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I'm heading to the north-west of Scotland next year and understand that the Vodaphone mobile signal is not the best. Whilst not ideal, I have resign myself to the fact that I need to be contactable in some form whilst up there. Currently looking into the practicalities of 'renting' (if such a thing is possible) a sat phone. Does anyone have any experience of buying / renting / using, including battery life, etc.
anyone ?
Just don't expect an Iridium phone to be as reliable or clear as a normal mobile.
They can be patchy at the best of times.
You'll need a contract, as £7 per minute isn't really achievable on PAYG - they do offer short term contracts, but the rates are correspondingly high. If you're in the mountains, some form of VHF radio would likely be a better solution - if not - I don't know if you remember landlines?
Would a multi sim mobile any good? At least give you a slightly better chance of getting a signal.
[i]I'm heading to the north-west of Scotland next year and understand that the Vodaphone mobile signal is not the best.[/i]
You'll find that NO mobile signal is very possible, across vast areas of the country 🙂
Roll with it.
I'm not sure an 5 year old coverage map is any use.
What part of NW Scotland? I found EE works well around Glenuig and Mallaig.
When I used my uk mobile phone in Ireland to speak to my irish plumber also in kerry for some reason the virgin mobil network seemed to think I was calling a sattelite phone, I remember it being horrendously expensive. You'll probably also get drone striked using one
I suspect you will find that things are not as bad as you are dreading. That was my experience anyway.
Are you some sort of secret trouble shooter that you need to be with reach at every moment of the day?
Thought about takin a couple of extra SIMs's from other networks. Drac - From Fort William upto Cape Wrath. I've been advised by a friend whose been to that sort of area, you might be able to get signal on the tops in afew places. Just looking for a backup plan.
Matt - it feels like it sometimes by the way my Clients carry on.
Get a selection of PAYG sims. also check coverage maps.
kilo - Member
When I used my uk mobile phone in Ireland to speak to my irish plumber also in kerry for some reason the virgin mobil network seemed to think I was calling a sattelite phone, I remember it being horrendously expensive.
Not entirely sure, but that's possibly because of cross-border roaming, because Eire is a separate country, not part of the U.K.; the EU have cut the cost of roaming considerably, and it's supposed to be removed completely, but I'm not certain of all the details.
So. I'm based in Canada so I can't help you with actually renting one but I've used 3 different systems of sat phones. Basically the more you pay the better the service. So in order of increasing cost / decreasing quality...
Imarsat - This is designed to work for boats as the satellites are geo-stationary on the equator. If you can see South (exact angle varies) and you pick up the satellite you're fine but otherwise it won't work. So great if you're thinking beaches etc; less good if you're planning to climb the North Face of a Munro
Globestar - Not geostationary satellites but not enough to cover the world but does work in the UK (I think). These are good and work well most of the time. In mountains have had occasional dropped calls when one satellite leaves sightline and another hasn't yet made it over the horizon. They are the signal carrier for spot.
Iridium - The gold standard and has always worked but pricy.
10 seconds on google found this [url= http://www.satphoneco.com/ ]http://www.satphoneco.com/[/url]
[url= http://www.satphoneco.com/rentals ]http://www.satphoneco.com/rentals[/url]
We had one at work that when available used mobile signal. iirc it was £5 a minute and that was a few years ago but work got rid of it saying we didn't need it anymore. Hard to believe in this day I still work in areas in Northamptonshire that don't get any mobile signal.
You'l be fine with EE around there but not with Vodafone.