[Rhodes22-list] Internet from your boat?

[brad haslett]

Mark & Bill

I took a look at the Verizon site and that may just be
the ticket!  Last year a buddy went with me on a trip
to the lake and he lost his Verizon signal most of the
way and had spotty coverage while on the lake while my
Cingular performed flawlessly.  However, I'm going to
"borrow" his phone and see if the coverage has
improved.  We had Sprint for two years and it worked
OK provided you climbed half-way up a transmitter
tower, wrapped your head in aluminum foil, and stuck
your arms out like Mr. Bean.

The existing marine satellite systems rely on
gyro-stabalized attennas, are quite expensive and
bulky.  But for most of us, cell phone coverage would
work just fine.  Boeing has developed airborne
internet access and while the development was slowed
by 9/11, it is now becoming available for both
airliners and general aviation.  With the introduction
of the Very Light Jet market in the next year or so,
the price will come down as the volume of consumers go
up.  Right now its still expensive. The FAA MUST
update their communication and separation technology
to handle the expected traffic increase and have some
works in progress, but then this is the Federal
government afterall. The advertised speeds for Verizon
are about the same as Boeing's service which uses
Imarsat, same as the marine systems.

Actually, we've had satcomm onboard our aircraft for
about ten years but use it for datalink only because
of the cost.  I ran into a friend of mine at DFW a
couple of months ago that had just shut an engine down
on approach because of severe vibration.  He called
back to Global Operations Command to report the
incident and was told they already knew about it.  The
jet had downlinked to maintenance fifteen minutes
earlier that it was suffering from an incipient engine
problem and MX was monitoring it.  Thanks for the
heads-up guys!

What my broker buddy wants to do is be able to accept
calls from clients while on the boat and look up their
portfolio and current prices.  That may take two
phones, we'll have to look into that.  He trades very
little for himself or his clients so occasional access
to the net would probably suffice.  Personally, I find
myself turning my cell phone off more and more while
on the boat.  If you can't drink beer and sail in
peace, what's the point?

Brad

--- Mark Kaynor <mkaynor at gmail.com> wrote:

> Sorry - here's a better link:
>
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions/nationalaccess/index.jsp?ac
> tion=nationalAccess. The Broadband Access is only
> available in select cities
> - the National Access is what you'll connect to most
> of the time.
> 
> Mark
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
> [mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On
> Behalf Of Bill Effros
> Sent: Sunday, May 22, 2005 12:46 PM
> To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Internet from your
> boat?
> 
> Philip,
> 
> I don't think satellite is faster than cell
> technology.  Its advantage is
> that it's available in more remote locations.
> 
> Most cell phone companies offer Internet service. 
> It is provided on an
> unused portion of the cell phone band, and there is
> a huge amount of over
> capacity, as a result the service can be very cheap.
> 
> Essentially, all you are doing is using your cell
> phone number connected to
> a modem in your computer.  Not technolgically
> different from any other dial
> up system except that you don't connect through land
> lines.
> 
> Originally they tried to charge by the minute.  But
> since it is slow, that
> was not attractive.
> 
> Different cell phone companies claim different
> speeds on their systems
> ranging up to 75K bps. 
> 
> I use T-Mobile.  It costs $20 a month and does not
> require a yearly
> contract.  I bought a special card that slides into
> the PC slot of my laptop
> which functions as the cellular modem (some cell
> phones can plug into
> existing inputs on some computers).  The card costs
> around $350.
> 
> I use T-Mobile because it is cheap and solid as a
> rock.  The software
> provided repeatedly redials and reconnects with the
> carrier at the point
> where it dropped off.  T-Mobile is supposed to be
> the slowest of the lot,
> but there is neither a time nor a byte charge--it
> costs me $20 a month no
> matter how long I'm on line, so I use it in such a
> way that time is not a
> factor.
> 
> Because of this list I get a lot of email, but the
> speed of email uploads
> and downloads is not significant.  I also use it
> whenever I travel in the
> US.  I download the entire New York Times every day
> I'm on the road
> (typically 2 to 6 MB a day) and do all of my normal
> web surfing.  Yes, it's
> slower than my high speed modem, but what a
> convenience!  (I no longer scout
> out Internet cafes when I'm traveling.)
> 
> I also sometimes sign up with GoToMyPC which allows
> me to connect to my PC
> at home, and operate the home machine as if I were
> sitting in front of it.
> In this mode I can use the speed of the home unit. 
> The only information
> transmitted to the laptop is a screen shot of what
> is going on in the home
> unit.  Using this service I can also upload and
> download files--so
> everything on the home unit is available on the
> laptop no matter where I am.
> 
> I am planning to bring my laptop on board more this
> year, to see if I use it
> for charting, emailing, or anything else.  I made a
> Pelican waterproof case
> for my laptop, which has protected it extremely well
> to date.  It is heavy,
> but almost literally bulletproof.
> 
> Bill Effros
> 
> 
> 
> Philip Esteban wrote:
> 
> >Bill,
> >
> >Who sells the interface?  Though, I like the
> satellite idea since it 
> >has to be faster than dialup.  Don't truckers have
> some sort of 
> >satellite?  I know we used it in the Army
> Intelligence during the War.  
> >Ground setups are around $500.  Mobile setups may
> be more.  
> >Subscription prices aren't much on land, but may be
> more for mobile setups
> if they are readily available.
> >Thanks
> >
> >Philip
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
> >[mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org]On
> Behalf Of Bill Effros
> >Sent: Sunday, May 22, 2005 12:17 AM
> >To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
> >Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Internet from your
> boat?
> >
> >
> >Philip,
> >
> >If you can get cell phone service where you sail,
> you can easily and 
> >inexpensively get Internet service on your boat.
> >
> >Bill Effros
> >
> >Philip Esteban wrote:
> >
> >  
> >
> >>I saw a reference in an artile in Good Old Boat to
> a German device 
> >>that let the owner access the internet while on
> his boat.  Does anyone 
> >>have any information on it.  What is it?  Price? 
> Are there other methods?
> >>
> >>Thanks.
> >>
> >>Philip E.
> >>
> >>__________________________________________________
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> >>
> >>
> >>    
> >>
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> >
> >  
> >
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