without this module and the entire OnStar system.

[cellsafemode]

I'm less concerned about what it can do and more concerned about what anyone bored enough can do to it. It's been done before with such an utterly shameful display of "security" and then quietly fixed over the course of 5 years. For something I dont want anyway... no.


Just note: disable your wifi through the onstar app before doing this. Or you'll need to remove it the hardware way. Apparently even when connected to the car's wifi, all commands come from the onstar server rather than a direct app connection.

[mekirk2]

Has anyone confirmed that the factory Nav is disabled if you pull the radio board?

[jaysonstuart]

I guess I just don't see the benefit for all that work.

[cellsafemode]

Originally Posted by jaysonstuart

I guess I just don't see the benefit for all that work.

Sometimes it takes some effort on the consumer's end to ensure lax corporate effort in the products you're using can't hurt you. Whether it's by installing open source firmware on your wifi router because netgear's has 3+ backdoors on the stock and no immediate plans to update or if you have to pull the radio board out of your onstar unit because GM doesn't give you an on/off switch for it.

Considering one of the later hacks on cars was through a dealer backdoor in the wifi being completely accessible to anyone with access to the dealer software and a laptop so they could just walk by, reset the fob to generic and drive the car away in minutes ... and that's just one of a dozen stories in the past couple years. Being in control over your car's connectivity is your right.

[PinHead]

Originally Posted by nearwater

You'd be surprised what this module is capable of.

Please enlighten those of us that are mentally challenged.

[zryan]

So just pulling the OnStar fuse is not enough to disable its ability to track and record GPS info?

[Sub]

Originally Posted by zryan

So just pulling the OnStar fuse is not enough to disable its ability to track and record GPS info?

Yah its seems like anyone headed to the track should pull it so you dont get flagged later!

Someone should pull the antenna and see if it damages the board. Not all radios willl be damaged if its disconnected, it depends on how lazy or constrained the engineers were - some rasios will sense this.

Also its extremely unlikely the radio will work without the antenna, especially given its location behind the metal panels of the car/by wires/near metal enclosures, etc.