With up to 50 people onboard all wanting internet access it can be a real headache trying to keep everyone happy and online from a limited internet bandwidth.
It’s a bit like asking the Chef to cook for 50 people and giving him two steaks and a potato and then complaining that not everyone ate. To rub salt into the wound that potato and steak cost the owner €50,000. So no one is happy.
Obviously, the most important person is the one who pays our wages and the 4G/Satellite bill and no I don’t mean the Captain! It is, of course, the owner.
We operate a quota system wherever possible each crew member gets a daily allowance to use as they wish but once that’s gone they are kicked off the network. There are still a great many people who will try and circumvent the system by leaching off the owner’s network or other work networks with unrestricted access.
It can be a thankless task, many crew members take it personally when they are told they can’t you tube or video call whenever they like. They believe they have a right to internet access. And being pestered by 30 crew about the internet gets tiresome after a few months.
I have great hope that low earth orbit satellites will be able to end the bane of my career as an ETO – slow and expensive internet.
So are most ETO’s in agreement that crew internet is a privilege?