[Rhodes22-list] Internet from your boat?
Bill Effros
bill at effros.com
Tue May 24 16:48:38 EDT 2005
Oh,
I forgot to mention. T-Mobile is a GSM system. You get a tiny little
card that you slip into whatever device you are using. When you are on
the Internet, you slide it into a Sierra Air Card. When you want to be
on the phone, you slide it into your cell phone. A telephone number is
automatically included in the $20 per month charge, you just have to own
the hardware. It is also possible to plug a headphone into your
computer, and use your computer as a cell phone. T-Mobile provides
software that allows you to dial, pick up, etc.
My experience with WiFi has been the same as yours. I live in an older
home that has plaster walls. There is wire in the plaster that blocks
lots of signals. Diane's computer is set up for WiFi, but the signal
she normally uses comes from a neighbor's house.
I'm not sure if the T-Mobile system will allow you to surf the net at
the same time you are talking on the phone, but you can get 2 GSM cards
and work with a cell phone and a computer. The big question is whether
you have coverage or not.
Bill Effros
brad haslett wrote:
>Bill,
>
>My IBM X40 came set-up from the factory for wireless
>and I installed a wireless router in my home. I use
>it sometimes if I don't want to wait for the desktop
>or want to work on the deck, but have found it
>frustrating at home and at work. At FedEx I usually
>just plug into one of the many LAN plugs because the
>wireless drops off about every five minutes. I have
>had some good success on the road however tapping into
>other's unsecured networks rather than pay the hotel's
>$10 a day for DSL. Frankly, I don't need it that much
>on the boat but would like to have access when staying
>overnight.
>
>What is really driving this search for technology is
>my best friend. He would like to spend more time on
>my boat and at the building we bought near the lake.
>He doesn't trade stocks much and discourages his
>clients from trading, but he needs to handle a dozen
>phone calls a day from the boat and look at stock
>prices at the same time. He has Cingular as well and
>forwarding his office calls to the boat is a
>no-brainer. Slow speed wouldn't be a problem for
>either of us. We can get DSL at the building but
>neither of us would use it enough to justify it. We
>could also use my NetZero dial-up account but we don't
>have a landline. Both the Verizon and Cingular data
>plans look good but $80 a month times 12 is almost a
>thousand bucks. I can't justify it and my friend Ken
>invented copper wire fighting some dude over a penny.
>
>
>If we can come up with a cheap solution that allows
>him to talk and surf at the same time - problem over.
>The day I beached the boat and unexpectedly spent the
>night on the water(or land as the case may be) I just
>called Fan on the cellphone and had her look-up what I
>needed. Ken would like to semi-retire and still take
>care of his clients. He can't find anyone to sell to
>that he trusts (he struck out on his own because he
>refused to stick clients with what his brokerage firm
>was trying to sell them) and hasn't been successful
>finding a partner other than some local banks who want
>to shove the same shitty products on his customers.
>Somewhere out there is a solution!
>
>Brad
>
>
>--- Bill Effros <bill at effros.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>>Brad,
>>
>>Don't get suckered by press releases.
>>
>>There are places in Greenwich that can't get cell
>>phone service.
>>
>>I've used a cell phone as a modem. It works.
>>But...
>>
>>The key to making it useful is the software that
>>connects you to the
>>Internet. If the software starts you all over again
>>every time you lose
>>the signal for a fraction of a second, it's not
>>useful.
>>
>>For what most of us use it for now, high speed is
>>not important. If I'm
>>heading for the rocks, downloading a chart is not
>>the first thing I'm
>>likely to do--no matter how fast the connection.
>>
>>My T-Mobile connection is slow as shit. It's rated
>>at 10-20 kbs. But
>>it only costs me $20 a month, and I can take it for
>>one month, drop it
>>the next, pick it up again 2 months later...
>>
>>And if I'm heading for an area where I don't have a
>>chart I can find the
>>chart in a minute using google, and download it
>>while I'm making dinner.
>>
>>If I'm sending an email like this one, it takes me
>>15 minutes to write
>>it, no matter how fast my connection, but once I
>>push the send key,
>>there is no difference in the amount of time it
>>takes to send compared
>>to my high speed cable at home.
>>
>>I'm not really going to lug around a laptop on a
>>commuter train so I can
>>watch CNN in the event of a delay.
