On Thu, 20 Sep 2012 14:22:50 -0700 (PDT), Flying Pig
wrote:

Duh, this Skolnick is a moron.

Hardly. An ass perhaps, but not a moron. And that's the problem. He's a big wheel in SSCA, a 7000 member organization
which takes image VERY seriously. He also teaches paid seminars on computer related material therein - and so has
some impact, as well.

=======

I'm having a hard time understanding why Skolnick's opinion is so
important to you. He has no way of knowing what you do, or not do,
with WiFi aboard your boat unless you tell him or someone else.
There are lots of perfectly legitimate WiFi hotspots available to
cruisers, some free, some not.

As an aside, I'm told that Batelco in the Bahamas now offers tethered
(USB cable) data plans. You'll need an unlocked GSM phone which
supports tethering and a Batelco SIM card to take advantage of that.
In Puerto Rico and the USVI you can use standard aircards just as you
would in the USA. That is equally true for 3G and 4G tablets, smart
phones, etc. Farther down in the islands there are quite a few
(intentionally) open hot spots.

I have a Verizon 4G LTE aircard (USB attached) which provides us with
blazing fast connections on the boat when we're in US waters. It is
more or less permanently attached to a Cradle Point router which
automatically maintains the Verizon connection and creates a hotspot
on the boat. The aircard is about $50/month for 5 GB bandwidth, with
10 GB available for more dinero. This eliminates a lot of hassles
with trying to find open hotspots. When I'm traveling off the boat I
just unplug the aircard and bring it along with me. This is great for
avoiding ripoff hotel and airport WiFi plans. You're not supposed to
use it on airplanes but I suspect it would work there also.

http://www.amazon.com/CradlePoint-PHS300-Personal-Hotspot-Wireless/dp/B001212ELY

http://www.amazon.com/Verizon-Wireless-Pantech-Aircard-UML290/dp/B005ESVW96