Cost effective remote comms device for occasional use?

[Allchin09]

I'm trying to find a satellite communication device which is cost effective when only using occasionally.

I've used SPOT trackers in the past, which do exactly what I want but the ongoing subscription adds up quickly. It was ok when I was out remote bush walking regularly but it's not as common at the moment so I can't justify a subscription.

They (and other providers) do have an 1 month option or ability to pause your subscription, but they then add additional activation fees so the total price is still pretty high.

I was hoping that Elon's sky internet was going to come to mobiles in Australia sooner. Optus announced it a while back but nothing came of it. Seems like Telstra might actually make it happen, not sure when though, but I think being able to send the occasional SMS is exactly what I'm after, even if it costs $1 per send.

Anyone aware of any alternatives I should look at, or do I just wait until I can talk with the satellites from my regular phone?

Thanks, Alex.

[Son of a Beach]

It doesn't help you right now, but this is likely to be available on standard iPhone models in Australia sometime soon. It's already available in USA and Canada. They just have to roll it out to other countries.

See: https://support.apple.com/en-au/120930

(Not to be confused with the similar emergency messaging via satellite which is already available in Australia. The above is for regular non-emergency messaging.)

There may be something similar (available or planned) on Android?

[Allchin09]

Yes, I had forgotten about that iPhone feature. I'm on android but I'd consider getting a second hand model just for this. I had assumed though it wouldn't be available in Australia any time soon, hopefully not.

[johnrs]

Yes All09
I have just been given an In Reach device and it's high cost indeed!
Android is also rolling out satellite messaging services now but not yet in Australia
and using a relatively obscure satellite service provider.
I guess we have another year or so to wait.

Meanwhile PLBs are cheap long term and dedicated and reliable.
You can load your trip details up to AMSA so its all linked to the PLB
John
John

[Allchin09]

Yes, would still be carrying a PLB for emergencies. I'm more after something for 1 or 2 way comms with others in non-emergency scenarios.

Maybe I should move to the US

[andrewa]

I hire an iridium go Sat hub for trips where I need a Sat phone that I can talk from, or send messages from, but recent hire was $284 for 18 days. Looked at buying, but ongoing plans were expensive. I only need it on an annual remote NZ trip, so that hire cost is reasonable for me.

A

[lseries92]

I drove the Canning Stock Route in WA in 2023 (solo vehicle) - as it was going to be a minimum of 18 days in *really* remote country I decided I wanted something cost effective to replace or complement my Garmin Inreach Mini.

My solution was to purchase a 2nd hand Thuraya XT-LITE Satellite Phone which you can normally pick up for around $500. I put it on a plan for $16 a month after a SIM fee of around $8. Making calls were $1 per minute which I was ok with in an emergency (anything else not so much). The nice thing was that as it has an Australian mobile number, anyone with an unlimited mobile plan could call it for free. My friends and family organised a schedule to give me a call every couple days around sunset when I would have stopped for the night.

Using the Thuraya XT-LITE felt like I had time warped back to about 1997 - it truly felt like my first mobile phone in virtually every way. I did end up getting my money back when I sold it so it ended up being a cheap way to enhance my remote communications. However I was seriously worried that with all the new tech out on the horizon that I would get stuck with it. At many of the slightly less remote campsites on the way to/from the Canning I was surprised by how many people had Starlink and therefore had no real reason for a sat phone any longer.

Personally the hiring of the Iridium Go sounds like a better solution these days if you really need this functionality (Iridium's coverage is much better for a start). The costs may be a bit steep but more universal coverage from your mobile is on the horizon ...

[matagi]

Thuraya no longer works in Australia coz the satellite that covered our part of the globe has failed.

https://www.pivotel.com.au/thuraya-network-closure

[johnrs]

And here s a bit more on mobile phone satellite conectivity
https://www.androidauthority.com/smartp ... y-3295162/

[Allchin09]

Wow, I hadn't realised that Thuraya no longer works, I once used a sat phone via their network. Very unfortunate for their customers.

Looks like things for smartphones are heading in the right direction, but just not quite here yet in AU.

[matagi]

Wow, I hadn't realised that Thuraya no longer works, I once used a sat phone via their network. Very unfortunate for their customers.

Looks like things for smartphones are heading in the right direction, but just not quite here yet in AU.

Yes, we have a Thuraya satphone.

[wazzawalkin]

For this application I have an Iridium 9555 Sat Phone and use my standard Telstra Sim with international roaming enabled.
Yep.. outgoing calls and SMS’s are not cheap but as mentioned when it’s an emergency who cares, this system makes it very easy for family and friends to contact me.

