Iridium GO GPS Tracking

The Iridium GO! has a valuable GPS tracking features that can instantly show your current GPS to any email or SMS text of your current location instantly. Emails or SMS texts also include a web Google Maps link to your current location. Iridium GO GPS tracking can also be automated where the GO's GPS location is sent every 5 minutes to once a week... an excellent option for fleet tracking or mapping of maritime vessels. Iridium GO Tracking Information

SOS Settings
The Iridium GO! offers a programmable SOS button that can be configured to notify specified contacts in the case of an emergency. Once configured, an SOS can be initiated either from the Iridium GO! device or application. An SOS initiated by pressing the SOS button on the Iridium GO! device will only send an emergency message with location information, while an SOS initiated from the Iridium GO! application will also provide the option for two-way voice communication with the designated contact.
SOS Configuration Advanced Screen

GEOS Safety Services
To support the SOS feature, Iridium has contracted with GEOS Travel Safety Group to provide an emergency response coordination service for your Iridium GO! at no additional charge. These services are offered and provided exclusively by GEOS and not by Iridium which is a separate, unrelated company. Standard airtime charges will apply to SOS mode messages and/or calls to GEOS, a valid Iridium SIM subscription and online registration at www.geosalliance.com/iridium is required. GOES Information

User Permissions - Firewall Control - Wi-Fi Security
Advanced screens allow the the owner to add users to grant permissions for giving priority ranking, making calls, sending messages, receiving messages, access to twitter, or sending a Quick GPS message.
Users Permissions Advanced Features Screen

The Iridium Go Advanced screens give robust Firewall controls for blocking or allowing only access to a single IP addresses, or IP address range, and ports for TCP/UDP.
Firewall Control Advanced Features Screen

Wi-Fi Security on the GO by default is not blocked, however since connecting to the Iridium network can only be done through the GO app, that has a login and password, the connection is secure.
Wi-Fi Security Advanced Feature Screen

Twitter
To link your Twitter account with your Iridium GO! device, login to Twitter.com and update your Account settings with the Iridium phone number. Once the Iridium GO! has been linked to your Twitter account, posting messages within the Iridium GO! Twitter feature will post directly to your Twitter profile. Further information on Tweeting via SMS can be found at http://support.twitter.com

Iridium RUDICS Supported
The Iridium Router-Based Unrestricted Digital Internetworking Connectivity Solutions (RUDICS) is an enhanced data service that allows customers who have requirements for large data transfers the ability to transfer data via reliable, affordable, multi-protocol Mobile Originated (MO) and Mobile Terminated (MT) circuit switched data connectivity across the Iridium satellite network.

Captain and Crew Calling
A captain or crew calling scratch card can be used in the Iridium GO! device. The application can be configured to dial the first stage dialing number and submit the captain PIN or crew scratch # automatically. Configure this setting at settings -> Captain/Crew Calling option.


Internet Connectivity - Realistic Expectations
At an advertised 2.5 Kilobits per second (1 Kbps realistically), the Iridium GO! is not a solution to those looking for workable connection for normal Internet use (for a working Internet connectivity, we recommend the IsatHub, or a portable BGAN terminal) . For optimal speeds and avoiding disconnections, the GO terminal must be under a very wide open sky. Since the connection is slow, Email attachments of any size will take many minutes or possibly hours to transfer, and there does appear to be a size limit for the Email program. A single standard sized web page (with images) on average takes about 10 minutes to load, however the Opera Mini web browser does reduce image size by about 90%. With images turned off, the page load time when the network is working is about 1 minute. We do recommend bookmarking web pages that are mobile optimized. Here is a list of mobile sites that Iridium provides (this page is the GO! homepage on the Opera browser as well).

A connection to the Internet using the Iridium GO (also known as data minutes) are limited to authorized smartphone and tablet apps, so your existing apps on your device will unfortunately not work over the GO. Right now the current Iridium GO apps are 1. Iridium GO App, 2. Mail & Web App, 3. Opera Mini browser (for iOS), 4. XWeb browser (for Android)... Recently Iridium introduced these 3rd party Apps for the Iridium GO. The Web portion of the Mail and Web app will automatically open a browsing session either with Opera Mini with iPhone/iPad, or XWeb with Android. All apps are free on the iPhone/iPad App Store or the Google Play store.

Our conclusion is that Internet access with the Iridium GO should be for those who are very patient, preferably with images turned off. Having more than one connected device trying to use the Internet would create an even worse bottleneck (it allows up to 5 connected devices). The good news for the Iridium GO is that applications like Instant messaging, GPS Tracking, Email and under 50K Email attachments (using the Mail & Web App), are pretty good. Let's not forget it's also capable of making/receiving a voice call from anywhere the sky can be seen.

When loading a web page, the one most important trick we learned (besides turning images off), is to make sure that the green progress bar appears in the Opera Mini web browser. If the green bar does not appear, then the web page is not loading. This bar was an accurate tool showing the relative time of a page download, and was quite useful. The spinning progress icon at the top of the browser did not actually represent a download was in progress, and we ignored it.