As of today the technicians at NorthernAxcess have confirmed the following compatibility issues with the Iridium GO satellite hotspot:

• Any Apple IOS iPhone models 4, 3GS, 3 and under will not work with the Iridium GO. It is not been confirmed among iPads although we are drawing in more compatibility issues from customers everyday of it's release, and troubleshooting them as we go. The problems that have been noticed with these devices seems to be application related, however it could also be the difference in processors, or firmware versions,..such as the iPhone 4 on IOS 7.1.2 seems to have a being heard problem as if the mute is continually on, whereas the iPhone 4S works fine.
• As far as Android devices, we have also narrowed some down to older Android devices not being compatible, however one of our customers who called in today has a brand new out of the box Samsung Galaxy S, and he is not able to log into the actual application itself with even using the default username and password that comes preset in the iridium go hotspot. The previous article to this one mentions some troubleshooting techniques that might possibly work with the Android devices, but after further testing and confirmation today, it only seems as if nothing helped. Again as far as with Android tablets we have not been able to draw any sufficient data as far as what works, and what doesn't

As anyone who has owned a smartphone, or tablet for a significant amount of time probably already knows, is that when a new firmware release comes out, sometimes some of the Apps that worked well before start having problems after the upgrade due to the fact that the developer now has to upgrade the application for both forwards, and backwards compatibility, and likewise if you do not perform the most recent firmware upgrades to your smart device, meaning that your 2-3 firmwares behind, but yet perform updates on the applications in the application store, then you also can start having problems.

So basically this is something to those that have a device that is currently working well with the iridium GO wifi hotspot, we would advise against doing any firmware upgrades on the devices, until you have heard for certain that iridium has updated its applications to run on that specific firmware.

On a good note...Remember that this is a major leap forward in satellite communications being able to finally perform in this way with a smart device using its application. However, Iridium is now definitely going to have to step up to make sure their application stays forward and backwards compatible to keep running on their life saving devices, and to stay in tune with its partners, providers, and the public about any developments, or issues with the application, and its functionality on other devices. This is something that was not mentioned upon release, and I am sure is now coming as something they know will be a full time job just to keep that part of things updated, especially with the new iPhone and firmware coming out soon, and new Android devices and their firmware coming out every 3-6 months.

Again, this is something that is completely redefined for the field of satellite communications, and as far as our loyal clients go, we have been fortunate enough to support them through some of these changes, however we are still taking in more data, and still asking those of you experiencing any problems to call in to us so that we can take special note, and help iridium to get these things resolved as quickly as possible.

Another thing to remember for all you fisherman out there that have already had iridium systems on their boats for years, and anyone else that has been using iridium's satellite phones over the years with an external antenna...Remember!..the main iridium GO satellite hotspot kit DOES NOT come with an external antenna adapter like all of the previous handheld satellite phones always came with. So if your going to be using it with an external antenna, remember to purchase the iridium GO External Antenna Adapter as well.

For any satellite communication questions, concerns, estimates, repair, or just technical support, we are always here to assist..!

Sincerely,

The NorthernAxcess Team