Internet access with SIM card when with no WIFI

[chrisr]

one of the best things about the separate internet dongle is that when reception is weak, you can put the thing in a dry bag and pull it to the top of the mast.

amazing how much this improves reception & range

cheers,

[SalingSue]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Should I be getting excited yet?

So if it’s a satellite based system and it’s also registered in Australia, how does that work?

A Australian user would connect just the same as a American user, but to meet Australian laws their internet has to be monitored and censored, would this mean it’s basically a no draconian government left behind type deal? Or is Mr Musk going to be giving a giant F you finger to the censors and monitors of the world? (which would be epically awesome).

[StuM]

Originally Posted by SalingSue

So if it’s a satellite based system and it’s also registered in Australia, how does that work?

A Australian user would connect just the same as a American user, but to meet Australian laws their internet has to be monitored and censored, would this mean it’s basically a no draconian government left behind type deal? Or is Mr Musk going to be giving a giant F you finger to the censors and monitors of the world? (which would be epically awesome).

You keep claiming this. Please provide a legal cite to this alleged compulsory monitoring and censoring of "the internet" in Australia.

[zstine]

OP is in FL!? He should sail over to the Bahamas. We found BTC data to be a lot less than in the states.

[David B]

Originally Posted by SalingSue

So if it’s a satellite based system and it’s also registered in Australia, how does that work?

..... but to meet Australian laws their internet has to be monitored and censored ......

I think you're confusing Australia with China (where the virus came from.....)

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by David B

I think you're confusing Australia with China (where the virus came from.....)

Where you think the virus came from
There is no science or evidence to back up your claim.

[billdomb]

Originally Posted by markguthrie

Looking for advice. I have have an local WIFI network/router on my boat, that can connect to marina WIFIs.

The question is how to connect to the internet when away from the marina. I could use my phone's hot spot but that is metered and expensive.

I am thinking I can use a SIM card. So that is the first question.

If so, then I think I need a USB modem that has a SIM card slot, which I will connect to my onboard router.

If that doesn't work, I think my laptop has a SIM slot. Can I just insert the SIM card in the laptop?

Thanks for any advice.

-Mark/St. Pete. FL

We use a Verizon MiFi with unlimited data service. Prepaid, it's around $65 a month.

NOTE: no way you can just insert your sim card into your laptop, far as I know.

[Kerryf]

I use a pepwave router that has two SIM slots. I have a Google Fi data only SIM, gives me 22GB a month for $70 on T-Mobile. I also have another SIM from One Wireless World that operates on AT&T and gives me 250GB a month for $90.
The pepwave also picks up wifi signals at marinas and beams all the data to onboard Hotspot.

[Mickeyrouse]

I’m using a SIM card with and AT&T account on my iPad. I use it pay-as-you-go, disabling cell access when I don’t need it. I don’t download movies, games etc. using it primarily for news and email, and communication with vendors, etc. Service can be sketchy, but it’s better than nothing. I spend about $100 a year. Worth it.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by SV__Grace

We are in the U.S. (PNW), work remotely and run our business from our boat, so internet connectivity it critical for us.

Marina wifi almost always sucks and is not worth it to us. There are almost no available free wifi connections in today's world that don't require a password. We haven't used our wifi antenna (mounted on top of our mizzen mast for great reception and range) in a long time.

We rely on cell data plans for our internet and here's what we have-

- AT&T 100GB plan for $100. per month. This is our primary connection and even the two of us working online 7 days per week doesn't exceed 100GB. It has its own router (designed to be a home device) and we raise it up the mast at remote anchorages.

- T-Mobile- we have an iPad and a Hotspot, $35. and $45. per month respectively, 10GB as backup if ATT is weak or unavailable, but the real reason is unlimited video streaming (Binge On) as we watch Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, and YouTube TV instead of cable or over the air TV signals. We haven't used our marine TV antenna in years.

