What satellite phone or Wi-Fi would you recommend?

[Gsxrmike]

Heading to Zim. I would like to rent a satellite phone. Also thinking of some type of internet access but want something that is very user friendly and does not require an IT tech to use.
Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[Kevin Davenport]

Iridium 9555 with basic 60 plan is what I use when traveling.

 

[sierraone]

Used Inmarsat and Iridium in Iraq 2004 - 2009. Never had any issues. Globalstar had a bad reputation at this time. I never had the opportunity to use one personally. I talked to a sat phone dealer at DSC last year. The current phones are capable of far more tasks than the ones I used. So if you are buying, do some serious research. If you are just renting, just concentrate on the tasks that you want the phone to accomplish. Don't worry about all the capabilities that you need a computer degree to understand. Good Luck! Unless you are one to have to have 24 hour contact with family or business. Your PH and/or Outfitter may have all the connections you need without buying or renting a sat phone. Talk to them to be sure!

 

[Gsxrmike]

Thanks!

 

[Bullthrower338]

I just bought a 9575 iridium to replace my old one, just opened the box the other night and read the manual, this thing has a ton more features than my old one(prolly never use half of them, hope to only need to use it to call for a meat pick up from the bush). I will post back here when I figure this thing out a bit more. I believe my old one is the 55 and it worked great, just figured it was time for an upgrade.
Cheers,
Cody

 

[sandman0921]

This thread is very timely in that I've been kicking the tires on a Sat phone recently........

I've been debating purchasing versus renting an Iridium 9575 Extreme phone for an upcoming Alaska Dall Sheep hunt this August. I'm leaning towards purchasing the phone outright as I'm headed to the NWT for mountain caribou/moose next year, BC for a Stone's sheep/mountain goat hunt in 2017, probably my first Africa trip in 2018, and Alberta for RM Bighorn Sheep in 2019.

The only reason I thought about renting one was I wasn't sure if Sat phones were like cell phones and new ones came out every year, making the current ones would obsolete.

I've pretty much settled on the Iridium phones as they get the best reviews usually from what I've read. I'm leaning towards the 9575 Extreme for ruggedness but could be swayed towards a lesser model if there's not much difference.....

As far as the plans go, do most of you that have Sat phones use the regional plans (i.e., Alaska/Canada, Africa, etc) or go with the global plans?

Also, any recommended vendors to rent/purchase the equipment/plans from?

Any guidance as far as what to look out for, etc. would be much appreciated......

 

[sierraone]

In response to your "plan" question. My 2 cents......If you decide to go with a sat phone and if you are are going to Africa or Asia, have a global plan. If you are hunting the USA or Canada, a regional plan should work fine. If you are going half way around the world, it's not the hunt that you necessarily need the global plan for, but for the unpredictable that could happen anytime while traveling to or from your actual hunting country. Just my thoughts on the subject!

 

[Bullthrower338]

This is the one I got, I purchased the kit with it. Pelican case, int power adapters, extra battery, and auto/home chargers. I buy the 1 yr global 500 min card. If I can't say what needs to be said in 500 minutes, I must be talking to my ex.

 

[sandman0921]

This is the one I got, I purchased the kit with it. Pelican case, int power adapters, extra battery, and auto/home chargers. I buy the 1 yr global 500 min card. If I can't say what needs to be said in 500 minutes, I must be talking to my ex.

I didn't see a link or a picture, but I'm assuming the kit is the one I've seen advertised by a few Sat phone sales companies. That's the one I'm leaning heavily towards. 500 minutes is a lot of talking...

 

[Bullthrower338]

Dammit, sorry! Bought from Blue Cosmo off amazon.

 

[sandman0921]

Dammit, sorry! Bought from Blue Cosmo off amazon.View attachment 44638

Great! Thanks.

 

[JimP]

Besides the phone you might also pick up a voltage converter.

On my safari they had them in the rooms but half of them didn't work and if you get away from where they provide them you may have a hard time finding one when you need it.

 

[35bore]

Iridium 9555 with basic 60 plan is what I use when traveling.

+1

If you have issues during your conversation, just contact the Department of Homeland Security for a full transcript of your call.

 

[Bullthrower338]

+1

If you have issues during your conversation, just contact the Department of Homeland Security for a full transcript of your call.

I definitely wouldn't go plotting against the white man on a SAT phone!lol

 

[sandman0921]

+1

If you have issues during your conversation, just contact the Department of Homeland Security for a full transcript of your call.

Very funny.......and sadly, very true.....

 

[Kevin Davenport]

+1

If you have issues during your conversation, just contact the Department of Homeland Security for a full transcript of your call.

Lol. Quite true

 

[sandman0921]

Purchased the Iridium 9575 Extreme bundle with extra battery and Northern Lights prepaid plan from Blue Cosmo, Inc. Hopefully it's a good investment. I think so.... At least it'll keep me in contact with the wife and kids when I'm in some of these remote locations over the next few years. Peace of mind is worth a lot.....

 

[edward]

at 77 im still in the dial phone mentality,oh well.

 

[spike.t]

at 77 im still in the dial phone mentality,oh well.

hey @edward what about when you used to picked up the phone and the operator asked what number you would like?

 

[JimP]

at 77 im still in the dial phone mentality,oh well.

hey @edward what about when you used to picked up the phone and the operator asked what number you would like?

In my career with a phone company I worked and everything. The grounded magneto phones that worked off of a old telegraph line which was a single steel wire attached to iron poles. These were the crank phones and the reason for iron poles was so that the Native Americans (Indians) wouldn't chop them down to use as firewood in the late 1800's. Also as we called them the hello Sarah phones where you picked up the receiver and got a operator without doing anything else. Then there were the party lines. A couple of the areas that I worked had them up to 32 parties on the same line. You had to listen to the rings to tell if the call was for you. A example was three short rings and one long one. Kids didn't talk on these lines very much since the lady down the road would be listing to it.

I did a stint on the micro wave crew and worked on fiber optics DSL lines and broadband and by the time that I was finished and retired I could say that I could do it all. Now there are cell and sat phones and the old land line phones are going the way of the dodo bird. But I still look back at what I did from stringing wire to splicing fibers and I still like the old ways best. I once asked a friend why he put up with such lousy service from his cell provider, and his answer was "just because" but let the same problems like dropped calls or static on the line along with not being able to hear the other person and they would put in a call to the repair service in a heartbeat. But let the same things happen with a cell or sat phone and they just put up with it.

I guess that I am a old fart that likes the old times a lot better.