Affordable Comms for Internet still ?

[Ribbit]

Hi all. I had used a very expensive high powered 4G LTE WiFi Router very successfully down in Andalucia at my uncle's house in Spain in 2008. It was surprisingly good with about 330 mb download speed. So I was a bit surprised when Michael of Sailing Gently YouTube Channel did a review of his TP Link (sorry I forget the model ) SIM card WiFi Router , and reported that there is a Caribbean Mobile Network provider that offers a Caribbean wide service at I think it was £20 ish for 100 gb bandwidth ! Well I got I trigger, and started looking around at what was available here in Britain . I found a small self contained 4G Router was available with internal battery and internal aerials, at very reasonable able price here, I sniped a brand new unused one for £20,including delivery, and there are people refurbishing them with a 12 month guarantee, and at least one looks willing to post them to the Caribbean, or anywhere in the World - they are very small and light, so shipping should be very reasonable - The to link I got was an M7200 spec 150 mbs download, same as Michael's? and he is able to stream Netflix, Prime, a d YouTube, email etc, no problem with it. His Review is on his channel, with the subject coms, getting insurance in the Caribbean, and something else. I was hoping to do an in depth testing of mine, to be able to give a comprehensive review, but while waiting for a Smarty Sim to arrive, I got hammered with a very nasty Bacteria, that resulted in very similar issues to the Southern Asia one that results from Chronic Vitamin A Deficiency, in my case and a staggering number of others, the damned thing caused Respiratory failure, Pneumonia, and a heart attack which thankfully turned out to be mild. I was in ICU for quite a while as a result, and in getting the house ready for my return, things got put in safe places, and have not turned up since. Worth noting, while they do have internal batteries, they will work with an external battery pack as well so all day use is easily available. They should continue to work for a number of years yet, and imho are a low cost alternative to using Starlink and should get global Co erage? There is also one made by Huawei I spotted that offers up to 500 mbs download, and seemed available from Refurbishers from under £40 too. Probably, there are USA sellers who will ship them to the Caribbean? Best Wishes. Bob. Still Landlocked in Wales. 🤔🌟🌟🌟👍

[fxykty]

There are two costs for Internet service - the cost of the hardware to connect to the Internet and to distribute it locally, plus the cost of the service that will activate your Internet service.

So far, you’re only mentioning cheap cell/wifi routers. All good. But don’t forget that you also need to buy a SIM and pay for mobile data to access Internet content.

In areas that have good mobile coverage then generally a local prepay SIM will offer the cheapest Internet. Just make sure your router is unlocked and can use global frequency bands if you’re planning to cruise internationally.

[fxykty]

What happens when you’re outside of cell coverage? That’s when you decide whether you are OK to go dark, or whether you want connectivity. Going dark is an option if you stay continental, but maybe not so much when crossing oceans (though common only a few decades back).

The original offshore connection is SSB with a Pactor modem for email. That requires a substantial hardware and installation cost and is gradually being degraded through lack of commercial use. Next is satellite using the Iridium network (for global and higher latitude coverage) - initially Sat Phones and more recently Iridium GO and Exec (at the lower end of costs - not talking about Thuraya and other $10+K per month services). Unlike cell, none of these services offer anything near the speeds required to stream Internet content.

Now with Starlink, and soon other providers, we can get high speed Internet pretty much wherever we are for relatively modest hardware and service costs (though cell service costs are generally lower). In particular, Starlink is especially useful where cell coverage is not so good.

[wholybee]

As mentioned the router and service are 2 things. And there is a large range in quality. The high end routers will take 6 SIM cards both for diversity between carriers and to bond them for higher speeds. And external antennas work better in fringe areas, and multiple antennas work better while moving (even moving a little bit).

Service varies by where all it works, data caps, speed caps etc.