I’ve just been through a two-month saga of attempting to install some sort of internet on my harbor tug in New York. The boat of course has (presumably cellular) internet for the vessel’s ECS, email, etc. No crew device access to that network though.
I ended up with a pass, a fail, and a painful win (so far – knock on wood).
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Pass: T-Mobile home internet. $50/mo unlimited 5G/4G LTE, 100Mbs, no throttling. Some guys have used this in Texas and it has reportedly been solendid. T-Mobile recently announced they will geo-locked the service, based on the shipping/billing address (presumably the nearest tower(s)). I’ve seen a mix of comments online about whether that actually happens. Regardless, they would not ship to any address I had available.
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Fail: AT&T pre-paid 4G LTE with my own wireless router (Netgear Nighthawk). 100 GB data limit. Worked okay, good speeds, but we blew through the 100GB in about a week, before we had the smart TV in the galley connected.
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Painful win: Nomad Internet. Had some good reviews in van life and RV communities. When I first started looking, you could choose a plan based on carrier. By the time I ordered it, the exclusive provider was Verizon. You can bring your own Verizon-compatible router or use one of theirs. I opted to purchase their “Nomad Air” router (InSeeGo Wavemaker FX 2000e) for $299 (it becomes mine after 24 months) and the unlimited data, never-throttled, 100 MBps subscription for $110/mo. I added a 3-point Google nest mesh system, which I use at home.
Nomad shipped the router without the promised sim card, so I had to run to Beat Buy to buy a Verizon sim for $10. Nomad was unable to activate it. My relief brought 2 extras at crew change, and the first one we tried was activated and working within about 20 minutes. After optimizing the placement of the google Mesh wifi points on the O-1 and in the galley, we now get between 50-100 MBps down throughout the boat, usually in the 90s. That’s more than adequate for 5 handheld devices (the router will support at least 30) and the Roku smart TV with HD or 4k streaming. Each crew ponies up $50/mo and the subscription can be paused.
Until I was able to get in touch directly with the CEO and then two techs, customer support was truly awful. I believe it is getting better. When I first ordered the service, in Dec., Nomad was in the process of switching everyone to Verizon and changing their plans. The plans and rates were changing daily on the website.
At any rate, it is early days still, but we have had a month of mostly great service so far.