Thuraya & XT Hotspot - Inflight?

I use the XT docker which has a standard BNC connector for which you can get a cable. The antenna also has a BNC connector. I think the antcom antennae are the only solution in town, also for non certified aircraft.

The XT and SatSleeve are not very different only that the SatSleeve got a wifi hotspot builtin. It will work with all kind of devices, I use it with a Nexus tablet and phone mostly.

Antcom also has a dual iridium and thuraya antenna.

My bottom line here seems to be
- my existing Thuraya XT has poor and unreliable connections without an external antenna
- an external antenna from Antcom can be connected to an XT docker;
- however that then requires some separate connection between the XT docker and a tablet or laptop to utilise the data connection.

A SatSleeve is available for my Samsung Galaxy 4, but there is no reason to know whether its connection to the Thuraya service would be any better than the XT. So that would be a risk. However if it worked, the wifi connection to a tablet would be very useful (putting aside the need to develop a dedicated website to control data volume).

No external antenna seems to be available for the SatSleeve, in the event that its connections are no better than the XT, unless one can find an old docker to dismantle and then make up a cable as suggested above.

I am reluctant to give up on Thuraya altogether, but this is very frustrating, especially since a significant part of the problem seems to be the absence of a supply of male plugs for Thuraya’s antenna connector.