Is BGAN the cheapest for Sat Internet?

[Dave852]

Originally Posted by css145hs

LuvSun, I think someone needs to give you a super clear response. The Iridium Go has internet speeds from 1993 or so, it cannot be used to browse the web or do anything except a few specialized functions. You can send an email or two, text only, via specialized software. You can download GRIB weather updates. Doing either takes several minutes of airtime, weather downloads may even take 10-20 minutes. This is great, to be able to do it in the middle of the ocean, but you have to have reasonable expectations. It is not the "internet" you know.



As for BGAN, the Explorer 510 is supposed to be fairly useable from a boat (at least according to groundcontrol.com), however I would like someone's first hand report. I've used the Go and an IsatPhone2 in the past, but am considering the Explorer 510 for a better experience. I need at most 100KB to do daily weather and email, so 10-50MB monthly plans will go a long way.... IF they work. I'll be on a 50' catamaran, so fairly stable as far as things go, but has anyone tried the Explorer 510 or similar while on the ocean and sailing? I'd literally only need it to work for like 30 seconds, since its so fast (like 200x faster than the above options), I just don't want to have unrealistic expectations on its field of view requirements. I can't seem to find them anywhere, how "wide" is the signal lock.



There are a few vague reports I came across, so I'm inclined to think it works.

I used it successfully on a 50' cat at sea. Well it was the 500 model but the same I am sure. Only for a short time as this was when it first came on the scene back in 2007 before they launched the third satellite to cover the pacific so once we were halfway to Galapagos lost the signal. It's not ment to be used on a moving platform and if the movement is to much you will have a problem locking in.

[css145hs]

Originally Posted by Dave852

I used it successfully on a 50' cat at sea. Well it was the 500 model but the same I am sure. Only for a short time as this was when it first came on the scene back in 2007 before they launched the third satellite to cover the pacific so once we were halfway to Galapagos lost the signal. It's not ment to be used on a moving platform and if the movement is to much you will have a problem locking in.

Thanks Dave. I think I'm going to pick up a unit, and I'll have some minutes on the sat phone as well, just in case. I'm thinking it will be fine most days, tho what will I do with that half hour saved each day, who knows... I have an email out to groundcontrol staff to see if they can share the movement tolerance in degrees, as final confirmation.

[svmobert]

You can also get a Fleet One unit.. About $2500 for the hardware, which is stabilized auto-tracking dome, provides 100kbps (fast enough to do some light web browsing when needed) and monthly cost for global is $120/month for about 13MB of data.

When you are within coastal regions (200nm of the coast) you can switch to a coastal plan that is cheaper, ie: about 25MB for similar cost to the global 13MB.

And when you are in the coastal americas.. 200nm of North,Central, South America, including carribean, you can get the Unlimited coastal plan for $250/month (it slows down after 30 and 60MB in a month, but still usable).

While the Explorer 510 is a nice portable option, and faster than the Fleet One, the data costs aren't much better than the Fleet One and the Fleet One is designed for a boat. The dome is small enoug to fit on most any boat and the install is pretty easy.

[css145hs]

Do you know what the throttled rate is after hitting 30/60mb?

[svmobert]

Originally Posted by css145hs

Do you know what the throttled rate is after hitting 30/60mb?

32kbps after 30MB, 16kbps after 60MB..

Resets to full speed each month.

Even 16kbps is 8 times faster than the Go!

[css145hs]

Thanks for all the info Sea-TechSystems. Fleet One is tempting. I kinda wish they had a Global plan without any data for $25-50/month, that be something that I would pay for to use as needed. Their prepaid options are poor IMO, with short durations compared to the BGAN ones. I like the 55MB BGAN for 180 days prepaid option, that seems to hit a sweet spot. It seems cost effective and nicely covers passages and when you're off the grid, when cellular isn't an option, for critical wx and email. I also like the BGAN Flex plan, but it sucks that its meant for land-use only. I do wonder if that is enforced, as that would be something that would be quite convenient in a coastal situation (does that count as land-use, heh), with infrequent passages. That's the only multi-month commitment I really care for, usually those are unattractive, but that's not too bad.

[svmobert]

Originally Posted by css145hs

Thanks for all the info Sea-TechSystems. Fleet One is tempting. I kinda wish they had a Global plan without any data for $25-50/month, that be something that I would pay for to use as needed. Their prepaid options are poor IMO, with short durations compared to the BGAN ones. I like the 55MB BGAN for 180 days prepaid option, that seems to hit a sweet spot. It seems cost effective and nicely covers passages and when you're off the grid, when cellular isn't an option, for critical wx and email. I also like the BGAN Flex plan, but it sucks that its meant for land-use only. I do wonder if that is enforced, as that would be something that would be quite convenient in a coastal situation (does that count as land-use, heh), with infrequent passages. That's the only multi-month commitment I really care for, usually those are unattractive, but that's not too bad.

There is a 60MB Fleet One Prepaid (180 days) voucher for coastal. (Coastal 300 units) The data cost is pretty much the same as the coastal monthly plans.

There is also a 200MB Fleet One Prepaid (180 days) voucher for GLOBAL.. (Global 1000 units). The cost per MB of that is higher than what you pay for the basic Global monthly plan.

Also, with Fleet One you can start and stop service on a month to month basis. But you would need to pay an activation fee to restart. So if you are seasonal you can save money.

You can also have two SIMs.. a Coastal and a Global and switch between them as needed.. Coastal most of the time, and then switch to a global plan for pacific/atlantic use, etc.

[N3VR L8]

I poated this in another thread, but Inmarsat are keen to keep their maritime business channeled through their maritime rate plans. While an Explorer 510 may work if you can keep it pointed on the satellite while at sea, at some point Inmarsat will notice it logging in from offshore and shut it down.

