Satellite Phone

Sat sleeves are basically the same price as a Thuraya phone so I really cant see the sense. You then have two items to do one job and if either fail your screwed.

Hi Veight

I just took delivery of a Satsleeve hotspot last week. Had my first chance to use it today as a test and I am very happy with it's ease of use and clarity of incoming call. I tested both receiving and making calls and it was great. The speed of satellite acquisition was good. Some reports of difficulty with satellite connection on the east coast of Australia ( QLD Sunshine Coast) wasn't evident.

Hi Veight

I have an Iridium Extreme connected with Pivotel at $40 per month. I also have a 4G $30 a month mobile plan via Optus. My total mobile cost is $70 per month.

Each time I go bush I use my Satphone by simply diverting my 4G mobile to my Satphone, any incoming call to my Optus mobile is automatically diverted at no cost to me, either for the diversion or for the incoming Satphone call.

If I want to speak to someone I usually just send them an SMS (50 cents) and ask they call me back. For most people this is free as the Pivotel Iridium is simply a mobile number and most phone plans these days allow free mobile-to-mobile calls. If I am travelling without Mrs Landy, she calls in most days and that even saves me the SMS message cost.

Now this won’t suit everyone, either the $70 per month total cost, or the fact you are constantly accessible (if you want to be – when I don’t want to be I turn if off!). But I have gleaned from many discussions over the years that there is a perceived lack of value for what is often seen as an emergency device only.

For us the Satphone is part of our communication package ensuring we are accessible at all times no matter where we are. Noting, we have an external antenna and in-car kit.

We get great value from ours, just need to think about how you want to use it.

Blog - Satphones, Don't get hung-up on costs

Cheers, Baz – The landy

Thank you everyone for replying. I forgot to mention that I was thinking of selling my Iridium and switching to using the Hot spot only.
I will do some more thinking.
Thanks Again . Matthew

I have a SatSleeve and love it. The HotSpot is the same thing just with a different carrier that can be swapped out to a sleeve carrier.
We love the fact that the unit is used just like the phone that we already know how to use. Don't have to learn additional devices.
Also the account can be suspended when you don't need it so you don't have to keep paying monthly fees for nothing.