If travelling alone in areas with no normal telephone reception then I suggest a sat phone is a must and a PLB, similar to a Garmin inReach Explorer+

Take care and safe travels

CarolynJCosenza wrote:

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Excuse my nativity but what is a PLB?
Thanks for your reply

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 Personal Locator Beacon. No ongoing costs, battery lasts years. Cheers

CarolynJCosenza wrote:

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Hi, does anyone have any satellite setup advice? Is there a monthly fee for access? Is it worth me also getting a CB Radio and satellite phone. Im travelling by myself and i would like to be able to contact help if needed

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 Hi Carolyn,

Your thread title refers to Internet but your question refers to emergency communications. 

Essentially these are two different things (although very recent developments have brought them much closer together).

My wife & I travel alone in remote areas & carry two emergency communication devices.

One is a satellite phone & the other is a PLB (Personal Locator Beacon). We believe both are essential.

The PLB is the 'Life & death' scenario item. One off use, activate it to bring in emergency services wherever you are. Lasts unused for 7 years. It has no ability to send messages or voice comms - just an emergency satellite signal.

The satellite phone has wider use - talking to emergency services who are looking for you, getting medical advice, organising spare parts, letting friends/family know your situation etc. Whilst internet is possible via a satellite phone it is very slow & *very* expensive. Nobody would use a satellite phone for regular internet use. 

For regular internet use until recently most people relied on a mobile phone signal with Telstra having by far the widest coverage. However whilst covering most populated areas , once away from main roads & in the outback coverage is mostly only available within about a 20 to 30km radius of towns & communities.  So if you need internet regularly you have to choose where you travel & accept that you will be travelling from signal to signal with nothing in between in more remote areas. 

The 'new kid on the block' is a game changer for travellers, with fast internet Australia wide. This is Starlink. - not cheap at $174 a month for unlimited internet anywhere. Potentially it also removes the need for a satphone too, as it allows wifi calling from your mobile phone. Although they do say that their service cannot guarantee emergency communications. But then nor can a satellite phone - it's the best technology we've had until recently, but any satellite technology can be temporarily rendered inoperable by heavy cloud or storms. 

For now we are continuing with our Satphone & PLB. The PLB will always remain in our emergency comms. It's a 'no brainer' & is the bare minimum we thing anyone travelling alone whether or not in remote areas should have. Our Satphone is a Thuraya & provides the most cost effective emergency communications. Monthly cost is $16.50 plus call costs. These are $1 per minute or 50c for a text. It provides a standard Australian mobile number so others can call you for nothing if they have an unlimited call mobile phone plan. A 50c text saying call me results in talking as long as you want for no additional cost. 

For the past 5 years or so we used a Thuraya XT lite satphone. It did the job, & is now doing the job for the person I recently sold it too. We changed to a Thuraya Satsleeve Hotspot. Same service, same sim card, same monthly cost BUT it has a couple of significant advantages. Instead of an old fashioned & rather 'clunky' phone (press key several times for letters of the alphabet when texting for example) it now converts our mobile phone to a satphone giving us the familiar touch screen plus all our contacts in one place. We consider this familarity far better than fumbling around with a clunky old phone that we haven't used  for ages & which we have to re-learn every time we do, in an emergency situation. The 'Hotspot' part of the Satsleeve Hotspot means that it is not physically with your mobile phone. It sets up a wifi with about a 30 metre radius, so you can set it up & then talk from the comfort of the shade, or move around without losing the signal. 

Now there are also devices which are a cross between PLB's & Satphones too. Mostly as far as I know they have the PLB emergency signal, plus some limited form of messaging & often tracking so friends or family can see where you are on a map. These all (I think) have a subscription service which can end up being more costly than a satphone which you buy (or hire) & without the ability for two way voice communications. 

We are hoping to get another travel vehicle soon which will provide us with the space to carry a Starlink dish & think we will go that way, keeping the PLB & maybe ditching the satphone. The advantage the satphone has is that unlike the Starlink, it doesn't need unpacking & setting up, which in an emergency could make a difference. 

A PLB costs around $400, lasts 7 years & costs nothing to register it with the emergency services (AMSA), & there are no costs for rescue services in genuine life threatening situations.

A Thuraya Satphone is around $1000 new to buy. The older (but still current model) XT - lite I sold recently for $350 (sold within 15 minutes of advertising) & the Satsleeve Hotspot (also used) I paid $500 for. 

We also have a UHF radio (CB radio), which is useful for talking to other road users & road workers now & then, but not suitable to be relied on for emergency communications. 

Hope some of that helps.

Mike Harding wrote:

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If you really think you need a satellite phone then buy a proper satellite phone - do not buy a "sleeve" or any other kind of add-on to enable a mobile phone to make satellite calls. There are a number of reasons for this: a major one being that instead of having one piece of very complex electronics to go wrong you now have two pieces.

I suspect you will not need a sat. phone but you should buy a PLB, the cheapest one with GPS is fine, they must all meet Australian standards.

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You are correct that using the satleeve means you have two devices.  For us the issue with two devices is not that we have two things to go wrong - whilst of course that is not impossible, our concern was more that we would have two devices to charge. But we had that with a mobile phone & separate satphone anyway so we discounted that. Our joint decision to switch to a Satsleeve Hotspot would not have been made without having evidence of their reliability. Basing ones personal safety on marketing alone would, we feel, be foolish. Satsleeve Hotspot's have been around for many years now & proven reliable.

