SPOT Connect Satellite Communicator

Comments about SPOT Connect Satellite Communicator:

Annual fee is expensive. They add in hidden fees. They force you to use annual automatic credit card renewal which is hard to cancel. Tracking feature uses up batteries within 2 hours.

Comments about SPOT Connect Satellite Communicator:

I've just returned from a two month journey paddling the Inside Passage from Seattle WA to Ketchikan AK, and thought I'd send some feedback from the field. First of all, we managed to get a message out every day of our journey, which supplied invaluable peace of mind to our family. However, the device - or more specifically the software - has its quirks and leaves something to be desired. Here are some thoughts and comments:

Physcial Device:

-The actual SPOT should be a bright, unnatural color - say coast guard orange or neon green. I want something visible from more than ten feet away, especially when the device is perched on a boulder on a beach.

App/Software (iPhone/iPad):

-I had to rediscover the device on my iPhone (or iPad) EVERY SINGLE TIME I connected. This is a royal pain. Other devices reconnect automatically once paired, and this should be the standard behaviour.

-I had to connect to the device to use ANY feature of the app. Some basic functionality should be present, in fact the more settings and info that could be stored with the app the better.

-The app was flakey in recording the history of sent messages. The device would indicate that a message had been sent, but it did not always show up in the message history on the app. Since I had no other way of confirming the message actually had been sent, on several occasions I resent the message just for MY peace of mind of seeing it listed in the message history. Turns out this was a waste of battery power and time, as the message really had been sent, it just didn't make it to the message history screen. I couldn't find any rhyme or reason for recording message history - I tried leaving the iPhone on until the first message went out, or turning it off and reconnecting, and couldn't find any correlation to the behaviour.

-It was far to easy to accidently clear the app settings. I hadn't successfully paired the device yet, and my cold, wet, tired, fumble fingers at the end of a long day accidently hit the "I don't have a SPOT connect" button rather than getting back to the iPhone settings to manually discover the device. BOOM. All my account settings were GONE. UNACCEPTABLE. Fortunately I had my iPad as a backup for communicating to the SPOT. In two months I think I had Internet access three or four times, so I wasn't exactly in a position to reload the account data.

-When I returned home I discovered that only a max of thirty days of messages are available on the online map. Really? These are tiny messages, and I was hoping for an archive of our journey. Since we were out for two months, I lost the first half of our trip. This is really unacceptable.

Comments about SPOT Connect Satellite Communicator:

It took several calls for set up. Instructions are incomplete and not clear. Tech staff are very helpful. service subscription fees are not clear until you acivate. The Track Progress is cumbersome. I would recommend to SPOT to hire tech staff to write instructions.

Comments about SPOT Connect Satellite Communicator:

This spot connect does not work correctly. I have been working in IT for a long time and it acts like a beta product that has not been thoroughly tested. I tested it before this trip and it seemed to work. I was in the wilderness in Montana for 5 days and on the 2nd day the device made the bluetooth connection with my iPhone 4s but the app could not find the device no matter what I tried (closing app, turning off connect, turning on and off the iPhone 4s). Finally I tried logging off the app and to my surprise and immense frustration, an internet connection is needed to log back on. What [*] thought of that - if I had an internet connection, I wouldn't need the Spot?? The device was useless for the rest of the trip. I am returning it. I may consider the older, not-bluetooth Spot.

Comments about SPOT Connect Satellite Communicator:

I bought this to use on solo men bike trips in remote areas. On a couple test runs w/ the device I found it very difficult to get connected to my iPhone 4s. I suspect the device may be faulty, but I doubt I will spend the extra money getting a unit that syncs to a phone next time.

I need a device that I can turn on and send an OK message or HELP message in an instant so I can get back to enjoying my time away from civilization. Syncing to the phone seems like a good idea, but messing around with tech is not really why I go out on remote rides.

Comments about SPOT Connect Satellite Communicator:

There are so many bugs with this thing that other reviewers have documented that I won't bother to describe, but I'm sure we've had all of them. We have finally been able to get it to work most of the time by unpairing and re-pairing the SPOT from our phone in the bluetooth settings EVERY time we use it. This usually makes it able to work. (We are using a Droid Razr Maxx phone).
Some new issue seems to come up every other time we use it though, and the customer service at SPOT is terrible (they actually told us we'd have to uninstall and reinstall the app from our phone every time we used it...kind of defeats the purpose of the device when you are out of cell range). Pretty annoyed these guys have our money for the device AND the subscription when it does not work as advertised. I only hope that if we needed the SOS at least that would work. Very disappointed.

