Iridium Go! and XGate Connectivity Issues
23 December 2014 | 1 6'S:118 32'W,
Richard
I am hoping that some people reading this blog have experience using Iridium Go! devices, and/or XGate software. On this trip, I've been using an Iridium Go! (a new satellite communication device) and a version of XGate called SatLink (as I understand it, Global Marine Networks markets their XGate software to other companies to resell/operate).
I get a lot (about 30%) of failures during the call attempts. Retrying sometimes works (I had two successive failures yesterday trying to post this), sometimes doesn't--often trying again the next day is successful, sometimes it takes several days to get a connection.
The timeouts I'm referring to are NOT related to: * battery state of charge * number of bars of signal strength indicated on display or %strength listed in log * time of day * WiFi signal strength (computer and Iridium Go! are within 4m * one specific computer * boat engine (and therefore alternators) running or not
The failures that I see look either like this: CMail[0] 09:34:44 Dialing Iridium GO! at 192.168.0.1:80 CMail[0] 09:34:45 Authenticating CMail[0] 09:34:51 Current signal strength is 100% CMail[0] 09:34:51 Dialing... CMail[0] 09:34:57 WAN Status: Dialing CMail[0] 09:35:13 WAN Status: Negotiating CMail[0] 09:35:36 WAN Status: Terminating CMail[0] 09:35:36 Disconnecting from device... CMail[0] 09:35:38 ERROR: Dialup failed CMail[0] 09:35:38 Finished.
or like this: CMail[0] 23:06:33 Dialing Iridium GO! at 192.168.0.1:80 CMail[0] 23:06:34 Authenticating CMail[0] 23:07:05 Current signal strength is 100% CMail[0] 23:07:05 Dialing... CMail[0] 23:07:10 WAN Status: Dialing CMail[0] 23:07:34 WAN Status: Negotiating CMail[0] 23:07:39 WAN Status: Authenticated CMail[0] 23:07:52 WAN Status: Connected CMail[0] 23:07:52 Connected CMail[1460] 23:09:25 Connect timeout No error - Error #0 - 0 - 0 CMail[1460] 23:09:25 Finished.
The first example fails (by "Terminating") in the "Negotiating" phase, the second (more common) fails via timeout after "Negotiating", "Authenticated" and "Connected".
I recall reading a non-technical press release saying Iridium was going to do some network upgrade in mid-October to fix connction problems for Go! devices. I didn't read anything after that indicating it was successful or not. The symptoms look to me like a problem with the modem that answers the call (as far as I know, the Iridium network is still all voice, so all data goes via modems), but I don't know who controls those modems (who would therefore have the logs to help debugging)--whether it is Iridium, or Global Marine Networks.
I've been working with the SatLink folks (who have escalated to Global Marine Networks Tech Support) on this problem for over a month, but it appears to mystify everyone so far involved.
Is a 30% connection failure rate normal for an Iridium Go (from personal experience, it is definitely not normal for a modem connected to an Iridium phone)? Or for accessing XGate over a satellite connection?
I am unable to directly make blog comment responses while at sea, but they do get emailed to me at sea, so as long as the satellite connection is working, I will receive them. Thanks in advance for any help!