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How do you 'stay connected' in this ever growing technological age.
Not all liveaboard boats have a mooring with a phone line connected which would allow phone calls and internet access from your boat. If you have not got a phone line there are alternatives and these are what we will discuss in this months newsletter.
 Phones
OK, this is an obvious one and I'm sure you have guessed the alternative to a fixed line telephone.
That's right, the Mobile Phone.
Now, you may think this is the only alternative but its not, you could use a VOIP (voice over IP) phone across an internet connection and some other technologies but we will cover that later.
Mobile phones are common place and the vast majority of us own one. They are a great way to keep in touch if you are away from a fixed line telephone which of course we liveaboards are.
Prices for making calls has dropped over the years and pricing is very flexible with many plans available to suit your needs.
As a liveaboard you may be based at a permanent mooring so your mobile phone will be used in one location often as well as when you are away. If the reception is not very good aboard your boat you could buy an external antenna to improve your phones reception. Make sure the phone you have or are going to buy can connect to an external antenna if using this option. This is a very useful piece of equipment if the reception is not very strong where you are moored.
A standard mobile phone will allow you to make voice calls and send text messages (SMS) and almost all now have a camera and a contacts list or address book. Most now come with much more such as colour screens, FM radios, GPS or MP3 players.
If you are a liveaboard sailor you may find a mobile phone less useful as when at sea you will not find many mobile phone masts so you will not get a reception. There are alternatives for this situation.
 SSB Radio
If at sea their are ways to still keep in touch. SSB (single side band) is a long range radio technology where you can talk to other users of SSB. The range of SSB is up to several thousand miles and calls between yachts are free. There are stations around which will let you make link calls (telephone calls) and even email and some basic Internet service is available over SSB radio. Call quality is not great but if you need to contact someone with an important message it is acceptable. To send email you will need a radio modem and a computer running Microsoft Windows 95 or higher. Once you have your SSB radio to the correct frequency and connected up to your modem, sending SSB email is as easy as sending normal email. Most SSB email systems work on an annual subscription. For details visit Sail Com Marine
Satellite phones
 Satellite phones can be used on land and at sea as satellite coverage is world wide. Call quality is better than SSB but not as good as mobile phones.
Call costs are again expensive compared to mobile phones and handsets are expensive also. Costs have come down over the years and monthly contracts can start as low as $35 (£17) per month with standard call rates of $1.30 (£0.60) per minute. Not bad for the ability to communicate globally and very useful for traveling liveaboards.
A Satellite phone could be a good option if you are a traveling liveaboard that is often at sea and visiting many different countries.
For the latest products and more information visit Satphone
That's about all the options for phones that may suit different types of liveaboard boaters.
Select the type that will suit you and your lifestyle the best.
Internet Access
Many of us rely on the internet for many things, whether it is a simple search of information or running an online business many liveaboard boaters just cannot do without internet access. Next we are going to look at ways of getting access to the internet as a liveaboard boater.
The main method in the UK for getting connected to the internet is through a fixed line telephone. If you have a fixed line at your mooring and the telephone exchange is close enough then you can have high speed broadband right onboard your boat.
But what are the alternatives to a fixed line to get your fast internet connection?
Internet access on you mobile phone.
All mobile network providers now offer a data service of some sort. 3G, GPRS, EDGE, UTMS are all data technologies that companies offer.
The connection speed of most these networks are not as fast as fixed line broadband but they are getting much faster. Viewing on a small screen such as a mobile phone or smartphone proves useful. These services can cope with viewing websites, sending and receiving email and even streaming video clips.
Pricing is usually calculated by the amount of data you download per MB (megabyte) but some networks such as T-Mobile are now offering unlimited data for a fixed daily or monthly price. This is good news for liveaboards that will use the service more as they have no fixed line alternative. It’s worth mentioning that even these unlimited packages do have fair use policies.
Sometimes surfing the internet on a small handheld device is not practical. If you need internet access on a laptop you can now get a data card or USB device from many mobile networks that plug into your laptop and provide internet access.
This means you can use the larger screen on a laptop and your favorite programs that run on the full operation system instead of a small screen handheld device that runs a smaller operating system designed for handheld mobile devices.
Data cards for laptops can be a very good alternative to fixed line broadband for a liveaboard. Prices are coming down and at the time of writing Vodafone and T-Mobile are charging from £30.00 and £29.00 per month respectively for unlimited data usage.
 With mobile companies such as t-mobile and Vodafone launching high speed data connections that are now comparable to low end broadband people are now canceling their fixed line phones in favor of a more mobile and flexible option.
As an example we will look at a service provided by t-mobile that could solve your problem of not having a fixed line to provide telephone and internet services.
