I've been wanting to get a sat phone for a while now. Our cell service has actually gotten worse where I live and we now have no service within 12 miles of where we live.
If you have one who did you buy it through? I only found like 1 dealer in a Google search and I few on Amazon, all seem to have mixed reviews.

Do you have internet service at your home? If so there are much better options for service in and around your home.

I’ve only rented them, last couple years for off grid hunting.

Rented the newest model last year thinking it would work better.
Pretty much sucked.  Standing in an open field on a clear night 5-15 minutes to get a decent signal.  Under trees, forget it.
I can’t imagine it would work in a house w/o an external antenna.

I would look for any other solutions.

Having a satellite phone is expensive.

Is there any cellular service there at all? Maybe consider a cellular signal booster instead. It's a 110V box with an antenna outside (and another antenna inside) that propagates the signal inside your structure.

This is not a good use case for traditional satellite voice providers.

1 - as asked, how's that internet?
If you are getting internet, you can piggyback a device off of it to give you a bubble of LTE.
If you aren't getting internet, you need to be starlinking, then see above.

Lastly, there are some very creative solutions to extending cellular to where you are assuming you aren't so far from a tower.

(Unless this is just because you want a satphone. I own three, they uniformly suck, are 1990's cell phone by the minute expensive, and don't work like on tv.)
(Unless this is because you don't want a lot of connectivity up there for... reasons. I get that too)

To be clear, I am very pro sat stuff. Were I in your boat, I would be seeing what signal I got on the top of some thick tv antenna poles, then starlink way before I pulled the sat trigger.

More info.
To answer some questions and give more info: I spoke to satellitephonestore dot com. I wanted to know if they are legit?

They recommended the iridium 9555 for my situation. Anybody have that model?

Expensive? I think it's about $100 a month. That doesn't bother me.

The sat phone won't be for regular calling. It's for emergencies when I'm driving the 12 miles in no man's land.

I have satellite internet. I just got my first cell phone that says it has WiFi calling but still won't work on my WiFi. My computer guy was here and his phone worked (on WiFi), but mine won't. Doesn't really matter though because see above. Sat phone isn't for use in/at my home.

My understanding is that as your cell phone has more Gs it has a shorter range. Research how close 5g towers have to be. A couple years ago I was told that cell providers would continue to use 3g for traveling and 5g for in cities. Now I am told that in February the government mandated all 2g and 3g towers be turned off. Now it's 4g only. So now I have absolutely zero cell signal. I used to be able to go outside and get a spotty signal or a text and I could walk up on the hill behind my house for more signal. Now nothing.

Another question is if I pay for a US phone number will people also be able to call me just like a normal US phone, no international code stuff? I'm afraid a tow truck driver wouldn't be able to figure out how to call me back if they have to dial all that extra stuff.

Anyway, the sat phone is just to keep with me in case I break down and or have a medical emergency in the dead zone.

T mobile and elon musk are supposed to be teaming up to use satellites for t mobile, which would be awesome, but they only just sent up the first satellites and in their press release they say they start using it for voice calls "in the coming years". I don't want to wait that long. But I assure you I'll be first in line to switch to t mobile when it comes online.

If that's what you want then you are absolutely barking up the wrong tree with a satellite phone. What you want is a "satellite messenger", i.e. a device which does text messaging over satellites. It is perfect for emergencies anywhere, anytime. It is far less expensive and potentially much more useful. And they all have an "SOS" button so if you don't have enough wits about you after falling down a large cliff or whatever all you have to do is push one button.

IMHO, the Garmin inReach Messenger is the best solution, but you may have your own personal preferences. You can choose from several Garmin options, Zoleo, and Bivy Stick. All of those use the Iridium constellation. Motorola Defy uses INMARSAT. And SPOT uses Globalstar--I don't recommend SPOT.

There are a million explanatory/comparison videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=satellite+messenger+comparison

You should definitely endeavor to get this fixed. You can also buy a nanocell/femtocell/picocell device from your cellular phone provider. For example, Verizon calls their version the "network extender". The hardware costs you money but the service if free. It will attach to your internet connection and create a small cellular phone tower in your house. If you got shitty Hughes Net this may not work so well, but if you've got StarLink you should have no problems at all with either Wi-Fi calling or a mini in-home cell tower.

That's mostly true, but it is a bit more complicated than that. Yes, 2G is 99.9% gone, and 3G is going fast. 4G has decent range, however. With an appropriate antenna, antenna mast and good quality cellular repeater you might be able to achieve service in your house that way. However, if you internet is reliable enough, buying a femtocell unit from your provider is a MUCH easier, better performing, and less expensive approach.

My concern is I think if I had to "call" a tow truck they probably only have a landline and can't text. I know our 911 receives texts somehow but I'm not sure how to even text to the local 911. If I had to call home for somebody to come get me there is no cell service yo receive a text at home.
As far just texting, supposedly (from post I've read on a local Facebook scanner watch group) iPhones can use satellites for texting. I've seen it discussed when hikers have texted 911 because they were lost or injured 60 miles from town.

I'd have to call a couple tow companies to see if they even take texts.

