Is Elon Musk hinting at a communication blackout in the near future? Certainly seems to be that way! Be prepared Anons! The Mod Team will be putting together a post in the coming days with helpful tips on how to stay online during the possible comm blackout. Stay tuned!
(media.greatawakening.win)
COMMUNICATIONS BLACKOUT
that's different satellite technology that Apple provides, not Starlink as far as I understand. All latest generation (15+) iPhones have sms and imessage and emergency stuff via satellite now. but starlink is only on TMobile as a cellular data option
I think you're right, but there really isn't any other low-earth orbit sat systems that would work with low power phones. The LTE backbone is involved with T-Mo for direct to sat. I'm not sure what other network they would be connecting to: https://www.macrumors.com/2024/11/15/iphone-satellite-feature-turns-two/
It's Globalstar, one of the older satellite phone networks: https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/1/24285347/apple-globalstar-investment-expansion-emergency-sos-satellite
Another one is Iridium - which until Starlink hit the poles was the only truly global satellite phone network. The phones basically work anywhere except inside a building/under a cover. Unfortunately, on the original GlobalStar and Iridium networks, data service is/was abysmal - Iridium's raw data speed is 2400 baud or 2.4 kilobits/s. Some of their newer devices are a bit faster. It's also extremely expensive compared to Starlink.
Satellite phones are fairly common in Alaska and on boats that travel in the open ocean. Garmin InReach communicators use the Iridium network.
ty. I have Iphone 10 and i get SOS mode when up in the mountains. So it doesn't let me SMS or iMessage. Maybe it's only for calling emergencies
That's a cellular SOS mode - the iPhone 10 does not have the satellite hardware. Basically that means the phone can see a mobile network, but is not authorized to roam on it. For example, you have T-Mobile and there is only an AT&T tower available. You can use it to call 911/112, but not anything else.
On the devices with the satellite hardware, a different icon appears in satellite SOS mode. It appears in the last image on this page in the screenshot if "Emergency SOS": https://support.apple.com/en-us/101573
In my opinion, while much better than nothing, the emergency SOS on iPhones definitely is NOT a replacement for true satellite phones and communicators (like a Garmin inReach).
The connection to the GlobalStar satellite requires quite a lot of power, which is difficult to achieve from a small device, so using the satellite SOS requires aiming the phone and is rather slow, whereas the InReach devices and other satellite devices have quite large antennas and do not have this issue. Note how chonky the Iridium 9575 Extreme is - this is a current model, the older ones are even bulkier: https://www.iridium.com/products/iridium-extreme/
The other issue with iPhone satellite SOS is that if it sees any mobile network at all - even one that is completely unusable (poor signal or a network issue where the tower works but can't connect upstream) it won't even let you connect to satellite. You cannot currently force the satellite SOS, or use it from airplane mode, which means if you don't put the phone in airplane mode while in edge cases like hiking in the mountains, you'll also experience terrible battery life.
Because of these, I'd say if you're going Innawoods/out of range on purpose, take an InReach or some other real sat device- they're not super expensive, and they work much better. At the same time, the existence of the satellite SOS as a last resort is a good thing, and it will/has probably helped some people.
That being said, I'm very interested to see how T-Mobile/Starlink LTE roaming works out.
Thank you for that info!