On Drift Away, which is in one place, tied to a dock, Pam and I decided to forego the usual cable TV-cable internet-cable phone thing. We're close to New York City, so we use a marine TV antenna for over the air TV signals. We get a couple of dozen channels. Unfortunately for us, half are in Spanish and Chinese, so we have a dozen or so we can watch. We get the four major networks, and a good selection of PBS stations so we're quite happy with that.
For internet, we were going to use the marina's wireless, but then found out when we got here last fall that it's been out of service for a long time. Not being able to find an unsecured wireless connection to freeload off of, I hied myself to the local Verizon store and came home with a 3G wireless hotspot.
That's the hotspot, just above the red mouse. Its plugged into a 110 volt powerstrip. It can also connect to the laptop's USB port, or the laptop can connect to it wirelessly (is that a word?). It allows us to connect to the internet with a cell signal. I also have a PC with a wireless network card that connects through the hotspot as well.
I've found that it's not as fast as cable, but it is more than adequate for what we use it for- surfing the internet, email, and watching Netflix movies online. Verizon has several plans available, from 1 GB up to 10 GB. Because we watch movies online, I opted for the 10 GB at $80 a month. I also paid for the hotspot up front (a couple of hundred dollars) so I 'm not locked into a plan. At any time, I can downgrade to 5 GB for $50 or 3 GB for $35 a month.
Overall, I think its a good solution for cruisers. All you need is a cell signal and you're online.
Meanwhile, I'm working on the marina's wireless system, trying to figure out what the guy before me did to mess it up so badly. I should have it back up either tomorrow or within a week or two, once I figure out if the marina lost their POE (power over ethernet) adapter and if I need to order one.
On the what-its-like-to-live-on-a-boat-in-Connecticut-in-winter front, today it's raining, and there was hardly any need to towel off getting out of the shower. Might as well wait until you get to the boat.
I also learned today that pit bulls HATE rain. Just look at Chevy run!
Is the "hotspot" like MiFi the AT&T's antenna booster that locks into a tower and amplifies the signal for say 1 bar to 4 on a cell phone?
ReplyDeleteHi Doug,
ReplyDeleteNo. The Verizon hotspot is it's own internet access point. It's not connecting to someone else's internet. Think of it as a cell phone modem, except multiple computers can connect through it simultaneously.
Hi Dave,
ReplyDeleteI love your blog that I just came across. Great minds must think alike -- check mine out at http://taconiclakelife.blogspot.com/. I'll have to do a posting on my kludgy Internet setup here soon.
Your Pal from WHHS, Swayze Acres and P'burgh,
Bob
I really don't understand, but that's OK, I don't understand how the magic smoke stays in my Chartplotter over the winter. :-)
ReplyDeleteHey Dave,
ReplyDeleteYou may have been able to save yourself the cost of the hot spot. If you have a 3g account, pdanet may have done the job for you.
http://junefabrics.com/android/download.php
The base software is free. If you want access to secured web sites, you need to pay $20 or so. Not bad I thought, considering I spent $10 for 24 hrs of service in Annapolis Harbor last fall.
We have sprint, so it may be slightly different in terms of getting around the hot spot purchase issue. But, all I know is I was told I needed to do what you did to connect and when I read about pda net, tried it first and it works.
Now, as long as I have cell coverage (iffy with sprint here on the shore) I have wifi for my laptop.
Cheers,
Tim