Iridium GO Satellite Hotspot 9560

I've had my Iridium GO for a couple months now and I'm very impressed; the service is great! I'm very happy I got this instead of a satellite phone. I really like being able to just use my smartphone it just makes it so simple for me. Texting and calling over the Iridium Network couldn't be easier with it.

Got my Iridium GO about a month ago and haven't looked back since. Service has been great and Apollo's support helped me with picking out what I needed as well. Now when I travel I have a little hotspot to help keep me connected to the outside world!

While claimed to be a 'hot spot' it is anything but. As a compare, when my cell phone has a signal, I can enable its 'hot spot' and do anything/everything I can do with my home WIFI. This device - not so much. First there is the issue of getting a signal. While Satellights are constantly flying North-South near your location, Iridium does not work like we've all come to expect with our cell phones. With our cell phones WE move in/out of range of cell towers and the 'call' seamlessly switches as we move. Not so much with Iridium. As the Satellights fly by you'll connect for a while and then disconnect and search for another one to connect to. While there could be upwards of 3-4 Satellights within range of your location, your Iridium Go device will make noises when it loses signal from one and connects with another. While the sounds can be disabled, you might as well get used to it. Having a external antenna helps reduce the frequency but does not eliminate the frequent loss of the Satellight signal. Surely the Iridium Go might be useful by itself in the desert or open ocean however in the greater PNW where there are trees and mountains around getting and maintaining a signal long enough to make a <5min Iridium call can be nearly impossible without an accessory external antenna. The addition of external antenna might make the device at least somewhat useful however at the expense of portability. Thankfully in my case I have a RV so storage and transport are not an issue. However given the actual/possible usability and portability of the Iridium Go, I have to seriously consider how valuable (or NOT!) voice communications are and if a Satellight messaging device (which are far less expensive) might be a better match for the Iridium Satellight network and the greater PNW where I live and travel. As an example, on my last trip one of my mates was using a messaging device to exchange texts with family while all I was able to do was drop a voicemail. (granted I did not have a external antenna at the time)

I'm not sure what to write here other than ether I bought the wrong device or was expecting to much. Forgetting for a moment that even placed in a open area the signal wildly fluxuates from all bars to re-acquiring a signal (fairly regularly) this is the least expensive device on the market that can be used for Iridium phone calls and text messages. However, besides that it is not much of a 'hot spot' other than using WIFI. Yes it comes 'out of the box' with Iridium Email - gosh - yet another email - I have: Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail/Outlook (however NONE of these work without a expensive 3rd party software add on). Yes my computers and iPads can link to the Iridium Go (along with my phone) but there is little point or use to doing so as outside of 'twitter' (out of the box) there is no 'web apps' or 'internet apps' (IE: I make use of some fairly low bandwidth mobile games - none of which can be used with the Iridium Go). I've never used 'twitter'. At home my phone and iPads are FULLY FUNCTIONAL with the WiFi I provide at home (even when I turn cellular data off). On the go my phone & iPads are fully functional if I turn the CELL DATA on and there is at least 1-bar of cell signal. However I often find myself in locations where I can't get 1-bar of cell signal for any of my devices, this is where a 'satellite hotspot' could come in and save the day or fill in some of the gaps. So in the end what I paid dearly for is 40min of air time to use in a pinch, text messages can convey information faster than voice calls (and use less air time). I can email (or text?) a <=100KB picture (however nobody I know uses email anymore). I'm signed up for Starlink however it is not available for my area right now and they claim to have more service available 2023. Until then I guess this will do. I am investigating 'XGATE' and 'XWEB' to see if that extra service is worth bothering with or not. They claim Facebook posting and light Websurfing - we'll see if it is true or not. Apollo Satellite shipped quickly (and even have decent pricing) and have been good at answering many of the questions I've had so far.

Finally bit the bullet and dropped the money on an Iridium GO. I wish I would've done it sooner actually, it's so convenient! I fought replacing my satellite phone for years, I just got really sick of having to carry around a couple of phones with me every day I go to work; then I saw the Iridium GO. After buying one I'm pretty upset I didn't do it earlier, I thought there would be a lot of issues with this thing but I haven't seen any whatsoever. Awesome device, great service, highly recommended!!

Still getting used to it.

This is not the first time I place orders on the Apollo website; I found that store by surfing on the net and believe I made the right choice. Good prices and products, quick delivery time and a reactive customer service.

Thank you very much to Apollo's support team, I had no idea what I was doing when purchasing my device and they helped me out so much! I was originally going to get a satellite phone but was concerned about operating it correctly, I'm not very tech savvy. Since this is the case they offered up the Iridium GO and I'm very glad they did. I do know how to operate my smartphone so the Iridium GO was perfect for me. I also have yet to find a hiccup in the Iridium Network, I've had no issues with the service at all!

