Garmin/InReach Message Issues

[ski3pin]

Here's a heads up for all of us -

Several issues have surfaced in the last couple of months in regards to messages sent from the InReach device actually reaching all listed contacts. My buddy uses his InReach device to keep his wife and daughter aware of his status and location when doing trail work - riding and packing with mules, running chain saws, falling trees, clearing trails. "I want them to know I'm okay and not laying in the dirt somewhere doing the funky chicken." His wife and daughter suddenly stopped receiving InReach text messages to their phones. He still received the messages to his phone - same plan, same cell carrier. Several phone calls to Garmin tech and weeks of sorting it out and sending test messages revealed problems with the phone numbers Garmin/InReach used to send the text messages.

Two months ago a friend of ours noticed she stopped receiving our InReach text messages sent to her cell phone. It always worked before. This issue has still not been resolved.

A couple of weeks ago my buddy and I noticed that our contacts with a comcast.net email address stopped receiving InReach messages. These issues will get bounced back and forth - "It must be comcast's problem." Turned out in was. For some reason comcast started to block all emails from InReach. That issue has been fixed.

Moral to the story. Get a hold of all your contacts and set up a test sending a preset message. Ask them to confirm your message was received. If not, contact InReach/Garmin tech support and help them find and correct the issue. These messages need to get to intended contacts.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Thanks Mr. 3Pin,

I have recently had troubles with folks on a gmail account that did not receive my check in posts. Others with SMS did. It could be my fault, but I want to find out.

WS

 

[smlobx]

Hmmm.
The same thing happens to us on our recent trip to Namibia.
My older son didn’t receive any messages so he first called our younger son who had been receiving them and was able to put his mind at ease.
We’ll be using it again, this time in the US, so if it doesn’t go through again I should be able to call them on our cell...

Then call Garmin.

 

[Advmoto18]

I have had inReach for 5 years.

I have had an off & on issue with Gmail accounts and certain cellular recipients (Sprint and Verizon) receiving my "preset" messages in the past. I have not had an issue when the message went through an ISP to a Gmail recipient read on their computer. Anonymous email accounts seem to pose the most problems due to security. As such, I now try to send to non-anonymous, email accounts/addresses and have not had an issue doing such.

About 3 years ago, I met up with a friend who works in communications at NASA. As explained to me then, inReach has always used the Iridium satellite constellation. Just like most things, there are constant firmware upgrades to enhance and secure the system. Same goes for cellular networks and mobile devices. Often times, after an upgrade, an issue pops up disabling linkup between firmware applications thus preventing the seamless handoff of comm traffic.

I agree, it is a very good idea to check and establish comms with inReach contacts before departing on a trip. Yet, one never knows when a firmware patch will be applied by a provider. And as such, possibly disabling comms with certain recipients. One of the reasons why I establish comms with friends on different cellular networks and email accounts/providers.

 

[ski3pin]

Excellent information, Advmoto 18, and right inline with what I'm being told. It's a complicated system and the Garmin techs are working hard to keep all the pieces working together.

 

[longhorn1]

I sent out 4-5 during our trip east, and I did get some replies from our daughter-in-law. I'm going to check further. Thanks, jd

 

[Advmoto18]

While not an inReach issue, another example of comm link failure happened to us last week.

We live off the high speed internet grid; we use a cellular Hotspot to connect on a daily basis . As such, we can only download software updates/patches when we visit friends and family who have a high speed internet connection.

Our iPhones are connected to the T-Mobile network (Old Geezer rates, 2 lines $70/month unlimited everything).

A T-Mobile/iPhone update was made available ~2 weeks ago. Our BMW magically updated its comm software which in turn completely disabled the comm link with our iPhones until we could update our iPhones. Once we completed the iPhone software updates, the comm link with the BMW was reestablished and now no comm issues.

As mentioned earlier, try to push your inReach comms to recipients using different cellular providers, mobile devices and non-anonymous email accounts and in all likelihood most, if not all, will receive your comms.

Yep, the BMW is constantly looking for a cell tower to connect to. The Service Manager has yet to determine if I can disable this feature "in car". And, he's never had a customer ask for it to be disabled. Frankly, I'd much prefer the car not be in comms with the "www" when I'm driving or at any time unless I grant it permission. Not so easy to stick the car in a Faraday bag as with other devices.

 

[Mthomas]

This is an ongoing issue with Garmin increach system.if you search this on google, you will find numerous instances of breakdowns in communication between Garmin and various phone providers. There is a page on the Garmin site where you can subscribe to alerts about outages.

 

[Atlin]

Wow, I was (blissfully?) unaware of this problem. I carry the InReach in my airplane. Makes me wonder how well the "SOS" button would work if needed..... Fortunately I have a 406 PLB as well, but certainly now I will count on that more than the InReach.

 

[Mthomas]

Per Garmin, SOS is never an issue as there is no bridge over to the various cell carriers required. They do seem to resolve the text issues fairly quickly. I am not sure that the original developers of these devices foresaw the future heavy dependence on instantaneous communication in the form of texting. Remember when we all used to leave a general trip plan, expecting that friends would follow up if we did not check in within a day or so of the scheduled finish?