- Google Fi- the best deal there is for international calling and "pay as you go" internet. $10. for each GB up to 12GB, then no charge up to 15, then throttled for the rest of the month after that. This is our backup if we use up our other plans or if ATT or T-Mobile is not available as Google Fi uses multiple carriers. Requires buying a phone, but the SIM card is free, and the $20. per month for the phone plan is a cheap backup for when one of our phones quits or gets dropped into the water (happened twice so far).

Boat WiFi Devices- there are many options for cell antennas and creating wifi connectivity from SIM cards on a boat and we've tried and used a bunch in the past 5 years or so. My electronics guru turned me on to Cradlepoint, which has just been acquired by Ericsson. We use this model that has two SIM card slots and we have our T-Mobile in one and Google Fi in the other. It's not cheap but the build is amazing and designed for commercial fleets of ships and trucks that will hold up very well in the marine environment and able to be accessed, managed and controlled remotely. The control panel (accessed by logging on via your computer) is sophisticated and robust, probably more for remote workers like us than the casual cruiser. I like that it uses very little power and has lots of antenna options, both outside for connecting to cell towers, and inside for expanding wifi to dead zones in the boat (if any).

As an aside, my electronics guru says that Verizon is the best carrier for boats, saying that they aim their cell towers for better, longer distance coverage than the others. I find their plans too expensive and our existing carriers work fine, but just wanted to pass along that nugget.

For us, (not working full time from the boat) our priorities are: 10-15GB/month, 2-3 users, cheap, and simple technology.

We are not interested in $200-$250/mo. We are not interested in complex powered antenna/router/wifi systems that have to be managed. We are not interested in one party losing the hotspot when the other person leaves the boat with their phone in their pocket.

What we want is a few hours a day 2-3 persons browsing the Internet and a streaming a Movie every night. We want to be able to look a video clip or a youtube when we want. That's about it.

So our solution is two-fold:

1. Away from the marina we use a USB Cellular Modem with a locally acquired sim card and a data package. This puts Internet into the PC which then broadcasts to other devices using (in our case) Connectify. Around the world this has worked. We've never been cut off by using AT&T, T-Mobile or Verison for spending too much time outside of the USA. AND WE ARE NOT SPENDING $100-$200/MONTH. MORE LIKE $30-$50 It has a long cord so it can be placed out the hatch and on deck, which improves the signal.
2. 2. We use a simple USB Directional WiFi antenna to bring in clear and steady WiFi in marinas or near towns. (go into the restaurants and have a drink and get the password. It will work up to half a mile away). Many marina WiFi systems will work 100% better with a directional antenna which cuts out multipath propagation. (Try Bear Outdoor extender, one device, no power required, $54). We always try to use Wi-Fi if possible, because it is free. It has a 15ft cord so it too can be placed out the hatch. It must be pointed toward the Access Point, so when anchored you are constantly re-directioning it (OK, exercise).

We are cruisers, we do a lot more than sit inside on the Internet all day. We have traveled the world with this approach, it works, it is affordable.

[ferrofan]

I live aboard and work from home my business relies heavily on a decent internet connection. I use a TPlink LTE router which takes a sim card. The TP link has removable SMA antennas so I have replaced the factory stubbies with a Poynting external hi gain omni directional antenna. and I have an unlimited sim only 30 day rolling contract data package from 3mobile (i'm in the UK) I generally get 20MBS download speed. DigitalYacht also do a pretty neat system which I would probably upgrade to when the TP link eventually dies as it is designed for a marine install. The key really is getting a router which can take external antenna and getting the best data sim deal you can find. Occasionally I have had to switch providers dependent on where I am and where the nearest mast is which is why I like the 30 day rolling contracts. But thats in the UK I'm not sure what comparable deals you have over the pond. If you laptop does take a sim it's probably going to have a fairly feeble antenna so your signal strength may be quite poor. but you can just chuck your existing sim in there and see what you get. Check the slot is for a sim and not a memory card as you could end up losing your sim if you stick it in the wrong hole.

Originally Posted by markguthrie

Looking for advice. I have have an local WIFI network/router on my boat, that can connect to marina WIFIs.

The question is how to connect to the internet when away from the marina. I could use my phone's hot spot but that is metered and expensive.

