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inReach mini sending texts and sat lock

chrlewis
over 5 years ago
I purchased a new mini a few weeks ago and tested it out at home before taking it in the woods, all seems OK at home. I went out on a long run this weekend and tried it out (smokey mtn national park). I actually had decent cell phone service but it took 1 hour(!) to pick up the satellite and send the message while running. I ran with the mini in my hand for about 25 minutes without locking on to a satellite. I then had the mini attached to my vest and I was mostly on a ridgeline with minimal tree cover. I sent two messages and both sent fine to emails but did not send to text.

I have tested it at home and while it takes a long time to lock on to satellites, it always sent texts along with email notifications. It really concerns me that it took so long to lock on to a satellite in an area with decent cell phone reception. Further, why did it send emails but no texts to my preset recipients? Is this unusual or just how this thing works?

Thanks in advance for any help!
  • 0 over 5 years ago
    Did you send the sms to a AT&T customer? At the moment there are some problems sending sms to AT&T

    https://status.inreach.garmin.com/
  • 0 over 5 years ago
    No, it's not "just how this thing works." There are ongoing complaints regarding a possible SMS outage. It originally appeared to be related only to recipients who use AT&T cell phone services. Now it appears (based on forum posts) that it might be more widespread. Or not. You should call support to let them know about your SMS problem.

    I am not sure what you mean by "lock onto satellites". Going to assume you mean the Iridium messaging network, not the GPS network. Unlike the GPS network, there is typically only ONE Iridium satellite visible at any given time. The orbits are low, so the visible satellite transits the sky rather quickly. As a result, conditions such as narrow valleys, high bluffs, etc. have a disproportionate affect on the ability to contact the network. In general, if it's important that a message go out quickly, you should choose a location with a good sky view and stand still until the message is sent. Your body will also block the signal if it is between the unit and the visible satellite. I would not expect good results if you are running while attempting to send.

    Note that the presence/absence of cell phone reception has nothing to do with anything - except your ability to receive an SMS that you sent to yourself.

    A bit of background might help you understand the nature of the problem here. There are a lot of moving parts when sending a message. The iR attempts to contact the Iridium satellite network. See above regarding visibility constraints. Once the message is sent to the satellite overhead, it may transit one more additional satellites (Iridium uses a mesh network) before reaching a satellite which is over a ground station. The message is then sent to the Iridium ground station, and thence to the Garmin servers. This is the point at which the message appears in your "Inbox" on the inreach.garmin.com web site. At this point, the message path diverges according to the type of recipient.

    Email messages are sent to the appropriate email server via the Internet. They are then available to the recipient via the web, a mobile phone email client, or whatever.

    SMS messages are sent to an SMS gateway appropriate to the recipient's number. My understanding is that the gateways are based on geography, not on the recipient's cell phone provider. But I'm not entirely sure about that. The gateway ships the SMS message out onto the cell network. From there, the network forwards the SMS to the appropriate provider/location. Assuming the recipient's phone is on, the message is delivered at that time. Note that the path through the cell network may be complicated, particularly if the recipient is roaming.

    As you can see, the fact that the message was delivered to an email recipient indicates that it SHOULD be on the way to SMS recipients as well. But the SMS path is more complicated. Even when working correctly, it's more prone to delays that the email path.

    Note that the message status icons on your iR do not reflect end to end delivery. They reflect only whether or not the message was sent to and acknowledged by the Iridium network.
  • 0 over 5 years ago
    Thanks for the responses! Yes, I do have and my recipients have ATT service. I had a clear line of site to the sky for a long time but it still did not pick up quickly. I've noticed it can take 20 minutes to get sat confirmation even when I'm at home in an open field standing still. I just did not understand these limitations before purchasing and assumed it would be a useful "safety" feature for me to take in the backcountry. If I'm required to climb to an open peak to get a clear line of site, wait an hour to get service, send the message and hope it gets to my recipients; I'm not sure this is the best unit for me.

    Thanks again for the responses.
  • 0 over 5 years ago
    You're exaggerating a bit here. But I understand your frustration. The most important two things here are having a decent sky view and standing relatively still. I generally have good luck at a walking pace with a decent sky view. I don't recommend running. If you do hold the mini in your hand, be sure not to cover the antenna in any way.

    The problem with AT&T has been addressed. https://status.inreach.garmin.com/incidents/60d3brj69y6p
  • 0 over 5 years ago
    Thanks Tom but I'm not exaggerating one bit. During my one hour "no service" time. At least 1/2 of that time was spent walking up a ridgeline with no obstructions. I was in the smokies so any terrain that was flat or downhill, I was running but hiking up any inclines. I held it in my hand and then attached to the top of my vest with the antenna unobstructed. Seriously, I'm not exaggerating

    I'm more concerned that I possibly got a faulty device as I expected this to lock on "quickly" in the event of an emergency. During that one hour "no service" time, I also stopped to use the bathroom and to filter water so all the time was not spent moving. Seriously, I'm not exaggerating.
  • 0 over 5 years ago
    If the messages were delivered to email but not to SMS, the problem has nothing to do with your unit or its ability to contact the Iridium network. The problem has to do with the back end SMS delivery route.

    If you really think your unit is defective, call tech support. But based on what you describe in the original post (messages delivered promptly to email but not delivered/severely delayed to SMS), the problem does not appear to be your unit.

    You can tell by looking at the unit whether or not the message has reached the Iridium network - check the icon for the specific message. Once it has been delivered to the network, any subsequent problems are with the back end services, not the unit.

    This is not to say that delayed or missed SMS delivery is acceptable. Just saying that it's apparently not the fault of the hardware in this case.