Test Center: Phone and data off the grid

by Paul Venezia
Be the first to comment | I like it!
Tags: satellite broadband
More »
on this topic
October 18, 2009, 08:26 PM —  InfoWorld — 

It was kismet: Inmarsat sent me a Thrane & Thrane Explorer 500 satellite receiver unit just days before my vacation. I recently spent one week at a cabin on a lake in rural New Hampshire, armed with many pounds of fresh ribs, a handle of bourbon, and a fishing pole. The one thing lacking was any form of communication -- no cell service, no broadband, no data.

Some might say that this is the perfect vacation for a techie, since getting away from everything isn't necessarily a bad idea. However, I tend to relax more when I know that fires aren't burning elsewhere. Thus, the need for some form of data access would make the vacation all the better, as long as I didn't spend every minute checking my e-mail.

[ Follow Paul Venezia's other technology adventures in his Deep End blog. ]

This is where the Explorer 500 and Inmarsat's BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) data service comes in. The Explorer 500 is a shockingly small device, roughly the size of a 10-inch netbook. It runs on battery or main power; offers Bluetooth, Ethernet, and USB data connectivity; and provides an analog phone jack for phone service. A small LCD screen on the back shows the system status and offers rudimentary configuration controls. The battery lasts for several hours on a full charge, and the unit can be coupled with a solar charger for sustained off-the-grid use.

Into the woods

Gear in hand, all I needed was a clear line of sight to the satellite hovering over the equator. When I arrived at the lake, I thought that I might be out of luck. The cabin was situated on the eastern shore of the lake, with heavy tree cover to the south. Naturally, that was exactly where I needed to aim the device. Luckily, this turned out to be a non-issue.

Arguably the hardest part of using the satellite receiver is aiming it. The Explorer 500 has a dead-simple method of accomplishing this task: an audible signal meter. Once it's powered on, simply use the embedded compass and inclination meter on the rear of the device, and aim it toward the south. The audible tone increases and decreases pitch depending on signal strength, and turns from blips to a solid tone when communication with the satellite is strong enough to carry data. With some minor adjustments, it's very simple to find a solid signal.

Test Center Scorecard

Performance (25%)

Reliability (25%)

Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world

I like it!
Close

On Twitter now

satellite broadband

Powered by Twitter
Refresh results
You are logged in | Sign out
Sign in and post to Twitter

What are you thinking?

Insert this article url
Cancel Tweet sent

On Twitter now

Post a comment
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
peer-to-peer

Esther Schindler
If the comments are ugly, the code is ugly

claird
SVG a graphics format for 21st century

pasmith
Take Chrome OS for a test spin

Sandra Henry-Stocker
Solaris Tip: Have Your Files Changed Since Installation?

sjvn
64-bits of protection?

jfruh
Android fragments vs. the iPhone monolith

mikelgan
What Gizmodo missed about the Pro WX Wireless USB disk drive

 

Sidekick: The Good News & the Bad News
Either way you look at it Microsoft Data Center management did not follow standards or best practices in this failure. In which case it makes me wonder more about the outsourcing of corporate data much less personal data.
- mburton325

Join the conversation here

The Daily Tip

The Daily TipQuick, practical advice for IT pros. Made fresh daily.

Hot tips:

Want to cash in on your IT savvy? Send your tip to tips@itworld.com. If we post it, we'll send you a $25 Amazon e-gift card.

Newsletters

Subscribe to ITWORLD TODAY and receive the latest IT news and analysis.

I would like to receive offers via email from ITworld partners.
By clicking submit you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in ITworld's privacy policy.
view all newsletters »
Featured Sponsor
Case Study: AISO grows its "green" business

AISO founders envisioned a Web hosting company that was environmentally friendly. While the company employed energy-efficient innovations like solar panels, its infrastructure produced unacceptable power and cooling requirements. Find out how AISO leveraged AMD technology to overcome their challenge in this case study white paper.

Download this white paper »
Myth of the Million Dollar Database

In this whitepaper, Scalar explores the opportunity to change the landscape with respect to mission critical databases built around Oracle. Leveraging technologies such as Linux, high-end commodity processing power and Oracle RAC technology to architect, design, build and maintain database infrastructure that delivers maximum availability, reliability and performance at a fraction of traditional cost.

Download this white paper »
Success Story: Weather.com handles whatever nature serves up

On a typical day, weather.com, the Web site for The Weather Channel in Atlanta, serves up between 15 million and 20 million page views. But in September 2004, when back-to-back hurricanes ransacked Florida, the peak traffic on one day more than tripled: over 70 million page views by more than 7 million unique visitors. Read the full success story now.

Download this white paper »
Marketplace