Internet on the move

[SunLover]

Quick update : The satellite launch was cancelled at the last minute, but is due either today or tomorrow Florida time.

[Nostromo]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by SunLover
Quick update : The satellite launch was cancelled at the last minute, but is due either today or tomorrow Florida time.
[/quote]

Thanks Sunlover. Do people accessing this facility have to do something special - like getting specific software - or does it work automatically? Forgive me if I sound naive, but as far as computers go, I belong to the 'old school'.

[SunLover]

Arun

The news report was a little sketchy on that aspect, focusing mainly on what the technology would allow folks to do anywhere in the world. No particular software or indeed hardware was mentioned, but I imagine that if it works as well as the inventors predict, we will all be hearing about the minute details very very soon.

Fingers crossed... it sounds an exciting prospect.

[Lyn]

When we subscribed to NTL broadband we had software to download on our computer in order to access it. When my sister went on to AOL she also had a disc to download, how can you access other internet providers without having downloaded there software. I have a wireless connection on my laptop and as far as I know it only connects to our home provider, I once took it to work but it would not connect to the work internet. I to might sound naive but would love to understand how this works.

[Nostromo]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Lyn
How can you access other internet providers without having downloaded there software. [/quote]

I may be wrong, but I am assuming that it is the same way that we are able to access the internet in Cyber Cafes and other alien computers. I think it is accessing the internet as a whole and choosing the webpage that you need - like Google, Yahoo, AOL and of course OV Forums.

[Ray&Sarah]

Ray has a wireless connection on his laptop and it will find the server at the airports and let him access the internet, once he has paid the fee by credit card and set up an account with whoever is providing the conection.[msnsmile]

[Lyn]

But in a Cyber Cafe you are using there computer connected to there Internet provider surely.[msnscared]

[WR1]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- An Atlas 5 rocket roared from its seaside pad Friday afternoon, carrying into space a satellite designed to provide broadband access to mobile users.




The Inmarsat 4 is the first of a new breed of spacecraft designed to provide broadband internet and intranet content, video-on-demand, video conferencing, fax, e-mail, phone and local area network access to mobile users almost anywhere in the world.

Rick Medlock, Inmarsat chief financial officer, said that when fully deployed, the three-satellite constellation that will make up the new Broadband Global Area Network will bring wireless broadband connections to ships, planes and remote areas that don't have reliable access to ground-based high-speed networks.

"It provides much faster connectivity - it brings broadband anywhere," Medlock said. "Whether you're doing oil exploration in Alaska or aid agency work in the middle of Africa or in ships in their fleets around the world, it brings true broadband, which they've never had before."

The company's satellites already provide coverage to mobile users who can connect via laptop-sized receivers, but the new system will be much faster.

The current system was used by solo sailor Ellen MacArthur to keep in touch during her recent record-breaking non-stop solo voyage around the world in her 75-foot trimaran B&Q.

The new spacecraft, built by European satellite giant EADS Astrium, is billed as the largest commercial satellite ever launched -- 13,138 pounds.

To get it up, International Launch Services used a stretched version of its Atlas 5 rocket. An on-board camera provided a dramatic view of a cloud-streaked blue Earth against the black of space as the rocket left the atmosphere.

The launch had been delayed from Thursday.

Andrew Sukawaty, Inmarsat chief executive officer, said this mission cost about $250 million, a small fraction of the $1.5 billion cost of the entire program.



WR.

[florida4sun]

I have a sony with built in wireless. It will connect to any open network (starbucks, mcdonalds etc). I also have an orange 3G card which cost me 20.00 per month and gives me access anywhere in the UK. So I do not need to hunt out a wireless hotspot. This also works in europe but gets a bit pricey once you go out of the UK.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Nostromo
I finally discarded my old 6-year old Laptop and bought a Sony Vaio FS115S yesterday. One of the important features that I was told would be useful was its [u]built-in wireless facility </u> for internet 'hotspots'. I am not sure how this works. I travel a lot wihtin the UK as well as outside, especially to the US. What is the easiest and quickest (I understand that the two may not necessarily go together) way to access Internet in such situations?

I have been given conflicting advice by my colleagues. One tells me to get an account with "BT Openzone" while another said that it would be of very little use abroad and so an unnecessary expense; the latter also told me that I do not need an account and can use the modem or router cable (both provided) to access internet points in hotels etc or simply access their wireless facility on their terms. I'm afraid all this a bit Greek and Swahili to me and would be grateful if some technofile would help me.
[/quote]

[brizzle]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by florida4sun
I have a sony with built in wireless. It will connect to any open network (starbucks, mcdonalds etc). I also have an orange 3G card which cost me 20.00 per month and gives me access anywhere in the UK. So I do not need to hunt out a wireless hotspot. This also workds in europe but getss a bit pricey once yuou go out of the UK.
[/quote]

Martin,

Is that unmetered and how fast is the connection?

Brizzle.