Do I need 2 separate Garmin Connect accounts to message between my two InReach Devices?

Hi all,

I own (and use) two separate InReach devices (a mini and an Explorer). I have "one" Garmin account on explore.garmin.com - therefore I have only one inReach address. Both devices have active subscriptions.

I would like to hand one of the devices to a team member when backpacking - and keep the other for myself - so we can message between the two devices (inReach to inReach messaging). The problem is I can only "assign" one device to my inReach ID at a time...making it impossible use both devices on a trip.

Do I have to create a second Account on explore.garmin.com (thereby creating a second inReach address) - then assign each device a separate inReach address?

That seems to be only way I can have both devices active and communicating with each other using "inReach to inReach messaging". I also would like each device to be able to "locate" the other.

Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions!

-Jeff

0 Garmin-Andrew over 4 years ago

You are correct -- you would need to add the second device to its own separate consumer inReach account to use them both at the same time. While you can have two active inReach devices on a consumer account, as you've discovered, you can only have one assigned user per consumer account, so it isn't possible to use both devices at the same time as you're trying to do.

The other option is to convert your consumer account to a professional account, however, we typically discourage this for most non-professional users as the pro account plans are structured differently (geared more towards managing many devices) and cost more. That said, depending on how you're using the devices and if you ever plan on adding any additional devices, a pro account may be a good option for you.

This article has more information about the difference between consumer and professional accounts: Difference Between inReach Personal and Professional Plans

If you do want to add the second device to its own consumer account and run into any issues removing the second device from the account, you'll need to contact Product Support directly to get that resolved.

0 JohnnyP22 over 3 years ago in reply to Garmin-Andrew

Hello. Is this still true? The post is 11 months old so I was wondering if Garmin had been able to correct this so I can use 2 devices at the same time without 2 different accounts. Thank you.

0 twolpert over 3 years ago in reply to JohnnyP22

This is still true for consumer (personal) accounts. It is not a bug and will not be "corrected". As has always been the case, you can have multiple devices on an enterprise (professional) account. Information about professional accounts here:

https://discover.garmin.com/en-US/inreach/professional/

Note that those monthly fees are per device.

0 6414824 over 2 years ago

We have a professional account with multiple devices but only one garmin address. How do we message between devices?

0 6414824 over 2 years ago

We have a professional account with multiple devices but only one garmin address. How do we message between devices?

0 skyeye over 2 years ago in reply to 6414824

can not understand how did you achieve this. Each device gets its own inreach address when activated. Each device will need to pay its own fees.

So probably you have only one active device in your account.

The inreach address is often made from the front part of the email address the device is registered. But in some cases garmin does assign some address by itself.