I am looking at getting an USB mobile modem for my MacBook for access
to t'internet whilst cruising the north west coast of Scotland. I know
that O2 signal is difficult in some areas and accept that inner
sealochs are likely to have no signal but my questions are:-
1) has anyone any experience of using these devices in that area?
2) is there any mobile supplier that has more cover than another?
3) are there any other issues to consider?
Not looking to sign up until March so plenty of time to do my homework.
Forget it...
The mountains make any mobile service very patchy and non-existent in
most places out of sight of larger towns. Most of the smaller islands
have no mobile coverage at all - I can verify Canna (still) has nothing
on O2, for example. You can look at the supplier's websites for coverage
maps and you'll see they tend to follow the main motorways rather than
seaways :-( Most of them are blank over the sea but Vodafone have a
good, if optimistic map on
http://maps.vodafone.co.uk/coverageviewer/web/default.aspx. Don't forget
that most mobile operators have their cell aerials turned towards the
land where most of their customers are up here...
I've done some ad-hoc signal surveys with a view to offering an IT
installation service for boats - so I could charge my cruising as a
business expense
but find it's a no-go outside the main centres of
population. I did once get a one-bar signal on O2 standing as high as
possible on the deck but it wasn't suitable for data - and this was in a
sea-loch off the Outer Hebrides.
If you do want to try something, mount your mobile modem dongle as high
as possible at the end of a long USB cable, but I don't think you'll be
successful - let me know if you find I'm wrong... There are better
soutions for mounting aerials high up, but the long USB cable is the
cheapest for experimenting.
I've tried installing masthead mobile aerials, both high-gain and
amplified, but these would be too expensive for most owners, given the
lack of coverage. Also, you won't get anything better than 9.6Kbps
except in the 3g areas in the Clyde or in some WiFi equipped marinas. In
the last few years, the only thing I've found working well off the West
coast is a satellite phone...
Posting in uk.rec.sailing would probably get more responses.