W.

[johnrs]

And now that Garmin has jacked up its fees the competition has began!!
They work with the Inreach devices.
In particular ProteGear has no activation fee./

"A couple of alternative service providers I have heard about are:
• TrackMe https://trackme.nz/trackme-nz-inreach-rec-plans/ - a New Zealand based service
• ProteGear from Germany https://www.protegear.de/en-gb/inreach-dataplans
TrackMe looks more suited for guides running off grid trips with lots of tracking options, ProteGear looks like it is a lot more flexible with the ability to activate for as little as one day.

A couple of short videos that might be of interest to you
• An overview of these alternate offers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSuKIWkT5y4
• What happens when you trigger an SOS on inReach https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEaF2Atxo-s "

John

[Aushiker]

I appreciate that this is in the USA, but it may signal what is come for Australia.

T-Mobile and SpaceX’s Starlink have been working behind the scenes to bring satellite coverage to smartphone users on the network. The companies have begun beta testing satellite messaging on devices like the Galaxy S24 series, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6, and recent iPhones with the iOS 18.3 update. Now, you can add the Pixel 9 series to the list of supported devices for T-Mobile’s satellite messaging feature.

More details at AndroidAuthority.

[Allchin09]

"A couple of alternative service providers I have heard about are:
• TrackMe https://trackme.nz/trackme-nz-inreach-rec-plans/ - a New Zealand based service
• ProteGear from Germany https://www.protegear.de/en-gb/inreach-dataplans

ProteGear seems to be exactly what I'm after! I'll have to do a little more research, but no activation / on going feed + cheap daily cost seems great. Will have to see how easy it is to activate and inactivate.

[Aushiker]

"A couple of alternative service providers I have heard about are:
• TrackMe https://trackme.nz/trackme-nz-inreach-rec-plans/ - a New Zealand based service
• ProteGear from Germany https://www.protegear.de/en-gb/inreach-dataplans

ProteGear seems to be exactly what I'm after! I'll have to do a little more research, but no activation / on going feed + cheap daily cost seems great. Will have to see how easy it is to activate and inactivate.

ProteGear inReach prices are in Euro ... you would pay a lot more than you would with a Garmin Australia subscription.

Their ProteGear A*LIVE v2 - SmartSafety Tool is $700 + $70 postage before plans.

Am I missing something here?

[johnrs]

Maybe drill down into the alternative offerings a bit further Andrew, please let us know what you find.

I had a look at the Smart Phone options, certainly coming but I think will be a few years to be reliable and fully featured.
There are indications that the GPS chip on the Pixel 9 is unreliable atm.
Best wishes
John

[Aushiker]

Maybe drill down into the alternative offerings a bit further Andrew, please let us know what you find.

Are you referring to ProteGear? If so, their data plans are detailed at https://www.protegear.de/en-gb/alive-dataplans

I have an inreach mini 2, but I am on a legacy plan, so I can suspend my plan month by month and no cost. I believe there is a monthly fee now if suspended,

[Allchin09]

ProteGear inReach prices are in Euro ... you would pay a lot more than you would with a Garmin Australia subscription.

Their ProteGear A*LIVE v2 - SmartSafety Tool is $700 + $70 postage before plans.

Am I missing something here?

Maybe I am reading things wrong, but the ProteGear option seems far better than Garmin for my use case, which is occasional use (a few days every few months).

Note that you can use ProteGear with the InReach.

Garmin
Only seem to offer $25AUD / month with a $70AUD activation fee. And you need to pay the activation fee every time you pause and re-activate. So isn't at all affordable for occasional use.

ProteGear
1.50 EUR per day (cheaper with more days) and a 49 EUR annual fee. No charge to stopping and starting the service.

So for using 24 days a year (a weekend per month) it's 36 EUR + 49 EUR = 85 EUR per year = approx $140 AUD with ProteGear

OR $25 AUD * 12 = $300 AUD per year + $70 activation. A combination of starting and stopping wouldn't reduce the price very much.

Am I missing something? Does seem too good to be true, and I think the Garmin fee is a complete rort, particularly the activation fees.

[johnrs]

Yes I think that's right Allchin,
and you get free tracking with ProteGear but not with the $25 Garmin plan.
The Garmin activation fee is very unattractive.
Time will tell what the reality is.
John

[Aushiker]

Note that you can use ProteGear with the InReach.

Are you referring to the ProteGear A*Live? I could not see anything to suggest this and anyway I am not sure why given it is an alternative product.

