Sat Phone - Which, And Best Way To Buy

IsatPhone and prepaid

Isat phone, pre-paid $1.00 per minute which is less than what I paid for my mobile, almost anywhere in the world.

We have a Isatphone prepaid also purchased with the subsidy.

But if you want to use the phone for emergencies only I would look for a second hand Sat phone on the Net that works on the Iridium Network ( Network used by Telstra) then I understand that you can put your next G Sim card in the phone when switched to roaming and make calls, may be a bit expensive eg $3 a minute ( this is a guess) but if you do not make many/any calls you can live with the cost.

Then again a second hand phone on the iridium Network could cost more than an Isatphone with subsidy

Peter

The subsidy ends in June. See the other recent thread for details.

The majority of seasoned outback travellers would be on the iridium network. Loads of advantages over the others with the main one being the ability to call 000/112 in an emergency, eg medical not vehicle problems.

Next G sim must be post paid not pre paid.

On that, I'm not sure what would happen if you were on the phone with your prepaid satphone and the credit runs out in the middle of an emergency, got me beat, go post paid for peace of mind.

Muffin Man

Hi Robert

Depending on how long you will be away, you may qualify for the Governments Rebate.

There are many good units around but the one that suited my requirements to a tee was the IsatPhone Pro, on the Pre Paid basis.

The features that attracted me were its cheap price after my Government Subsidy (under $400), no lock in monthly fees, as it is pre paid, if for any reason that I do not use the phone for an extended time, my phone number and SIM Card is still valid and only requires a top up to get the phone active again, and cheap to make out going calls and anyone can send you a 160 character text message for free from the web.

There are a number of pre paid vouchers available, and we also carry a 50 unit voucher in the back pack. I have used it in a number of true outback remote locations and the phone worked first time, every time and locked on to the satellite very quickly.



Go for the IsatPhone and you will be very happy.


Cheers


Stephen

Robert,

We bought an Iridium phone, with Telstra, back when the only choices was this or the Pivotel predecessor.

Got the subsidy but pay $50/month, with $20 of free calls. Seems expensive, but I take the phone with me every trip, twice/week, so gets some regular use.

Recently had a breakdown in the truck, south-east of Cloncurry, and as the mobile network was down over 75% of Qld, was able to ring the workshop on the sat phone, for advice. Made 5 calls for a total of just over 10 mins for $16.55, so they were free. Oh, and fixed the breakdown with a piece of No.8 wire out of a nearby fence!

Changing to a cheaper plan is one of my "gunna" jobs, but we've had plenty of use of the phone, often in an emergency situation on 2 or 3 occasions.

Bob.

Robert, I have just gone through this exercise and I agree with Stephen L. The Isat phone worked out the best for us. Main use will be for emergency situations. I was also able to get the subsidy and the phone cost was just over $100 plus a prepaid 100 minutes good until December 2014 at a cost just under $200.

I used ClientSAT and spoke with Rob who was knowledgable, very helpful, efficient and can highly recommend him.

Disclaimer: No affiliation just a satisfied customer.

One of the main things you want to find out is if you can dial Australian based 13, 1300 and 1800 numbers.

There are a fair few providers here in Australia who on-sell overseas services, if this is the case you will not be able to phone Australian 13, 1300 and 1800 numbers from it.... some may not think this is important but the truth is many companies in Australia use these numbers for their call centres and don't offer or advertise a conventional number.

Another thing is check what it costs for someone to phone you from their mobile or landline.