Iridium Go

[Sdpaddler50]

My wife and I are coastal cruisers and spend about 4 mos per year Full time on the boat which includes 20 to 50 miles offshore and anchoring and moored at the Channel Islamds off SOCal where cell coverage can be spotty. Boat is a 45 ft. trawler.

We need a reliable source for email, text, and phone for work purposes (well, my wife does not me as I am recently retired).

I have read about some very expensive Satellite systems for both the hardware and data plans which are more than we want to spend. The key being limited satellite use when offshore but back to the hot spot when near land and coverage is adequate.

I saw some good reviews of Iridium Go on this website, so a few questions for the users out there:

Is the voice, data, etc reliable And strong?

Any issues with downloading larger files say in the 50 to 100 Mb size range?

The system can’t support vide conferencing, correct?

I see data plans that require voice require a monthly sign up and the rates are around $100 plus or minus per month?

Is it worth getting the Go Marine system with the external antenna?

Is this a good system for our described needs and Budget or are the others out there we should be considering?

Any other input on things I may be missing is appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[s/v Jedi]

No this will not work for you. I recommend you buy a long range LTE cellular solution instead.

[Discovery 15797]

Jedi is right, this will not satisfy your needs.

I have the Iridium Go, so will speak to your needs.

The data is reliable, but very limited bandwidth makes it very slow.

Text messaging is excellent, with minor delay.

Email is also good, but not for business purposes. The default limit on email is 50 kb. I wouldn't recommend exceeding that limit although it can be adjusted slightly. Files larger than 50 kb go into the Incoming Big Mail folder where they will live forever because it is likely you will never be able to download them during your lifetime. Forget pictures.

Voice is good if you like talking into a can and like delays in the reception. Radio transmissions during the Apollo missions were superior IMHO.

It is completely useless for things like trying to browse the internet, or social media. In fact, there is no support for FB (since they changed their APIs), and you can only post to Twitter (if that's your thing).

If you're heading across the big pond, going to remote places, and not using it for business it definately satisfied my simple needs. But, I would suggest it's not going to satisfy your requirements.

Sorry, I don't have any other reasonably priced alternatives.

[a64pilot]

From my understanding there is no affordable solution for Satellite internet that is faster than dial up modems, not really. It exists but isn’t cheap, one issue of it on Biz Jets is people board connect their phones, laptops etc and they download updates not knowing it and blow the bill though the roof.
Those systems cost I believe thousands of dollars per month, but I have not actually looked into it, just know it’s outside of my ability / desire to pay.

We have a Garmin inReach Explorer which will send txt messages etc, but we rarely use it, just wait until we get cell coverage

[Pizzazz]

As mentioned above, the Iridium Go is good for text and small attachments, under 50K. I have sent larger files on my last Atlantic crossing but it takes long (slow speeds, the connection breaks often, eventually the file will go through but not robust). Depending on your wife’s line of work, short emails may be good enough, though. You would be surprised at how much work you can get done. Also, cruising the Channel Islands is not like crossing an ocean. You have LTE coverage within 10 nm to shore and on some islands.

Alternatives include the Iridium Pilot and the upcoming Starling by SpaceX. This is years away though.

[Dockhead]

I will give a different opinion about this.

I ran my business for 3 months in the Arctic via Iridium Go. It is certainly possible if you are ok with text only emails.

I didn't have good luck with the voice and rarely used it, but the data is supremely useful provided you are able to structure your usage into an extremely low bandwidth mode. You can't browse the internet normally, but you can read web pages -- i read the New York Times regularly. You can get all the weather information you possibly need.

You can send attachments to emails but the bandwidth is extremely limited so the files should be small -- over 500kb gets to be kind of unrealistic. so you can send and receive spreadsheets if they are reasonably compact, and documents without images embedded in them.


The SMS/text service is superb -- almost like from a mobile phone. With the $139/mo plan you get to send and receive unlimited quantities of SMS messages. This is really useful.


I like the Iridium Go and am now regretting having sold mine. But you would never use it anywhere in sight of land; mobile phone data might be 10,000 times faster; that should be Plan A. Iridium Go is for offshore and remote areas.

[Auspicious]

Good Internet at sea (e.g. Vianet) is $25k US in hardware and about $500 US /month.

Iridium runs 2400 bps (slow). Iridium Next is coming but has been delayed...again. Expect all new hardware. Pricing has not been set. Starlink (Elon Musk) is coming. Pricing has not been set. You can expect a premium over HughesNet as a gross estimate.

If you do get an Iridium GO! you definitely want the fixed installation kit and the external antenna. Think hard about upgrading the coax to the antenna to 'big-boy' cable.

Before buying check with Sea-Tech. Owner Richard Anderson is active on CF and is a cruiser - he understands our problems. I don't agree with him on everything but I don't hesitate to recommend him.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

The SMS/text service is superb -- almost like from a mobile phone. With the $139/mo plan you get to send and receive unlimited quantities of SMS messages. This is really useful.

You should know that there is one and only one SMS account per GO!. All text messages are commingled and the first to see it marks it read so you are dependent on remembering to tell anyone else aboard that there is a message for them.

The GO! is really designed to connect to phones and tablets. Getting email and other data on and off a real computer means extra cost.

