Starlink / T-Mobile Texting Cost

[CWSWine]

I’m curious about the cost of cellular carriers offering Starlink texting services. What are your thoughts on this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlyEX9ZNl44&t=312s

[STRich]

I am lucky and it will be free on my plan. I am signed up to be part of the beta group. If it works as hoped, I will dump my Garmin InReach subscription.

Time will tell and while I am hopeful it will be a lower cost service vs InReach and SPOT for 2 way satellite communications.

I do travel in remote locations where there is a lack of cell coverage. It is a safety issue for me. We have had to use the InReach twice now to get help. It was a game changer.

[Sunnyfalls]

I predict it will initially make InReach obsolete and will eventually make cell tower phones obsolete too. We have been testing it for several months now and performance reliability has significantly improved in last couple of months with more satellites in orbit. Similar to our experience when we first started testing Starlink over 5 years ago. Once Starship becomes fully operational, I predict the transformation from celluar and land-based Internet to space-based Internet will happen much quicker than many expect.

We still use InReach, but we dumped cell phones, satellite TV and the other satellite Internet options 5 years ago with zero regrets and significant monthly $$$ savings.

https://www.borstengineeringconstruction.com/SpaceX.pdf

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[Dieselboy]

It’s likely we stick with cell towers for a while for good building penetration. Being indoors and able to use the phone at a high bandwidth is necessary, at least for a while.

[Sunnyfalls]

Originally Posted by Dieselboy

It’s likely we stick with cell towers for a while for good building penetration. Being indoors and able to use the phone at a high bandwidth is necessary, at least for a while.

I can understand at first blush how you might think this...

Our Oregon home is essentially an EMP hardened Faraday Cage that doesn't allow any radio signals to penetrate inside. And we will never have cellular service at our home either. But we do have WI-FI inside our home from using Starlink which then enables us to do everything for free that people currently do with their existing cell phones and at significant expense.

So I fully expect this will soon become future communication model for all Starlink enabled buildings at some point since these buildings can provide high speed Internet WI-FI device connectivity everywhere. And rest assured, Starlink will soon have their own devices that operate both inside Starlink buildings and outside where cell towers don't exist. The days of needing to get radio signals to penetrate buildings are over...and this is also highly undesirable nowadays too.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[vito.a]

From the USA today article:
Given that incredible distance, basic physics will explain that the signals being exchanged with satellites are only a tiny fraction as strong as those used for regular cellular networks. That’s why it’s difficult to do more data intensive applications and why satellite service won’t ever replace traditional cellular networks but instead serve as a supplement to them.

T-Mobile customers will not have to make any configuration changes on their phones for the service to work. For people on AT&T or Verizon, you’ll have to have an unlocked phone with the latest software updates and create an eSIM profile (not as hard as it sounds) with a new number that T-Mobile will provide to use as part of this service.

[traveldawg]

I wouldn't count out cellular phones becoming satellite phones in the future. But for now I see satellite phones require a robust antenna which I would think a lot of folks would find undesirable. But - technology moves on, so never say never. With the investment Telcos have in land based cellular communication, I don't think satellite poses much of a threat for years.

And I'm not giving up my InReach any time soon. In as much as it is an emergency communication device (with tried and true emergency responders) I like that I can turn on live tracking so friends and family can see where I am without me being dependent on my phone trying to do this with any current satellite system (which, oh by the way, don't have the ability to so this).

[Brunnie]

Originally Posted by traveldawg

And I'm not giving up my InReach any time soon. In as much as it is an emergency communication device (with tried and true emergency responders) I like that I can turn on live tracking so friends and family can see where I am without me being dependent on my phone trying to do this with any current satellite system (which, oh by the way, don't have the ability to so this).

This is the reason I'll keep my InReach too. That way my family can keep up with our adventures.

[Sunnyfalls]

We are keeping our InReach for the time being too. And we also use Meshtastic for our emergency and general texting needs. But physics dictate that a space-based Internet will ultimately replace what we have today. The only question is when to short sell telecommunications stock.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"