T-Mobile's Starlink Satellite Service Officially Launches With iPhone Support

[BigMcGuire]

I was considering a switch to mint soon. May I ask why you left them?

Mint is awesome. I have nothing but good to say about them. The Reynold's Christmas Card alone ... awesome.

Had them for several years - then my work changed and I didn't need to move around as much. So went without. Now, my work has me in an area where I have no Verizon Wireless reception, but T-Mobile is 100%. This T-Mobile Starlink Beta gives me unlimited 5G T-Mobile for now, otherwise I'd be back on Mint

Huge fan of Visible (Verizon) and Mint (T-Mobile) - depending on reception in your area.

 

[CheesePuff]

It does not support iMessage (which uses data), it is SMS only: https://www.t-mobile.com/support/tu...end-a-message-via-t-satellite-with-starlink/9

 

[noodledog]

It does not support iMessage (which uses data), it is SMS only: https://www.t-mobile.com/support/tu...end-a-message-via-t-satellite-with-starlink/9

That wasn't true doing the beta at least. I sent probably 100-200 iMessages during that time via satellite (Tmobile/Starlink; not Apple/Globstar).
Maybe I'm missing where that link says it isn't supported. Are you just assuming that since it says "Text message + SMS"?

 

[noodledog]

No point for Apple users until Apple’s satellite service becomes paid.

As noted throughout this thread, this works very differently and much better than the Apple/Globstar service.
Maybe still not worth the $ for you, but it is not at all the same thing.

 

[BigMcGuire]

As noted throughout this thread, this works very differently and much better than the Apple/Globstar service.
Maybe still not worth the $ for you, but it is not at all the same thing.

This - and your iMessage post is why I'm most likely going to be staying on when it charges me next month ($10/mo?) - win win. I like to go hiking at national parks a few times a year and never have reception when I do. Stuff like this is only going to get better.

 

[Makosuke]

I’ve been successful up in the mountains of Utah and it worked great. I have t mobile but not upgrading plan for this

I imagine the mountains of Utah are kind of an ideal environment compared to a redwood forest when it comes to good sky access. (I am assuming the small amount of less atmosphere between the user and the satellite probably doesn't make any practical difference.)

I am curious, did getting it working require hunting for satellites with your phone out, or did you just get texts normally without having to do anything? And how was the impact on battery life?

 

[extrachrispy]

I'm a volunteer firefighter in rural Oregon, and am regularly out of cell service for long periods of time. Both the Globalstar and the T-Satellite service have allowed me to send text messages to my wife while responding to an incident. In either case, you need a clear(ish) view of the sky, although I was able to send messages under light tree cover at Toketee Falls, from the observation deck. I've also sent a text via the Globalstar service through the passenger window of one of our apparatus.

T-Satellite does not support Emergency SOS at this time. Fortunately, you can still connect to the Globalstar service via Control Center.

 

[Sparkyincali]

If anything, this just caught up to the satellite service we've had built-in since the iPhone 14. What gives?

Well it works for android too. Also it is better in the fast that it automatically connect when you go out of service range. Also no need to point your phone at a sattelite like the apple version.

 

[Sparkyincali]

Which service will this new feature default to? Apples free service or this new T-Mobile service? Will users have an option of switching between which satellite provider they can use if both are available in the same location?

This is an awesome new service and I’m glad that T-Mobile is bringing this to their customer base. I’ve been with them since 2010 and have great service where I live in the Greater Boston area

This will definitely come in handy for when I am hiking, backpacking and camping at national parks

For me it defaults to Tmobile’s sat service. Part of the reason is that you don’t have to connect it like the apple version. It automatically activates when you go out of service range. Also you don’t need to point the phone towards the sattelite like the apple version.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I have yet to use the Satellite part (need to go on a hike!) but this imo is a huge game changer ^ - especially those saying one can use iMessage.