Comments about SPOT Connect Satellite Communicator:

My father was recently killed in a snowmobile accident (3-11). Afterwards my family was extremely nervous about me going sledding and not being able to check in or reach emergency services. After looking into all available options, I selected this device based on price and features.The initial setup was a bit more lengthy than I expected, but was essential to create accounts and input contacts.The basic yearly service fee is $99, but that's just it - basic. Another $10 gets you $100K insurance for emergency services. For $50 your friends and family can track your position via Google maps and updated coordinates every 10 minutes. And then there's messages $.50 each. I'm out $300, but my wife can sleep.The neat feature about the iPhone version is you can create custom messages as needed, or use stored ones. Program also offers some additional features that gives you more feedback about what the unit is doing. Initially I had trouble getting it to pair with my phone, but once setup I haven't had any pairing troubles.My wife and I both liked the tracking function. She was able to keep an eye on my sledding adventures (sort of) in real time. And once home I could look at where all I had been. Having coordinates with a date stamp in order was useful and the pins left a nice digital breadcrumb trail. Just wish Google maps had better zoomed-in close maps of where I was in the mountains.Eventually Spot will be coming out with a two way version, and then you'll see this one on [@]. In the meantime, for the sub $500 price point this unit is well made and functions well. My family has piece of mind and I can better map out my favorite riding spots.

Comments about SPOT Connect Satellite Communicator:

I bouth this unit because I was going to be a long way out in the ocean going to the Dry Tortugas and wanted a back up means to communicate with family and friends. This unit did just that. It allowed me to send my location information and text messages tolet everyone know how the conditions were. The unit worked great.

Once I figured out how to use it, it worked really good. Make sure you use it before heading out to make sure it is configured correctly.

The only probelm that I had was with the web site. It takes a long time to add you contacts and it didn't keep them organized into my groups. I had to repeat the process several times to make sure it was correct.

I can't wait for the next upgrade so that your contacts can send you back text messages!

Comments about SPOT Connect Satellite Communicator:

I purchased this device for my upcoming through hike of the Pacific Crest Trail. I wanted something to give my wife and kids peace of mind and the ability to communicate my progress.

It took several attempt to get the SPOT paired with my iPhone 4s. After paired, I played around with it, turning both devices off and back on and pairing over and over. Worked each time. I then paired the SPOT with my iPad2. It paired on the first try. I then sent a test message and it went through in less than 2 minutes. The next test was to Iron Mountain in San Diego. I tested the tracking and gps coordinates and have to say it was SPOT on. I sent another test text and again it went through in less than 2 minutes. So far so good.

The computer set up was easy and worked fine. Will be doing more testing before heading out on April 14th.

Comments about SPOT Connect Satellite Communicator:

Firmware update was a slight hassle, probably more my computer then an issue with the Connect. Luckily I had another computer nearby to complete the task, but I could see where others might think its an issue with the Connect.

Account setup was pretty standard. Create a user name and password, pay the yearly fee.

First try to pair the Connect by Bluetooth with my iPhone 4 failed. But after a reboot of the iPhone all went well. Each time Bluetooth is turned off then back on I have to go into the Bluetooth settings to re-connect (not pair just re-connect) to the Connect. Would like it to automatically recognize and connect like most other Bluetooth devices, but oh well.

Setup of contacts, contact groups, and predefined messages was easy. Did it on both my computer and on the iPhone, just have to be sure to sync the app afterwards. Each message went out and was received within a minute of initiating. Of course the unit still spent 10 plus minutes locked-out while sending out the redundant messages, which weren't received (which is intended). I wish the SMS sent out had a link to a map showing the location like the emails do.

Put iPhone in airplane mode, turned Bluetooth back on and connected, then sent out more test messages with no problems. 

The only possible issues I can find are; if I don't sync changed contacts or predefined messages before leaving cell coverage there could be issues with the sent messages. Or, if the Spot Connect app gets "signed out" while out of cell coverage, I won't be able to open the app rendering the Connect only useful for only SOS mode.

After my initial setup I began pairing the Connect to a second iPhone, my iPad, my Android Tablet, and a Android smartphone. All had no issues and sent out messages, even from inside the house.

Yes, all this testing was done from the comfort of my home, but I look forward to putting it through it's paces in the field soon.