My GO comes with me everywhere when I travel, it's actually nice and compact compared to a satellite phone. And to be honest, the satellite phones were a bit intimidating to me. With my GO I can just use my smartphone and communicate with that. I really like the service as well, it has worked flawlessly so far; no complaints!

Mostly got this so I could just use my smartphone to talk; very glad I did. Acquiring a signal is very fast and this device is nice and compact so traveling with it is simple. Very highly recommended!

Tim at Apollo Satellite was awesome. Best customer service. Was chatting with me late Saturday night… And fully supported my purchasing decisions through Monday, and made sure my iridium was FedEx’d for next day delivery! I’ll be back!

I've been using my Iridium GO for about six months now without any issues. Apollo's service is really the best. It's quite a durable and rugged little thing, looks like it could really take a beating although I wouldn't want to try it if you know what I mean. I use it via my cell phone all the time and I have never had an issue with it connecting or anything.

This little device has kept me in touch all over the place. It works as it should and is completely rugged from front to back and pretty small considering how it performs. I recommend it highly if you are going out of cell range and need a different way to communicate but still want to use your cell.

My family operates a small tourist company here in Mexico, this little device helps keep employees connected while they are out of reach

Awesome device, speeds are a bit slow.

My family takes an annual camping trip that takes us to areas where our cells don't work unfortunately. Our Iridium go has been a lifesaver with keeping us safe and in touch with our extended family.

I bought this satellite phone for my husband. we have our own business and he isn’t able to be out of cell reception. With this we were able to go away for the weekend and receive calls and emails. Easy to pair with your iPhone and to use.

Awesome device, keep us in touch while traveling!

So I bought this through Amazon because of the return policy. I tested it and love it. The system is not a true WiFi as most people understand WiFi, but if you know the limitations and uses it is a very good unit. Still haven’t figured out crew feature.

Received in nice packaging. Works very well. Make sure you have the correct sim card as the rep told me this makes a difference for the GO device. The interface with the iPhone works very well and functionality is much easier due to familiarity. We also have the Extreme phone and although it works well, the GO is just a better set up for our family. Up to 5 users can share at the same time. Texting is super easy and with very minimal delay (maybe 20 seconds or so most of the time). The GO is so easy to use once set up, just open the antennae, connect I phone to GO wifi and open app, then start using for calls, texts, or tracking immediately. I even talked on sat phone through a bluetooth connection to my phone while in my aircraft at FL250. It works great with normal sat phone delay in voice transmission. Tried it in car, in Puerto Rico and Fl Keys during hurricane relief efforts and it worked flawlessly. Only concern for some might be the need to keep a smartphone and the Iridium GO both charged, but for me that is not a problem as we always have many battery backups and power supplies that don’t need an electrical grid, just something to consider, but I think the ease of operation, the rubberized case of the GO and smartphone interface far outweigh any other issues.

Traveling with one of these always makes me feel safe wiht the SOS button. I can always get help if I need it just in case.

Keeps me safe when hunting, love the sos features.

We have a small office that operates off the grid for our fishing operations and this thing keeps us in touch and operating without a hitch.

worked as expected, no issues

We have one of these at our second property in the country just for emergencies and have had to use it on occasion when our cells aren't working so well, it works great!

I rented 10 of these from a long time supplier to support a two week contract in Nevada. The Iridium GO! worked great!! So great, in fact, that our customer opted to use our equipment in lieu of theirs. In previous years, we have used various models of Iridium handsets which work fine too, but this year we went with the GO! so we could use the text capabilities using our own smartphones. The team members who used these had nothing but great things to say about them. The general consensus from all the operators was that this was a better device to use than the handsets we had historically deployed with. As a result of the positive feedback we collected from our team and the government guys we were working with, we submitted a recommendation to our customer that we continue to use these again in the future. I read through the other comments and some of the issues others have had. I know some times these devices can have problems connecting, but overall, we had 10 units out there for two weeks of heavy use (on the move and at static locations) and they worked better than the handsets of old. We will be using these again for sure on other contracts where we operate in remote areas.

I work for a contracting company in the Middle East and this little device helps me stay in touch where areas getting spotty for other forms of communications.

I take yearly trips overseas to Africa and I always have my go with me. Between the sos feature and the fact that you can use your own cell you cannot beat it for performance.

This device is pretty simple to use and keeps you connected out of cell range. Took some figuring to find out exactly what device I needed but turned out alright.

Great out of cell range communications

I take a trip every year to do research in Antarctica and this device keeps us connected every time. We tested others but they were always too bulky for what we needed since we are just a smaller team.

A perfect device for in touch off the grid. A bit weird for texting but it is not really made for that. Great signal anywhere, though.

Every time I camp off the grid I always take this with me, following the instructions to get connected is a must but once you're connected; it's extremely easy to operate!

Every year I take a long trip overseas to hike and even hunt if feeling up to it. This little device is rugged and has stood up to some rough use and has always worked for me with few exceptions becuase of some interference between me and the sky. Highly Recommended!