Hi, being a newbie to this world, I was wondering what solutions folks have used to access the internet from offshore (costal routes). I have a Meridian 54' with a TracVision 4 that I could tap into, I think, but way expensive. Open to any and all solutions. Thanks
internet Your trac vision 4 is TV only. YOu could buy a wireless adapter for your laptop and get a cell phone booster. Least expensive way
"YOu could buy a wireless adapter for your laptop and get a cell phone booster. Least expensive way " not sure what that means, wireless usually refers to wifi which may be an option if you use a wifi booster, not a cell phone booster. for coastal use in US waters, forget satelite since at around $10 a meg it's way too expensive. your best option is an aircard from ATT, Sprint or Verizon.. that works almost everywhere up to 5 to 10 miles offshore depending on where you are. ATT coverage on the East Coast is excellent, there are very few dead spots. speed are pretty good, G3 in many areas and edge in others. Edge isn't bad for normal web use when g3 isnt' avail. aircards costs around $100 and unlimited (with some fine print) plans run about $70 a month. if you dont' really need full time reliable web access, wifi is an alternative but you need a booster. I installed a Wave Rogue with external antenna and it works very well if there free wifi hotspots where you are. i've gotten good signals as far a few miles away... the Wave cost about $500 once you've added the external antenna, cable, etc... you can connect it drireclty to your computer LAN port or, better, to a router so taht you can share teh connection with mutiple computers and even smartphones. i've used it extensively in the bahamas and it worked very well... being able to connect your iphone thru the router is a big plus.
I use Verizon Wireless extensively in the US, and with a cell booster and 25'+ antannae height I've gotten internet 15 miles offshore. But it works great moving and travelling as long as you're not too far offshore. I've also used WIFI boosters and they are great too if you're not moving.....I've found with a weak signal (without one) in a marina.....the wifi booster will steal 80% of the bandwith from everyone else.......I had everyone complaining how slow the internet was at BiminiBay and there were only 10 boats in the marina.......I also was getting 4 bars of signal......versus 1 or 2 bars without it....... But won't work if you're travelling as you'll have to keep finding wifi's to hook up to......
Wave or Syrens WiFi system, Cradle Point cell card router, Fleet 55 or a "poor mans" Fleet 55, which would be a BGAN setup with it's antenna mounted on a Track It TV system to stay locked on the satellite while at anchor or underway are all options. As others have noted the WiFi booster systems will not work underway. With BGAN you can get down to under $7.00 per meg. Still not cheap. But if you've got to have the internet well offshore it's probably the cheapest way to go about it.
internet Thank you so much for the responses. Very helpful. I'm on the west coast, Newport. Will be going Mexico to San Francisco mostly. Where do you recommend the purchase of the WiFi booster?
Hi, I used the above quoted text as a search string in Google. This is what I got: http://www.ts2.pl/en/BGAN-Inmarsat
You may also want to look at a Globesurfer from Option. http://www.option.com/en/products/products/wireless-routers/globesurfer3/ I have good experiences with this in combination with a fixed-rate 3G simcard and a good antenna. Only thing in Europe is that you need to have simcards of every country you sail into, or you'll pay excessive roaming charges. Bruno
A 3g modem (for in town) and an inmarsat setup (for offshore), both into a wireless router, does the trick for me. but try not to use the sat setup too much as it's way too expensive. happy Boatin
Sorry, been off the grid for a few days. http://www.track-it-tv.com/mobile-internet-access.aspx As to a WiFi booster, I would recommend the WAVE WiFi line of products. http://www.wavewifi.com/