Eta: also t mobile is supposed to roll out text over satellite sooner than voice over satellite, so if all I needed was text that'd be an option soon.

iridium 9555

Pretty sure that’s the one I rented.  It would eventually get a workable signal.  I usually kept it off, maybe keeping it on a charger and on it wouldn’t be a pain, I don’t know.

I have an Inreach that works much better.

This changes things.

We would have to know more about the terrain in that area. If you don't have a clear shot due to canyons, cliffs, foliage, etc etc... your options dwindle. If you are not wanting to bolt it to your vehicle, your options dwindle.

If it is truly a no mans land, satellite is not a surety.

Having said that, now that your use case is better defined... would a two way radio work in that area?

I would first rent me an expensive mobile phone amp, and see if I could get at least two bars with it. That would be the most unobtrusive.

Second, I would see if I could 'hit' my house with a radio from the worst point in the 12 mile leg. If that's possible, I'd look at one of those long range home phones, or something similar.

Third, if you guys can get DSL or some kind of cable internet on that road, and there are others, I would half way consider approaching the neighbors and talk about getting a hotspot installed on that route; if it were serious enough, I'd just do it myself.

The problem with multiple numbers is that you will have multiple numbers, and that, as a person who has had like five or six at one time, unless you can come up with some sort of attendant system, no one is going to call all those numbers. I had two for about a year last year, and it was a mess.

If you get the 9555, splurge and get the external antenna. It makes a difference.


wifi - either your phone or your router is the problem. Does your phone have the user and password? when you log into your router, do you see your phone attached?

I have the 9555 for work. We have a large group PTT plan. In phone mode it works fine for the monthly test call.

Is there nobody outside the dark territory that you could text?

It sounds like you need to solve your home phone problem first. Again, if you have decent satellite internet this is trivial.

@zoe17 are you in the US and do you use a US phone number?

This thread has really gotten off topic. All I wanted was answers about sat phones. Now we're talking about internet and installing hotspots on the roadside.

Yes in US. Yes US phone number with USA country code.

So if somebody calls your phone they just dial like any other US phone number? They don't have to enter internation codes or anything?
I was reading about how to call a sat phone and is sounded pretty complicated, but they offer a UD phone number for more money. I just wanted to be certain how it works.
Thanks.

apologies.

I'm out

Sorry. Didn't mean to run you off. You seemed to know something about sat phones since you suggested the external antenna, which I think comes in the kit I was looking at.
Thanks for the info about everything, I just wanted to keep this specific to sat phones.

I lived by satphones for a decade. No offense but its unlikely you can afford it if its anything but emergency use, Ive got Thuraya, Inmarsat, and Iridium phones and terminals and Ive humped them all over the world. I used to run a $20,000 per month inmarsat bill from the BGAN. The iridium bill was covered by DoD and my personal Thuraya bill was $350-400 and that was typical every single month. What the satphone dealers in the US wont tell you is that on the low tier plans like you mentioned at $100/mp. They dont roll over. They disappear. Then they fuck you on the sims and the sim fees. They nickle and dime the shit out of you. I’ll give you a hell of a deal on a satphone in good shape, used in a combat zone but the service providers will cornhole you on a year of activation at the lower end plans.


I think the best way to do it these days is commercial VOIP over starlink or wait for the starlink handset that is coming. If you need an immediate solution the sat messengers someone listed above is probably the best chpice followed by a Shout Nano.

I never heard of SIM fees, please explain.
I also hadn't heard about a starlink handset. Originally I heard elon was going to make a new cell phone service that satellite instead of cellular, but now what I'm hearing is he's teaming up with t mobile and you'll just buy a t mobile phone and use starlink satellites. Can't come soon enough for me.
Btw, what was your opinion of the performance of the iridium phone and service? I explained where I live and the terrain and that's what satellite phone store recommended.
Thank you.

I used to want one for hunting and fishing when in an area with no cell service.

$1000 phone
$ 65/ month for 10 minutes of talk time. No rollover.

Garmin inReach put those wants to pasture.

Came in handy when I almost got stranded by a flash flood that covered the farm road. I was able to text my wife and make a backup plan in case I had to walk out and leave the truck.

Great offshore too.

$13 per month.

OP, folks are trying to steer you away from a sat phone because for most folks, they suck for what you are paying.

Find a handful of trustworthy friends you can text in an emergency ( or you can always hit the 911 button) and get the inReach.

I have InReach that we activate for the two months we travel out West. Great peace of mind. And texting works well. Family can follow on the map as well.

I can't get into to much detail, but as I said above: texting wouldn't cut it for me, that'd be maybe 10% helpful. I don't need it for at home, fixing my WiFi calling issue at home is pointless for the purposes of what I need the sat phone for.
I need a way to make voice calls where there is no cell coverage. Period. I will buy a sat phone, or wait until elon gets his sat phones up and running. (Slightly different because he's using regular cell tower technology mounted on a satellite so it uses a normal cell phone)

I have a 9505. Yes it’s a little old but works fine for what I need it to. Took it overseas in 2021. I also have a intouch reach that I have texted my family to let them know I was ok.
Jm2c