Using Mapshare with poor Cell Data Coverage

I'll be using inReach mini with tracking sent to my crew every 2-minutes for a 100-mile mountain bike race in Colorado. The crew would use Mapshare to track my progress. Unfortunately, the crew will be in an area with poor cellular data coverage.

It seems that Mapshare is browser-based and could be laggy in areas with poor cellular data coverage. Is there any other way to track that is ok with poor cellular data coverage?

Although you could download maps in advance, Earthmate app doesn't seem provide tracking functionality for someone who is tracking an inReach user. Please let me know if I'm wrong.

Much thanks!

Stuart

0 twolpert over 5 years ago

Yes, the use of MapShare requires cell coverage/Internet access. Your crew would not be able to view anything while they are outside the coverage area.

AFAIK, Earthmate will not help in this environment. Earthmate on your phone will show your current position. It won't help on anybody else's phone because it requires the paired BT device to be in range.

In fact, everything I can think of short of iR to iR communication is going to require cell phone coverage (or some other form of Internet access). If your crew is carrying a second inReach device, you could send a message directly from your inReach to the crew's device via the Iridium network. If that was a mapping iR device such as the 66i or an Explorer+, the crew could see the location from which you sent the message. However, this requires you to proactively send a message. It's not going to show sent track points.

I'm only familiar with individual inReach plans. It might be that an enterprise plan would have additional features you could use to assist in this situation. From what little I can find online, it doesn't really look like it. But if it's important to you, it might be worth a call to sales or tech support to find out.

0 StuyPegleg over 5 years ago in reply to twolpert

Much thanks for your detailed reply! I just wanted to confirm the knowledge I had. I think that there is cell data coverage, but my guess is that the base station isn't designed for the number of users who will be using it at that location which is somewhat remote. Might upgrade one of the crew members' Verizon data plans to prioritized 4G data.