[johnjuliano]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

You should know that there is one and only one SMS account per GO!. All text messages are commingled and the first to see it marks it read so you are dependent on remembering to tell anyone else aboard that there is a message for them.

The GO! is really designed to connect to phones and tablets. Getting email and other data on and off a real computer means extra cost.

We have found that every device gets all texts that have been sent, no matter whether they have been read.

Emails disappear off the server the moment they have been read, so it is emails you must notify shipmates of. A new, or device which has not connected in a while, will bong with text messages that have already been downloaded to other devices.

The internet protocol is something proprietary called ‘‘maxwell,’’ so even if your laptop connects to the wifi, it will not be able to connect to the internet.

HOWEVER, we use the Iridium Go as a router for all our devices so they all interconnect: printers, scanners, Vesper AIS, etc.

The Iridium GO firmware (and software) is circa 2012, so the device can be a router but cannot be a device on a router like a Vesper, as an example. We have found the voice to be bullet proof offshore, when near shore, tall hills, etc play havoc with satellite reception.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

You should know that there is one and only one SMS account per GO!. All text messages are commingled and the first to see it marks it read so you are dependent on remembering to tell anyone else aboard that there is a message for them.

The GO! is really designed to connect to phones and tablets. Getting email and other data on and off a real computer means extra cost.

I do know, and that worked fine for us. The OP is a couple, so should be ok for him too.


It is possible to connect a real computer to the Go. I liked the Android apps, however, which are easier to use than what you would have to do on a real computer. So my work process was to operate the Go with an Android tablet (ruggedized Samsung Tab Active), which was connected by USB to my ship's computer. It was a snap then to transfer files (like GRIBS) or work with text, on the real computer. Most short correspondence was fine on the tablet.


It worked amazingly well and I was very happy with the Go. It is very reliable for transfer of text emails and small files. SMS is fast and reliable. You could just about have a chat by SMS, and I held effective business meetings that way. I hardly used voice because this was so effective; we must have let 500 minutes of voice calls expire because we just didn't care.


I downloaded full sets of GRIBS via Saildocs 4 times a day hot off the press from NOAA. Never had such good and constantly fresh weather data.


$139 per month very cost effective.

[s/v Jedi]

No, Iridium Go is not suitable for the OP. I have it myself and like it for what it is but that does not change the fact that it is nit what the OP requires, namely:

Strong and reliable voice and data
Videoconferencing
Download 50-100MByte files

Go is none of that.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

No, Iridium Go is not suitable for the OP. I have it myself and like it for what it is but that does not change the fact that it is nit what the OP requires, namely:

Strong and reliable voice and data
Videoconferencing
Download 50-100MByte files

Go is none of that.

Well, if those are his requirements, then naturally Go is out.


But now he knows what the capabilities are; he can decide for himself whether he can fit his business processes within them.



The data is in fact "strong and reliable", but very low bandwidth. That can work in many cases, but obviously you will not have the same work processes like on land.


If he's sailing coastally so will mostly have mobile phone connection, the Go could be quite good for filling the gaps with lessened capability.


But if he must download 50 meg files or have a video conference every day, then yes, Go won't work for that.


Go is pretty much like a 2400 baud modem. Those of us who were running businesses via 2400 baud modems decades ago (I'm dating myself) will understand what to expect.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

It is possible to connect a real computer to the Go.

Yes. That's what I said. XGate is the best of the bunch. Additional annual cost.

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

Good Internet at sea (e.g. Vianet) is $25k US in hardware and about $500 US /month. .

Vianet appears to be a fixed wireless system, similar to Hughes in the US. Is there something else? If the OP's requirements can be satisfied at $500/mo, me and 1000's like me are outta here to be remote workers at sea.

Last I checked, reliable sat comms were in the $8k/mo subscription range. What is the current state of the art for decent office-work level connections?

EDIT - looks like price has come down quite a bit, though still not cheap. Here's 10 Gb/mo at $2800/mo. Depending on your occupation, might be affordable, though would have to be careful on usage.

https://satellitephonestore.com/cata...issionlink-350

Peter

[Sdpaddler50]

Thanks for the input everyone; it is appreciated. As you can tell, I know enough to be dangerous about the subject of satellite communications and just starting the research phase.

We are coastal cruisers, but there have been quite a few occasions when we lost cell coverage. It happened last week at the Channel Islands when I told my wife the area we were in would be fine for reception during an important conference call she was on..it wasn’t.

I knew video conferencing wouldn’t work for IGo, just verifying.

The key for us is periodic use of voice, text, email (sometimes larger files), and access to the web for biz. Some of her conference calls can be one to two hours with many people on line and sometimes she is leading the call so reliability is critical. The Go system sounds great, but will not work for my wife’s biz needs based on this input.

I need to dig into this more, so a few more questions to get me pointed in the right direction:

A Vasat/LTE system is a minimum $15K investment in hardware?

Data plans are $, in the $500/mo range and up?

Are a la carte data plans available?

I don’t mind making the investment of 15 to $20k for the hardware, but long term say 3 to 5 years from now when my wife is also retired and we are only working part time we can’t afford data plans more than 100 to 200 or so bucks per month, or preferably an a la carte plan if one exists.