Online at sea---cheapest way to get online while at sea

[Myblueheaven]

I make part of my living online. I must have access. Is there a way I can go online while, say , on a mooring or hook anywhere(western hemisphere USA)at a flat monthly rate like we are all use to on land. I pay 16.95 with ATT dial up access now. I must sometimes be online for hours on end. Any hope of a affordable servive I can use while out at sea? Any advice is welcome.

[jbanta]

How far Out To Sea are we talking here.. If you are doing coastal crusing you can just use a celmodem and you will be up and going just like tieing to a good quility 19.2k line.

[mcain]

The best bet for reasonable cost is probably the cell network. Verizon, SPrint and others have improved cell data coverage quite a bit. Verizon has the "Express Network". It is $80 per month for unlimited access. Data rates are much better than the old 14.4 or 19.2 from the old cell network. In fact, data rates usually approximate twice dialup speed, or more than 100KBPS. If you check the Verizon web site, it will explain coverage. Unfortunately, it doesn''t cover all US coastal areas, and certainly not far out to sea. I have the Sierra PCMCIA card for my laptop, which has a built-in antenna, and it gives direct Internet access. Coverage in the northeast and Florida seems good. I use it in Tampa and Orlando, including in the car. Yesterday, we fired it up on the boat in Tampa Bay and checked out some stuff on the Internet.

Anyone else have other thoughts?

[ikent]

I agree, I have unlimited access from Sprint for $80/month. Same hardware too it sounds like, it''s been reliable anywhere I''ve been in the lower 48 in the last 6 months and holds a signal pretty well in near coastal trips.

[mcain]

I use Verizon now because it is our corp standard. In the last job, Sprint was the corp standard and also did a very good job. I recently checked with my telecom guy at that job, and he confirmed continuing good performance with Sprint. It is a matter of coverage and cost. Again, the performance with these systems is light years ahead of the previous 14.4 available via cell.

[Magic_Moments]

Wi-Fi Broadband is starting to be available in Marinas and harbors. It won''t work at sea, but if you are near a covered harbor it could be useful. I have an annual plan that cost $300, but they also charge by the month ($39.95) and by the day (7.95). I have been anchored out up to a half mile from the antennae and still been able to get a decent signal with my cheap 30mW wi-fi card. The company recommends using 200mW cards of theirs or Orinoco.

Check out www.bbxpress.net if in Washington or British Columbia.

They block UDP packets so you can''t play computer games, but otherwise it is no different from being on cable or DSL.

Ken