Mobile Satellite Internet
 

Seasons Greetings all,

I'm interested in what is currently available for mobile internet. I will be working in remote areas along the BC west coast and it would be nice to maintain a decent internet hookup for uploading content and maintenance.

Most (2-way) satellite solutions still seem to be either extremely expensive or slow (or both) - they are oriented to checking a few emails every now and then (the spam I get would chew up several acounts worth of service in a day).

Is anyone using any type of mobile internet services (GPS, 2-way sat, or otherwise)?

I know they have some nice packages out of Finland. Apparently, you can set up a highspeed internet cafe on a cruise liner using off-the shelf services.

What would you recommend?

Thanks,

-Dino

I don't know of any *good* solutions, but if you have a big enough RV, there's an outfit called datastorm that will sell you the rig to put a DirecWay 2-way sat dish on the roof. Push a button when you stop and the rig points your DirecWay dish automagically. Just don't park under any trees. And it's plenty expensive.

Thanks. I've got lots of room for a rooftop rig. I will be travelling mostly by boat, but I can beach a station wherever I want to work from.

Are you using this sat dish? They claim to service North America and southern sky exposure does the trick. Which isp are you using?

Thanks,
-Dino

UMTS would be a solution, but it is not available in North America as far as I know.

Dino, I'm using a fixed (not mobile) DirecWay dish. It's the same dish that Datastorm uses for its RV mobile solution, but I don't have any experience with the mobile solution. I deal direct with DirecWay, but I think there's an ISP layer for mobile users.

There is also a portable "mobile" solution for DirecWay that's not as automated as Datastorm, that uses a man-portable tripod and a hand-held device that helps with, but does not automate, dish-pointing. I forget what it's called, but google "DirecWay" and "RV" in the same query and you'll find some of the same pages I've been reading. I'd think this would be your best bet for working on beaches from a boat.

The fixed dish works pretty good for me -- sometimes the latency is a problem, but downloads are fast as lightning. There are bandwidth limits that inhibit big downloads -- you can surf all day, but download more than 120MB or so in any given four hour period, and they'll shut you down to dialup speeds for a day.

I appreciate all the info.

I'll follow up on these leads.

As soon as I can find a (relatively) practical solution, I'll be able to break free of my land base and spend most of my time on the water - the Pacific Northwest coast is incredible for boating.

Thank-you,
-Dino

it seems this is a new trend but it looks expensive

Very true. This is a very expensive proposition. It's hard to compete with a highspeed land-based solution.

So, either money must stop being an obstacle, or we cross our fingers and wait until it drops in price like other popularized technologies (cell phones).

The latency issue seems to be a common one as well due to the nature of satellite technology.

-Dino