Wi Fi internet hotspots, Square Mile, etc.

[Anonymous]

Here in the UK many marinas are offering 'Wi Fi' hotspots for broadband internet connection. Square Mile are offering a service that costs about the same as BT's home broadband connection. For liveaboards it is surely the way to go? Square Mile are at www.squaremileinternational.com and have 17 UK marinas live, 13 'coming soon' and 12 'Subject to Demand'. Overseas, Sq Mi have none at present but plans in Malta and Spain.

All you need to do is buy a suitable PCMCIA card from the marina, put it into your laptop and open an account online, so they say. I haven't actually tried it myself.

There are many other companies than Square Mile and I am hoping that anyone who has knowledge of active hotspots would post details here.

The Square Mile scheme allows you to pay daily, weekly, monthly or annually. You get full broadband speed at landline prices so it is a huge step forward. As soon as we are resident on board I will make sure that we stay in marinas serviced by the service, until we sail for the Med. Hopefully by next year there will be good coverage overseas both in marinas and in towns.

I should just add that I have no connection with these people and I hope that we will hear about other suppliers.

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[FerrymanR]

It is also worth noting that there are many totally free hotspots around! For example there are at least 3 in Deal, Kent and similarly around Exeter. My brother in San Diego tells me there are dozens there. Just get a laptop with built in WiFi or get a pcmcia card and let it search. I am sitting in a pub with free access at this moment - very civilised and as it is free I can afford a pint.
Richard

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[Anonymous]

I had a client from London staying with me the other week and he felt isolated without being able to get broadband Wi Fi wherever he was. He had to 'make do' with a landline telephone connection. This seems to be the way forward and Wi Fi seems to be the 'VHS' of connection standards.

Can anyone tell us whether the French, Spanish and Italians are going the same way?

BTW, a beer at 1030am? Have a look at my website www.lemaindetox.com )

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[Metabarca]

We're a bit behind in Italy but I know that some airports and possible railway stations are offering the service. None I've heard of that are free, however.

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[Anonymous]

I'm perfectly happy to pay for a service but it all depends on the ease of payment. If one can pay by credit card online (having entered the hot zone) for a period of time then that would be fine.

Is that the way things are, or is one expected to have an annual contract with a service provider in advance? I'm hoping that people with a knowledge of the other European markets might jump in here and tell us about those markets.

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[ashley]

Personally I've just set up a wifi zone for our boatyard in Sens on the Yonne in France and we're paying €10 each per month towards it as there are only three of us using it at the moment. This is the best option for liveaboards - DIY style.
Otherwise there are companies about France who do wireless access, one you may know is Orange France</font color=orange> who do monthly options or pay as you go.
The real difference between the DIY or Free access and these "Professional" service such as Orange WiFi or Squaremile is roaming. Pay monthly for a service and you can use it anywhere, or almost anywhere where there is a hotspot anyway.
This could work well whilst travelling south through the canals but sadly most of the services offer hotspots in airports, railways stations and shopping centres.

I wish it was as easy as Microtosh make out. According to their TV ads, any laptop with a "Centrino" chip can get wireless access even at the top of Mount Everest!!

Meanwhile in the real world, if you're coming down the Yonne this summer, you can hook up to our network or rent a card and get online for a meagre fee!

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[Anonymous]

Thanks, I hadn't realised that Orange France would offer Wi Fi in addition to GPRS; the latter is a pretty poor service for any serious internet use. The Frence are always more eager to embrace new technology than we are - look at the Minitel, for example! Surely, before long we will see Hot Spots along the Cote d'Azure. I need to get to the bottom of Square Mile's assertion that one really needs their own external interface to use with their system; it would be cumbersome to have to take a laptop and an external interface box to a cafe!

Do you, or does anyone else, know whether Orange are planning a similar thing in Spain and Italy?

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[ashley]

After approaching Squaremile for a job, i can tell you that you do not neccessarily need one of their interfaces as it will depend how far from the hot spot you want to go.
They have researched well and are using high power equipment as requires this kind of project. No good installing systems that only cover 50 metres either side of the access point when you've got large marinas to cover cost effectively.
Not trying to sing thier praises too much, but i hope their system takes off and is the predominant system throughout europe as it will mean great things for cruising boaters.
Having different sytems to buy into at each marina will not move this technology forward.
There are similar things to Orange wifi going on in Spain as that is where i had researched previously, although i cannot recall the names now. Search google for wifi spain and you will see plenty!!


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[Anonymous]

As I understood it, the Square Mile interface isn't peculiar to Square Mile, but a high power external interface that can be used with any Wi Fi Hot Spot. As for SM using high powered equipment, there is still the point that the laptop has to transmit a signal to the SM base unit and unless the laptop's interface transmits sufficient power the signal is going to get lost amongst all the background radio and electrical noise. As the signal to noise ratio gets worse then there will be delays in transmission. But let me stress that I haven't seen their designs and I am making inferences and an educated guess. An external interface would certainly be cumbersome if you want to go to a Hot Spot elsewhere - especially if it needs an external power supply (does it? I don't know). Maybe we ought to point one of SM's people to this thread and they can give us all the gen on their products and Wi Fi in general. Maybe you have a contact?

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[Metabarca]

To answer your question briefly and incompletely, there are apparently about 1800 hot spots in Italy at present. I shall do some more research and come back to the panel as to who operates them, how much it costs and so on.

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[ashley]

This is the web site that seems to show all hotspots from all providers; <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.wi-fizone.org/zoneFinder.asp>http://www.wi-fizone.org/zoneFinder.asp</A>

It even lists boat marinas as locations for france (all two of them), hopefully it will start listing all boat marinas

Ashley


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[Stack]

I too have applied for work with Square Mile - and have some understanding of their devices.

in the early days they suggested PCMCIA cards - big mistake by the sounds of it. Now they only use what they call 'the best ethernet' devices - i have one and it is faultless, but tru - cumbersome for other hotspots as they do need a power supply.

however, i use their srvice in multiple location and find it superb everytime - almost faultless like a fixed line! support is good too.

speak to sam on 01628 483 010 - he is very helpful.

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[Anonymous]

Thanks for the input. I did speak to squaremile and discussed my needs. I have gone for a Dell laptop with integral WiFi and an ethernet socket as standard. This means that I can use the integral system 'out and about' and buy an external unit for use aboard in the marina. Very expensive, I know, but access to the internet is important to me for business for the time being.

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