Square Mile Internet, anyone using it?

[yachtbits]

Hi

is anyone using or know anyone that is using Square Mile Internet access in a marina?

is it any good?

do you know many people how have taken it on?

cheers

kev

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.yachtbits.co.uk>http://www.yachtbits.co.uk</A>
sales@yachtbits.co.uk
marine electrics & electronics

 

[robp]

I was put off by the £20 per month and fairly limited areas of use. I'm going the general Wi-fi route and researching "Hotspots" before going. (There are a lot now, <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.myhotspots.co.uk>Look at this</A>). I'll start with "pay as you go". I'd be interested to hear expert views though.

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[JerryHawkins]

I use SquareMile

... and I'm very happy with it. I can't get broadband at home (too rural) so my high speed internet access is on the boat (at Plymouth Yacht Haven). I paid for the full 12 months which works out cheaper than monthly. I get download speeds of between 50 and 60 KBps. Connection reliability is good but the WiFi card you use is very important. We have a Dell laptop and use a D-Link WiFi card. When we tried a 3Com WiFi card it was completely useless and kept dropping the connection.

Cheers, Jerry

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[MacMan]

Re: I use SquareMile

Jerry - thanks for your informative post. I was intending to go on an extended cruise south coast (ish) this summer but keep up to date with some clients whilst on the move. ( I run my own small business)

I had though that SquareMile was a dream come true for me BUT you connection speeds don't sound very impressive. I am used to my own 0.5 Meg Pipe on my Home Wireless Broadband and normally my connection speed is better than most of my clients corporate networks. I regularly get over 450KBps download.

The speeds you quote would indicate to me there must be a lot of contention on the pipes provided. The Square Mile website states

"In many cases we will provide a 2Mb connection to the site. This will mean that in most cases the user will experience connection speeds up to 512kbps, that’s nearly 10x the speed of dial up. Connection speed will depend on the number of users at each site and the number of concurrent users at any one time as with any network environment."

Assuming your figures are indicative then if this takes off (it is bound too) unless they expand quickly then I think they will have a lot of frustrated users if they don't expand their capacity pretty quick.

I was also under impressed when I emailed the admin listed on their website to clarify as to whether you need a card or a USB device to get an effective connection in a marina. (Their website contradicts itself) That was five days ago - so far no reply.

It is good to hear that you connected OK with a card though.

This has to be the future...

Just have to get my clients used to "Working from the Yacht" rather than "Working from home" !

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[bedouin]

Re: I use SquareMile

I think you might be confusing bits and bytes here.

A "0.5 Meg pipe" is a 500 kbs (kilo bits per second) connection - running that flat out you would expect to achieve between 50-60kBs (kilobytes).

WiFi itself typically runs at up to 11Mbs, but that only gets you from your device to the copper network. You are also limited by the bandwidth of the internet connection to the Wireless Access Point (which is typically much less than 11Mbps).

I would expect the performance you can get to depend a lot on circumstances. WiFi is a fairly low power system and you may find that in some marinas the outer berths suffer from poor reception. Also it is a shared-bandwidth system so if there are a number of users in the marina then you will get reduced performance.

As far as the set up goes cards and USB connected devices should be identical, with the exception that in areas of poor reception the ease with which a USB device can be moved to optimise the signal is a great benefit.

£20 per month seems like a good deal if you make use of it - my broadband connection to my home costs me more than that.

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[JerryHawkins]

Re: I use SquareMile

...as Bedouin says, my 50 KBps is KBytes/sec. My SquareMile link is a full 512K ADSL link which is 512Kbits/sec. So you'll get the same speed as your home-based ADSL link. As far as I know, the link to the marina is a 2MB pipe which is then shared between the local subscribers which at the moment I think is only me!

Cheers,

Jerry

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[MacMan]

Re: I use SquareMile

Thanks guys - you are of course right - in a rapid post at work I had misread my bits and bytes !

My home connection is around 449 Kbps (56.1 KB/sec) which makes the Square Mile sounds great to me !

Also I know that technically the PCMCIA Cards and a USB connection "should" be the same but in reality due to the (normally) larger antenna on a USB device and the added flexibilty of the (approx) 1.5 m lead you often get I have got them to work in in situations where a PCMCIA cards stuggles.

E.g. sharing my home ADSL connection with my Neighbour through 2 external and 1 internal wall and 50 feet.

Indeed this is what Square Mile recommends in one place on their website - but then contradict themselves on another page !

I am pleased to hear that you have successfully connected with a card - I shouldn't have to splash out on a USB Wireless adaptor.



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[Abigail]

Re: Glad & amazed its working for someone

It never worked for us in Brighton despite frequent attempts, visits to the boat etc etc - complete waste of money!

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[MartinGPerry]

Re: Glad & amazed its working for someone

You can check out the coverage of Sqare Mile without subscribing. Any wireless PC will pick up the signal and display the square mile home page, this gives a few 'live' links to some restricted commercial pages
We are in Haslar Marina on F44 which I think is about 60% of the possible distance away from the antenna
I get marginal reception using a USR wireless card in the notebook. Its ok at high tide or with the notebook held high, at LW the signal strength is poor or non existant.

If I was signing up for Square mile I would definitley invest in a modem with external antenna

Martin

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[Courageous]

Re: Glad & amazed its working for someone

Hello Chaps - know very little about this particular setup but my boat's in Spain and I was wondering if anyone had any experience of using this or similar in the med or spain specifically. Would appreciate any help or advice......

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[timchapman]

I think if you use it a lot get BT to install a phone line at your berth. You can then subscribe to whichever broadband you want. I have a hardwired broadband which I transmit to surrounding boats using WiFi. I charge them £5 / month which covers my costs and makes it a bargain all round.
BTW in my experience WiFi coverage is seriously affected by large bodies of water so you may need to use a external antenna.

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[Stack]

I am using Square Mile every day most of the day and also work in the wireless industry.

in their defense - marinas must be the hardest place to provide a service like this -but you are right - it is all down to the wireless device. The PCMCIA cards are really no use - you need a decent USB or Etherenet device and their service is superb, really fast and cheap.

I have recommended about 25 people in total and we all keep in touch using MSN and this has meant each of them get a month free and i have just been given 2 years free subscription for all the introductions!

I LOVE IT!

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[Stack]

i think uptake has been fair, all i know is i could not live without this now, it is fast and reliable and the staf are very helpful.

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[Stack]

where are you based ?

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[Stack]

i have heard today Square Mile will soon offer access at home, your boat and a bundled package for 2500 hotspots around the uk, as well as calls to any line worldwide from your pc - could be exactly the thing! appears it will be cheaper to upgrade as an existing customer...looking forward to an announcement.

at brighton now and still online.

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