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.

If nothing else, let this serve as a caution for those who might rely on InReach to stay in touch with those at home.

 

[cnelk]

FYI. You can always send messages to an email address too.

 

[Whip]

Yeah, we eventually figured that out. The problem was that we had no way of knowing the text messages aren't being received. They weren't bounced back to us, just sent to cyberspace limbo. In the meantime our spouses are sitting at home wondering why we weren't staying in touch.
Not life threatening in this case. Just frustrating.

 

[cnelk]

In my 5 years of having an inreach never has a message been bounced back. I don’t even think that’s an option

 

[Gila]

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.

If nothing else, let this serve as a caution for those who might rely on InReach to stay in touch with those at home.

The problem sounds like it is with the ATT service and not the in-reach. The people I have comms with are all on Verizon with nary a problem. Sounds like ATT only had a temporary system glitch. If you are concerned about it happening again, you could hand out a cheap Tracfone to those you want to contact and try that as a backup.. The alternative is a SAT phone which is too much for me as I wouldn't use it enough to justify the cost.

 

[Whip]

Cnelk - exactly. There was no way of us knowing that the messages we were sending were not being received. It all seemed fine on our end. It wasn't until we weren't receiving any comments back that we began to wonder what was going on.

 

[kvw4x4]

Ya this was frustrating for me. Luckily I tried it before we left. When It didn’t work I tried her email Which worked. So I just did that the week we were out of service.

 

[Gila]

Did you try it from Earthmate? I use Earthmate from an old note 3 without any service. I use a stylus so I don't have to take my gloves off...and I can type faster as well. With my wife she will reply to a text right away but could take a day to reply to an email.

 

[taggart_lumpy]

i’ve personally never had this problem but i have my preset messages set up to go to both my wife’s phone and email just in case since it doesn’t cost anything to have multiple recipients on those.

 

[Whip]

I used Earthmate and also tried sending a message directly on the InReach. My buddy had an iPhone and I think his phone app was called something other than Earthmate.

 

[kvw4x4]

Did you try it from Earthmate? I use Earthmate from an old note 3 without any service. I use a stylus so I don't have to take my gloves off...and I can type faster as well. With my wife she will reply to a text right away but could take a day to reply to an email.

i’ve personally never had this problem but i have my preset messages set up to go to both my wife’s phone and email just in case since it doesn’t cost anything to have multiple recipients on those.

I use Earthmate. It still didn’t work.

that’s a good idea to send to an email and phone number

 

[Gila]

i’ve personally never had this problem but i have my preset messages set up to go to both my wife’s phone and email just in case since it doesn’t cost anything to have multiple recipients on those.

Does that count as 2 messages against your quota?

 

[cnelk]

Preset messages don’t count toward quotas

Everyone should know all the ins and outs of their InReach.

I had a couple circumstances with mine as it shut down and wouldn’t turn on.

This is what you need to do if that happens.

 

[Gila]

Definitely good info there cnelk. I need to put more time into it. That power on issue needs to be fixed in my opinion.

 

[brsnow]

I have ATT and mini inreach, use it year round including today with no issue communicating with my wife who also uses ATT.

 

[wind gypsy]

Preset messages don’t count toward quotas

Everyone should know all the ins and outs of their InReach.

I had a couple circumstances with mine as it shut down and wouldn’t turn on.

This is what you need to do if that happens.


View attachment 218885

Thanks for this reminder. Mine recently stopped turning on. I had to do this with a previous inreach I had but forgot this was the solution.

 

[wind gypsy]

I have ATT and mini inreach, use it year round including today with no issue communicating with my wife who also uses ATT.

ATT was not accepting any messages from my inreach a couple weeks ago. No problem with other carriers.

 

[taggart_lumpy]

Does that count as 2 messages against your quota?

no the presets don’t count towards your messages.

 

[trophyhill]

had the same issue.

 

[OnPointBrands]

We had the same issue during a recent elk hunt in CO, took us awhile to figure out it was an ATT issue and to send emails instead. Of course the time period of the service issue was literally the same as our trip I plan to call Garmin and discuss with them but haven’t had a chance yet.


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