Is T-Mobile to blame for this Starlink "total letdown" of a satellite texting experience?

The T-Mobile Starlink partnership is currently free and in beta – and it will stay that way until July, when the service that allows satellite texting in "dead zones" across the US is expected to go live for all.

If you're wondering why there's a beta, since we're talking about SpaceX and T-Mobile – two companies that have vast experience with satellites and texting – well, this Reddit post shows that things can get tricky.

The post walks through real user experiences during the early beta phase, highlighting frustrating experiences, limited coverage in certain areas and some messages not going through at all. It makes clear that while the underlying tech is groundbreaking, there are still a lot of edge cases, signal challenges, and software quirks that need to be ironed out. The beta exists to surface these issues before a wider rollout, letting engineers learn from real-world use instead of just simulations.

After all, the world still remembers what happened on April 20, 1998, when Bill Gates attempted to show off the Windows 98 operating system, but instead got the infamous BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) and the system crashed.



So, a Reddit user by the nickname of lordhamster1977 starts right off the bat with the claim that T-Mobile's Starlink satellite texting is a "total letdown".

The user took his family on what sounds like an epic spring break trip – Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Red Rock Canyon, and Valley of Fire.

Naturally, the family ventured into areas with no cell coverage, hoping to test T-Mobile's Starlink beta for satellite texting. They described the experience as a complete mess.

Death Valley, with its wide-open skies and minimal interference, seemed like the perfect location. From the valley floor to the heights of Dante's View, their phone showed "1–2 bars of T-Mobile Starlink signal" – an encouraging sign at first. But despite four days of attempts, not a single SMS or iMessage went through. The only consistent delivery was T-Mobile's repeated "Welcome to Starlink Beta" message, which felt more like a tease than a sign of service.

In contrast, the user's iPhone SOS satellite messaging worked flawlessly, sending messages without issue every time. The user tested this on both an iPhone 15 Pro and an iPhone 16, ruling out hardware problems. They concluded that T-Mobile's Starlink service simply isn't ready for real-world use, and this feels truly disappointing.

Other users say the Starlink coverage is just fine and covers the entirety of the US at all times, so this could be more of a problem with T-Mobile's Starlink implementation and wider roll-out of the service.