Portable Satellite Internet

[unwiredadventures]

Around a year and a half ago I went on a trip to Death Valley and decided to rent a portable satellite Internet device to use to get some work done at the end of each day. Normally I'd need about an hour to get the most important things done. Owning a small business it's impossible to go away anytime M-F without checking on what is happening with work. It would be nice to be able to take a real vacation, leave town, turn off cell phones, but at this time it's impossible for me. I've not had a vacation like this for more than six years.

If I plan ahead I can get most of the critical items done in less than an hour or so each day. A portable satellite Internet device allows me to extend my time away from "civilization" where otherwise I would be restricted to week-end only travel.

The equipment and megabyte usage is not cheap. I really had to cost justify the expense (to myself). In the end, this has allowed a freedom to roam that I thought would never be possible. I calculated that it would be less expensive to purchase vs. rent the equipment if I used it at least three times per year.

Before setting out on an adventure I need to prepare my laptop to use as few megabytes as possible. Remember, bandwidth is expensive for this type of service. In Windows, I disable all updates. Ant-Virus updates, Windows updates, software updates, and all other updates must be disabled before the trip to keep Internet usage to a minimum. I also disable web browser (Firefox, IE, etc.) graphics to reduce traffic on the satellite. In Windows Outlook, I disable all mail accounts except for business. I also disable attachments.

When using the system on a trip, I keep usage to business only. Since other web "surfing" wastes precious bandwidth usage and keeps me away from my main goal of enjoying my trip.

The service uses Inmarsat BGAN satellites. They have three geosynchronous satellites that provide nearly global coverage.

The system is quite easy to use. Some software needs to be installed on the laptop to aid in connection to the satellite and to track megabyte usage. This software also includes SMS text messaging capability. Between the satellite unit is an Ethernet cable. If you are in the market for one of these. I recommend only those units with Ethernet connections.

Here in Southern California, you use these approximate instructions to aim: 45 degrees elevation and 149 degrees South / South East.

Here is the unit connected to the satellite:


Here are a couple photos of the whole system in use (Bow Willow campground, Anza Borrrego):



You can see from the photos that it also includes telephone service. You can make or receive phone calls while simultaneously using internet from a computer.

Last October while on a week long trip on the Arizona Strip, north of the Grand Canyon, I used this system from inside my tent each night.

 

[EMrider]

Cool setup. I'm in pretty much the same situation. Like to get away from it all, but being totally out of touch with work for days on end can result in very costly errors and other headaches.

I bought an Iridium sat phone about 2 years ago. Much, much easier to just check in once per day and avoid snafus. The phone is always on so I can receive calls if necessary too. I also value having the sat phone around for emergencies and have used it twice to call in medical help for injured riders/travelers I've encountered on the trail. Expensive, but well worth the peace of mind.

The service quality is excellent. Having email capability would be very handy for work and that is available with the Iridium service. So far I've made due with just voice, but I'm going to give email a look ahead of my next trip. If it proves to be big pain, I'll check into your setup.

 

[Pskhaat]

Years ago before prolific higher-bandwidth connections, I would have to make regular email checks when in the field where bandwidth was horribly expensive. The best for us was GPRS or CSD (can't remember now) and I swear this was over TDMA? which was like barely 6-8kps, long story short: I ended up using telnet and the old email program Pine in low-bandwidth mode to keep price down. HTH,

 

[unwiredadventures]

I bought an Iridium sat phone about 2 years ago. Much, much easier to just check in once per day and avoid snafus. The phone is always on so I can receive calls if necessary too. I also value having the sat phone around for emergencies and have used it twice to call in medical help for injured riders/travelers I've encountered on the trail. Expensive, but well worth the peace of mind.

The Iridium you can have on all the time. A great feature. The Inmarsat must be aimed. Yes, phones can be great for calling in emergencies.

Years ago before prolific higher-bandwidth connections, I would have to make regular email checks when in the field where bandwidth was horribly expensive. The best for us was GPRS or CSD (can't remember now) and I swear this was over TDMA? which was like barely 6-8kps, long story short: I ended up using telnet and the old email program Pine in low-bandwidth mode to keep price down. HTH,

Yes, before GPRS was CDPD. Very very slow. I used that years ago. I also used Pine with various flavors of UNIX.

The Inmarsat BGAN is faster than dialup at ISDN speeds.

