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

[catl331]

Wouldn't such a device be going through the ship's cell phone tower, at a much higher price than just using the ship's wifi?

[Essiesmom]

You would only have reception if you were within range of a Virgin Mobile tower. Not at sea, maybe in a port, but then you would be paying roaming charges. EM

[amy417]

Thanks guys,
This is a portable unit that goes thru the Sprint 3G network. It is a prepaid data package. I guess I just needed to know if you can get the Sprint network out a sea. Guess not.

[rjmaype]

I was on the Baltic trip last July from Dover to Kiel, Tallin, St Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen.

I bought a T Mobil USB stick in London and bought their foreign package internet data package for 30 days.

I was able to see a signal when I could see land on the side of the ship nearest land.

Not usable all the time but worth the money.

I am positive I was not signaling through the ship's system.

In fact it paid for itself for the 2 days in London prior to departure by not buying the hotel's wifi.

I also had a Verizon Blackberry where I had the international data plan for 30 days for $40. It did not show service as much as the T Mobil stick did.

This year I joined FON where for $60 you buy a router and install it on your home broadband network. Now I have access to 3 million wifi spots globally for free. There is an interactive map showing the FON wifi spots.