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A Litany of InReach Mini Woes: Erratic Message Delivery

ChairmanMAO
over 5 years ago
I just purchased and activated a Mini (which was quite an adventure in and of itself). I can -- occasionally -- send messages which get delivered to the recipient. But only about 1 in every 3 messages (maybe 1 in every 4) gets delivered. The rest vanish into hyperspace.

There is no indication of any delivery problem. In fact, the Earthmate app indicates that the messages were sent.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is this typical? Is there a way to find out if a message actually got where it was supposed to go? Frankly, such a high rate of failed deliveries makes the Mini wholly unsuited to being an emergency messaging device, so I'm hoping there's something wrong with the device I have or the activation process.

Firmware is at v2.6. As I recall the hardware version is 4.
  • +1 over 5 years ago
    Lots of moving parts here. There are some things you can check.

    Background: The message route from iR device to recipient goes like this. iR to Iridium satellite overhead. From that satellite to other until it reaches one that is over a ground station (Iridium is a mesh network). From that satellite to the Ground station. From the ground station to the Garmin servers (most likely over the Internet, although I don't really know for sure).

    For email messages, the Garmin servers contact the recipient's email provider directly via Internet. Email provider delivers to recipient account. Recipient eventually sees it in their email client, be it web or otherwise.

    For SMS messages. Garmin servers send the message to a third-party SMS gateway. The particular gateway depends on the recipient's cell provider and location. SMS gateway sends it to the recipient's cell provider. The cell provider eventually delivers it to the phone.

    You can easily check the first half of the process. Once the message reaches the Garmin servers, it will show up under the Inbox tab on your account at inreach.garmin.com. Note that, at best, the iR device knows only when the message reaches the satellite overhead. Earthmate app knows nothing more than that. This is useful for determining that you've got a clear sky view and did send - but that's about it.

    You can also help narrow down the problem by sending the message to multiple recipients - one SMS and one email. If only one is delivered, you've narrowed down the problem to that channel. This is useful when contacting tech support.

    It's unusual for email message to be undelivered. They might be delayed, the Internet being what it is. But they are almost always delivered. Most likely culprit there is the spam folder.

    SMS is obviously a lot more complicated. There have been repeated problems with AT&T SMS messages. Each time, Garmin puts a bandaid on it. But then AT&T changes something else.

    One other thing to watch out for. If you are sending to contacts stored on the iR device (as opposed to keying the address directly, or choosing from contacts on your phone via the Earthmate app), you might try keying the address directly. Correct operation of contacts stored on the device depends on sync-ing the device after EVERY change to anything on the server end (contacts, quick text messages, etc.). Even with proper sync, I have seen reports of occasional problems.

    Delivery of only 1/3 or 1/4 messages is definitely not normal. If none of the above narrows it down, I would contact tech support.