Satellite Phone/Hotspot

There are still somee 2-way Sat companies out there which are useful for RVers. alas ViaSat is not. but Hughes still has the 7000 system.

Problem is long lag time and slow speeds compared to what you are used to. Fast compared to DSL though.. and limited GigaBytes.

I use IridiumGO. It's a satellite transceiver that uses a WiFi Hotspot setup to connects to your existing smartphone. The equipment is about $1,000 as I have it but that's with a fixed rooftop antenna, docking station, and portable non-hotspot kit as well. If you just do portable, the kits can be had for as low as $500 or so. The nice thing is you can still use your smartphone as the handset (no need for any second satellite handset) so you have all your stuff right with you. The hotspot device can also be used in a portable mode so you can take it with you as you hike away from the RV and still have full communications with the portable antenna.

The monthly plans is where you need to be careful. I have a full plan for $125 a month. This gives me about 3 hours of full talk time along with unlimited messaging/texting and unlimited data use. Now many will think why not use an internet based phone service and get all the calls free? Well the satellite internet does have latency issues which makes normal conversation buggy at best. The voice minutes is immediate.

There are other satellite services, but my main concern was being able to use my smartphone instead of carrying two handsets. And since it's a hotspot, I can also use my laptop on the same system. The added portability of the entire hotspot made it a winner in my book.

And to add, the nice thing is you have the option on your smartphone of using satellite (with portable kit) when no cell service is available or using cell service if it's available.

pauldub wrote:
I have a Garmin In-reach that is useful for sending text messages via satellite. It connects to my phone via bluetooth and I use Garmin's app to type the messages. It uses the Iridium satellite constellation for service. You do need to see some sky and the more sky you can see, the sooner the message gets sent. They have a variety of service plans that you can choose from depending on how many messages you think you might be sending. You can buy an In-reach device from REI and return it if it doesn't do what you want. If the Garmin or Spot satellite devices won't do what you need, your only other option may be HF with an amateur radio license.

I second the garmin in-reach. had it now for 2 years and it has been amazing. besides the text services and emergency it has GPS mapping, weather, tracking, etc. Worked in the middle of the ocean, no problem, worked all around south america, no problems, US and canada no problems, islands in the atlantic, no problem.

works virtually anywhere in the world and you get 2 way communication via iridium sat system. I have about 40 stored contacts I can text to and 20 saved canned messages. and then you can free form. Can text from the inreach, or text from a phone via bluetooth, or use phone voice to text. And anyone you want to give permission to can track you via a web app.

And in an emergency you have 2 way contact with extraction services which is included in the plan.

Previously I had used spot. Not a good experience. I had 3 devices fail in 4 years, twice while in the boonies. Yes they replaced them but had it been an emergency I'd have been hosed.
And reception was spotty at best. Often took 1-2 hours for a text to go out, at least the newest version allows 2 way communication.

And in places the spot was taking long times to send the inreach was quick. In fact anytime it is outside I've never had to wait more than a few minutes for it to complete transmission of a text message.

Spot's advantage is lower cost both initial and annual costs and slightly smaller size.

In reach is more expensive than the spot products, but uses a better sat system and more 2 way communication capability.


If you look for a sat phone solution, there are 2 basic systems. One uses GEOS sat's, no clear view of southern sky, no reception.
The other uses LEO (low earth orbit) which is what iridium is, that cover the whole earth. worst case if you are in a canyon you may need to wait 10-15 minutes for a sat to come into view then get 45 minutes of reception.

Garmin does now have an inreach mini, lower cost but more limited in what it can do.

None of these solutions work well inside buildings, but seem to work ok in a trailer. Even inside a house I can see the connection issues.

If you want a hotspot for more than text, then you'd need either a good cell booster or a sat phone with data plan. Sat phone with data is NOT inexpensive and the phones are rather expensive. If you get one I'd recomend one using the LEOS sat's, Friends have had the best luck with Iridium based phones.