How to Limit Data when on a cruise

[jrapdx]

What I've done is send email to Gmail and force it to use the basic HTML-only website (there's a trick to forcing it in the browser by disabling Javascript, loading Gmail to get the error, and then saving the preference for basic HTML view, assuming Google didn't change things again). There are, additionally, other standalone email clients that can be configured not to download anything beyond text (and probably filter attachments too).

An idea that crossed my mind was that a text-browser or email client would certainly be an option. I didn't mention it because text-only clients are likely familiar to just a small subset of computer users since in today's world most people have probably only used GUI. Sure, there's emacs, with several email options--or mutt, pine, etc, but few would go there. I really don't want to either.

If not using Gmail, I don't think disabling javascript would work--most web sites seem to depend on it for rendering the page. You could be right that there are GUI email clients that could read just the text/html parts of a message without attachments. I don't know what programs are available, which do you know of?

With all the variations in POP3, IMAP, SMTP settings used by ISP email servers, getting the client program configured takes some knowledge and care. But having done this before on various platforms, I'd say it's not really terribly complicated and might be a better way to go.

It may be a different thing vs. web-mail, in that web-mail leaves all the files on the server. The browser allows examining the files without downloading them, whereas the email clients I'm thinking about download the files to the user's storage. Perhaps that's configurable, anyway, if it matters, it's something to be sure about.

 

[oion]

An idea that crossed my mind was that a text-browser or email client would certainly be an option. I didn't mention it because text-only clients are likely familiar to just a small subset of computer users since in today's world most people have probably only used GUI. Sure, there's emacs, with several email options--or mutt, pine, etc, but few would go there. I really don't want to either.

If not using Gmail, I don't think disabling javascript would work--most web sites seem to depend on it for rendering the page. You could be right that there are GUI email clients that could read just the text/html parts of a message without attachments. I don't know what programs are available, which do you know of?

With all the variations in POP3, IMAP, SMTP settings used by ISP email servers, getting the client program configured takes some knowledge and care. But having done this before on various platforms, I'd say it's not really terribly complicated and might be a better way to go.

It may be a different thing vs. web-mail, in that web-mail leaves all the files on the server. The browser allows examining the files without downloading them, whereas the email clients I'm thinking about download the files to the user's storage. Perhaps that's configurable, anyway, if it matters, it's something to be sure about.

Actually, for the basic HTML-view Gmail trick, the idea is to force Gmail to render in basic HTML and then be sure to select the notification option to set that view as default; Gmail should then remember that setting and you can re-enable Javascript for all other regular browsing. There are other methods to force the basic view as well (Google has a habit of changing direct links, but hopefully those work).

As for standalone clients, it's been a while since I last scoured the internet for a light utility (I used Popcorn for a while, for example, which is a GUI text-email-only client that interacts directly with the POP3 server and doesn't support attachments). I can't make any particular recent recommendations though, maybe someone else can; I've since moved onto Outlook 2010/2013, and haven't looked deeper into the settings.

 

[N.G.]

Get a WiFi analyzer app (I use one on my 8.9 Fire HDX so can't speak to one on the surface, but there ought to be one.). The marine satellite bandwidth is so narrow, you can't afford to slow it further with WiFi packet loss. Find the best WiFi signal place on the ship you will be comfortable using (check the pool deck and future cruise sales vicinity). Also avoid 7:30-10 in the morning and other peak periods. Buy a cheap package and timeshare it. Use your phone in ports where it works. Get a refund from the purser if you used minutes but didn't get service.