Laptops on Ships

[Sabre170]

For those of you that are current deployed or have been...

If I want to buy a laptop to take with me on float, will I be able to connect to the network for email/internet purposes? Also, if I buy a laptop, do I need a certain type of network card.

If I can't connect a personal computer to the network, is there a way for me to send movie clips and pictures via email back to my family?

 

[fc2spyguy]

As of 2002 (when I was on the USS Cowpens (CG-63))they had an IT-21 system for the ships lan. With this system personal computers were not allowed to have network cards. If they did they had to fill in the ethernet space with silicon caulk. Network security is a huge thing on a ship especialy when you consider what is housed on the network. As far as movie clips/pictures it depends on the network administrator and what kind of size limit he places on attachments.

 

[Punk]

silicon caulk in the ethernet space?!

like hell

 

[squeeze]

if you've ever experienced the raw speed that is the ships internet access, you wouldn't bother to ask about sending video, pics, or things much larger than an email.

 

[fc2spyguy]

if you've ever experienced the raw speed that is the ships internet access, you wouldn't bother to ask about sending video, pics, or things much larger than an email.

yeah, I think my old 14.4 modem could beat the speeds you get on a ship. Keep in mind, on a small boy you have probably 60 computers sharing the bandwidth. On a carrier I can't even imagine it.

 

[phrogdriver]

On the LHDs I was on, we could connect personal laptops to the ships' networks. You had to have your computer checked by the S-6 for the right antivirus and such. My first deployment we could connect for e-mail only; my second we could get the web, too. The speed isn't blazing. Send a video clip and you've just hogged the bandwidth for an hour, and your file transfer will probably jam halfway through, anyway. It's better than waiting 2 weeks for a letter, though.

 

[Wolfpack]

Are there a couple of computers on the ship for the crew to use for email? I thought I had seen/heard this before or is there someone on them at all times?

 

[VarmintShooter]

Are there a couple of computers on the ship for the crew to use for email? I thought I had seen/heard this before or is there someone on them at all times?

On the Nimitz (in 1999) you could e-mail from practically all of the ship's computers, but personal computers were not allowed a connection to the LAN.

 

[phrogdriver]

Usually most workspaces have a computer or two. When they're not being used for work, the Marines and sailors can use them for personal e-mail. There are also computers in the ship's library expressly for e-mail. The wait isn't too bad, and they often have sign-up sheets to designate your slot ahead of time. On amphibs, at least, the officers' staterooms usually have LAN hookups. Again, e-mail works great, but I wouldn't send more than 1 or 2 pictures, both for the sake of your time and in consideration of others who need the bandwidth.

 

[EngineGirl]

I hardly ever wrote emails from the ships I was on because in the rare case that a computer was available and the stars were aligned correctly and the God's were smiling on me that day and the list of the ship just happened to be perfect, by the time I got the email written, the ship had turned and I couldn't send it anymore.

EngineGirl