Starlink T-Mobile Goes Live... Death of the InReach?

[camping1601]

Myself and my wife (both Verizon) have been in the beta and have not been able to text one time yet. If anyone has some experience that can help that would be great. Figure at some point I'll try to reach tech support.

 

[Hussar]

I have Verizon as my main carrier and was in the beta. I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra for my phone. I've sent a few texts from the T-Mobile sim card in service and sent/received a few texts through the satellites when out of service. Satellite texting send and receive seemed to take about 10 seconds per message which is quite a bit faster than my InReach was. I was able to have a normal conversation while out of conventional cell service.

The functionality seems to work about the same as my InReach. A clear view of the sky is a necessity and you have to be completely out of service before it switches. It seems like if you're hovering between one bar or service and none, there's not enough time for it to lock on the satellites. It only seemed to lock on if I was out of service for more than 5 minutes at a time.

 

[Pacific_Fork]

Garmin lowered their prices a few months ago and upped the messages. They know what’s up, currently there’s no reason to quit Garmin. The messaging is superior to iMessage Sat by far. I gave up trying on multiple trips this year. You have to sit still forever in the wide open, **** that. Drains phone battery, you don’t receive messages back unless you keep your phone still. I don’t get the hype. I’ve been using Inreach for a decade in the timber and it’s always worked for me. Starlink will get better I’m sure.

 

[ThorM465]

Has anyone here used the newer Garmin InReach Messenger Plus? It's suppose to be faster with higher data rates. It would be interesting to hear someones experience with these up against these stories on starlink, iphone sat, and the older InReaches.

 

[mntnguide]

I called T-mobile trying to get the starlink activated on my Verizon phone, and it got me nowhere. The people who answer have zero clue what you are talking about, and dont exactly speak english already, which doesnt help. Ended up getting nowhere. Might give it a few more days and try again, guessing this is all pretty new to the those people.

 

[Buglebrush]

I have Verizon as my main carrier and was in the beta. I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra for my phone. I've sent a few texts from the T-Mobile sim card in service and sent/received a few texts through the satellites when out of service. Satellite texting send and receive seemed to take about 10 seconds per message which is quite a bit faster than my InReach was. I was able to have a normal conversation while out of conventional cell service.

The functionality seems to work about the same as my InReach. A clear view of the sky is a necessity and you have to be completely out of service before it switches. It seems like if you're hovering between one bar or service and none, there's not enough time for it to lock on the satellites. It only seemed to lock on if I was out of service for more than 5 minutes at a time.

I have T-Mobile and joined the Beta. This was my experience too. Absolutely loved it, and where it really shines is if your hunting buddies have it too. Being able to easily text back and forth was amazing! My biggest concern is being in an area with almost, but not quite phone service and not being able to use the Satellite or Phone.

 

[nm.otter]

CNET has a summary listing supported phones here:

Everything You Need to Know About T-Mobile's New Satellite Texting with Starlink

Are dead zones a thing of the past? T-Mobile and Starlink's new satellite cell service thinks so. Here's what you need to know.

www.cnet.com

The company said 911 texting will be available later this year to "any mobile customer with a compatible device, regardless of carrier or whether or not they are subscribed to the service."

Good enough for my current needs. Hopefully they provide a way to verify this functionality.

 

[Mikido]

Am I the only one that doesn’t want more service on the backcountry?

 

[Pacific_Fork]

Am I the only one that doesn’t want more service on the backcountry?

There’s guys brining starlink to their base camps so they can work. While hunting.

More people need to stay home or go play pickleball on Saturdays with their aunts.

 

[Norcal18]

I was a beta tester and was really impressed. I live in northern CA and even under redwood canopy it would send and receive texts where in the past I wouldn’t even have cell service.

 

[camping1601]

Fwiw I just discovered Verizon now has sat. texting. Sounds similar to the IPhone sat texting but uses fixed orbit satellites so once you orient your phone your good as long as you maintain that position. Only works with few of the newest phones.

