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Old 12-06-2011, 10:43   #1
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Paid Hotspot Aboard a Boat ?

I was talking to a buddy that has satellite internet. He is thinking about setting up a paid hotspot aboard to make some $ while cruising. Other than the startup costs for equipment,, it seems to be an easy revenue stream. I think his goal is to offset the satellite fees, as he makes his "real" money day trading.
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Old 12-06-2011, 11:43   #2
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Re: Paid Hotspot Aboard a Boat?

There is no "revenue stream" from cruisers and wifi. Most have fairly good antennas now and many that have good connections and routers will give you their security code for free. Many spots including Miami Beach now provide free wifi.
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Old 12-06-2011, 11:57   #3
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Re: Paid Hotspot Aboard a Boat?

Sure if you're in the city! I'm talking places like small Bahamian Islands and the Dry Tortugas.... Unless your antenna is connected to a satellite, there isn't any WiFi to be had.
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Old 12-06-2011, 12:09   #4
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Re: Paid Hotspot Aboard a Boat?

Sure there is, where ever people gather the Bahamians have wifi. Anchored at a Concepcion there's no internet but aldo, onbe hopes, not a lot of other boats either.
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Old 12-06-2011, 12:14   #5
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Re: Paid Hotspot Aboard a Boat?

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Originally Posted by capngeo View Post
Sure if you're in the city! I'm talking places like small Bahamian Islands and the Dry Tortugas.... Unless your antenna is connected to a satellite, there isn't any WiFi to be had.
I think you had better update your knowledge on wifi in the Bahamas. It is now widely available especially if you've got an unlocked cell phone or a good antenna. Buddy of mine gets the Wall Street Journal every day when cruising in the Bahamas on his Kindle.

Also be aware that if you do what your friend proposes to do in the Bahamas, it is against the law as you'll be running a business which is not allowed. A sometime poster here did this last year in the Bahamas and got caught. He was reselling his connection.
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Old 12-06-2011, 12:35   #6
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Re: Paid Hotspot Aboard a Boat?

making money on wifi-- laugh a lot---- cruisers seek free wifi, not having to pay someone for it--is free EVERYWHERE and not a problem. even mexico has free wifi..LOL..if no wifi--- i dont go online.....simple.
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Old 12-06-2011, 12:59   #7
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Re: Paid Hotspot Aboard a Boat?

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making money on wifi-- laugh a lot---- cruisers seek free wifi, not having to pay someone for it--is free EVERYWHERE and not a problem. even mexico has free wifi..LOL..if no wifi--- i dont go online.....simple.
Certainly cruisers, and for that matter everyone else, seek free Wifi but it certainly isn't everywhere. I would pay to get access somewhere that it's not but there is the matter of conducting business in a foreign country without proper permits and such.
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Old 12-06-2011, 13:17   #8
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Re: Paid Hotspot Aboard a Boat?

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Certainly cruisers, and for that matter everyone else, seek free Wifi but it certainly isn't everywhere. I would pay to get access somewhere that it's not but there is the matter of conducting business in a foreign country without proper permits and such.
if ye go to a marina, is free wifi everyhere.in anchorages, not-LOL... but even 2 yrs ago in virgin islands was fee wifi..LOL....i am inmaatlannow and i am finding more free sources f wifi--and those with the new deal many fone companies are now offering--a smart fone hookup--THAT is a hotspot..LOL...so --i dunno where you cruise that hasnt wifi, but most of world has it.
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Old 12-06-2011, 14:56   #9
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Re: Paid Hotspot Aboard a Boat ?

You have a couple really significant problems with this.

1: Unless you have negotiated commercial use licenses your account terms won't allow this. Sooner or later you'll get caught and turned off.

2: I doubt that you are getting enough throughput to provide the speeds that people will be willing to pay for.
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Old 12-06-2011, 15:03   #10
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Re: Paid Hotspot Aboard a Boat ?

There is a reason that satellite internet is not on every boat. To think one can charge more than satellite charges (gotta make a profit) is crazy, won't happen, nobody will buy.
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Old 12-06-2011, 15:15   #11
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Re: Paid Hotspot Aboard a Boat ?

also a point to ponder-- many more things to do and lss timme in which to do them while cruising....LOL-- have fun and hurry out to join on seas---i only interweb in port. and only a coupla times day unless i am ill or indisposed.(like today)
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Old 12-06-2011, 21:12   #12
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Re: Paid Hotspot Aboard a Boat ?

So, lemme get this right, the guy is day trading, and want to share his internet connection?

That's gonna work really well for him once he can't access any market information or execute any trades because the 5 people he's sharing his connection with are all trying to run youtube, netflix, skype and download and entire coastline of NOAA charts at the same time.

And it's pretty standard for any end user type connection to prohibit resell of services, if the sattellite company has reason to believe it this happening, you can be sure they'll terminate service, paid for or not, I'm sure they won't refund. And with 5 people using skype at the same time, it'll be pretty quick for them to catch wind of how the connection is being used.

And then, your friend's gonna have a REAL hard time getting that day trading done.

Of course this is all based on a pretty optimistic scenario, being that I've never actually used satellite service, this scenario assumes it's high enough quality that one can actually get skype to work well enough to want to use it. While I'm pretty sure it won't, I'm similarly sure that people will try it anyways, which is probably enough.
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