We leave on Saturday for a three week cruise up to Desolation Sound and points north in British Columbia about which we're very excited. An issue for me is staying in touch with my business through email. We'll have a laptop for navigation as well as communication. When land lines are available email access should be no problem. However there are going to be days with no land lines available (yeah, I know, chill out and celebrate). Cell phone coverage may be spotty, but has anyone had good luck accessing the internet off a cell phone? Gary Wyngarden S/V Shibumi H335
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Yup, but it's a little slow...
You can get an adapter that hooks onto your laptops serial port, the other end plugs into your digital cell phone and turns it into a modem. It actually works pretty well as long as you have decent service but it's quite slow. Email is no problem but I wouldn't try sending huge attachments or downloading big files unless you have a lot of time. Talk to your cell phone company and they should be able to set you up. I'm not sure you'll get much in the way of coverage up there but you might. Have a great trip, it sure is pretty up there!
You can get an adapter that hooks onto your laptops serial port, the other end plugs into your digital cell phone and turns it into a modem. It actually works pretty well as long as you have decent service but it's quite slow. Email is no problem but I wouldn't try sending huge attachments or downloading big files unless you have a lot of time. Talk to your cell phone company and they should be able to set you up. I'm not sure you'll get much in the way of coverage up there but you might. Have a great trip, it sure is pretty up there!
Access
Gary, Miles has it exactly right. You do need a cell phone that will handle the data connection to your serial port. You might also want to check the coverage maps for your service. We have had good luck with ours, but the data rate is really slow (about 9600 baud). Works for simple email, but watch attachments and if you plan on surfing the web better have a plan with lots of free minutes. Dan Jonas (S/V Feije)
Gary, Miles has it exactly right. You do need a cell phone that will handle the data connection to your serial port. You might also want to check the coverage maps for your service. We have had good luck with ours, but the data rate is really slow (about 9600 baud). Works for simple email, but watch attachments and if you plan on surfing the web better have a plan with lots of free minutes. Dan Jonas (S/V Feije)
It worked for me
But as Miles said, it's slow. Coverage has probably improved, but as of a few years ago ATT had bad coverage up there and the Qwest cell service (what is it now? Verizon? Cingular? ??) covered BC pretty well. I installed trunk-mount cell phone (they have more power than the little hand hell units) and got a Shakespeare cell antenna about the size of a baseball bat. It worked OK but required patience as sometimes the signal would be lost mid-transmission. If you keep your emails short and filter out spam it should work OK, especially with today's better equipment. If you're going to write home now and then drop me a line and I'll arrange to have your travelogue posted here! phil@sailboatowners.com
But as Miles said, it's slow. Coverage has probably improved, but as of a few years ago ATT had bad coverage up there and the Qwest cell service (what is it now? Verizon? Cingular? ??) covered BC pretty well. I installed trunk-mount cell phone (they have more power than the little hand hell units) and got a Shakespeare cell antenna about the size of a baseball bat. It worked OK but required patience as sometimes the signal would be lost mid-transmission. If you keep your emails short and filter out spam it should work OK, especially with today's better equipment. If you're going to write home now and then drop me a line and I'll arrange to have your travelogue posted here! phil@sailboatowners.com
Acoustic Coupler for Pay Phones
Hi, I work in the computer industry and often face the same problem while cruising. I find that even in marinas, connecting to pay phones can be difficult. Rather than try to get to phone connections at the back of the pay phone, I have recently purchased an acoustic coupler. In case you aren't familiar with them, and acoustic coupler looks a little like a telephone handset with a velcro strap and a wire with a telephone connector. You use the velcro strap to attach it to the handset on the pay phone, then plug the other end into your modem. I have had good luck with mine so far. Found it on sale for about $50 at a local Samsonite outlet store, but the brand is Road Warrior (see link below). Gary
Hi, I work in the computer industry and often face the same problem while cruising. I find that even in marinas, connecting to pay phones can be difficult. Rather than try to get to phone connections at the back of the pay phone, I have recently purchased an acoustic coupler. In case you aren't familiar with them, and acoustic coupler looks a little like a telephone handset with a velcro strap and a wire with a telephone connector. You use the velcro strap to attach it to the handset on the pay phone, then plug the other end into your modem. I have had good luck with mine so far. Found it on sale for about $50 at a local Samsonite outlet store, but the brand is Road Warrior (see link below). Gary
Sprint PCS
Gary, I've used my very-small handheld Sprint PCS phone for over a year and a half (Dual Band Sanyo SCP-4000) from my boat. Range offshore is limited to 3-5 miles. I can either read or send e-mail directly from the phone itself, or using a "data kit" supplied by Sprint, I can attach the phone to my laptop's serial port, and then connect to Sprint's server, from where I can establish a TCP/IP connection to AOL or just go right to the Internet using Sprint as my ISP. Speed isn't too bad for a wireless connection -- 14.4 KPBS. There is no modem involved, since the signal is all digital. As Phil pointed out, for greater range you need a built-in phone, not a handheld, because they have more powerful transmitters. I would recommend you use a digital service -- there are kits available for analog cell phones, but speed is slower than digital. If traveling beyond the range of cellular service, satellites or SSB/ham radio are your only alternative. Globalstar is back in business with a satellite phone that can be used for e-mail (www.globalstar.com). Magellan also makes an e-mail-only sat phone, the GSC 100 (www.magellangps.com). Good luck. Eric Lorgus s/v Impulse 83H54
Gary, I've used my very-small handheld Sprint PCS phone for over a year and a half (Dual Band Sanyo SCP-4000) from my boat. Range offshore is limited to 3-5 miles. I can either read or send e-mail directly from the phone itself, or using a "data kit" supplied by Sprint, I can attach the phone to my laptop's serial port, and then connect to Sprint's server, from where I can establish a TCP/IP connection to AOL or just go right to the Internet using Sprint as my ISP. Speed isn't too bad for a wireless connection -- 14.4 KPBS. There is no modem involved, since the signal is all digital. As Phil pointed out, for greater range you need a built-in phone, not a handheld, because they have more powerful transmitters. I would recommend you use a digital service -- there are kits available for analog cell phones, but speed is slower than digital. If traveling beyond the range of cellular service, satellites or SSB/ham radio are your only alternative. Globalstar is back in business with a satellite phone that can be used for e-mail (www.globalstar.com). Magellan also makes an e-mail-only sat phone, the GSC 100 (www.magellangps.com). Good luck. Eric Lorgus s/v Impulse 83H54
off shore email
www.webley.com works well. You need cell coverage. you can call in and hear you email. I use it when traveling and download the attachments later. You keep your messages on the server or you can delete the garbage so you don't have to download later. Jason
www.webley.com works well. You need cell coverage. you can call in and hear you email. I use it when traveling and download the attachments later. You keep your messages on the server or you can delete the garbage so you don't have to download later. Jason
BTW, is anyone able to use AOL wireless ISP??
I have a NEXTEL that I used for several years to connect to my prior company's intranet. However, AOL drops quickly. It is supposed to be 19000 but AOL says it is too slow for them. Any suggestions on ISP's that work with a (slow) wireless modem?? Rick D.
I have a NEXTEL that I used for several years to connect to my prior company's intranet. However, AOL drops quickly. It is supposed to be 19000 but AOL says it is too slow for them. Any suggestions on ISP's that work with a (slow) wireless modem?? Rick D.
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