Garmin
Only seem to offer $25AUD / month with a $70AUD activation fee. And you need to pay the activation fee every time you pause and re-activate. So isn't at all affordable for occasional use.

You would only activate once then pay $25 per month. I agree that is an expensive approach.

P

roteGear
1.50 EUR per day (cheaper with more days) and a 49 EUR annual fee. No charge to stopping and starting the service.

So for using 24 days a year (a weekend per month) it's 36 EUR + 49 EUR = 85 EUR per year = approx $140 AUD with ProteGear

OR $25 AUD * 12 = $300 AUD per year + $70 activation. A combination of starting and stopping wouldn't reduce the price very much.

[/quote]

Which plan are you referring to?

One other cost to factor is the difference in the unit price compared to the purchase cost of an inReach and how long you intend to use it. That is, will you recover the additional purchase cost compared to the inReach?

[Allchin09]

Are you referring to the ProteGear A*Live? I could not see anything to suggest this and anyway I am not sure why given it is an alternative product.

No, nothing at all to do with A*Live. I'm referring to ProteGear offering a data service for Garmin InReach devices in direct competition with Garmin.

https://www.protegear.de/en-gb/inreach-dataplans

From their FAQs

You want to change from your existing GARMIN data plans ?

- I have a Garmin InReach Subscription plan at the moment. Do I need to terminate it before subscribing to your plan or do you take care of it ?
Yes, you need to cancel your Garmin dataplan & account first. We will handle the rest of it.

[Aushiker]

Ah, okay, I understand where you are coming from now.

I assume you do not want tracking, given the €1.50, which makes it a very good option from your maths.

For my use, where I want tracking, the Tracking plan is for me. So it is advantageous to use it for up to two weeks at a time, but beyond that, my current Garmin plan comes out in front. However, I am only likely to use it for more than two weeks at time, once a year, so I might join you in speaking Deutsch .

I have posted a question about purchasing a plan for use in Australia. I will update this thread when I get clarity.

[Aushiker]

Well, that was quick ... I received an answer within minutes ...

[johnrs]

ProteGear is looking really promising!
John

[Aushiker]

ProteGear is looking really promising!
John

Well, I am now speaking Deutsch. Paid the annual subscription and will see how it progresses from there. My existing Garmin subscription expires soon and to use it for three days next week is $55 so decided to jump early.

[ggorgeman]

Putting aside questions of the degree of adequacy of Garmin Inreach as an emergency comm device, I happily pay the $25pm plus the activation fee for the 6-7 months of the year where I'll be heading out remotely. I enjoy the flexibility to be a somewhat casual user and do find the ability to sms family to be especially helpful. Due to some constraints, I've deactivated the plan at the moment; I think the plan has changed (now called Essential I think). Haven't yet looked closely at the specifics.

Update: Essentials Plan has an AUD$70 activation fee then $25pm for unlimited check-in messages (I think these are the pre-set ones, customisable I think) and 50 text messages pm, 10 voice/photo messages. For my circumstances I'm happy with this but am interested in the 3rd party Inreach services mentioned above.

[Allchin09]

Fantastic - let us know how it goes! I don't yet have an InReach so want to confirm it actually works as I'm hoping before dropping the $$$ required

[ggorgeman]

Fantastic - let us know how it goes! I don't yet have an InReach so want to confirm it actually works as I'm hoping before dropping the $$$ required

I've used the Inreach for 2 seasons, mostly 2-3 night outings where there's no (or extremely patchy) mobile coverage. SMS was excellent, just takes a little longer to transmit, and I've just used the keypad on the Inreach which is a bit clunky but actually ok. I tell family that my messages will be fairly short and I'll keep the back-forth conversations limited.

I do have the Garmin apps Messenger, Explore and Earthmate on my phone, one of which can tether to mobile phone for easier messaging. But I haven't resorted to this yet. So, as a fairly basic end-user of the Inreach, I'd say I'm very happy with it and found it easy to use. Plenty of notes online and Youtube clips too.

[Aushiker]

Fantastic - let us know how it goes! I don't yet have an InReach so want to confirm it actually works as I'm hoping before dropping the $$$ required

After payment, I received an email detailing the process going forward. The next step was setting up my account with ProteGear and advising the IME number for the inReach. I am now waiting for them to set up my new account with Garmin. Given the time differences, I am hoping this will happen overnight. The do provide a detailed email of the process going forward which is very helpful.

I am unsure about the cost differences and ongoing costs, but have you considered their ProteGear A*Live v2? Had I known about this option, I may have reconsidered the purchase of the inReach, if for no other reason than to be outside the Garmin eco-system.