Actually there are some pretty good options out there but I don't have
time to look into all the details right now.

Here's where I started a few years back when I was looking for
something to put on my Westy in Europe and travel across to Africa/
Middle East. Most of it came from watching the news services struggle
with Inmarsat and satellite phones.

So...take a look:

http://www.spacenet.com/
http://www.starband.com/
http://www.tracstar.com/

This one used to fit in a ski box:
http://www.tracstar.com/products/commonthemove.php

The roots for most of this stuff is in Israel:
http://www.gilat.com/

I bet we could find something to fit in the "front luggage" area.

I believe with something like this on a Westy, you could sell your
house and move on...especially if you made your Westy a traveling
hotspot.

Good luck,

Bruce

On Oct 16, 2009, at 8:21 PM, Kim Brennan wrote:

> I have satellite Internet at my WV house. I can't recommend it, and I
> can't imagine that a mobile version would be equivalent. Essentially,
> I consider it a choice of last resort (faster than dial-up, but with a
> different set of trade-offs.)
>
> For a number of years my cell phone service was T-Mobile. They had the
> cheapest data service plan (unlimited) of any of the cell phone
> companies, and coverage (in the US) was good enough for me. I'd still
> be using them, if Apple didn't have an exclusive contract with AT&T
> for the iPhone.
>
> Cell phone internet isn't terribly fast (it's getting faster), but it
> is good enough for email and small web browsing, if you aren't in a
> hurry. Forget about large file downloads (video streaming and such.)
>
>
> On Oct 16, 2009, at 11:42 AM, Loren Busch wrote:
>
>> While the subject of satellite tv is running in another thread, what
>> experience is out there in the list wisdom about the use of satellite
>> Internet while traveling in your Westy? Equipment? Service cost and
>> quality?  Links to good info?