Using a tethered phone as modem

[jimi]

Anyone use this option on the boat rather than the USB option? If so is it better?

 

[Elessar]

Anyone use this option on the boat rather than the USB option? If so is it better?

use it all the time. an iPhone on 3, no tethering charges.

for a quick download use it on wifi, for more plug it into the usb to keep the phone battery alive.

the iphone on 3 is faster than my home copper broadband. I always connect it to the home computer for uploads, where it is LOADS faster.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Yep I use an i phone on 3 tethered to laptop no problems.

 

[tudorsailor]

Anyone use this option on the boat rather than the USB option? If so is it better?

I use an Android phone. With t-mobile abroad I get an internet bundle of 50Mb for £10. This is more than I need for a week or two of emails and weather

TS

 

[Dockhead]

I've been using tethered mobile phones for Internet access on board for at least 12 years. Works fine. It was complicated to set up in the early days. Then there was Bluetooth. Now, on my latest mobile phone, a Nokia E9, there is as "Wifi Hot Spot" application which allows me to connect my laptop to the phone as if it were a WiFi access point.

But better yet is a dedicated cellular router like a Globe Surfer. I have one installed in my boat. You put a SIM card in it and connect your laptop to it by WiFi or Ethernet. I have an antenna for it which I keep meaning to mount on the first spreaders, but the reception is so much better than a regular mobile phone, even without the external antenna, that I haven't bothered.

I'm writing this post using the Globe Surfer.