Virgin Mobile portable wi-fi..anybody tried this

[amy417]

Has anyone tried using one of the portable wi-fi systems out at sea? I have the Virgin mobile portable wi-fi. I know there is another one called Clear. Can anyone tell me if these will work out at sea?

thanks

[garycarla]

Not fully knowledgeable about this but it is what I think it is, there must be an internet hookup somewhere. Anything hooked to the internet (wired or wireless) will pay the $.40 to $.75 per minute for a slow connection. No free internet on the ship.

[VideoTech]

I'm assuming the device you're referring to normally uses a cell phone data connection to provide wifi internet connectivity to one or several computers.

 

While the unit may work, it will be connecting to the internet through the ship's satellite cell phone service. You'll be paying a very hefty per-minute charge to the ship, and you'll also be paying per-minute for Virgin's Data Roaming plans, which will also be very expensive. After paying all that money, you'll have a slow connection.

 

Much better to simply sign up for an internet package through the ship. Use their onboard computers in the ship's internet lounge, or use your laptop's wifi system to log onto the ship's wifi system and access the internet. Per-minute charges are much more reasonable.

 

Cheaper still: Don't worry about internet on the ship. If you don't need to connectivity on the ship, there are internet cafes in almost every port. Drop in, sign up for 10 or 15 minutes of time, check & reply to email, and leave.

[terrymtex01]

As a tech support rep for a major cellular provider, I believe this will not work, from what I am reading on Virgin Mobiles website. Their portable wifi works off of the Sprint Network which is not onboard the ship. See what it says under "3G internet at home or on the go" - http://www.virginmobileusa.com/mobile-broadband/broadband2go.html

[amy417]

As a tech support rep for a major cellular provider, I believe this will not work, from what I am reading on Virgin Mobiles website. Their portable wifi works off of the Sprint Network which is not onboard the ship. See what it says under "3G internet at home or on the go" - http://www.virginmobileusa.com/mobile-broadband/broadband2go.html

 

Thanks Terry.

This is one of their broadband togo units and is on the sprint network. I love it for being able to use my laptop ad nook color wherever I go. And I love the no contract prepaid data plans. I was hopeful that Sprint got reception out at sea but no worries.