I second the FleetOne mentioned above for an affordable data option, I'd also encourage you to look into the new Iridium Certus offerings.

[css145hs]

Originally Posted by N3VR L8

I poated this in another thread, but Inmarsat are keen to keep their maritime business channeled through their maritime rate plans. While an Explorer 510 may work if you can keep it pointed on the satellite while at sea, at some point Inmarsat will notice it logging in from offshore and shut it down.

I second the FleetOne mentioned above for an affordable data option, I'd also encourage you to look into the new Iridium Certus offerings.

BGAN Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Do you believe this information to be inaccurate? I was basing my decision on that. If they are indeed suspending accounts for high-priority (not consumer/standard+) BGAN use at sea, that is disappointing. I like the idea of not installing it onto the boat, as this is a very transient need. I'd even be willing to drop a few grand for more sizable amounts of data while on this upcoming passage, but I don't want a long term commitment.

[svmobert]

Originally Posted by css145hs

BGAN Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Do you believe this information to be inaccurate? I was basing my decision on that. If they are indeed suspending accounts for high-priority (not consumer/standard+) BGAN use at sea, that is disappointing. I like the idea of not installing it onto the boat, as this is a very transient need. I'd even be willing to drop a few grand for more sizable amounts of data while on this upcoming passage, but I don't want a long term commitment.

This is what Ground Control has to say.. "Can I use BGAN service on a boat or vessel?
Yes... even on the open ocean. There may have been a time when Inmarsat had a suspension policy on such use, but it has not been enforced. "

I can't recommend using anything that has the potential of being suspended by the carrier, but it sounds like they haven't really done that in recent time. That said, thats only $300 less than the Fleet One, and there is no question that the Fleet One will work.

You can do Prepaid with Fleet One also, as well as month-to-month service. So there's no long term commitment different from the BGAN.

The Fleet One dome is lightweight and can mount on pretty much any surface. Even a 1" pipe mount adapter to a rail mount or something similar if you wanted it temporary.

But you seem to really want the BGAN, and suspension seems unlikely, so buy what you want, as long as you know the limitations of what you are buying.

[css145hs]

Originally Posted by Sea-TechSystems

This is what Ground Control has to say.. "Can I use BGAN service on a boat or vessel?
Yes... even on the open ocean. There may have been a time when Inmarsat had a suspension policy on such use, but it has not been enforced. "

I can't recommend using anything that has the potential of being suspended by the carrier, but it sounds like they haven't really done that in recent time. That said, thats only $300 less than the Fleet One, and there is no question that the Fleet One will work.

You can do Prepaid with Fleet One also, as well as month-to-month service. So there's no long term commitment different from the BGAN.

The Fleet One dome is lightweight and can mount on pretty much any surface. Even a 1" pipe mount adapter to a rail mount or something similar if you wanted it temporary.

But you seem to really want the BGAN, and suspension seems unlikely, so buy what you want, as long as you know the limitations of what you are buying.

That's more appealing, a rail mount. Would need a temporary battery feed to the terminal, but not a huge deal. I have almost no rails/stainless on the boat, but there's one place it could go that should have good sky visibility. I think you may have convinced me ;-)

Since this unit is stabilized, will its innards bang around if unpowered? I heard someone say that (some models) need power to prevent damaging themselves at sea. I don't see any warnings in manuals though.

[svmobert]

Originally Posted by css145hs

That's more appealing, a rail mount. Would need a temporary battery feed to the terminal, but not a huge deal. I have almost no rails/stainless on the boat, but there's one place it could go that should have good sky visibility. I think you may have convinced me ;-)

Since this unit is stabilized, will its innards bang around if unpowered? I heard someone say that (some models) need power to prevent damaging themselves at sea. I don't see any warnings in manuals though.

You are generally supposed to leave the power on while moving, to protect the unit. That is true.

FYI, I recently talked with a customer who plans to do an trans-atlantic soon. I ended up selling him an Explorer 510, with the caveats about the possible issues. It sounds like he will be testing it soon in a boat off the coast of Florida to be sure but then they will be sailing across next month.

I will hopefully get good feedback from that.

[mikedefieslife]

I messaged Inmartsat directly as I was/am leaning towards them, and was told that no they do not shut down BGAN accounts for being offshore. They also went on to say "We've supported many sponsorships that cross water with our BGAN service." Take from that what you will. Doesn't mean it can't/won't happen I suppose.

Interesting to hear about the Glow. I'd not come across it before. Even though it's still the 2.4kbps Iridium network. I don't quite understand it considering it seems very similar to the Aurora, and presumably unlike the Go, can't use the Iridium Go Unlimited package.

[svmobert]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

I messaged Inmartsat directly as I was/am leaning towards them, and was told that no they do not shut down BGAN accounts for being offshore. They also went on to say "We've supported many sponsorships that cross water with our BGAN service." Take from that what you will. Doesn't mean it can't/won't happen I suppose.

Interesting to hear about the Glow. I'd not come across it before. Even though it's still the 2.4kbps Iridium network. I don't quite understand it considering it seems very similar to the Aurora, and presumably unlike the Go, can't use the Iridium Go Unlimited package.

The Glow and the Aurora are the same hardware but Iridium controls certain aspects of it's operation based on the airtime plan. If the Glow is using an Iridium Go! Unlimited plan, then it operates as a Glow and "auto-connect" does not work. If it's using a standard Iridium phone SIM with per-minute billing, then it operates as an Aurora and "auto-connect" works.

The idea is to not have the Glow and Unlimited data plan for leisure use cannibalize lucrative commercial customers who are paying for tons of usage.

[Neziak]

Will WhatsApp work via the Glow unlimited and through a Xweb subscription, can basic text based web pages be viewed via an iPad?