Ship-to-Shore

Imagine pulling out of your slip while your shipmate is checking email, downloading a chart to your laptop, or checking a weather forecast and making dinner reservations at your destination port. Imagine doing all these things online - without wires, and at a speed many times faster than the typical Internet connection in your home. And at a price that is much less than the least expensive satellite solutions.

The challenge is in finding the "hotspot" to connect to from your boat. While this technology is growing at a rate that rivals the growth of the Internet itself, it is easier to find a hotspot in a trendy coffee shop or in the lobby of a 5 star hotel than it is to find one in your marina however there are more providers popping up everyday and your chances of accessing it are pretty good.
 
There are free hot spots, where you can log on to somebody else's network without paying a penny. These are either promoted by the user as free in order to entice you to hang out near their business and possibly buy something, or because they are of the mentality that you just shouldn't have to pay for Internet access. Marina's also provide free access in hopes you will choose their marina to dock at. There are also free hot spots that aren't advertised, but that you can log onto by tapping into somebody's unprotected home network which you might find around smaller marina's. It is highly recommended that boat users protect their network with encryption if they do not intend to share their connection with their neighbors.

There are also paid hot spots, where your marina or local business will allow you to sign up to access the Internet and charge you by the minute, hour, day or month. This typically costs more than your AOL or DSL account at home, but it is easier to digest the price when you consider that it is high-speed, broadband access, and accessible wirelessly from your boat. Imagine accessing your email and downloading those large files and making those VOIP (voice over IP) phone calls through the internet for very little cost or free with programs like SKYPE.

With the STS-1000 Ship-To-Shore unit, you can access most hot spots within a up to a 2-5 mile radius (line-of site) depending on obstructions to the signal or weak provider signals (See Wireless Notice). That's because it comes standard with a 100-250 mw client radio and a 1 watt booster amplifier added into the unit... see more