>>
>>I have a WiFi card for my laptop, also, so I can
>>work high speed
>>anywhere I can pick up a signal. I find I don't do
>>that. The T-Mobile
>>signal is everywhere I go, it's solid, and it's fast
>>enough for what I
>>really want to do. Hunting down wifi takes more
>>time than I lose due to
>>the slowness of my system.
>>
>>And then there's that $20 a month for unlimited use.
>> I find I actually
>>use it all the time. The slowness of my laptop
>>compared to my desktop
>>machine is far more frustrating than the slowness of
>>my connection.
>>
>>For what it's worth,
>>
>>Bill Effros
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>brad haslett wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>Mark,
>>>
>>>Here's a good article on your service vs Cingular
>>>
>>>
>>and
>>
>>
>>>what's happening down the road.
>>>
>>>http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1770717,00.asp
>>>
>>>Now here's something else that's interesting;
>>>
>>>
>>beating
>>
>>
>>>the system.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>http://www.lawtechguru.com/archives/2005/03/19_free_wireless_internet_via_your_3g_cell_phone.html
>>
>>
>>>If I'm smart enought to put it together the
>>>
>>>
>>low-tech
>>
>>
>>>solution would work for us until the next level of
>>>technology comes out.
>>>
>>>Brad
>>>--- Mark Kaynor <mkaynor at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Brad,
>>>>
>>>>We just used the stock stick on antenna he
>>>>
>>>>
>>provides
>>
>>
>>>>and held it above the
>>>>car roof for testing last night. In real life, I
>>>>expect we'll mast mount
>>>>something like a 9-15 db omindirectional antenna
>>>>
>>>>
>>-
>>
>>
>>>>that'd really boost the
>>>>signal, I'm thinking <g>. The amplifier works very
>>>>well - I was impressed.
>>>>In several locations we were unable to get enough
>>>>signal to connect w/o it,
>>>>we were able to browse the web at an acceptable
>>>>speed w/ it plugged in. We
>>>>didn't have any bandwidth testing tools on my
>>>>
>>>>
>>wife's
>>
>>
>>>>laptop, so can only
>>>>report subjectively.
>>>>
>>>>We thought about a repeater, but 1) they cost a
>>>>
>>>>
>>lot
>>
>>
>>>>more, and 2) I wasn't
>>>>too keen on having a bunch of cell phone electrons
>>>>bouncing around the cabin
>>>>all day every day. The amplifier connects directly
>>>>to the card, so almost
>>>>all the energy is at the antenna. We also have
>>>>concerns about the speed of a
>>>>shared connection - I believe we're each going to
>>>>need our own card, amp,
>>>>antenna, etc. until someone comes up w/ a
>>>>
>>>>
>>dual-card
>>
>>
>>>>router - that'd be
>>>>pretty cool.
>>>>
>>>>Mark
>>>>
>>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>>From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
>>>>[mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On
>>>>Behalf Of brad haslett
>>>>Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2005 9:52 AM
>>>>To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
>>>>Subject: RE: [Rhodes22-list] Internet from your
>>>>boat?
>>>>
>>>>Mark,
>>>>
>>>>How effective is the amplifier? Where did you
>>>>locate your external antenna
>>>>and what type? Is yours hardwired or wireless? I
>>>>found the best prices
>>>>last night on WMJ Marine, on amplifiers and other
>>>>electronic items. Every
>>>>map of my lake by every provider shows a "black
>>>>hole" along the course of
>>>>the river, probably because of the terrain. The
>>>>idea of having a repeater
>>>>so that the cellphone and laptop can be used
>>>>anywhere on the boat is
>>>>appealing. We have been looking at satellite or
>>>>
>>>>
>>DSL
>>
>>
>>>>for our shop building
>>>>near the lake at $70 per month. I already pay $10
>>>>per month for NetZero
>>>>dial-up while travelling. Cell service may fill
>>>>
>>>>
>>all
>>
>>
>>>>three squares:
>>>>boat/building/travel. I hadn't really looked at
>>>>
>>>>
>>it
>>
>>
>>>>for about a year but
>>>>things seem to have progressed quite a bit.
>>>>
>>>>Brad
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>--- Mark Kaynor <mkaynor at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Brad,
>>>>>
>>>>>We paid $175 - regular price from the guy is
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>$190,
>>
>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>but I got a
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>discount because I'm a "member" of this forum:
>>>>>http://www.evdoforums.com/about129-0.html
>>>>>
>>>>>Mark
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>>>From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
>>>>>[mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>Behalf Of brad haslett
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>=== message truncated ===
>
>
>
>
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