Originally Posted by alphaod

SPOT uses the GlobalStar network. It's very unreliable in my opinion at especially from a sat phone perspective. I have tried a couple of their product and I wasn't really happy with any of them. I think their hardware has shoddy quality.

Anyways I have switched to an Inmarsat phone. Excellent reception everywhere (except the poles apparently, but I don't go there).

Be honest, I think having a sat phone where you can actually talk to someone is way more useful than some tracking device which you really don't know will work or not (since there is no reliable confirmation). An Inmarsat phone is only about $1/minute for outbound calls.

I have also used a friend's Iridium; also very good, but the per-minute rates seem much higher and the coverage doesn't seem to be much better except for polar coverage (again I don't use that).


Everyone who sees me with a sat phone thinks I'm crazy, but with true global coverage and per-minute rates cheaper than my US carrier when roaming, it's quite good.