Remote range

2540 Views 11 Replies 8 Participants Last post by SubOperator, Sep 27, 2007

Peaty

Discussion Starter · Aug 27, 2006

This is more of an observation than anything else. Lots of people, including myself, are unhappy with the remote range of subaru's. I've owned quite a few and in order to lock or unlock all previous subaru's I've owned you need to be fairly close. It depended on the car but it was anywhere from right next to the door to maybe 50 max. My Forester is like this. Last night my wife and I were on the fourth floor of a hotel and I could see our B9 way off in the distance. I'm not exactly sure how far but it was a good ways. For the heck of it I hit the lock and to my surprise the lights flashed. I tired it a few times just to be sure I wasn't seeing things. I don't know what they did differently on the B9 but it works very nicely. Best I've seen in a subaru or any other car I've driven for that matter.

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[email protected]

· #2 · Aug 28, 2006

my B9 is fine, but my STI is horrendous. i switched remotes on the STI and now its all gravy. i actually love the b9 remotes, much better than the STI in terms of looks and performance.

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klaymon

· #3 · Aug 28, 2006

What remote did you switch to? Do you mean you started using the second remote the dealer gave you?

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Peaty

Discussion Starter · #4 · Aug 28, 2006

No the regular key fob for remote locking and unlocking (arming the alarm too) The 06 didn't have the option of remote starting.

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Blizzard

· #5 · Aug 28, 2006

Mine works great. I can open the doors from inside my house when the car is 60' away.

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[email protected]

· #6 · Aug 28, 2006

klaymon said:
What remote did you switch to? Do you mean you started using the second remote the dealer gave you?

correct, but this was on my STI, B9 remotes are fine.

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Peaty

Discussion Starter · #7 · Aug 28, 2006

A fellow scooby owner purchaced two B9 remotes on e-bay for a good price. He was hoping it would increase the range with his Forester. He programmed it and got it to work no problem but the range was the same as before. He sent me one. I programmed it last night to our B9. I have to say that the programming procedure is nothing short of confusing and tricky. I managed to do it though after a few trys. Check it out:

http://www.cars101.com/subaru/keyless.html#05 legacy program remotes

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kooldak

· #8 · Aug 28, 2006

That same procedure is covered in the owner's manual, at least it is in the '07. Within the manual are several procedures for making changes, additions, etc. They certainly don't make very many of them easy...

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Magic Marker

· #9 · Sep 25, 2007

Bringing it back from the dead. Try holding the remote touching your chin. You're basically using your head as an antenna. Its worked on all of my car remotes. Works pretty well when the car is out of sight.

I have a pretty good two way alarm on my Civic and I can lock/ unlock and remote start w/o direct line of site two offices away.

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kmartin

· #10 · Sep 27, 2007

I was at a conference in January and on the 10th floor of a Marriot Hotel. My remote worked easily even though my car was quite a ways out in the parking lot. However I can sometimes be within a few yards of the car and the crazy thing won't work at all for several tries. Battery checks out just fine. Must be some scientific explanation (solar flares, full moon, bad gas

-Karen in AZ-

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SubOperator

· #11 · Sep 27, 2007

kmartin said:
However I can sometimes be within a few yards of the car and the crazy thing won't work at all for several tries. Battery checks out just fine. Must be some scientific explanation (solar flares, full moon, bad gas

-Karen in AZ-

Could be some other source of radio signal that jamms your remote signal. I am an engineer developing wireless solutions for embedded products, and I can't remember how many times we were detecting other, most of the times some old equipment jamming wi-fi or bluetooth communication. Old PA systems, intercoms and power transformers are often to blame.

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SubOperator

· #12 · Sep 27, 2007

I actually was able to triple the range of remote on my first car years back by putting a little cut-out piece of some cold or antibiotic drug packaging (the one that has some metal foil backing) and putting it inside the remote enclosure. It measures may be 3 mm by 15 mm, and the idea was that it acted like antenna. It worked pretty well actually.

I took Subaru's LGT remote apart and in fact there isn't even an antenna on the board. Even that, I could reach my car easy from the office. I may try to play with it a bit at home if I have time, but trick with some "antenna extender" aluminum foil should work. Tribeca's remote looks exactly as LGTs so I am guessing the are just same.

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