To all potential Iridium / GSM / GPRS users.
Ugrib has been designed very much with restricted bandwidth onboard
environments in mind. At GRIB.US we are all active sailors and the software
has evolved from our desire to be able to access data in a simple and efficient
way at sea.
We have used the software over all types of connection including those listed
above as well as other well known satellite services.
A major priority for us, when putting the whole service together, was to ensure
that you did not need to 'browse' the internet to select the data required.
Ugrib will work across any 'IP' type connection. In simple terms anything
that will allow you get 'online' and look at a normal web page should allow our
software direct access to our servers.
The selection of the connection type in Ugrib itself does not initiate the
connection or in any way reconfigure your computers 'internet options'.
The settings make some very technical tweaks to the way the data is transferred
to optimize for the connection type chosen.
IP is a technical protocol but in simple terms when a client talks to a server
they make checks of connection speeds and try to tune the size of the packets
of data. We are simply trying to cut down this process as much as
possible and get on with sending you the actual data.
Ugrib itself 'uses' an internet connection rather than directly dialing one. Whether
your windows machine dials the necessary connection when you hit download
depends on how your internet options are enabled and the type of connection.
Just keep in mind these important points.
1 - There is no need to be connected until just before you hit 'Download GRIB
file' and as soon as the file is 'displayed' you can disconnect.
2 - There are no direct dial numbers for GRIB.US - just establish connection
(via whatever means) and Ugrib will try and use it.
3 - The connection settings within Ugrib make tweaks to the way that Ugrib optimizes
its use of the available connection.
4 - If you need a large geographical area and have very restricted bandwidth
use the 'Restrict File Size' option - this will cut you a GRIB file and then
resample the entire file at a custom resolution that will fit within your file
size requirements. We use this software in the Ocean and really love this
feature!
One last point, to clarify another common question. GRIB is a well compressed
format already and some web optimization software available on different
connections (onspeed, Direct Internet etc) will not be able to do a very good
job of increasing the throughput of such data. These services excel
on textual data but will produce only modest results on GRIB data.
We hope this clarifies the use of Ugrib across different connections. We
have tested it ourselves, and had great feedback from many of our users who
are using Satellite and Mobile communications.
We invite questions from everyone as always and although we are busy
maintaining the service (and thinking up new ways to improve it) we will
do our best to provide support whenever we can.
The GRIB.US team