InReach & AT&T Incompatible?

[Whip]

I just returned from 2 weeks in the Alaska bush. Both my partner & I had InReach devices to maintain contact with home as well as for emergency use. During our stay we both were unable to get text messages through to our wives, although we were able to communicate with some friends. After a week or so we finally received a message from InReach that messages to AT&T phones had been blocked for a period of time. It turns out that both of our wives have AT&T phones. The problem was eventually resolved, but it was frustrating for awhile not being able to be in communication.
A Google search shows me that this is not the first time this has been an issue with AT&T phones. See the link here:
A Litany of InReach Mini Woes: MAJOR LIMITATION!! - inReach Mini - inReach - Garmin Forums
A dedicated community for Garmin users to ask questions, provide answers, and share feedback.

forums.garmin.com

Personally, I'm very disappointed in the InReach service. Fortunately in our case or transporter did not use AT&T phones so at least we had that important contact. But who would think to ask a transporter what phone service they use? It really makes me a bit leary to rely on InReach completely. It seems to be fixed for now, but who can promise me that it will never happen again? History doesn't speak will for it.

 

[Vandy321]

Who can promise that anything will work 100% of the time? Certainty is nearly impossible to find in this world, especially in the woods.

Garmin sent a notification a few days ago saying the issue was resolved. It was over a 10 day period I believe. They also sent a text to the garmin saying AT&T messages were down, so, in a pinch, just text a buddy with a Verizon phone.

If you're that unhappy with the inReach, shoot me a PM. Have a buddy looking for one used.

 

[Whip]

Yes, I received the message. But in the meantime we were without service to our spouses for days. Fortunately my wife is pretty laid back and doesn't expect daily updates. But I know that isn't the case for all.

The issue is that this apparently isn't the first time it has been a problem. (See link above). And there is no way of knowing whether it is permanently fixed.

 

[Vandy321]

Agreed, its not ideal. But still more reliable in the timber than a sat phone. Even if its only to one carrier...worst case. Text a few buddies, have them relay a message.

Its imperfect, but it's the best we've got for now.

 

[cnelk]

I also posted this on your other thread.

You can also send messages to an email address. Don’t be stuck on cell numbers

 

[Downwind]

Yes, I received the message. But in the meantime we were without service to our spouses for days. Fortunately my wife is pretty laid back and doesn't expect daily updates. But I know that isn't the case for all.

The issue is that this apparently isn't the first time it has been a problem. (See link above). And there is no way of knowing whether it is permanently fixed.

Sound like to me the issue is AT&T. If it’s always that provider that has issue they’re the issue.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Wildwillalaska]

Probably never happen again, but if so, just send them an email. The inReach sends both text and email. Like if you want to get in touch with another buddy in the field, you just send an e-Mail to them on their inReach ID ([email protected]).

Same issue here, in the field 9/12-9/21, but I had a backup sat phone I’ve had forever and simply don’t use much anymore. Worst part is the calls through it were sent directly to voicemail, prompting the misses to call right back. 3 calls, total of like 12 minutes, $138 in international long distance charges from AT&T.

 

[Whip]

Sound like to me the issue is AT&T. If it’s always that provider that has issue they’re the issue.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

True. However would you seriously switch cell providers just to use InReach once a year? Unfortunately for me, Verizon doesn't work at my home. This may be an AT&T only issue, but it's certainly an InReach problem. Unless they want to advertise their product as potentially incompatible with some phones.

 

[Brendan]

It's been said, Just use an email address as a backup or include it on every communication... It's not like you can't communicate. Still the best option out there.

I get it it's inconvenient, but the issue's on the AT&T side with AT&T blocking the messages.

 

[Whip]

It's been said, Just use an email address as a backup or include it on every communication... It's not like you can't communicate. Still the best option out there.

I get it it's inconvenient, but the issue's on the AT&T side with AT&T blocking the messages.

Yep, now that we're home it's easy to figure out a solution. Just never knew before that it was necessary to send messages to both a cell and an email. Do most guys automatically do that? As I've mentioned, we had no clue at first that our messages were not being received and no reason to take additional steps. And our wives had no clue that we did in fact attempt to send messages.

 

[Brendan]

Yep, now that we're home it's easy to figure out a solution. Just never knew before that it was necessary to send messages to both a cell and an email. Do most guys automatically do that? As I've mentioned, we had no clue at first that our messages were not being received and no reason to take additional steps. And our wives had no clue that we did in fact attempt to send messages.

I do use emails as well.

Did you test everything - all phone numbers and emails before you went into the field? (At least the important ones?) I never knew it was an AT&T issue but figured out a buddy wasn't getting texts last year before I left, so he just got the emails and access to my map on the inreach site.

 

[Whip]

We did test everything before leaving and all was fine. The problem apparently started only after we were already in the field.

 

[FlyGuy]

This is the second time I’ve had this issue. It happened to me in spring 2019 while scouting an elk tag/spring Turkey hunting in the Gila, and again here in the 2020 archery elk. Both times were AT&T specific issues.

The email address will work but it takes a while to figure out that someone isn’t getting your messages. It does knock down my confidence level in the inReach a bit; but I still think it’s the best thing out there.

I switched from one of the old delorme units to the mini this season, as last year it seemed like that old model was taking 8-12 hours to get messages through/received. One of my partners this year still has one of those and messages between inReach units were extremely delayed - like next day delayed. Some I wasn’t getting until we were driving out 24+ hours later? Anyone else have that issue? Wondering if it had to do with his old unit or this outage?

Those old units sure to hold a charge much longer than the mini does tho! Seems like it was dead in a ~ 1.5 days? My old one would go 4-5 with tons of messages and all day tracking as long as I powered down at night.





You can’t cheat the mountain

 

[cnelk]

All you have to do is set your preset messages to say something this:


“All ok. Just checking in. Please confirm message” then you’ll know if it doesn’t go thru.

Or I have mine set to say something like this:

“All ok. Just checking in. No need to reply unless emergency” - this will let recipient know you don’t want to chat.

Also, let your recipients know they have 160 characters per message so fill it up. Or use abbreviations in the message

Like this:

Allok@home. Boyfriendcame2visit whileugone. Wishuluck&havagr8 time.

Bottom line is to use some ingenuity

 

[Wildwillalaska]

Exactly. The best fail safe way is simply to ask the misses and important folks to give a response that things received. We had to sort this with my mother when she watched our daughter during the misses’ sheep hunt this year since both of us were simultaneously afield. She isn’t the most tech savvy but got it sorted. Had to remind a couple times to respond so we know the message went through and she read it. The wife is great at it and will typically give some short response to know it went through.

this was the first trip I’d had issue with messages being blocked. Quickly knew since I hadn’t received a response. Then I got a message from the misses asking if everything was ok since she hadn’t heard from me—so clear she hadn’t received the few messages I’d sent over the previous day. So easiest sort was to simply send the message to her email which worked perfectly and we stuck with that till I got the Garmin message saying ATT had blocked messages from 9/12-9/19.