Satellite DSL for Cruisers in the Med

[Canibul]

Originally Posted by socaldmax

Cheap date!

yeah, pretty much. I get to be designated driver a lot. Used to drink but I had to give it up. I think I must have developed an allergic reaction to alcohol. I kept breaking out in handcuffs.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by Canibul

yeah, pretty much. I get to be designated driver a lot. Used to drink but I had to give it up. I think I must have developed an allergic reaction to alcohol. I kept breaking out in handcuffs.

Probably had some great times that your friends told you about later on!

[Canibul]

reports are still filtering in.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by Canibul

reports are still filtering in.

A great friend of mine is a lot of fun to party with, but over the years, we've discovered that he's no longer welcome in a few of our favorite bars!

One time the bartender was kind enough to tell him he was waiting a few minutes before calling the cops!

[DtM]

Where is the OP?

[GoingWalkabout]

Originally Posted by DtM

Where is the OP?

Out buying a long DSL cable to hook up to a European satalite. I wonder if he's going to use Space X to get his cable up there.

Sorry but I couldn't help myself.

Talking about satalite I've heard a new constellation of low orbiting satalite is being put together. It's a shame that we don't have the same level of competition in the sat space as we do with cell phone networks. Mind you I think that is all going to change as the cost of rocket launches come down from the great companies pioneering reusable rockets. When they get it right almost any entrepreneur could get into the satellite owning business. All I can say is exciting times ahead. Especially if our European OP hooks his DSL cable up to a low orbiting satalite. :-)

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by GoingWalkabout

Talking about satalite I've heard a new constellation of low orbiting satalite is being put together. :-)

I believe you're talking about Google's paln of putting several hundred low altitude satellites in orbit. The acknowledged goal for these is to provide low cost internet to every corner of the globe. Unless I'm mistaken, Google's is forecasting that these will be in place by the end of 2025. If so, your phone/PC/tablet will connect anytime you can get out in the open

[EvilRabbit]

Originally Posted by manitu

Im guessing the ill-mannered bloke who started this thread was looking for this :
Tooway – Fast internet everywhere

the internet access isnt too pricey , but a compatible gyro stabilized antenna is .. ive heard 6000 bucks..

.manitu

No contact details anywhere on the site. Never a good sign and instant concern.

[manitu]

Originally Posted by EvilRabbit

No contact details anywhere on the site. Never a good sign and instant concern.

The link is to the sattelite company , choose one of its local rep's.
(top of page , click "distributors")

.manitu

[Polux]

Originally Posted by monte

Ok then. This is the site to use
Prepaid Data SIM Card Wiki - Wikia
Browse to the country of interest and you will see the data deals and rates
For example, Italy with TIM
Data packagePriceData VolumeMax. SpeedValidity Period
Internet Start10 €2 GB100 Mbps28 days
Internet Large20 €5 GB100 Mbps28 days

Etc

3G or 4G SIM cards will be the fastest internet you get in Europe. Better than marinas and work up to 20 miles offshore.

Thanks, nice information. I use every season two or three different internet providers on the med and it is a pain. I need different cards and devices but really the mess is with the way you recharge them.

Sometimes on little shops sometimes on kiosk, sometimes on the shop of the provider (cases where they had sold them out), many times nowhere. The stupid thing is that i don't know any that can be recharged by internet over credit card.

In Portugal it is plain simple since you can do it (for any Portuguese operator) in any Bank cash provider and that means practically anywhere.

[Sail virgin]

Look up DSL definition, telephone wired broadban internet, better get a long telephone wire!

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by carstenb

At the risk of being accused of thread hijack (ok it is - but only a bit), we'll be sailing in the carribean and the US/canada for a couple of years starting next christmas (coming over with the ARC).

So - what do we do? My european 3/4G sim cards will work in the US and probably the carribean (ouch the $$$$$$).

Do any of the american phone companies offer something that can be used both in the carribean and the US/canada?

Here I'm thinking about installing a wifi hotspot on the boat - using 1 sim card to power the entire boat and (If I can figure it out) also using that for my phone when I'm on the boat.

