Standard SIM cards in sat phones?

[AB]

Did I read on here a while back that you can now put standard SIM cards into sat phones?

My plan is up on the sat phone so want to cancel the plan and just use prepaid?


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[the evil twin]

Short answer - depends

Long answer - is really long

Medium answer - you need to ask your provider... as some terrestial plans will work on Satellite if global roaming is enabled AND the provider sat service is the same as you want IE Telstra must be Irridium for example.

FWIW i run a $10 post paid Telstra Mobile service which works in my Irridium Sat phone but the call charges are HUGE.
If i do use it in my Sat Phone... I have to pull the sim and pop it in a mobile and make a call so it "logs off" sat and "logs on" telstra Mobile.
If I don't it thinks it is still a Satellite service and charges accordingly if someone sends an SMS or dials me as a wrong number.
For $120 a year plus calls it works for me but I think that plan has been shitcanned

[AB]

Thanks mate, yeah It's a Telstra plan on Irridium.

[Cuppa]

Hi Andy,
I believe that if you have a sim on a Telstra plan (ie. not prepaid) that it can be used in an Iridium satphone with 'roaming' enabled. I have no idea of the call costs when doing this.

When I was looking at buying a satphone the Iridium Phones were more expensive than the one I bought.

It may work out well to go down the Iridium path if you have an existing Telstra plan, but you really need to look into the cost of calls (both in & out) & the use you intend for the phone.

We found the cheapest for us (intention is for emergency use only) was the Thuraya XT Lite on a Pivotel $15 per month casual plan. No calls included. You get billed for any calls at 0.99c per minute, or 0.50c for a text. Most importantly you get a standard Aussie mobile phone number, (some satphones have 'satphone numbers which can be very expensive to call as well as to call out from, although my guess is that if you used a sim from a std mobile then you would have the same number as the mobile... albeit on 'Roaming' rates).

With the std aussie mobile number from Pivotel anyone can call you call you at the same cost as calling any other mobile. Text them & say 'call me' & the cost to talk as long as you like if they have 'unlimited calls' is just the 0.50c. We also thought that in an emergency/breakdown needing parts situation, folk are far more likely to call back if it isn't going to cost them an arm & a leg. Some are *very* expensive.

The XT Lite is basic but does all that is needed without unnecessary 'bells & whistles'. If that interests you, contact me for where to buy. We got a secondhand, but unused, one for $650 together with a few useful accessories & a 1 year warranty. The company leased a round 200 units to the Census people for their collectors in remote areas. Most were unused. (Our battery life between charges has been fine - recharged it a few days go after it has sat unused in the glove box for 3 months - was back to full charge in less than a couple of minutes).

It is commonly reported that Thuraya is no good in the southern states & excellent up north. Our experience in obtaining a reliable connection is that it has worked fine from our place near Ballarat, just the same from a mates beach on Bruny Island, Tas, & the one time when we needed someone to call us when up in mid western Qld it was fine there too.
Where it may not be so good as other sat networks is if deep in valleys up in the Vic High country, but would still work if you got yourself to high ground.

[the evil twin]

Thanks mate, yeah It's a Telstra plan on Irridium.

Fair 'nuf... my 'psuedo sat' plan is called "Mobile Accelerate Casual Plan $10"
I am almost 100% positive that new uptakes of that plan can't access satellite from it.
A telstra dude told me a couple of years back "whatever you do don't change or upgrade that plan" but note that I use it solely for emergencies in Sat mode
If you can still hit the Satellite then the call charges are $2 per 30 seconds IIRC (last time I used it was about 6 months ago).

The cheapest Telstra Satellite plan that I know of now is like $840 a year or somesuch and call units are approx $1 for 30 seconds.

Here is the linky thingy to the Telstra Docs... NOTE WHAT THEY SAY IN CHAPTER 7 esp CLAUSE 6 (sorry to shout but it is important)
https://www.telstra.com.au/content/d.../mobilesat.pdf

[the evil twin]

Thuraya is geo stationary - their bird that covers Aus is up over the indian ocean
If you can't connect you have to moce

Irridium uses low earth orbiting satellites - in the unlikely event you cannot connect you can try again after a short period and will usually get thru, just a matter of waiting for the next bird to come over

[AB]

My current sat phone plan is $30 a month so $360 a year and $1 a minute and I think 50 cents sms.


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[AB]

Thuraya is geo stationary - their bird that covers Aus is up over the indian ocean
If you can't connect you have to moce

Irridium uses low earth orbiting satellites - in the unlikely event you cannot connect you can try again after a short period and will usually get thru, just a matter of waiting for the next bird to come over

Yep even down in the deepest valley of the high country I can sometimes get reception pending waiting an hour or two.


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[GQtdauto]

Have the same unit as Cuppa and same plan , I can ring and put plan on hold if not going to use it for say 4 months or more which costs zilch but $45 to reconnect when I reactivate it .
We used it same as Cuppa just text whoever and say give us a call as it's only a standard mobile no , had it with me at Ullpana island .

[Maxhead]

I bought an older sat phone for $150 and leave it at the property for emergencies.
No plan no worries and I can still ring 000 if something goes pear shaped out there


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