Iridium Go
Submitted: Tuesday, Feb 24, 2015 at 19:23
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Yabbo
My wife and I are about to hit the road in our camper trailer and land cruiser and I am interested in an Iridium Go. It seems like a good option to me as you don't need an extra Satellite handset, you simply use your iPhone via WiFi. Has anyone used one of these things? Does it work
well? I imagine that I'd fire it up occasionally and
check for SMS's from the family or others who want to contact me. Do they simply SMS my existing number, or do they need a separate number for the Go.
Any info would be appreciated.
Cheers
Yabbo
Reply By: TomH - Tuesday, Feb 24, 2015 at 20:13
Tuesday, Feb 24, 2015 at 20:13
Read about it here
http://www.iridiumphones.com.au/iridiumgo-satellitewifi-hotspot.htm
Plenty more info if you Google it
Was a thread a couple of weeks ago if you go back a few pages.
Personally I would buy a s/h Motorola 9555 and stick my Telstra sim in it and away you go.
Admittedly $4 a minute for calls but we only had it for emergencies and it cost $8 for 2 years use and I got my money back when I sold it.
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Follow Up By: Yabbo - Tuesday, Feb 24, 2015 at 21:26
Tuesday, Feb 24, 2015 at 21:26
Yes, that is the other option. Certainly cheaper in the long run.
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Reply By: Stephen_L - Wednesday, Feb 25, 2015 at 17:01
Wednesday, Feb 25, 2015 at 17:01
I recently purchased an Iridium phone. I looked at the Iridium go didn't think it suited my needs as an emergency phone.
Seems great if you want to use data for email etc but not as a phone for a quick emergency situation. Also in a emergency situation I don't really want to have to depend on two pieces of technology.
A normal iridium handset can simply get chucked in a backpack and off you go.
And for anyone who is interested. I can categorically state that you can still get a Telstra $10 sim and it does work with an iridium handset.
My sim arrived earlier this week and once international roaming was activated (after two attepmtps) it works fine.
But it was a bit of mucking around to get.
Cheers
Stephen
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: TomH - Wednesday, Feb 25, 2015 at 18:30
Wednesday, Feb 25, 2015 at 18:30
Tell us how as there was a recent thread that doubted the availability of the $10 sim.
Presumably it is a postpaid account and if so how long for.
When we were travelling I just took my sim out of my phone and stuck it in the Satfone never cost anything above the monthly plan cost I was on.
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Follow Up By: Stephen_L - Wednesday, Feb 25, 2015 at 19:36
Wednesday, Feb 25, 2015 at 19:36
Hi Tom
It was me that started that recent thread and using the advice that was provided in the thread I was able to get the SIM.
This is the thread
Essentially I had to call them because the Telstra stores know very little to nothing.
I told them what I wanted only to be told it doesn't exist, I told them it did and to please
check with someone who might know. Eventually someone was found who said it does exist
When it came time to process the request the operator couldn't find the plan in his computer and had to phone someone to find out how to process it, etc.... etc
eventually got it sorted then activated global roaming, received confirmation that it was active but still got
invalid SIM so activated a second time and now everything works.
Alls
well that ends
well.
I know I can just swap the SIM from my usual phone which was my original plan but I found the process tedious, firstly my phone has a mini SIM so I had to use an adaptor because the iridium uses a full size SIM. Also getting the SIM out of my phone is really fidly, puting it in the Iridium is pretty easy however given that this phone is for emegrencies on a three month trip I figured I would get the SIM so me or my partner didnt have to mess about with SIM cards if one of us is lying in a heap having been bitten by a snake.
Cheers
Stephen
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: TomH - Wednesday, Feb 25, 2015 at 22:16
Wednesday, Feb 25, 2015 at 22:16
Ok so its $10 a month postpaid (on a plan) for how long.
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Follow Up By: dean ( SA ) - Wednesday, Feb 25, 2015 at 22:37
Wednesday, Feb 25, 2015 at 22:37
Well done Stephen L for persisting that Telstra poke around and find the $10 casual postpaid plan.
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Follow Up By: Stephen_L - Thursday, Feb 26, 2015 at 20:44
Thursday, Feb 26, 2015 at 20:44
@Tom - It's a $10 plan no contract leave whenever you want there was also no connection fee of any kind. Just a simple plan, as it should be.
@ Dean - thanks, sometimes it's worth the effort other times not.
Cheers
Stephen
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Member - mark D18 - Wednesday, Feb 25, 2015 at 18:31
Wednesday, Feb 25, 2015 at 18:31
I use my Telstra sim (on a plan ) as
well in my iridium 9555
The phone cost me $650.00 and works
well.
Its only for emergency . it stay in the troopie all the time
Cheers
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Reply By: Member - Tony F8 - Wednesday, Feb 25, 2015 at 19:24
Wednesday, Feb 25, 2015 at 19:24
I have had a iridium 9505 for quiet some years, thanks to the government giving me one because I ran tag tours, not the latest in technology, but is rugged and reliable, had a quick look on fleabay and you can pick them up from $350. Will do everything you need for emergency situations, very quick satellite acquisition and simple to use. That would be my recommendation and you can buy a mountt cheap enough so its always there when you need it.
