getting internet on boat

[phantom18]

I know very little about computers so be 'laymans terms'
I have the laptop so what bits do i need to get internet/e-mails while in the marina or at sea?

 

[RichardS]

I know very little about computers so be 'laymans terms'
I have the laptop so what bits do i need to get internet/e-mails while in the marina or at sea?

Basically there are two "reasonable cost" methods - i.e. excluding satellite phones and the like, wifi or mobile broadband data (often called 3G).

Your laptop might have wifi built in so you just need to connect to the marina wifi signal. You may have to pay for this or if might be free. If your laptop does not have wifi built in you can buy a wifi dongle which plugs into a USB port. You will need to be in the marina or a port to pick up wifi. If you are at anchor or on passage you are unlikely to get a signal.

To receive 3G data you need a 3G or mobile broadband USB dongle. Some of these can also receive wifi. A 3G data connection can be made essentially wherever you can receive a mobile phone signal, so most marinas and any anchorage which is within range of a town or mobile phone mast. The signal will extend a few miles (perhaps 5 -10nm) off the coast if there is a mast near to the sea.

A 3G dongle plus the data SIM card which slots into it can be obtained from any of the mobile phone companies. Just go into one of their high street shops and buy it. The different mobile companies have different signal coverage and different pay-as-you-go or contract plans (similar to normal voice mobile phone plans) so depending where you sail and how much use you intend to make of the connection you will need to do some research before commiting yourself. Visit several mobile phone shops and their websites and check out other internet resouces (like this forum) to get a better understanding of what is available.

Hope this helps

Richard

 

[PhilipH]

At sea you need either a satphone or SSB with a Pactor modem. Both are significant investments so it depends on your cruising plans. If crossing oceans, don't leave home without one ... or preferably both.

Check out www.sailcom.co.uk and www.mactrashop.co.uk

Good luck

 

[claudio]

At sea you need either a satphone or SSB with a Pactor modem. Both are significant investments so it depends on your cruising plans. If crossing oceans, don't leave home without one ... or preferably both.

Check out www.sailcom.co.uk and www.mactrashop.co.uk

Good luck

I'd forget the Pactor, used to be OK but now too many users causing interference. SSB for voice, satphone for data. Satphone gives data on demand rather to a schedule as with SSB

 

[Richard10002]

I know very little about computers so be 'laymans terms'
I have the laptop so what bits do i need to get internet/e-mails while in the marina or at sea?

When you say "at sea", how far offshore do you mean? And whether UK only, or foreign climes?

I use a 3 mobile Mifi on a £18 per month 2 year contract, with 15Gb per month allowance.

Works like a wifi point and you can connect with up to 5 "things" at once. e.g. Laptop, iPhone, iPad, SWMBO laptop, etc..

 

[Tomahawk]

Where and what for?

We are looking into this very thing right now.. So far I have found that:-

Internet on board depends on where you are & what you need..Blackberry iPad, dongle on a laptop etc will all work within reach of mobile phone signals and wifi as per normal kit you use at home or on land.. The mobile system seems to work up to about five miles off shore but even the it can be patchy.. You run out of phone signal at the end of the River Crouch, or half way across the Dover Straits.. Once in the network across the chanel it all works again... But at high costs as per data roaming prices?


Thus it comes down to .
What for?? ,web browsing, e mail or getting weather forecasts for off shore sailing? If you need weather forecasts, or have to keep in email contact out of reach of The normal mobile phone network you will have to get a satellite or SSB setup.. SSB (single side band radio) requires a radio operators license and the kit is not easy to install.. Satellite is easy to install but Data is expensive..

Once you have some idea of the what for and where you need it, it is possible to move towards a set of options.. Hope that helps?

 

[brownsox]

Thank you RichardS for a simple explanation - this has clarified it for me.

 

[phantom18]

Thanks for advice, 3g i think but is a nokia n95 phone suitable?

 

[david_bagshaw]

Thanks for advice, 3g i think but is a nokia n95 phone suitable?

basicly yes.

you will need the modem drivers for it, all came on the disc in the box or readily available from nokia on the net.

easiest method is to use nokias connection software, nokia suite.

http://www.nokia.com/gb-en/support/product/n95/downloads/

 

[KellysEye]

We found the internal wifi card didn't have much range so we bought a high gain antenna and a joined 2 USB cables together and put the aerial on the boom. One serious problem with wifi now is hackers, free wifi is their dream. Only use wifi with a secure login. On long passages we didn't bother with email just the odd call home, finding out a relative has snuffed it when 1,000 miles from land is rather pointless.

 

[Sy-Revolution]

Do a search for 'Ubiquity Bullet', that's what we use. Had free wifi from hotels/marinas/cafes etc 90% of the time from Portugal to Greece. Only black spot was Sicily.

C.

 

[SJF]

I also recommend the Ubiquiti Bullet, its an excellent piece of kit. I've documented how I ended up using it here.

 

[colvic987]

When you say "at sea", how far offshore do you mean? And whether UK only, or foreign climes?

I use a 3 mobile Mifi on a £18 per month 2 year contract, with 15Gb per month allowance.

Works like a wifi point and you can connect with up to 5 "things" at once. e.g. Laptop, iPhone, iPad, SWMBO laptop, etc..

+1

 

[jakeroyd]

For your Nokia you can use an app called Joikuhotspot
This creates an adhoc wifi hotspot your laptop , if it has wifi can connect to.
The free version is unsecured but there is a paid for version which uses a pin number.
Your laptop must be able to support adhoc connections.

This uses the normal data allowance on your phones plan

 

[nathanlee]

For your Nokia you can use an app called Joikuhotspot
This creates an adhoc wifi hotspot your laptop , if it has wifi can connect to.
The free version is unsecured but there is a paid for version which uses a pin number.
Your laptop must be able to support adhoc connections.

This uses the normal data allowance on your phones plan

Android and iPhone have this built in.

I was running a dongle, but not just tether to my phone as it's all you can eat data, and I used to run out on 15gb.

 

[DaveRo]

For your Nokia you can use an app called Joikuhotspot...

One limitation of Joikuspot (free version) BTW is that I couldn't connect a wifi Kindle to it. The Kindle requires an infrastructure-mode AP and Joikuspot creates an ad-hoc one - which may be a limition of the phone (it's an N95 8Gb).

I have successfully connected a Kindle to an Android phone hot-spot and my daughter does so with her iPhone. Handy for getting the daily paper.

 

[Conachair]

I know very little about computers so be 'laymans terms'
I have the laptop so what bits do i need to get internet/e-mails while in the marina or at sea?

Something like this... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alfa-AWUS03...I01C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1333981049&sr=8-2
should work straight out of the box and make a big difference in wifi reception. And doesn´t cost much.

You don´t say where? Though there´s wifi pretty much everywhere now, where there´s a load of boats anyway. Not much free now though.

 

[Bobobolinsky]

Android and iPhone have this built in.

I was running a dongle, but not just tether to my phone as it's all you can eat data, and I used to run out on 15gb.

15 gb, that is serious surfing. I get by on 3gb per 8wks

 

[phantom18]

Something like this... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alfa-AWUS03...I01C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1333981049&sr=8-2
should work straight out of the box and make a big difference in wifi reception. And doesn´t cost much.

You don´t say where? Though there´s wifi pretty much everywhere now, where there´s a load of boats anyway. Not much free now though.

Mostly within about 15nm of shore except bay of biscay etc.