dongle's

[oslin04]

Hi all, perhaps you can help, I have just bought a lap top and I would like to use it on the boat, but I am told by O2 and 3 the dongle will not work at sea, in fact they also tell me they will not work out of populated areas, I know some of you use lap tops on board can you tell me what you are using to connect to the internet please
Regards Keith

[sakean99]

Check out your network's coverage - it varies a lot. Ideally, you want good 3G coverage, but 2G will do for basics like e-mail or fora. I connect my 3G Nokia (USB cable) to a netbook for use on the boat. It only works in certain anchorages, but I can take it ashore to pubs/ clubhouses etc if I need access.

Get yourself a 12v power supply from e-bay so you can recharge or use in the car/ boat. I also have Tsunamis charts & a GPS mouse so I can use it as a plotter at sea. GoogleEarth can also be useful for checking harbour approaches.

[rhumlady]

I can't be sure but would be surprised if you don't get good coverage with 02. 3 may well be poor as are T-Mobile/orange or whatever they call themselves this year. Vodafone is also quite good for coverage. Virgin uses one of the other networks, T-Mobile I think.

[Gemini]

I use a Sony Ericsson with Vodafone unlimited data contract, bluetoothed to the laptop (which is also part of the Nav setup, with Euronav Seapro running). It works fairly well. You can get coverage out at sea, but this is not local and incurs separate charges.

[captainbob]

We work on the internet from a Westerly Tempest in which we're also circumnavigating the UK. We've gone anti-clockwise, very slowly, from Plymouth to Hartlepool so far.

To date the only place we've been unable to work was Buckler's Hard, up the Beaulieu.

At sea between Exeter and Lyme-Regis I had a text come in from a client, saying that their website had an urgent problem. I think we were a good 2 to 3 miles offshore at the time. I had no difficulty getting online at all - and got them sorted out.

We have a Three and a Vodafone dongle and also a couple of mobile phones which have 500Mb a month on them and through which we can also get laptops online.

Vodafone has had slightly poorer coverage than Three, but mostly they both work really well.

Check out Three's coverage map on their website here:

http://www.three.co.uk/Mobile_Broadband/Coverage_speed

[Hot Ayre]

O2 is very good up here, even at sea. Vodaphone's pretty good, too. Orange is hopeless, even on land! It seems even Hebridean marinas/pontoons are now offering free wifi all over the place.