Globalstar GSP-1700 satellite phone

I purshed two globlstar phones in march, excited baout my phones, go camping for a weekend to find out I had no service, the dude where i purchased my phones from didnt tell me that the service was the shits. I bought iridium and have since purchased 11 more, WOW!! iridium is amazing!!! Go iridium, we ever got full coverage in our house LOL

I too, took advantage of the $50 unlimited plan. As a charterboat operator who frequently is out of cellular range I thought it was a great investment. I have had the phone 3 months and was able to complete 3 calls.At that point I just stopped paying my bills. They then terminated my service for nonpayment. Funny thing, I think it works just about as good with the service disconnected as it did connected

ditto on "searching for a signal" which renders service virtually useless. The times I did connect, better talk fast because call drops without notice.

In essence, for me, a pilot in remote areas, globalstar is UN-reliable which is UN-safe. I made a mistake buying their equipment and services.

I work on-call and nearly lost my six-figure job this year due to Globalstar's abysmal reception. (We have unobstructed LOS.) The only thing reliable about Globalstar is the bill, and the only thing more irritating than paying $1/minute for nonexistent service is waiting on hold for 30 minutes to talk to the rude, unhelpful, marginally English-speaking high-school kids in their customer service department. I would recommend Iridium, or two cans with a string, anything but Globalstar.

I had Globalstar for 4 years. The past year, service degraded to the point where it is almost useless. This August 2007, I purchased and Iridium. I personally side by side compared the two phones - no comparison. The Iridium makes a call anytime, anywhere, within seconds. I would say 99% of the time the Globalstar is "looking for service". DO NOT buy globalstar until they actually get the new constellation in place - not the 8 spare satellites. They already put up 4 spares, and made NO difference in services. The Iridium costs about twice as much, but it works.

I am also a very unhappy globalstar customer the
only you can count on is the bill. I only carry it for emergency protection but I am starting to realize that when I need it It wont work . I seldom can stay on line for more than a minute.
I have several friends with the same complaint

The reason for the problems with globar star phone is more likely the continuing unforseen degradation of their satalite downlink amplifier. as they continue to worsen, so will globalstars coverage and drop-outs.

Any Globalstar user's notice an improvement now that they have 4 new satellites in orbit? Or, are there still lots of problems?

I have had a Global Star 1600 for several years. This year the service deteriorated and for months I was seldom able to connect in Arizona or Utah. Things were different when I traveled to Turkey! I got a signal all the time.

Globalstar is on my S___ list for leaving me without effective service for most of this year. And yes I know about LOS and the difference between sat phones and cell phones. I'll give Globalstar a break when they give me a break and refund my charges for the last 8 months when they provided me almost no service.
Bob Kerry
Tucson

Update:

I got my phone and have used many times now. A little finicky but call are crystal clear. Every now and then I get a dropped call but for the unlimited minutes, you cant beat it,.

I've been readin alot of reviews about globalstar and the noticeable trend is I get dropped calls all the time and couldnt find signal. Have any of you taken into account the warnings about LOS (Line of Sight) and do any of you understand the RF spectrum? We are all so used to cell phones and always connected. My stupid T-mobile phone doesnt even work half the time in my city! Im switching to Global star because 1, Harder to get a hold of me is better! Its a developing technology these Sat Phones, so give it a break. Yes Iridium probably does have better coverage, but have you seen the prices?!!? Globalstar just got me with there unlimited plan of 50 dollars a month. And if you think theyve had problems financially in the past, (bankruptcy) so has Iridium. I dont't expect to have perfect service all the time from a satellite 913 miles from the earth. So give globalstar a break! (Also more sat launches this year taking place)

I have a globalstar gsp-1600, I'm very unhappy, very bad customer service. Sometimes the phone dosent work for days (cant cannect to any satellite). Very frustrating. My last adventure was with their car kit. paid 1500.$, 2 weeks later it was half price. They never gave me back mt money. I will switch to Iridium as soon as my contarct is over. Be careful with Globalstar.

I bought the new Globalstar 1700 and was not happy with it at all. I was experiencing many dropped calls and no signal found with the phone...very frustrating. I canceled my Globalstar account and found a great deal for an Iridium 9505A on a website: www.SatelliteDiscountStore.com. They have excellent customer service and very low prices. I am now able to communicate anywhere in the world. No dropped calls and I'm always able to find a signal. I recommend making the switch to Iridium.