[bristlehare]

I'd like to either completely disable the cellular modem in my 2022 Kia Niro EV or get as close to that as possible.

Lets try to avoid this thread drifting into "why would you want to do that" type of digressions. It is my car and I do have a legitimate reason for wanting to do this but that is out of scope for the question.

If you have ideas of how this could be done either with or without violating the warranty I'd love to hear them. I know that in Massachusetts Kia Connect is not available. Perhaps there is some factory code that dealers in Mass have to enter? I've also thought about digging through the electronics to either 1. find the modem and yank the sim out of it (assuming it isn't soldered in) or 2. pulling the antenna leads off of the modem's board (again, assuming they aren't soldered).

I also discovered that in at least one kia model there is an "offline mode" available: Kia Connect settings
Unfortunately, no similar setting appears in my car's interface.

Thanks all!
- Hare

 

[atc98092]

I wouldn't disconnect the antenna, as that could damage the transmitter in the cellular radio. I realize you might not care about that, but it could be an issue if you want to reverse it. Simply pulling the SIM won't disable the radio. It will still be in communication with the cell towers, just not showing an authorized connection so no data will be passed. But the cell company will still have a trackable record of your location.

The best thing to do is either finding the setting you mention hidden in the service menus (which likely only dealers can get to) or removing the power from the cell modem. I have no idea where the modem is physically located in the car, but if you can locate it you should be able to just unplug it.

 

[bristlehare]

It will still be in communication with the cell towers, just not showing an authorized connection so no data will be passed.

Good point though, my issue isn't as much with tracking (though I dislike that too) but more with someone finding an exploit for their code and screwing with the electronics while I'm driving; so if the modem is an off-the shelf kind that just has micro coax (IPX) connectors then I could just pull them off the board and wrap them with some kapton tape and be done.

If I could find the location of the modem, I could put a tiny low wattage cell-jammer next to it too but.. all of this requires finding the d'rnd thing.

 

[Gerd_NL]

You can set it off in the AVN system settings and then use only the offline maps ...

 

[bristlehare]

You can set it off in the AVN system settings and then use only the offline maps ...

Can you elaborate? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that setting.

 

[bristlehare]

more info: Just spoke with a person at a Kia dealer in Mass and they said that cars sold in Mass are identical, you're just not allowed to use Kia Connect if you sign up for the web-service using a mass address. The person didn't really seem to know for certain though.

 

[bristlehare]

Even more info. In the 2022 Kia nero EV this is how you get into the engineering mode hidden menu:

1. set FM radio to 100.7
2. set volume to 2
3. setup -> general -> sw info/update
4. tap 6 times to the left of the "update" button and twice to the right of the "update" button

Once in there
variant coding -> system will get you to an area that lets you select modem on/off but it is greyed out. Presumably this is because the android system knows its there so there is no reason to be able to change it in the variant settings. (Variant in this case refers to the kind of car the system is installed in.. You can tell the system that it is in a RHD (right hand drive) car from this menu for instance. Still hunting for a way to actually disable the modem.

 

[bristlehare]

Further update and probable solution:

Using the method in my previous post, a few lines below the greyed-out "modem on/off" selection there is a "telematics on/off" section. That would appear to be included so that "Massachusetts variants" can have the telematcis system disabled for .... reasons. (see this article: After Subaru, Kia Is The Latest Automaker To Disable Tech In Massachusetts Over Right-To-Repair Issues | Carscoops )

Thanks to a certain car-enthusiast in Norwood for forwarding that article to me which lead me to the solution.

The modem now reads "off" and no connectivity widget appears in the top right of the screen. I'm going to do some (ahem) further testing cough to make sure it isn't sending out handshakes but I think this may have done it.

 

[Gerd_NL]

Setting KIA offline in the Connect settings:

 

[bristlehare]

Setting KIA offline in the Connect settings:

Thanks Gerd!

Unfortunately that doesn't appear in the menu in my 2022. Looks like my firmware is from mid 2021, maybe they removed it or maybe it is a regional setting.

 

[atc98092]

I think that's regional. I never saw that menu in mine, so US based cars probably don't have it. It's great having users from different countries, but we have to remember that the cars aren't the same across the globe.

 

[91cavgt]

So how would one go about testing to see if it truly is disabled? Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[Crash]

Maybe look at what this guy did in his Kona: Kona EV: no more Bluelink

 

[bristlehare]

So how would one go about testing to see if it truly is disabled? Inquiring minds want to know!

There are a few ways but the one I'll probably do is just look up what frequencies it talks on and then measure the RF strength coming off of it with "telemetry" enabled. Then again with it disabled to see if there is a difference.

 

[91cavgt]

There are a few ways but the one I'll probably do is just look up what frequencies it talks on and then measure the RF strength coming off of it with "telemetry" enabled. Then again with it disabled to see if there is a difference.

Keep this thread updated if you would with what you find out.

 

[dabigjhall]

BTW I removed the modem, or you can disconnect the antennas: How to remove head unit LTE modem