Seems to kick my iPhone off the network shortly after joining.

Apparently, iOS 18.3 has added support for Starlink on iPhones

I'm on Spark, but noticed that my iPhone displays a little satellite icon on the mobile signal strength area when out of coverage. I assume with Spark that means I can send an SOS if in an accident or lost in the jungle?

johno1234:

 

I'm on Spark, but noticed that my iPhone displays a little satellite icon on the mobile signal strength area when out of coverage. I assume with Spark that means I can send an SOS if in an accident or lost in the jungle?

 

 

 

That is Apple's own satellite service - all iPhones that are a 14 and newer have this capability

Press release:

 

One NZ customers with an eligible Pay Monthly plan can now access One NZ’s satellite TXT service on iPhone 14 or later, bringing the benefits of nationwide coverage to even more New Zealanders.

 

One New Zealand’s Satellite TXT service offers customers on an eligible phone and plan who are out of traditional cell-tower coverage the ability to send and receive text messages anywhere in New Zealand, as long as they have a clear line of sight to the sky. Whether you're on the farm, on the road, on the water, or in the mountains, eligible One NZ customers living, working, or exploring in some of the country's most remote areas can enjoy coverage like never before.

 

"Our goal has always been to get satellite TXT into the hands of as many of our customers as possible, as quickly as possible. We were thrilled to be the first carrier in the world to launch a nationwide satellite text messaging service in December, and now we’re excited to announce that One NZ Satellite TXT is now available for our customers using iPhone 14 or later. Those customers with satellite ready plans can now send and receive text messages via satellite, at no extra charge. We’re so pleased to bring this world leading network innovation and coverage to even more customers,” said Joe Goddard, Experience & Commercial Director at One NZ.

 

I see the Iphone provider 62.1 just got released for One NZ

Despite having iOS 18.3 and the latest carrier update, I do not see the One Starlink carrier in my list of network options.

Gave this a test tonight by doing a manual network search and picked up a network named "50313". My Samsung is an older one (and doesn't show on the supported handsets list) however I only did it just to see what would happen - but is this Starlink or something else? I read somewhere it may have been the testing code when they were trialling it but can't find that info now.

Obraik:

 

Despite having iOS 18.3 and the latest carrier update, I do not see the One Starlink carrier in my list of network options.

 

same - maybe not working?

r0bbie:

 

I see the Iphone provider 62.1 just got released for One NZ

 

Thanks. I see the Satellite option now.

To update, just go to the About screen in Settings.

I do have that Satellite toggle since I updated the carrier settings earlier, which is enabled but I still haven’t been able to see the Starlink network while standing out in an empty paddock. Potentially it’s a case of waiting for a satellite to be in just the right position for the phone (a 14 Pro) to see the network? 

quickymart:

 

Gave this a test tonight by doing a manual network search and picked up a network named "50313". My Samsung is an older one (and doesn't show on the supported handsets list) however I only did it just to see what would happen - but is this Starlink or something else? I read somewhere it may have been the testing code when they were trialling it but can't find that info now.

 

I think it is indeed Starlink's PLNMN for the service provided to One customers. It looks like there is a separate MNC for the Starlink service as that it is managed by Starlink on behalf of One. I think what they are pushing out to phones is configuraiton to basically tell phones to prefer 530-01 (the main MNC) and to only fall back onto 530-13 if there is zero service availiable on 530-01.

Normally 'non-Starlink-aware' phones will try and stay on the same MNC, switching only when it goes out of range of the current MNC -- but obviously this is not ideal for Starlink as it would mean phones stay on Starlink even if 530-01 comes back into service. As they push out updates to various models they can then whitelist those for 530-13 as they know these phones can correctly attach to the right MNC.

A bit of a shame as Starlink made a big deal previously that any LTE phone will be able to use it. But over time as people replace their phones, it'll become a non-issue. I wonder how far back they go in support. I have a S21 still supported by Samsung until 2026 and I'd be disappoiinted if I have to wait until I replace it with the S26.

Ah so it might be Starlink? Interesting. I didn't think my handset supported it - it's actually older than yours - but next time I see it I'll get a screenshot to make sure I'm not seeing things!

As an aside it wouldn't let me connect to it, but I don't know if my plan with Vodafone/One (which is meant to be changing this month) supports it or not.

My bad, it was actually 53013:

I couldn't register on it though - it gave an error message along the lines of "unable to connect, please try again later".