I'm not a tech nerd so please have a bit of sympathy. If you're going to get technical - explain it so a dummy like me can understand it

Carsten, we use this:

Huawei B593 4G Router | Huawei LTE CPE B593 | B593u-12 & B593s-22 to Buy

Together with this external antenna:

XPOL-1 - Poynting


Note that LTE requires cross-polarized diversity antennae, so there are two coax cables.

I went around and around with this and came to the conclusion that there is not much point in trying to get the antenna up on the mast. At these frequencies, you have huge attenuation in any length of coax. Besides that, I've found that increasing the antenna height rarely makes much difference with LTE signals.

Choose a router with universal frequencies (there are several models, and one of them will do all U.S. and Caribbean as well as European and Asian frequencies).

Buy a local SIM card in every country, and Bob's your mother's brother.

With this set up, we get quite good service anywhere within about 10 or 15 miles from shore, anywhere in Europe. LTE service in Northern Europe is now just about seamless, and with realistic bandwidth exceeding what just a few years ago we would have considered a heavy-duty office connection. VOIP is now usable almost all the time, and even Skype video conferences often work ok.


Noelex, in the Aegean, uses a portable MiFi device (like this: Huawei E5878 4G Mobile WiFi Modem| Buy EE Kite Huawei Prime E5878s-32) which he puts in a waterproof bag and runs up a halyard, if he needs more antenna height. We also have one of those, but rarely needed to run it up a halyard. If you wanted ultimate range, you could package one of those with an external antenna in a waterproof plastic box, maybe with an external battery, and run THAT up a halyard. For the Carib, that might be worthwhile.


Has anyone noticed that marina WiFi is getting better? We are more and more often running into marina WiFi which actually works. I am planning to get my fixed-installed Ubiquity Bullet working before this summer's adventure.

[Polux]

Regarding EU I have good news. I knew that this was in process but did not realize time had passed so quickly:

"When you travel to a foreign country with your mobile phone, you are roaming - your mobile phone company and one in the foreign country work together to keep you connected, so you can make and receive mobile phone calls, write text messages, surf the Web and download content. These roaming charges will cease to exist in the EU as of 15 June 2017."
...

Consumers will pay the same price for calls, texts and mobile data wherever they are travelling in the EU. Calling a friend when you are at home or in another EU country won't make a difference on your bill.
Already from April 2016, roaming will become even cheaper: operators will only be able to charge a small additional amount to domestic prices up to €0.05 per minute of call made, €0.02 per SMS sent, and €0.05 per MB of data (excl. VAT).
https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/roaming


Every European must be able to have access to the open internet and all content and service providers must be able to provide their services via a high-quality open internet.

https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/...-open-internet

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Polux

Regarding EU I have good news. I knew that this was in process but did not realize time had passed so quickly:

"When you travel to a foreign country with your mobile phone, you are roaming - your mobile phone company and one in the foreign country work together to keep you connected, so you can make and receive mobile phone calls, write text messages, surf the Web and download content. These roaming charges will cease to exist in the EU as of 15 June 2017."
...

Consumers will pay the same price for calls, texts and mobile data wherever they are travelling in the EU. Calling a friend when you are at home or in another EU country won't make a difference on your bill.
Already from April 2016, roaming will become even cheaper: operators will only be able to charge a small additional amount to domestic prices up to €0.05 per minute of call made, €0.02 per SMS sent, and €0.05 per MB of data (excl. VAT).
https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/roaming


Every European must be able to have access to the open internet and all content and service providers must be able to provide their services via a high-quality open internet.

https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/...-open-internet

Truly great news! Finally something useful out of the EU.

It means that if you get a postpaid (subscription) service in just one EU country, you are good to go everywhere, and that will include unlimited plans. That will be a great day. And to think, only 20 years later than in the U.S.!

[kiltym]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Note that LTE requires cross-polarized diversity antennae, so there are two coax cables.

This is not correct. The antenna manufacturer you mention claims this in their marketing videos, but it is not true. The antenna also does not cover 700 MHz which is becoming more and more common, so calling it "all-band" is also a bit misleading. LTE will work just fine with a single "normal" antenna and a single coax cable. Newer flavors of LTE (available in very select locations) can have increased speed using MiMo (dual antennas), but with a single antenna physical 50Mbps speeds are attainable, which seems quite adequate for most users.