Driving the wooded highways of the North Cascades in Washington state, I deliberately pointed my car toward nothing. Specifically, I needed to get out of Seattle to find an area with no cellular coverage so I could try out T-Mobile's new Starlink-based satellite texting service, T-Satellite, with my phone.
It was more difficult than I expected. Most areas of the US are covered by some level of cellular service. But that still leaves around 500,000 square miles of wireless dead zones, according to a T-Mobile estimate. For those rural and remote areas, the carrier, other wireless providers and phone-makers including Apple, are betting satellite connectivity is the answer.
The wireless bars on my phone finally abandoned me at Lake Diablo, about two and a half hours northeast of Seattle, giving me a chance to bounce messages back and forth from space to test whether T-Mobile has made satellite texting as easy as everyday cellular texting.
How T-Satellite differs from other satellite services
On one hand, driving 120 miles just to text someone seems like overkill. But texting -- or any immediate outside communication -- slams to a halt when cellular coverage disappears.
Satellite texting isn't new. Apple started offering SOS communication backed by Globalstar on the iPhone 14. And later, that allowed emergency texting when you're outside coverage areas -- a literal lifesaver for people injured, lost or stranded in remote areas. The feature also allowed you to share you location via satellite in the Find My app. Apple then expanded the service to include any texting using the Messages app, as well as calling for roadside assistance. CNET's David Lumb used Messages via satellite on his iPhone 15 Pro to text friends and share his thoughts when he summited Mount Haleakalā's peak in Hawaii.
Google has a similar feature in its Pixel 9 phones, except the Pixel 9A, which works with satellite provider Skylo. Samsung Galaxy phones, like the recently released Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7, can use Verizon for satellite texting and to contact emergency services through Skylo, too.
However, that communication involves a few steps to activate the feature. You need to be outdoors with a clear view of the sky -- no trees or buildings -- and point your phone at a passing satellite, keeping it steady to maintain the connection.
With T-Satellite, the experience is quite different. Texting is almost indistinguishable from when you're within cellular coverage. On a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra with a T-Mobile plan, opening the Messages app showed the phone already connected to satellite, with a banner reading "You're messaging by satellite." A small satellite icon appears in the menu bar with radiating curves to indicate the status of the connection.
The phone has automatically connected to the T-Satellite network, as indicated by its (teeny) status icon. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET
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