Have you ever been on the road with no services or other cars in sight, and your tire blew out? What if it were 2 tires, and you only have one spare? You step out to see which tires, and decide to call for service, and your cell phone has no service. People think that this rarely happens, but it has happened to more people than you think, especially if you like to go outdoors to adventure and some of these places are quite remote. Here is how you can make a phone call without cell service.
Starlink is a satellite internet service which allows you to be anywhere, setup your Starlink network and you are on the internet. Some phones, Apple and Android based, offer WiFi calling. Most of the time it is disabled, so you would have to enable it. But once the Starlink is up and running, and you connect your phone to the Starlink WiFi router, enable WiFi calling on the phone, you can make a phone call.
The Starlink Roam plan is a roaming feature with limited use of 50GB of data that costs $50 a month. The equipment runs about $600, but this is a far lower cost than getting into a Satellite phone. There is no per minute charge, and you can send text messages as well as make phone calls, albeit it is not unlimited. I rarely use 50GB of data on my phone, so this is a great plan for someone like me. There is an Starlink Roam Unlimited plan at $165 a month if that is required for adventuring with an RV or a Travel Trailer, and even out in the middle of nowhere camping, overlanding, or boondocking, as long as the sky is visible for the Starlink setup. You can even attach it on the roof of an automobile and travel up to 100mph while using the Starlink internet. Neat!
There are other options for emergencies, like Satellite texting, but for an unlimited text package, it is about the same as Starlink Roam, and you can only use it for texting and not for voice. Definitely something to consider as an option to carrying a satellite phone when you’re adventuring, and you can even use it at basecamp for internet access.
