"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
I'm looking for a reasonably priced satellite/internet option. I'm
seeing a lot of Iridium equipment on EBAY for $1500 or less. Has
anyone had experience enough with Iridium to know what the best
equipment choices are? Is there a better way for less than $3000
USD?

As some have mentioned, depending on your cruising grounds regular cellphone
and WiFi coverage may be good enough.

If you will be crossing oceans, or otherwise going where these options
aren't available, then Iridium seems to be the best alternative. You will
need a satphone, airtime (usually pre-purchased in blocks of 500 minutes or
less -- be careful, these expire), and you will want an ISP that provides a
data connection optimized for the relatively slow speed, long latency, and
occasional disconnects of a satphone link. I've been using the "XGate"
product from Global Marine Networks
(http://www.globalmarinenet.net/xgate.php) for a number of years now, and am
quite happy with it. There are other data service providers which may be
very good, but I don't think you will go wrong with GMN.

Of course, there's still SSB and SailMail (or amateur radio Winlink) for
at-sea email. Depending on your budget and use, SSB may be preferable to
Satphone, or the other way around. There are significant benefrts to each
system.

I have an older Iridium satphone, but the newest one looks really nice, and
I understand that the initial interface bugs have been taken care of. I
strongly recommend installing an external antenna for the satphone. Ours is
clamped to the stern rail and the coaxial cable is run to the navstation.