Portable satellite internet

Submitted: Sunday, Feb 06, 2022 at 22:18
ThreadID: 143199 Views:6000 Replies:9 FollowUps:5
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Hi. I am looking for suggestions for mobile satellite internet. I need to work (bookkeeping) while I’m travelling and really need to be able to receive emails and access my bookkeeping package and internet banking. I would be very grateful for any input from anyone in a similar position.

Thanks in advance.
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Reply By: Michael H9 - Sunday, Feb 06, 2022 at 23:12

Sunday, Feb 06, 2022 at 23:12
Satellite can be expensive and is slow with limited data allowance so I gave up on it last time I looked. I have a dual sim normal phone with both Telstra and Optus and found that if I'm close to any town then I will usually have internet on one of them.
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Reply By: Member - Warren H - Sunday, Feb 06, 2022 at 23:23

Sunday, Feb 06, 2022 at 23:23
I think there is quite a difference between satellite NBN plans and data downloads via a satphone plan. The latter seems to be prohibitively expense, in the $s per kilobyte bracket. Don't even know what the eligibility is to connect to a satellite NBN as a mobile user and/or the feasibility of setting up a dish but presumably this would be the way to go.
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Follow Up By: Nomadic Navara - Monday, Feb 07, 2022 at 23:10

Monday, Feb 07, 2022 at 23:10
The SkyMuster satellite is not set up for portable/mobile use. The mobile telephone and broadcast satellites are set up to cover Oz in one beam. The SkyMuster satellite has multiple beams to service Oz. You need a different code to access each beam. The codes for these beams are not provided by the connecting authorities.
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Reply By: Briste - Sunday, Feb 06, 2022 at 23:44

Sunday, Feb 06, 2022 at 23:44
Robert Pepper is pushing Starlink as an option:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L84DfapjQdg

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AwTar81IkhQ
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Follow Up By: Member - Boobook - Monday, Feb 07, 2022 at 06:11

Monday, Feb 07, 2022 at 06:11
Starlink looks great for speeds. 4 - 10 times faster than NBN at home. But it is not everywhere and not very fexible for traveling. You have to pre book your next location which may or may not be available.

Robert did highlight sme of these issues and it is getting better all the time with thousands of new sattelites going up every year.
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Reply By: Member - McLaren3030 - Monday, Feb 07, 2022 at 08:21

Monday, Feb 07, 2022 at 08:21
There is a guy with a page on Facebook called “Overland Exposure”. He is an ex military communications specialist. He also has a UTube channel and has a couple of very informative videos with regard to remote communication. Might be worth looking him up on “Google”.

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Follow Up By: DaveO*ST-R - Thursday, Feb 10, 2022 at 07:25

Thursday, Feb 10, 2022 at 07:25
Here it is...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL5GJrSqqGE&t=277s

I haven't watched all of it as I am not in the market for it, but might suit your needs.

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Reply By: Member - peter_mcc - Wednesday, Feb 09, 2022 at 11:31

Wednesday, Feb 09, 2022 at 11:31
I used an ANT system that connected to the Optus geostationary satellite back in 2017. It worked but was hard to set up and slow. It was better suited to email than browsing - the ping time was pretty big since the data went from me to the geostationary satellite and back to earth (35,000kms each way - 600ms or more ping time ). So you'd click on something and it would take a second to respond - ok for reading the news/weather/ExplorOz but not great for anything where there is lots of interaction. Remote Control of a PC was possible but super frustrating - imagine using your mouse/keyboard with a 1 second delay between typing/moving mouse/clicking and seeing the results...

ANT discontinued their system and I wasn't able to find anything similar when I looked in 2019 or so. NBN won't let mobile users connect (you have to have a fixed address) and I don't think Starlink is set up for mobile users (yet). Hopefully when something will be sorted when I get to travel somewhere remote next - it's still a few years away!

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Reply By: Member - lyndon NT - Wednesday, Feb 09, 2022 at 17:52

Wednesday, Feb 09, 2022 at 17:52
Hi
We used to use this around 12 years ago. Hideously expensive (at least back then), but we just needed to use a small amount of data per day. Worked for us.
Cheers
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Reply By: Member - lyndon NT - Wednesday, Feb 09, 2022 at 17:57

Wednesday, Feb 09, 2022 at 17:57
Another link.

A BARGAIN @ ONLY $704 per month :-)

You may have hardware costs on top of that :-)

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Follow Up By: Member - peter_mcc - Thursday, Feb 10, 2022 at 11:30

Thursday, Feb 10, 2022 at 11:30
The ANT one was reasonably cheap - $89 a month for 3Gb of data. Shame it is no more.

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Reply By: M&A - Thursday, Feb 10, 2022 at 07:58

Thursday, Feb 10, 2022 at 07:58
Thanks everyone who commented here. I have followed up on the suggestions and have drawn a blank. It seems that there may be some options towards the end of this year. So for now it’s watch and wait!

Thanks again.
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Reply By: Kazza055 - Thursday, Feb 10, 2022 at 13:59

Thursday, Feb 10, 2022 at 13:59
I ran a drafting business for the last 15+ years and got all my work via email so when touring I needed internet access.

I used Telstra mobile and with the help of Wikicamps I had service at every overnight stop even crossing the Nullabore but then we only follow the blacktop.

If you are heading more remote, you could look at getting a Yagi plus the CelFi.
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Follow Up By: Michael H9 - Thursday, Feb 10, 2022 at 18:52

Thursday, Feb 10, 2022 at 18:52
I have 2 sims because it'surprising how many outback towns with no Telstra service will have an Optus hotspot. I remember watching Game of Thrones using Optus camped just outside Oodnadatta because there was no Telstra signal. Telstra has the best and widest coverage of course. The dual sim phone has been really good.
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