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Reply By: Sigmund - Thursday, Feb 26, 2015 at 08:48
Thursday, Feb 26, 2015 at 08:48
Iridium and Inmarsat have both released devices like the Go that are targeted at the casual data user.
Has anyone done the numbers on data speed and cost per KB?
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Follow Up By: Stephen_L - Thursday, Feb 26, 2015 at 20:53
Thursday, Feb 26, 2015 at 20:53
From memory the speed for the Iridium is 2.4Kbps.
That is ridiculously slow, like VERY slow.
Cant remember costs
However Iridium are planning a new network of satellites to replace existing fleet. These will have much higher speeds available and will be backward compatible with existing handsets.
Not sure if the newly released GO will be able to operate at the higher speeds when (if) the new satellites are deployed.
Cheers
Stephen
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Follow Up By: Sigmund - Thursday, Feb 26, 2015 at 22:38
Thursday, Feb 26, 2015 at 22:38
Inmarsat's BGAN claims up to 492kbps. Divide by 8 for Bytes, ie. one character.
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Follow Up By: Member - Boobook - Friday, Feb 27, 2015 at 06:12
Friday, Feb 27, 2015 at 06:12
Further to Stephen's comments. Not is it only ridiculously slow but you can't just browse or email. You have to use special apps to communicate.
2400BPS modems were the ants pants in 1994. The rule even back then was text only, no pictures. An average web page will take 10 mins or so to download.
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Follow Up By: Sat Phone Sales - Sunday, Mar 01, 2015 at 07:35
Sunday, Mar 01, 2015 at 07:35
Hi Stephen, you are quite correct that the new Iridium constellation will support higher data speeds and will support older phones, however older phones will still work only at the 2.4kbps speed. The only device that is forward compatible is the Iridium GO!
So for those wanting to keep up with new satellite developments the GO! Is the logical choice.
It also has some major advantages, couple it with an external antenna and you have an Excellent in car / van solution needing no expensive car kit. It also supports and has the emergency button like the 9575, something lacking in the 9555 and older. The unit is also IP65 rated making it very dust and water proof unlike older handsets.
We've sold quite a few of these and hear only good things. Pretty sure our pricing is the most competitive out there too! :)
And answering the OP - yes the unit will have it,s own number. Depending on plan of choice this may be an Oz mobile number or an international iridium number.
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Follow Up By: Sat Phone Sales - Sunday, Mar 01, 2015 at 07:43
Sunday, Mar 01, 2015 at 07:43
As an alternative the Isathub is a very good choice. Voice, SMS and data at 384 kbps (3g like speeds).
Calls are very cheap and data varies from about $3 to $5 per MB. Whilst that sounds horrific there are ways to use the system without running up huge bills.
If People are interested in seeing how these devices work I'd encourage them to view the videos on our website www.satphonesales.com.au
Third link down under categories.
Regards,
Kev
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Follow Up By: Sigmund - Sunday, Mar 01, 2015 at 11:14
Sunday, Mar 01, 2015 at 11:14
Thanks for the info Kev.
Given the prevalence of cloud-based applications on laptops, smart phones and tablets, you have to take care to turn them all off if file storage or backup isn't essential. Otherwise they beaver away in the background chewing up your data allowance. In the case of wireless broadband a 4G connection sucks up the bytes fast.
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Follow Up By: Sat Phone Sales - Sunday, Mar 01, 2015 at 14:18
Sunday, Mar 01, 2015 at 14:18
Indeed Sigmund - for this reason we have a series of recommendations for our data device customers. This includes the use of two way firewalls, browsers which strip unnecessary content and use inline servers to compress content,
services that provide highly compressed channels for mail and file access plus more.
Not as scary as it sounds. Incidentally devices like the IsatHub have very sophisticated built in firewalls and quota management systems that are not too hard to configure and understand.
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Follow Up By: Member - Boobook - Monday, Mar 02, 2015 at 09:45
Monday, Mar 02, 2015 at 09:45
Your information is very welcome and informative Kev. I assumed the Iridium Go was always stuck at 2400bps. It is right to assume that it will be 9600 - 64K on the new sat system for normal connections. That would be worth investigating.
Thanks for the information Kev.
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Follow Up By: Sat Phone Sales - Saturday, Mar 07, 2015 at 11:48
Saturday, Mar 07, 2015 at 11:48
Hi Boobook, we haven't heard what the new speeds will be for sure. The comment "3G like speeds" has been thrown around and would be very open to interpretation.
What's for sure is that it'll be better than the present Iridium standard of 2.4kbps. Not that it's hard to beat that!
Give the "future proof" feature of the device, it's versatility and flexibility of use in vehicles and vans, along with ruggedness I reckon it puts the handsets to shame. The price point compared to regular handsets makes the GO exceptional value for those that must have an Iridium service.
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