Web'n'walk wireless laptop connections give you unlimited internet access on your laptop. So now, wherever your laptop goes, the internet can go too.
Wireless laptop connections can be a real alternative to fixed-line internet at home if you have good network coverage. They're ideal if you're an everyday internet user who:
- Moves house from time to time - don't wait for broadband set-up
- Travels regularly - arrive at your hotel and clear your emails
- Doesn't like being deskbound - surf the web in your local coffee shop
- Wants the freedom to access the internet on the move
Choosing a connection device
Choose one of these connection devices:
- USB modem - fits in any USB slot and is compatible with both Mac and Windows
- Data card - isn't compatible with Mac or Windows Vista, and it won't work in ExpressCard slots
Web’n’walk Plus is £29.00 per month (Fair Use Policy is 3GB usage per month and does NOT allow VOIP)
Web’n’walk Max is £44.00 per month (Fair Use Policy is 10GB usage per month and DOES allow VOIP)
Figures correct at time of writing.
Marina supplied internet access.
Some marinas are now providing mooring holders with wireless internet access for a fixed monthly fee or on a hourly rate.
The marina will have a high speed broadband service using there fixed line telephone and then set up a wireless network to unable mooring holders to connect.
Ask about prices and see if you can get a discount if you are a liveaboard on the marina. This is one way to get a high speed connection but one down side is that if you move or use your boat regularly as soon as you are out of range of the wireless network you will lose your connection unlike a mobile network service.
Public wireless access points.
If you only need occasional access to the internet and email you can use the ever growing number of wireless access points that you find in coffee shops, airports, stations, hotels and even some pubs.
Some of these are free and some are paid for on an hourly basis.
You will need a wireless enabled laptop or handheld device to connect to these services.
Internet Cafes
Again, if you need only limited access you could use a local internet café and use there computers. This would save you buying hardware yourself. Pricing is normally by the hour.
 Satellite Broadband
Satellite broadband has been around for some time now and although it was very expensive prices have dropped although its still not the cheapest.
It’s basically a high speed broadband service delivered by satellite instead of through a fixed line telephone.
You will need to buy the satellite equipment and this is expensive although it is a one off cost. After this purchase you will pay a monthly subscription to a ISP (internet service provider) to provide the service.
One advantage of satellite broadband for the liveaboard is that it can move with you wherever you go. No connecting and disconnecting of fixed lines every time you move. Also if your mooring provider can not give you a fixed line you can still use a satellite service.
One of the down sides is that satellite dishes need to point to the satellite and be in a stable location.
Obviously a boat floating in the water is a far cry from a 'stable location' so service could prove unreliable if the wind starts blowing and your boat is moving around.
You could fix your satellite dish to the bank side or stable place close to your boat but you would need to check if this is ok with the mooring owner or marina.
Satellite dishes can be quite large and difficult to store.
There is a more compact version of satellite broadband. Take a look at the Mobile Satellite System from Tariam. This would be easy to store and highly portable but movement of your boat could still cause problems.
If you are thinking about satellite broadband as an option check with the equipment manufactures about the effects of using a system onboard a boat.
It’s worth noting that with a high speed satellite broadband connection you could use an internet telephone service such as Skype to make and receive phone calls.
Mobile phone data networks are not as fast so VOIP internet telephone services do not work as well and most networks do not allow this use.
Having said that, the mobile network '3' have brought out a mobile phone that has Skype calling integrated to call over there 3G network and t-mobile and Vodafone allow VOIP calls on some but not all of there data card/USB device tariffs.
Finally, there is a high speed broadband service that is still in development called WiMax that can provide a wireless broadband service at high speed without the need for a fixed line telephone.
This new wireless technology is reported to have a range of 30 miles or more from the antenna. I would think companies would place antennas on existing mobile phone masts to provide wide coverage across the country.
This service would be a real benefit to liveaboard boaters as it would give you freedom from a fixed line telephone.
This technology is still in development but its worth keeping an eye on how things develop.
So, as you can see there are alternatives to enable liveaboards to get a good communications set up for both phone services and internet access.
Not everyone will have the same needs so think about what you need from communications aboard your boat.
You may only need limited access to the internet and to be contactable by phone so using a internet café and having a basic mobile phone could suit your needs.
On the other side of the coin, you may run a online business and require a good internet service such as satellite broadband and say a smartphone to pick up email when away from the boat.
The choice is yours, do some research and find out the costs involved before making your final decision.
When you have got internet access sorted out don't forget to bookmark the Living On Boats website so you can keep up to date with new posts.
Do you use any different ways to keep connected? If so please add a comment and share these with other like minded people.
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