Stevo Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Is anyone using BGAN for email or calls where there is no internet? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadband_Global_Area_Network Someone on eBay is selling cheap pre-pay packages now for the bandwidth so no need to pay steep monthly fees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Sounds like the equipment is fairly pricey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 Yes it is but I'm looking into buying a used one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 I have a friend that lives in the middle of no where Maine it's either dial up or Sat it's a lot less then fast but their biggest complaint is snow and rain at that point dialup at least works. Away I guess I don't care when I'm camping, at home I really need the bandwidth. Usually I just go and find a hot spot check my mail have a cup of coffee and leave. I do use Skype a lot wonder how that would work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted December 11, 2012 Author Share Posted December 11, 2012 Skype works great but you still need to get online for it. I'm considering BGAN so I can still do emails and VOIP calls while traveling and boondocking in Mexico. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Check your providers phone and data plan costs if in Mexico or Canada - On our Alaska trip, we turned off the cell phones while in Canada because of the extremely high roaming charge and data plan rates. We used wifi hot spots to do e-mail, and had phone available, but only in an absolute emergency. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted December 11, 2012 Author Share Posted December 11, 2012 My concern with coverage is when I'm boondocking out in the toolies surfing for a while. Does anyone know if you can buy a pre-pay plan and a sim card that will work throughout Mexico - kind of like the deals StraightTalk has at Walmarts in the US? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stamar Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 im working as a satellite technician so bgan is interesting to me. but no i have no connection. both via sat and hughes sell bgan dishes believe it or not just not to the public. they might very well be reselling these things which are actually in violation of fcc laws in the us. they sell them commercially to businesses like a news truck or to the marines. bgan is the perfect internet for an rv . I think the user base for it is so small that you need to find a bgan forum. I doubt any of the people here own one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stamar Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 I have a friend that lives in the middle of no where Maine it's either dial up or Sat it's a lot less then fast but their biggest complaint is snow and rain at that point dialup at least works. Away I guess I don't care when I'm camping, at home I really need the bandwidth. Usually I just go and find a hot spot check my mail have a cup of coffee and leave. I do use Skype a lot wonder how that would work? i used to install exede which is very fast home internet however even exede has slow downs with voip there are pretty common service calls about it because no matter how fast it gets it has a high latency which makes your voip veru choppy. think about watching people converse on the news via sattelite, it even says below sometimes. there is a delay because sending the signal takes so long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 I've been too busy lately to continue researching this but I will. I don't see a bgan forum either so I'm thinking the best info will be on a cruiser forum like this one: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/search.php?searchid=5617042 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stamar Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 ya its just sadly out of the price range to consider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stamar Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 ya its sort of inherently unreliable in a way too as the satellite will be constantly moving and re aiming. dependant on where you are located of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted October 3, 2013 Author Share Posted October 3, 2013 But you said in Post #8 that bgan is perfect for an RV. What gives? The satellite is in geo-synchronous orbit, right? So why would I have to concern myself with it moving? Lastly, I've seen some good deals on used BGAN setups on eBay. They are small and fold open and closed like a laptop computer. In fact, from a distance when closed it looks like a laptop computer. ya its sort of inherently unreliable in a way too as the satellite will be constantly moving and re aiming. dependant on where you are located of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 Flip flops. Some wear them, some post them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stamar Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 its not like a direct tv satellite actually thats how they cover the whole world. their satelites are moving during the time of your internet session the satellite will literally leave your hemisphere and your bgan will have to find the one coming up the other side. it would be perfect and it would be inherently unreliable. both. it would be perfect for central america or wherever, it would have an almost worldwide connection as opposed to cellular. only line of sight can block it meaning... a tall tree or building. I can see this sort of thing getting cheaper and wider used. but maybe not in the next 10 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted October 4, 2013 Author Share Posted October 4, 2013 How can anything that is "inherently unreliable" be "perfect" at the same time? Are you saying that BGAN requires you to have to constantly move your antenna the entire time you're using it because the satellite they use is NOT in geosynchronous orbit with the earth? Why would anyone create a system like that? Its not very expensive if you buy used and buy pre-paid cards for time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stamar Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Ha wow dude im not going to bother trying to communicate with you again good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 I would think re-aiming a dish when you park should be no worse than a sat TV system pretty straight forward. Anything in the Clark belt just kind of sits there. Motorola tried the Iridium system with low orbit sats you can still see the sats once in a while guess that did not work out too well for them. I have used a sat phone they work well it’s through Inmarsat a geostationary satellite at the time they were like 3 grand and $10 a minute but I’m sure they have come down a good bit they did not require aiming. I’m pretty sure bgan is also through Inmarsat so it just sits there 23,000 up miles and it should have no problem covering all of north and south America. Yep it is http://www.inmarsat.com/services/types/broadband Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Well, it sure doesn't sound like BGAN has to try to track moving satellites, but what do I know? http://www.groundcontrol.com/bgan_coverage_map.htm But at least I see what I've long suspected is true. The Earth really is flat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Tin foil?? But I've been using Saran Wrap all this time!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 And all this time I have been using a stainless dog food dish man am I behind the times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted October 7, 2013 Author Share Posted October 7, 2013 I'm just trying to figure this out which was the reason why I started this thread. :-) Ha wow dude im not going to bother trying to communicate with you again good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted October 7, 2013 Author Share Posted October 7, 2013 Thank you! Well, it sure doesn't sound like BGAN has to try to track moving satellites, but what do I know? http://www.groundcontrol.com/bgan_coverage_map.htm But at least I see what I've long suspected is true. The Earth really is flat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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