New Satellite Internet Apps

[leftbrainstuff]

Originally Posted by msponer

I've had a pipe dream of an Iridium browser that drives a headless browser on a server. Which OCR's the window and sends the plain text with some 'where it is on the screen' metadata to the Iridium browser. In this way even complex JavaScript sites would work over limited bandwidth.

But that's a heck of a lot of work for a limited market. There are much easier ways to make money in software.

In the past I was a huge fan of doing email with UUPlus, with all the ways it was highly efficient and resilient to spotty Internet connections. And could be so completely configured by the end user.

Overuse of javascript and libraries from third party sources has created a terrible browsing experience.

Best to block all javascript, flash and ads over a budget sat com data link.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[satdev]

Originally Posted by leftbrainstuff

Best to block all javascript, flash and ads over a budget sat com data link.

I agree. The problem is, however, that even if you block javascript, flash, ads, video and sound, general purpose web browsing, even with maximum compression, is not really feasible over low bandwidth satellite solutions like Iridium. The situation is only made worse by sites that won't work at all without javascript and media assets.

Hence the need for apps.

[Juho]

- banking app
- blogging app
- remote control of my home computer that has full broadband access

[satdev]

Originally Posted by Juho

- banking app

Trust me, you do not want a random app accessing your bank account
Use the bank's official app or if that's not possible use a bank that does online banking via text messages or have somebody do your banking onshore according to your instructions.

Originally Posted by Juho

- blogging app

A good idea. Any particular blogging platform?

Originally Posted by Juho

- remote control of my home computer that has full broadband access

To do what?

[Juho]

Originally Posted by satdev

Trust me, you do not want a random app accessing your bank account
Use the bank's official app or if that's not possible use a bank that does online banking via text messages or have somebody do your banking onshore according to your instructions.

I was thinking about apps provided by the bank itself. I have one, but I don't really know how much it uses bandwidth.

From security point of view, I think encrypted communications and one time passwords can provide sufficient basis for a narrow band app. Bank's own app preferred, although a reliable general purpose app (from some very reliable provider) could be sufficient too (but not 100% same level since the bank can hide some additional protection inside the app).

[Juho]

Originally Posted by satdev

A good idea. Any particular blogging platform?

Starting from some open common ones like wordpress (I'n not an expert of the platforms, so this is just one possibility). If the used platform is open, then also other more proprietary platforms could support this protocol if they want to.

[Matt Johnson]

Wordpress- We tried their email posting option on our Atlantic crossings without much success. We ended-up texting a friend who posted on our site.

Matt

[Juho]

Originally Posted by satdev

To do what?

I was thinking about earlier discussion about problems with apps that require high bandwidth and low latency. My home computer (or any well connected computer) can do this all with no problems. The remaining question is if I can connect to that computer, give some commands to it, and receive feedback.

The first stuff to get rid of could be all the blinking and moving stuff in the ads (and also actual content) of various web pages. In theory I could get a snapshot of the screen, and then I could send a mouse click or character sequence back. It is not quite this easy (pictures could be big, would need more tricks to cut the load etc.), but you get the point. With this kind of capabilities I might be able to do many things that I otherwise would not be able to do. First remote control apps could be clumsy, but they might get better later.

[Juho]

Originally Posted by funjohnson

Wordpress- We tried their email posting option on our Atlantic crossings without much success. We ended-up texting a friend who posted on our site.

Matt

I have seen some bloggers send text message length updates to their blog (at least to Blogspot) via Inmarsat.

[GMN]

You may want to check out XGate satellite data service.

XGate allows you to do email, web-browse, post to social media (although as some users have pointed out this functionality is not currently working because of how FB recently changed their posting capabilities), and post to blogs using SailBlogs direct integration.

There are two main issues with satellite connectivity:

- Slow bandwidth speeds with high latency (Iridium GO! and other handheld satellite phones, for example, run 25 times slower than dial-up)
- Modern devices and websites that are incredibly Internet-hungry

XGate (and the web-browsing component, XWeb) strips out almost all of the overhead associated with data transfer. XWeb, for example, removes ads and extraneous data that loads on page, and compresses all the data to load webpages much, much faster than other options. So between XGate and XWeb, the actual data compression portion is taken care of.

