How is cellphone and Starlink coverage in the Exumas?

[FabioC]

We are going to charter a boat in the Exumas for a couple of weeks in late November.
How is cellphone coverage in the Northern Exumas?
I was told that boats there very actively communicate via VHF, but what about cellular coverage? We cannot be unreachable from work for extended periods of time...

Also, is WiFi available in any of the cays? if so, which ones?

Also, does Starlink RV work in the Exumas as of now? Is Starlink RV registered in US usable in the Bahamas/Exumas? (supposedly, it should be usable for 2 months abroad, but is it true?) Does anybody know?

Thank you!

[FabioC]

As a related question, does My Island WiFi work reasonably well in the Northern Exumas or that is only for Nassau?

[sailingunity]

I checked in myislandwifi recently and they don't seem to be accepting new customers.

Someone recently referred me to a Facebook group "Starlink on boats", you might want to pose the question there

[chris mac]

Northern exumas, cell reception is spotty at best in the park. Highbourne is good, then it fades as you go south. The next tower is in staniel cay so the closer you get to it, gets better.
We use aliv, and can get signal throughout the park if we hoist the hotspot to the masthead(65')

[FabioC]

Originally Posted by chris mac

Northern exumas, cell reception is spotty at best in the park. Highbourne is good, then it fades as you go south. The next tower is in staniel cay so the closer you get to it, gets better.
We use aliv, and can get signal throughout the park if we hoist the hotspot to the masthead(65')

Is Aliv simply a service provider in the Bahamas? can you just buy a SIM from them and use it in any phone?
Do they offer data cards that you can use in a laptop or iPad?
Thank you!

[FabioC]

Originally Posted by sailingunity

I checked in myislandwifi recently and they don't seem to be accepting new customers.

Someone recently referred me to a Facebook group "Starlink on boats", you might want to pose the question there

Yes, I contacted them and they do not accept new customers...
But what is their device? Is it simply a hotspot with a LTE data card that connects to some provider in the Exumas?
Does anybody know which provider?
If you get a SIM card from that provider and use it in your phone, it would be the same thing, correct?

[FStover]

Myislandwifi uses BTC towers in the Bahamas but you will not get any usable signal past Shroud until you get to Cambridge.

[chris mac]

Originally Posted by FabioC

Is Aliv simply a service provider in the Bahamas? can you just buy a SIM from them and use it in any phone?

Do they offer data cards that you can use in a laptop or iPad?

Thank you!

Correct, aliv is the direct competition of btc, and as long as your phone is unlocked, you can just buy a sim card with plan. Their main feature that is better than btc is their data plan. We did use a data plan card in an alctel puck and it worked well broadcasting boat wide wifi. We also put it in an old phone and used it the same way.
I haven't tried in a laptop or tablet

[jkleins]

If you have the new iPhone without a SIM slot Aliv does use eSIM so you can probably set it up on the phone or online (according to their website)

[Bkeil84]

We had a heck of a time using cell service in the Bahamas. We both had unlocked phones and purchased BTC sim cards. These cards worked ok and service features were different at each island. The worst thing is that we kept burning though the 15 GB of data every week on each phone not knowing where it was going. In the States, I get a ton of internet and streaming per 15 GB. In 2 months we spent about $300 constantly buying more data. But then we got home only to find out that our Children with Verizon got charged hundreds of dollars just for answering our phone calls with absolutely no idea this was happening. Even though we had free unlimited calling, anybody that had this type of charge blocked was not callable. This seemed to be a most every one of my friends and every business. It was a huge scam that I will not repeat. Buyer beware.

[LarryDW]

Check out Aliv (www.be Aliv.com). Way better than BTC.
Mifi 75 plan, 50gb, $75
Mifi 90 plan, 125gb, $90
Mifi 140 plan, 200gb, $140
I’ve used both the 75 and 90gb plans, worked very well throughout the Bahamas. There are dead zones in the upper Abaco’s, upper Exuma’s in spots. Also don’t expect any connection in the Jumentos/Raggeds until you get near Duncantown.
No experience with Starlink yet.

[Jammer]

Who is the local partner for Google Fi there? Coverage any good?

[Cheyne]

Originally Posted by Jammer

Who is the local partner for Google Fi there? Coverage any good?

I have Google Fi and it wasn’t good in the Bahamas this past season. I pulled the sim and got an Aliv sim.

Cheyne