ThurayaDSL - Satellite Internet
Would you like to check your email at an isolated location such as the Ice Hotel in Alta Norway, or a Bedouin tent in the Jordanian desert of Wadi Rum? In remote places like these you'd struggle to find a working phone line let alone an internet connection. Perhaps a satellite solution like ThurayaDSL is an option for your laptop, but it doesn't come cheap.
Imagine loungingon a beach in (enter favorite tropical locale here), cool (enterfav beverage) in hand, while following the World Cup final livein broadband on your laptop. Better yet, imagine watchingAmerican football on your laptop. It all could be possible withsatellite internet provider ThurayaDSL. The modem, about the sizeof an ultraportable notebook, can give you access to Thuraya'scoverage area of about 110 countries where normally it'd be hardto find a phone line, let alone a high-speed Internethookup.
Sure,Europe is included in Thuraya's global reach, but so are remote areas across Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The ThurayaDSL satelliteIP modem attaches to your laptop via Ethernet andgives GPRS packet data communication at speeds up to 144 kbps.You will, however, also need a ThurayaDSL SIM card to tap intothe company's network.
Of course, that lead-in bit about "watching" World Cup with thissatellite internet connection might be a bit of an exaggeration.Your best bet at 144 kbps may be "instant" online textualplay-by-play of your sporting event, as visuals may swamp theship. (In comparison, I'm pulling in 100 Mbps with my cablehigh-speed hookup-in America, home of the world's crappiestbroadband.)
But 144 Kbps would allow you to check your all-important e-mail,hit corporate Intranet sites, buy suntan lotion at Wal-Mart.comfor your last few days at the beach, and even download and uploadto FTPs and the like if you got the time.
You get charged by volume for this satellite internet provider,not by the time duration that you're online. Forttel arecurrently quoting an activation fee which includes the SIM cardof $50, and a further $6 per MB. When you factor in the 2 grandplus cost of the unit itself you can see that this service is forjournalists on their boss's dime, or independent web tycoons, notthe casual Joe Soap user. Special antennas can also be bought foruse on the high seas, and you can instruct your ThurayaDSLprovider to cap your usage so you don't overshoot yourbudget.
More info - Thuraya.com