The issue of "devices are incredibly Internet-hungry" is a tricky one, because even if you connect up to a satellite terminal/modem like a BGAN system, which offers unfettered Internet access, do you want your computer to do an automatic update in the background at $6 per MB? Probably not.

That is where RedPort Optimizer comes into play, as it sets up a firewall that blocks any data from going over the line unless it's coming from XGate or XWeb.

Iridium GO! (and other Iridium WiFi hotspots like the RedPort Aurora) include firewalls built directly into the hardware, so you wouldn't need an external one.

Messaging apps over satellite are tricky because the APIs don't allow for parsing of the data that is utilized by the end user. So for example, if someone is sending text only - no problem! But what if their contact decides to send an animated GIF or initiate a video chat? There is no way to stop that, at least with many of the most popular messaging services (WhatsApp, etc).

We always recommend that satellite users stick to SMS or email. Depending on their plan, on or the other will be less expensive. (Email, certainly, offers much longer communication as an option!)

[yachtmanforfun]

https://outernet.is/en/

Outernet has already launched one way FREE satellite data from a small number of leased KU and C Band satellites. Which can be decoded by a home made DIY receiver or you can buy their $99 Lantern receiver. These are 2 foot to 6 foot dishes.

Soon they will release a mobile satellite receiving unit that can receive 10 mb a day on a mobile solar powered device called a Lantern.

In possibly the next 6 months they will release a Open Source L-Band service that will receive satellite data on a 5 inch flat satellite antenna.

I am seriously looking at building some marine antennas to take advantage of this amazing new technology.

[dwoodall]

I would think that keeping a 90cm Ku band antenna properly aligned on a boat would be difficult. I would wait on the 5" version to come along. While the price is attractive, Ku band seems a little impractical on a boat.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by satdev

Speed isn't the issue, costs are. Rockets are expensive.

Not for much longer. Satellite internet is one of the main reasons small reusable rockets are being developed. The fact that the rockets are being developed using money from the government for the NASA programs is just icing on the cake.

Companies like google and facebook will be able to shoot hundreds of sats into orbit at a fraction of the current costs.. so much so that they will be able to provide nearly free internet to another 2 billon people and make all their money by extending out their existing business model.

They will be able to completely bypass last mile providers - you will have a google sat box sitting on your chart table instead of an SSB.

[yachtmanforfun]

Originally Posted by zboss

Not for much longer. Satellite internet is one of the main reasons small reusable rockets are being developed. The fact that the rockets are being developed using money from the government for the NASA programs is just icing on the cake.

They will be able to completely bypass last mile providers - you will have a google sat box sitting on your chart table instead of an SSB.

I completely agree.

But if you do not want a Commercial organization and prefer a more experimental home grown approach. I think Outernet is the beginning of a whole new way of thinking "Open Source and free to air data".


The service is free but they will offer 25% of the satellite feed for pay services.
Currently if you pay $3 a month they will route all your Twitter feed messages with your tag over their satellite for a month. This is in effect one way email at sea.

The whole United Nations twitter feed is being sent by satellite right now. And can be easily picked up by a fifty dollar KU satellite dish and their $99 receiver.

I would love to see every four hours the entire worlds grib files sent into space and broadcast to all vessels at sea by Outernet one way data feed.

Outernet is setting up a return email and messaging path to request content that is then sent over the Outernet satellites.

Oh and I forgot to mention they also have been given 3 Cubesate's by the British government.

These 1 litre sized satellites will offer a 9600 data feed as they fly at around 400 miles above, eventually blanketing the planet ith data . With "Outernet summizing a cumulative 20 mb of Data per day download"

These satellites will be down-linking with a simple UHF Antenna and will not require any special hardware than a $12.00 TV stick acting as Software defined radio.

I would love to here other people ideas on how we can make better use of this technology at sea.

[yachtmanforfun]

Originally Posted by dwoodall

I would think that keeping a 90cm Ku band antenna properly aligned on a boat would be difficult. I would wait on the 5" version to come along. While the price is attractive, Ku band seems a little impractical on a boat.

I agree KU and C satalite dishes and are a bit difficult but if you wanted you could set a transportable dish up on the beach and Tie a hungry dog to stop people stealing it and WiFi the data to your boat.

In the next six months Outernet will commence 3 Cubesats transmitting on UHF which will just need a small uhf antenna.

Also they will start a L-Band service that will only need a 5 inch Flat antenna.

These two solutions are what is getting me excited.