Internet on the Mountain
- Thread starter Samorkand
- Start date
DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
So you want non-cell served Internet?
Satellite.
http://www.groundcontrol.com
https://www.viasat.com/broadband-networks/mobile-high-speed-internet-service
http://www.globalcomsatphone.com/hughesnet/portable.html
Satellite.
http://www.groundcontrol.com
https://www.viasat.com/broadband-networks/mobile-high-speed-internet-service
http://www.globalcomsatphone.com/hughesnet/portable.html
Honestly I just want some sort of connection. Evenings on the mountain during hunting season are kinda boring. Especially when its snowing and cold. In the past we go to the Lodge and hook up to their WiFi to check messages and what not but it isn't always working very well.
DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
If there's WiFi even remotely close I would build a Yagi and mooch.
http://www.ab9il.net/wlan-projects/wifi6.html
http://www.ab9il.net/wlan-projects/wifi6.html
Services that use ViaSat-1 are full two-way satellite. My mother lives in rural Quebec, just North of Vermont, where that is her only option and it works extremely well.
The problem is that the marketing and pricing for their mobile solutions is targeted at enterprise users. But it's just an auto-tracking dish…
CaliMobber
Adventurer
any sat internet remotely affordable needs someone to setup with a computer and special tools, anything you can setup in the field runs like $7 a megabit.
I have seen an auto-tracking dish being used with ViaSat-1, which my mother pays around $65/mth for 3 Mbit service with a 30G cap. I just can't figure out how you actually buy that service.
One of the issues is that, if you actually move any real distance, I think you need to switch spot beams and that is likely why they can charge you more.
A.
DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
ViaSat-1 is a Ka-band bird that operates on the uplink around 29 GHz and the older system was Ku-band around 14 GHz. The SurfBeam-2 outdoor unit transmitters themselves are about 4 watts (36 dBm of gain) but the antennas have a lot of gain, as you would expect even a physically small dish for high SHF. Probably on the order of 40 dBi and maybe higher on Ka. I figure the level of the IF coming out of the modem would be around -30 dBm, so they're transmitting as much as probably around +48 dBm on the uplink. That's approximately the same as around 60 W at unity gain (e.g. a 1/4 wavelength whip) to give you a ham comparison.
Matt_OCENS
Observer
BGAN, which is an Inmarsat mobile satellite broadband platform, runs about $7-8/MB for prepaid plans, and the prepaid plans require no other maintenance or subscription fees. The terminals are battery powered and lightweight (2-3 lbs), and have built in WiFi. Pricing for the terminals start at about $1400. You can obtain coverage with BGAN globally between 60N and 60S latitudes.
Hi,
Reading what I think your reason is - that you could use a connection to the outside world - maybe it could be ham radio. I say that, thinking you might just like some sort of connection w/ other people in general, not specific people. For not a whole lot, you could take a little HF radio and an antenna, solar power or battery, and talk w/ random people around the world. Or, maybe, depending on where you're at, you could talk to people w/ 2 meter radios and a repeater someplace halfway nearby.
I'm not trying to push ham as a substitute for Internet at all, or suggest it for someone that doesn't have any interest. Just that if you're looking for some kind of connection to feel less isolated, ham could do it. And this is coming from a guy that, in my 20's and 30's I would love to be away and not talk to anyone...that's why I like being nowhere. But now I can see the other side in my old age, that having someone to ******** chat with would be nice.
Tom
Reading what I think your reason is - that you could use a connection to the outside world - maybe it could be ham radio. I say that, thinking you might just like some sort of connection w/ other people in general, not specific people. For not a whole lot, you could take a little HF radio and an antenna, solar power or battery, and talk w/ random people around the world. Or, maybe, depending on where you're at, you could talk to people w/ 2 meter radios and a repeater someplace halfway nearby.
I'm not trying to push ham as a substitute for Internet at all, or suggest it for someone that doesn't have any interest. Just that if you're looking for some kind of connection to feel less isolated, ham could do it. And this is coming from a guy that, in my 20's and 30's I would love to be away and not talk to anyone...that's why I like being nowhere. But now I can see the other side in my old age, that having someone to ******** chat with would be nice.
Tom