Sea trials are over time to haul out and move on.

[Panta Rei]

We went Kayaking in the Apostle Islands on the south shore of Superior. We enjoyed it so much we decided to get Panta Rhei up there for a season or two. The problem is that it is at least a 100 hr sail from Sheboygan to Ashland. We can't be away out of the office that long without perfecting our communication systems.
We are hauling Panta Rhei today up to Ashland just south of the Islands and 60 miles from our cottage. We will keep it on the hard until spring when we will set up a satellite office and work a few weeks up at the cabin and test a few days on the boat. A lot of tech issues as we will be a long way away from cable service.
Once we get these communication issues solved we will be heading east towards Joe (25 years)
I suggestions are most welcome. We are a bit too big for Quickbooks on line so we need to set-up remote access to computers in the office.

 

[Stu Jackson]

www.panbo.com has a lot of "remote" solutions for Internet access.

Good luck. You could most likely get connectivity and sail her up if you so choose. Would be a lovely trip, more fun than a danged truck!

 

[Bill1565]

www.panbo.com has a lot of "remote" solutions for Internet access.

Good luck. You could most likely get connectivity and sail her up if you so choose. Would be a lovely trip, more fun than a danged truck!

If you have cell phone, you can have Internet. If not, you may be reduced to sat phone.

 

[25yearslater]

Great to know we will see you here on the lower lakes. Hope you don't mind the facebook post on our practice keeping up with a 39. He went right by our dock and we chatted before we headed out. It was the big O and 39 on the mainsail that clued me in to what I was looking at. Glad to hear all is progressing well my friend.

 

[cb32863]

If you have cell phone, you can have Internet. If not, you may be reduced to sat phone.

Not necessarily true.... cell service can be spotty, as is 4g & 3g... there is also having a connection and then having a connection you can use and be productive with. Not sure I would want to run a business and relying on "internet" via cell phone.

There is lots of information on here and elsewhere in regards to WiFi repeaters and the like. Check with your marina on their WiFi capabilities and you should be able to add some things to the boat to get good service while at the dock.

 

[Panta Rei]

Stu, Good idea about Panbo. I need to get a subscription. As for the sail, It's not up, It's around the UP of Michigan and I hear sailing the eastern end of Lake Superior is not a lot of fun in the fall. The trip sailing is nearly 700 miles. The truck drove 360. It's something I would do in a summer but I'm told by my first mate that my available days off are still in the hole from the boat refirb project.

As for remote access.
We use a very popular program called Quickbooks. It's very easy to use and very powerful if you use the full featured manufacturing version. They also have a cloud based version but it is intended more for an e-bay type business.

We have a server set-up in the office to run Quickbooks and my son is successfully using a remote access program (PC anywhere) to operate his desktop at our office from his laptop at home. The key is that both locations have cable internet.
The problem for sailors is Latency. Latency and Bandwidth are the critical factors in running applications on the net. Everyone knows Bandwidth, It effects how fast you can down load a files. Latency is the time it takes to get a system to respond after you hit a key. It's very important for video games. (and keeping up with my wife entering orders)
Cable has very little latency,nearly imperceptible. Cellular networks have greater Latency, satellite has very high latency.
So Susan can run her office computer from anywhere with a cell signal but entering an order with several pages of items would take a long time. Too long.
We need something that can work remotely and then sync with Quickbooks to place the order. It might be out there somewhere.


The picture is take of our new home. The building is Hotel Chequamegon http://www.hotelc.com/

The hotel overlooks the marina. The cool place for the Minneapolis boaters is in Bayfield across the bay. Twice the price for a slip. Susan grew up in Ashland so it's a great way for her to reconnect. Ashland marina feels like home.

 

[Jackdaw]

In the marina and near-shore, we use a WiFi hot-spot created by Verizon's LTE network and an iphone5. Verizon is BY FAR the best mobile network in the Bayfield/Ashland area. Faster and lower latency then the WiFi provided by the marina. ATT sucks up here. T-mobile? Don't ask.

Off shore, sadly there is not good solution for you. Iridium Satellite has internet service, but the bandwidth, latency, and cost were not design for interactive services like screen sharing, RAS, VPN, or in fact any service not designed for sat networks.

Chequamegon Bay is very pretty, but there is a good reason Minneapolis, Milwaukee and Chicago people keep there boats in Bayfield. Its called the Apostle Islands! You can get there from Ashland of course, but it takes the better part of the day to get to the southernmost parts. Not ideal when you are up for the weekend.

Enjoy the area. As you've already found, its an amazing place to sail.


PS - looking Verizon's home/boat 4G service. If the coverage map says coverage, it might be the way to go. The remote antenna mounts high, so even if you don't have coverage inside the house/boat, you might higher up.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/homefusion/hf/main.do

 

[Panta Rei]

In the marina and near-shore, we use a WiFi hot-spot created by Verizon's LTE network and an iphone5. Verizon is BY FAR the best mobile network in the Bayfield/Ashland area. Faster and lower latency then the WiFi provided by the marina. ATT sucks up here. T-mobile? Don't ask.

Off shore, sadly there is not good solution for you. Iridium Satellite has internet service, but the bandwidth, latency, and cost were not design for interactive services like screen sharing, RAS, VPN, or in fact any service not designed for sat networks.

Chequamegon Bay is very pretty, but there is a good reason Minneapolis, Milwaukee and Chicago people keep there boats in Bayfield. Its called the Apostle Islands! You can get there from Ashland of course, but it takes the better part of the day to get to the southernmost parts. Not ideal when you are up for the weekend.

Enjoy the area. As you've already found, its an amazing place to sail.


PS - looking Verizon's home/boat 4G service. If the coverage map says coverage, it might be the way to go. The remote antenna mounts high, so even if you don't have coverage inside the house/boat, you might higher up.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/homefusion/hf/main.do

Yes, this Verizon HomeFusion® Broadband would work and there is plenty of signal in and around the bay and Islands. Unfortunately they want a two year plan to start out.