 

[adventureduo]

What does a setup like that cost? Is that the Sabre 1? Looks like about $2,000? + service? Thanks for posting.

 

[unwiredadventures]

What does a setup like that cost? Is that the Sabre 1? Looks like about $2,000? + service? Thanks for posting.

Sabre 1 is under $1,400 at http://www.xsatusa.com

Service comes out to about $6 per megabyte. There are several plans depending on usage. With the mentioned bandwidth saving info above, I find that I use between 5-7 megabytes per day to get my work done. Around half of that is email and the other doing miscellaneous work on my company intranet website.

Yesterday I returned home from a 4 day trip in the Mojave Desert. Without the Inmarsat service it would not have been possible to for me to go on the trip. I was able to use the system from inside my tent. It even worked inside my tent when it was raining and snowing.

 

[CanuckMariner/Nomad]

unwiredadventures: Since you said you use it primarily to stay in touch with your business/work, you should be able to write it off as a business expense on your IRS filing, at least the hardware/software or depreciate it and then keep track of your calls/internet usage for personal use versus business.

 

[unwiredadventures]

unwiredadventures: Since you said you use it primarily to stay in touch with your business/work, you should be able to write it off as a business expense on your IRS filing, at least the hardware/software or depreciate it and then keep track of your calls/internet usage for personal use versus business.

Exactly!

 

[Spur]

What made you choose the Sabre 1? I've done some cursory research into Bgan and I can't find any reviews comparing the different terminals.

I too could write this off as a business expense and it's looking more and more appealing.

 

[Corey]

I wish I had not seen this thread
Now I will want one when I am out camping, I can update my website and post pics to forums of the trip in progress

Actually with the high cost, my better side of my brain would win by telling me not to buy it.

Very cool idea though for those who need it.

 

[Wiley]

Bumping this old but very informative thread. Now that I am in the search for a job I have been thinking and am curious as to how I could monitor or estimate my expected daily usage to see if working remotely is even a possibility for me (im talking 8 hr days). What do I watch while at work to know if I can take this remotely, if I were lucky enough to find a job which let me? I have managed to find short term contracts working remotely in the past and connecting to work on a server, and think if I know what to expect for usage to give me an idea on what it would cost me I could persuade the right place to let me make it a long term thing. I realize the cost is expensive, but if I work completely through a cytrix server or similar and only pay for that connection its possible that the paycheck will outweigh the high cost of satellite vs no paycheck at all. Searching google just gives me technical info on servers, not this question. I figure if its doable I could rent a device for a month or so to test before heading off anywhere adventurous. Thanks

 

[dwh]

http://www.google.com/search?client...rceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&channel=suggest

 

[Wiley]

Gracias, told you I was a noob.

 

[Matt_OCENS]

Gracias, told you I was a noob.

Wiley, hopefully you found that bandwidth monitor to be helpful, that is usually what I recommend to anyone analyzing if BGAN is the right solution. Also, on any of the terminals, there are usage meters built in that help monitor usage.

There are a couple of new developments from Inmarsat since this thread was originally posted. First, prepaid airtime plans were made available for use in the U.S. starting this year, whereas previously, it was only available outside of the U.S. What is important about this for the seasonal user, is that with prepaid, you no longer have to pay a monthly subscription fee to keep your terminal active, and you are strictly spending on the airtime that you actually use.

Second, the Hughes 9202 terminal was released, which is a slightly more compact terminal than the Sabre 1, provides more throughput at 464k (compared to 384k on the Sabre 1), and features built in WiFi. The Sabre 1 is still a more cost-effective terminal.

I am pleased to see that the OP was familiar with how to prevent unwanted, run-on data costs. This is very important to be aware of and something that most users are not initially familiar with. There are also more "plug and play" add on tools that automatically block unwanted traffic, but following the steps unwiredadventures laid out will do the trick.

 

[Wiley]

Thanks for the update Matt, I find the info in this thread great. I start working at a company next week where I will be 100% remote as they are located on the east coast, and I am not. I figure I will work normally from home on high speed internet for a few months as its a new position, but down the road will have a better idea of usage, and will decide if its worth it to rent a unit to test the speed connection and make sure it is sufficient for what I am doing. I will keep an eye on this thread for updates along the way.

Everyones usage will be different, but I will post up my findings so we can get something from both ends of the spectrum, the minimalist side like unwiredadventures, vs full time work. My hunch is it wont pan out, but at least its an option for now.