I’m currently in an online master’s degree program, and planning on taking a vacation from work in April. We’re thinking of a cruise to the western coast of Mexico, and the catch is that April is as early as I can hope to get away, but the cruise lines don’t go there any later in the spring. At the same time, April is a big month school-wise. I’d thought I would only need to keep up with reading and lecture notes, but instead it turns out that major projects are due that month.
I’d still be willing to take the cruise, knowing that I would have to spend a few hours a day studying and working on school projects, but does the technology exist for me to do it? I wasn’t worried when I only thought I’d have to do general studying. It would be no problem to download the week’s course materials and bring along my laptop, but if I have to work on one or more projects, I’ll probably need internet capability. Cruise ships now usually offer internet cafes, but they usually perform at dial-up rates and are expensive besides. If a satellite-based system existed, I could presumably use it anywhere on earth, or at least in the hemisphere.
Yes they exist, but the chances of you successfully obtaining one, setting it up on a regular basis on a cruise ship, or even getting it on the cruise ship are pretty much zero.
Your best and probably only bet is to use the on board Internet. Yes it may be slow, but what do you need to do? Download some text files, upload some text files? I’m sure you’ll be fine.
Direct TV satellite internet will not work on a cruise ship. Direct TV antennas need to be setup on a stable platform and aimed at the satellite. On a ship each course change will mean re setting this up. The ship it self without course changes may not be stable enough.
Exactly. The consumer satellite internet technology is not mobile. It’s also not small. Even if the ship stayed perfectly still, you’d be packing a two to four-foot diameter dish, its mount, and a microwave transceiver the size of a loaf of bread.
So far so good, not that there’ve been any major events or tests yet. Send me an email if you still want to be on our team. Looks like 6 ipeople is OK after all, when originally one of the profs said we could only have 5.
Iridium offers satellite data services. These contact low earth orbit satellites so there should not be issues of aiming antennas. Broad band it ain’t at 2.4Kbps.
Globalstar another satellite phone service has higher data rates. They have 9.6Kbps. You can get a multi channel modem at get to around 56Kbps. Still not broadband.
There may well be companies that cater to military uses and various gung-ho adventurous types, but I’m just thinking of Direcway service, which is intended for home use out in the boonies beyond the reach of cable TV or DSL.
Actually, the military stuff is probably a lot more portable than the Direcway gear, but it’s still meant to be used when it’s stationary.