Reliable internet for Zoom calls and Work in the Sea of Cortez

[Onemoreproject]

My wife teaches classes on Zoom and needs a reliable connection while at sea and in marinas. I have never experienced good internet in marinas in Mexico or the US, so we need an onboard system. I read a little about Starlink. How far 0ff shore does that work?

I would love to hear cruisers real world experience communicating with Zoom in the Sea of Cortez and elsewhere in Mexico.

Thanks for sharing !

[JebLostInSpace]

I have a neighbor who has Starlink, and reports that it works great on US East Coast, Florida to Maine. This neighbor has Zoom calls every day, and also has 2 kids that do online school at the same time, all with no issues with bandwidth. Of course, Starlink is more impacted by congestion than traditional ISPs, so YMMV on the West Coast.

I myself do not have Starlink, but also work remote from the boat. My solution is a T-Mobile 4G hotspot. I get 100GB per month at 4G speeds, and I can also hotspot from my phone for 40GB per month of 5G speeds. (This is also a substantially less expensive solution than Starlink) I have found that even the 4G speeds are good enough for Zoom calls, although sometimes I turn off incoming video, especially if there are many participants on the call. The downside is that even the combined 140GB per month is not really enough to completely stop worrying that I will run out of data. I can definitely make it work every month, but it takes a little bit of conscious data budgeting. The other downside is of course that it doesn't work offshore. Even if I hoist the hotspot device up the mast, I can only get a few miles offshore. However, my job is super flexible and lets me take off whenever I have a passage to do, so that's not a big impact for me. T-Mobile coverage is generally good enough that this system works anywhere I choose to anchor or dock, with only a few exceptions found so far in the Chesapeake.