Having to wait and point my phone at a direction for minutes on end was the most annoying part of Apple's satellite to text feature - and keep it there - despite this, many failures to send.

 

[Sparkyincali]

I have yet to use the Satellite part (need to go on a hike!) but this imo is a huge game changer ^ - especially those saying one can use iMessage.

Having to wait and point my phone at a direction for minutes on end was the most annoying part of Apple's satellite to text feature - and keep it there - despite this, many failures to send.

It works way better for me than apples built in messaging. No pointing no toggling on connection just go out of cell range and you are good to go.

 

[Makosuke]

I finally managed to get a test message to send from one phone and receive on another via satellite from up in the woods with a modest amount of sky visible.

In this case, I only got it to work with the Apple service, not T-Mobile. There was (apparently) a Globalstar satellite in the visible piece of sky at the time, and although it took a bit of time pointing the phones in the right direction, it did work.

Starlink via T-Mobile, on the other hand, wasn't able to send or receive anything. Perhaps had I waited long enough something eventually would have gone out or come in, but I was getting "failed to send" errors after a while, so it's not like I was able to queue a text up and then just wait until it eventually sent. Seems like it should work that way, but didn't when I was testing.

 

[BigMcGuire]

That is unfortunate. One thing that really bugged me about Apple’s Satellite was how (may have been my fault between two mountains) it failed and how long I had to sit there to see if it failed.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I can’t seem to hotspot with this plan. Can anyone confirm? Normal 5G.

 

[ifxf]

Sounds like a much better deal for the phone companies rather than building lots of cell towers.

Have you read the restrictions.For example no streaming youtube.

 

[Makosuke]

Have you read the restrictions.For example no streaming youtube.

Pretty sure that comment was future-thinking, not talking about the technology as it exists today. That is, in an eventual future where you can stream video to a regular-sized cell phone from a satellite, it's potentially a lot cheaper and easier to just throw more satellites in space than to build more towers on the ground. The "holy grail" mobile network would, after all, be that your phone just works from anywhere on the planet, at the same speed, and without need to lease any land or pay for any additional hardwired network infrastructure, electricity, or physical maintenance.

Emphasis on "potentially" since it's absolutely possible that no matter how good the technology is it'll still be cheaper to increase bandwidth to a tower in high-density areas than to pay for more space junk due to the physical limitations inherent in a satellite launch and with satellite maintenance.

Upgrades would also be a question, since the only way to upgrade your thousands of satellite constellation is to launch thousands more entirely new satellites, instead of sending a technician in a truck to towers in major areas first then work your way down to the rural ones. If you don't upgrade all the satellites, then your connection is only as good as whatever is over your head that particular minute whether you're in downtown New York or rural Idaho.

 

[ifxf]

Pretty sure that comment was future-thinking, not talking about the technology as it exists today. That is, in an eventual future where you can stream video to a regular-sized cell phone from a satellite, it's potentially a lot cheaper and easier to just throw more satellites in space than to build more towers on the ground. The "holy grail" mobile network would, after all, be that your phone just works from anywhere on the planet, at the same speed, and without need to lease any land or pay for any additional hardwired network infrastructure, electricity, or physical maintenance.

Emphasis on "potentially" since it's absolutely possible that no matter how good the technology is it'll still be cheaper to increase bandwidth to a tower in high-density areas than to pay for more space junk due to the physical limitations inherent in a satellite launch and with satellite maintenance.

Upgrades would also be a question, since the only way to upgrade your thousands of satellite constellation is to launch thousands more entirely new satellites, instead of sending a technician in a truck to towers in major areas first then work your way down to the rural ones. If you don't upgrade all the satellites, then your connection is only as good as whatever is over your head that particular minute whether you're in downtown New York or rural Idaho.

Physics is against your prediction since they can only reduce their coverage cells so much and you are restricted by how much information you can transmit over the available frequencies. This is why Starlink restricts the number of their streaming customers they can signup per cell.