Globalcom Satellite Phone Rental

[Brendan Yeager]

I need to rent a satellite phone for an upcoming trip to the Wind River Range (my wife insisted). I am looking at renting a Globalstar 1700 from Globalcom – they have an unlimited calling plan and the total cost (with shipping and an extra battery) is only $176 for 10 days. Before I pull the trigger I just wanted to see if anyone here was familiar with that phone and/or company and had opinions that they could share.

[Stephen M]

I would look at Iridium and Inmarsat as Global star are having issues.

[Brendan Yeager]

Uh-oh – I don’t like issues, but I do like saving money. I tried to Google some details on problems with Globalstar but could not find anything other than not having global coverage (which is not an issue for me since they claim to have coverage across the US). Any details on what kind of issues they are having would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[Stephen M]

It’s worth checking out Global stars coverage maps.

Never have used Global Star or Iridium, but have used Inmarsat a lot and no issues with coverage in Colorado.

[Brad Rogers]

I have rented iridium phones from mobal.com before and been very happy. They are reasonable as long as you don’t use any minutes.

[Rex Sanders]

Several years ago Globastar had crappy coverage, more-or-less fixed after they launched new satellites. You might have problems with dropped calls; keep calls short, or plan to call back. Details here.

Impress upon your wife that “no news is no news.” You don’t want her calling out SAR because your battery died early.

Have fun, stay safe!

— Rex

[Second try posting this after the “two-link” bug blew away first try]

[Brendan Yeager]

Thanks for the feedback. I went ahead and bit the bullet and rented this one – I already spent enough on this trip! I will report back with any feedback. I have previously rented an Iridium from mobal.com so I have something to compare the experience to.

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