I am thinking I can use a SIM card. So that is the first question.

If so, then I think I need a USB modem that has a SIM card slot, which I will connect to my onboard router.

If that doesn't work, I think my laptop has a SIM slot. Can I just insert the SIM card in the laptop?

Thanks for any advice.

-Mark/St. Pete. FL

[maersi]

About 7 years ago, I was staying in a marina where wifi was only available in the office. I bought a cheap android phone, and a sim card with a large data package. The phone company realised that I was using the phone for tethering, and said this was forbidden in the terms of the contract (which I hadn't bothered reading). I then discovered that if I used VPN on the phone, they couldn't see that I was tethering. In theory, this should still be the case.

[ice57]

FWIW, we use a MOFI 4500 router with SIM card slot and subscribe to Cricket (uses AT&T towers) hotspot plan for 20gb / month for $35. They have higher use plans as well.

[RickG]

We're out there, down from the continental US in Grenada. We use whatever is good enough where ever we might be. I still do IT work, so Internet is a business expense. I've been doing this kind of work for 35+ years, so I have more patience with slow networks than the Admiral. Who remembers 75 baud teletypes over HF modems? Pactor modems are fast enough for store and forward protocols like email and uucp.

Use whatever is "good enough."

The best deal in the Caribbean is 55 euro 50 GB per month French Digicel cards. The plan works on all Caribbean islands with Digicel coverage, but you must buy the SIM on a French island. COVID would not let us go there and the best 10 GB plan Digicel plans in Grenada is $100 EC / $37 US with one day 1GB data add ons $10 EC / $3.70 US per day; you can only add on 1GB per day. I see 85mbps on Digicel.

Another option in Grenada is Cruiser's Wifi for $40 US per month unlimited. You need a range extender, we have an external Ubiquiti Bullet, and it can be slow and have occasional outages.

Another option in Grenada is Spice Mobile. They are unlimited 10mbps/3mbps for $200 EC / $74 US per month. They are on old CDMA 4G LTE Verizon equipment. They charge $100 EC / $37 US for a hotspot. I generally see 2-3mpbs download when we are line of sight of their towers in Clarke's Court Bay or St. George's.

We also have the $70 US Google Fi unlimited. We go through the 22GB cap in a week then it's 140kbps. If you don't return with the device to the US occasionally they will shut down your service.

Finally, so far, we have AT&T 30GB per month service. On a day when I need to have a fast network I spend $10 US on the "International Day Pass" product and get access to the fast Digicel network with 85mbps download. We will be switching the the ATT 5G 100GB plan when we return to the USVIs (no 5G there yet).

We used to use the otrmobile.com MVNO that ran over the AT&T network $60 per month unlimited on the AT&T network only. They switched their platform to T-Mobile and we do not get T-Mobile coverage on our mooring in Coral Bay, St. John USVI. But, that service worked very well in the US, PR, and USVI until the change. We switched to VIYA, a local USVI telco, and got unlimited 22GB before throttling to 128kbps for $85 per month.

In the Bahamas we used Island Wifi unlimited with no throttling for $84.95 per month - https://myislandwifi.com/

When I have a Zoom meeting I use the Speedify app on my Macbook Pro to setup a backup network to failover if the main network has issues.

So, yeah, right now I have Spice Mobile, Cruiser's WiFi, Google Fi, and Digicel Grenada running. I just ordered a 5 port USB extender and five USB WiFi adapters. With the Speedify software I can bond all of the networks and have QoS routing tiers for cheap, slow and reliable, fast and expensive so that I use least cost network. More importantly, the Admiral won't interrupt a paying client call to ask why f'ing Ancestry is not coming up!

I'll stand in line on opening day when Starlink is available in the Caribbean.

Cheers, RickG

[RickG]

So, a short direct answer - T-Mobile uses the 600MHz long-range band for 4G LTE and 5G. That is going to get you the best mobile network for the best price around St. Pete's.

Go cheap. Throw it in a locker if it's not good enough.

Cheers, RickG