 

[taskswap]

 

[Fowl Play]

Fwiw I just discovered Verizon now has sat. texting. Sounds similar to the IPhone sat texting but uses fixed orbit satellites so once you orient your phone your good as long as you maintain that position. Only works with few of the newest phones.

Looks like Verizon uses "Skylo" satellites. Don't have direct experience with them, not sure on what the reliability will be. Iphone's system uses Globalstar satellites, which is an odd choice for them.... Globalstar satellites are pretty ancient technology at this point and already have major shortcomings to Iridium (what the Inreach and EPIRBs use).

Starlink's direct to cell system is already pretty amazing and they only have 650 (ish) satellites up there (of their planned 7500+ direct to cell capable satellites). With almost 100 more launching every month. Going to be hard for anyone else to surpass Starlink's service I think. Hell even the US government is contracting SpaceX to build their own constellation "Starshield" -- so they are doubling down on it.

I think I am going to plan to use a starlink capable phone + dedicated EPIRB. Phone for sat messaging capability. EPIRB for failsafe SOS capability, also gets you a completely separate and redundant satellite constellation (Iridium).

Anyone have recommendations on a super small/lightweight dedicated EPIRB? I have an ACR on my boat but it is larger than I would like for backpacking.

 

[bz_711]

My zoleo has worked flawlessly in the backcountry...and the SOS function is enough to keep for many more years. It's cool to see the new Tech working...but still a long way to go to have your life (or others you find in danger) depend on it.
No harm in having redundancy for messaging though...already carry my phone anyway.

 

[taskswap]

Anyone have recommendations on a super small/lightweight dedicated EPIRB? I have an ACR on my boat but it is larger than I would like for backpacking.

As far as I'm aware, the InReach Mini is currently the smallest and lightest "EPIRB-like" device intended for land-base use. All the other mainstream EPIRB devices I've seen are fairly bulky and heavy because they're designed for aviation/marine use, so they have robust cases designed to float on water, stay upright (so their antennae are above the surface), often include strobes/light beacons, and have non-rechargeable batteries with very long shelf lives and external contact/trigger mechanisms to automatically activate in the water. Given all these requirements, weight and size just aren't major design priorities.

I'm as excited about satellite functionality as the next guy - I was an early adopter of Starlink - but for SOS/rescue functionality I think we're probably 6-12 months away from phones really replacing that so far...

 

[hydroyeti]

"At this point? Absolutely not. Starlink needs clear line-of-sight to the sky so it’s useless under dense canopy or in a deep canyon and a full canopy. What happens when you snap your leg on a packout in some hellhole covered in timber? Neither Starlink nor iPhone satellite messaging offer weather forecasts, tracking, or reliable 2 way communication in shitty terrain with dense canopy. inReach is built for abuse and they are fully waterproof and better battery life compared to phone.
Starlink + T-Mobile might be great for sending a text from an open ridgetop, but it’s not replacing inReach in the backcountry anytime soon.

Quotes pulled directly from beta testers using the T-Mobile Starlink Serice have stated regular interruptions in light or partial tree cover. Testers reported frequent interruptions, degraded performance and total signal loss in heavy tree cover. Some said that you needed a complete unobstructed view of the sky.
One tester reported that they had to relocate from remote canyon environments to get a clear view of the sky for it work. Another user stated that once they got further into the front range performance became sporadic with delays of 7-10 minutes, signal dropped intermittently even with clear view of sky and once in dense terrain it caused severe reliability issues.

Inreach has similar issues under canopy and there are far fewer satellites then starlink making it more susceptible to issues with obstructions blocking LOS. You could make the argument star link might be more reliable because there are more satellite flying around and therefore less chance an obstruction will be in the way between you and a satellite at any given time. I don't know how true this is given starlink uses narrow spot beams but it seems like a reasonable argument