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?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[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/dam/tcom/personal/mobile-phones/pdf/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.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[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.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[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


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AB]

So I spoke to our illustrious leaders in the telecommunications world named Telstra and he assures me a prepaid sim will work fine on my sat phone.

I have ordered a free sim and will chuck $2 on it to test it out.

I noticed there's a good pre paid deal for $70 and lasts 12 months so if that works then I'll happily pay $70 a year to keep it active incase of an emergency.

Rather then pay $35 a month of course now that the plan has finished.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GQtdauto]

Sounds like the Sat phone plans are evolving finally AB , our new mobile phone plans are only $10 per month one with Optus one with Telstra ,the Optus plan is unlimited calls texts etc and one gig the Telstra is half of the Optus but we are now covered when travelling and everyday .

[the evil twin]

So I spoke to our illustrious leaders in the telecommunications world named Telstra and he assures me a prepaid sim will work fine on my sat phone.

I have ordered a free sim and will chuck $2 on it to test it out.

I noticed there's a good pre paid deal for $70 and lasts 12 months so if that works then I'll happily pay $70 a year to keep it active incase of an emergency.

Rather then pay $35 a month of course now that the plan has finished.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, far be it from me to call BS 'cause maybe they changed things since I worked for the big T... but my prepaid Sim sure didn't work when I last tried it.

If the prepaid Sims do work now thats a HUGE win... a Sat phone with no contract and no monthly fees, Yeeehah!!!.

Keep us in the loop AB

[AB]

I think I'm calling BS too mate but time will tell lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[PeeBee]

I tried a next g pre paid phone card in my iridium and it didn't work because i could not activate global roaming. The telstra cards that work, as far as I know are next g post paid with global roaming activated. If this has changed, great news, but really, for the number of times I use the sat phone anyway, simply taking it out of the iphone, popping it into the sim adapter and away you go - wouldn't matter I reckon. I went into the local telstra shop and they didn't know anything about the service offered. Anyway, good luck AB, hope it works, and if it does, let us all know specifically what you ended up with please.

[AB]

Lol ok so I just rung again and was promised by yet another person that it will work as they "have upgraded their network".

He wasn't convincing though but was confident in his speech or did he just want me off the phone as he has no idea?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[the evil twin]

Put $5 on 'he has no idea' for me in the sweep.
(It will be worth $5 for me to be wrong)

[GQtdauto]

Put $5 on 'he has no idea' for me in the sweep.
(It will be worth $5 for me to be wrong)

Plans are changing as I've mentioned but not from Telstra so I'll chuck $5 in as well .

[AB]

Ok so my odds are $100000:1 but I'm investing $2 for a return of $10 lol




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AB]

The SIM arrived today and activated, the verdict is in...

Put the sim in and start it up, searching for iridium, you wouldn't believe it but the screen displayed Registered, you ripper!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AB]

And then I made a call and it displayed "Denied" lol and then the registered display changed to denied and that's about it gents lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[PeeBee]

And then I made a call and it displayed "Denied" lol and then the registered display changed to denied and that's about it gents lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Did you activate global roaming first? With the post paid sim this must be done first. If not see if that changes anything.

[the evil twin]

Yep... same as olden days (and as PB said must have global roaming amongst other autho's)

The phone will register on the Sat network
It will happily stay that way until you try a call
Then when it checks the autho codes it will deny the call
Then the phone will get chucked off and come up as denied access.

[PeeBee]

Yep... same as olden days

The phone will register on the Sat network
It will happily stay that way until you try a call
Then when it checks the autho codes it will deny the call
Then the phone will get chucked off and come up as denied access.

The next g prepaid sim would not allow international calls - simply barred them.

[AB]

Yeah I activated and no joy


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[PeeBee]

Well that's it I guess. I will continue the swap out and use texts where I can and if voice required, then pay the penalty .

[AB]

Now that my plan has finished, what should I do gents?

$35 a month plan, I don't think there is a plan cheaper?

Any other options?

[PeeBee]

AB, do you make a lot of voice calls or can you text communication instead? If texting is an option, have a look at a cheap next G post paid card/plan. I don't know what the plans stat at. If your mobile phone is with telstra and is next G you have the solution already - just activate global roaming - only 'small hassle' is you have to swap the card back and forth if you stick with a single plan. This is what i do.

[AB]

AB, do you make a lot of voice calls or can you text communication instead? If texting is an option, have a look at a cheap next G post paid card/plan. I don't know what the plans stat at. If your mobile phone is with telstra and is next G you have the solution already - just activate global roaming - only 'small hassle' is you have to swap the card back and forth if you stick with a single plan. This is what i do.
Nah just sms only mate....

[PeeBee]

Nah just sms only mate....

Telstra list a 24 mnth post paid plan at $15/mnth - half what you are paying now. If you make voice calls, from my experience, you get slugged about $6.50/min, but in an emergency that's irrelevant. Might be worth a call. You should be able to make international calls/global roaming without issue - again need to check that.

[AB]

Telstra list a 24 mnth post paid plan at $15/mnth - half what you are paying now. If you make voice calls, from my experience, you get slugged about $6.50/min, but in an emergency that's irrelevant. Might be worth a call. You should be able to make international calls/global roaming without issue - again need to check that.

Thanks mate but what really pisses me off is I've rung three times. All said pre paid was fine and the other 2 calls were nope that's the best plan.

They just simply have no idea and are just puppet muppets!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GQtdauto]

Southern phone have a plan through Telstra was $10 now $12 I think , $500 worth of calls and texts 500 meg data .

[the evil twin]

Thanks mate but what really pisses me off is I've rung three times. All said pre paid was fine and the other 2 calls were nope that's the best plan.

They just simply have no idea and are just puppet muppets!


That's 'cause your talking to Telstra Mobile dudes... and they only know terrestrial shit.

[AB]

Telstra list a 24 mnth post paid plan at $15/mnth - half what you are paying now. If you make voice calls, from my experience, you get slugged about $6.50/min, but in an emergency that's irrelevant. Might be worth a call. You should be able to make international calls/global roaming without issue - again need to check that.

Hey mate, finally finding time to get back to this.

So what is a post paid plan?

I don't care about call charges of course, but would be happy to pay 50 cents or $1 for sms to stay in touch on the trips of course.

I'm assuming its a plan?

Being lazy, never heard of this Google thing people talk about ;)

[PeeBee]

Post paid is a contracted plan, such as you pay $15/month and get $15 calls, unlimited texts etc etc. Its a standard plan as opposed to the pre-paid which is cash up front, call charges generally higher/second and more restrictions. What you simply need to know or have guaranteed is the plan allows for international roaming on the Telstra network - I know the next g plan I have works simply with international roaming turned on.