The choice is about personal risk management, & of course there are different ways of viewing solutions to risk management, one of which you have validly highlighted.

For us however we definitely feel that the significant benefits of the Satsleeve Hotspot over the old Satphone are very worthwhile if we ever need to use it for the purpose we carry it for - emergencies. It may be that there are now other satphones around with touch screens etc, which may go someway to mitigating that benefit but if so, (haven't seen any) they are not with Thuraya & consequently would  be hugely more expensive to both purchase & to run. Thuraya is unarguably the most cost effective satellite phone service by a long shot. 

We bought the Satsleeve Hotspot after first seeing one in action on a remote cattle station. We watched the owner make a phone call with a normal mobile phone in amazement as we were a very long way from the nearest mobile phone signal. When she had finished the call we enquired how that was possible. She smiled & pointed to the Hotspot up on a shelf, & said 'Had it for years, couldn't get by without it'.  This on a station where she & her children are alone, sometimes cut off for months at a time during wet season. It is used daily as their 'normal' phone. We asked more about it because we were interested in changing from our 'standalone' Satphone, but had similar concerns to what you express & were reassured as to the reliability & longevity of the Satsleeve Hotspot. 

I don't claim expertise in bush communications as you do, but I also don't make decisions about things concerning our wellbeing & safety without being fully informed.  

It is reasonable that anyone purchasing a satphone should be aware of the pro's & cons of their purchase in order to make up their own minds. Giving directives to someone whom you know little about' is different to giving your reasons for what you would do & why.

I agree with your advice re PLB's, & would add that the smaller the better. Reason being is that I think if you can just drop it into a pocket rather than having to attach it to a belt or similar you are more likely to take it. At least we are. Our GME MT410G has served us well, but it's replacement will be significantly smaller for that reason. There are some significantly smaller ones with proven records in the market since we bought ours 6 years ago. We'll see what is around when the time comes, but the tiny Ocean Signal PLB1 looks pretty good. Around $350. 

The need or otherwise for a Satphone is an individual decision, again personal risk management. If we were only travelling well trodden routes where we could rely upon others to be around we probably wouldn't have one, but even folk who use their RV's on well used routes sometimes like to leave them now & then to go bushwalking /hiking etc, & whether to carry one then in addition to a PLB may be considered desirable, especially if there are any health issues in the mix. 

 

Im really glad you defended yourself. it is not necessary to be rude or derogatory especially when I asked for advice.

gdayjr wrote:

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Use starlink for your internet needs. This also lets you stream all of your favourite t.v shows. I have enabled my phone to use an internet connectionfor calls, so no need to worry about satellite phones or no phone tower reception. You will only need a satellite phone or p.l.b if you are hiking somewhere or away from your base.

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 What you describe is basically what we are considering changing to later this year or early '24, but we remain uncertain about doing away with the satphone. Partly because of the need to set up the Starlink in an emergency when time may be critical, although that is not the major issue, especially with various folk/companies beginning to provide/convert the starlink dishies to permanent roof mounting on vehicles. 

The main issue is wifi calling via satellite. We have been in a couple of places where wifi calling via satellite has been our only means of voice comms (other than our fallback -the satphone).  In one place wifi calling via satellite was perfect - just like normal mobile phone for the 3 months we were there.  However at our present location, where have been for almost 12 months (& only about an hour's drive from the other location) wifi calling via satellite is incredibly variable in quality, even in perfect weather. Sometimes it fails to show on our phone as an option (but internet is fine). This has been due to 'reduced signal strength - when wifi calling disappears as an option on the phone.  Mostly however it is available but call quality can vary between perfect to unintelligible. Most common is for calls to begin perfect but to deteriorate within 2 to 3 minutes to 'Can you hear me, I can hear you' or robotic like distortion plus echo making conversation impossible. We have learned to provide our email address at the beginning of a call in case of dropout. Email is far more reliable than voice calls. Occasionally I've had voice calls lasting up to an hour problem free but this has been the exception, not the norm. This is via NBN satellite (Skymuster Plus), & may be quite different with Starlink, but for emergency comms I would want to be 100% confident about that, at any location, before ditching the satphone.

As Jaahn said, a Telstra blue tick phone works better in poor signal areas.

Jaahn wrote:

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.... and Telstra has the best coverage but not everywhere(or Boost/Aldi for a saving)......

 

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 Boost, yes, but not Aldi. Boost and Aldi are VERY different. Boost is the only Telstra reseller that uses the whole Telstra network. Aldi and all the others use the wholesale network and it has FAR less coverage than the full Telstra network. If you only need coverage in populated areas then those on the wholesale network are fine.

But my interpretation of the original question is that wider coverage for more remote areas is sought. Aldi and others fall well short.  Here is a comparison coverage map. Scroll halfway down and use the interactive map.

Comparison map - Telstra full network vs wholesale network

Then, as others have said, there are ways to extend network coverage further in weaker signal areas. When there is no signal, something else is needed.

2 way radio works anywhere but limited range .. only usable in vehicle unless using a handheld, but then range is much less. However, if you have a handheld you may be able to walk to a hill and get improved coverage from the top. The same with a phone of course.

PLB is only for use if you think your life is at risk.

So that leaves a satellite solution as discussed before.

Carolyn are you planning to be in such areas that are remote enough that you need such coverage?