MarineTraffic vs Vesselfinder (or are they all a bit rubbish)

[Habebty]

Knowing that internet based AIS sites use crowd sourced data info from shore stations and pretty much for fun only, I can't reconcile how the boat next to me in a marina shows up on Marinetraffic with updates every couple of minutes, but I don't?

Yet my AIS transmission can be seen on Vessel Finder, with updates every couple of minutes, but some other boats seen on Marinetraffic however, can't be seen on Vessel finder.

The latest vessel updates shown on the two websites in all cases was shown as within the hour or even minutes.

So if latest position updates are very recent, how come the shore stations don't pick up all boats?

My AIS is working well (when switched on)

 

[savageseadog]

I've noticed very variable plotting on all the AIS sites, less so with ships but that might be down to better transponder installations and class A AIS.

 

[BrianH]

It must depend on the area. Mine, the northern Adriatic, is better served by Vesselfinder than Marinetraffic, especially where I am on the Italian side where, with the latter we depend on the receivers at Kotor in Slovenia circa 30nm distant, to report us, which only happens spasmodically, until we are out at sea. Vesselfinder, on the other hand, does not reveal what receivers contribute to its reports but always shows me and others in my marina. It also tracked a friend departing for the Canaries most of the way to Gibraltar where Marinetraffic rarely reported him and only then when close to one of its contributory receivers.

But the charts and ancillary functionality of Marinetraffic make it my own site of choice.

 

[mikemanor]

So if latest position updates are very recent, how come the shore stations don't pick up all boats?

If you look at the vessel info on MarineTraffic it will tell you which receive site has sent the report. The boat next to you in the marina might be self reporting ie using a smartphone app to send vessel info direct to the website without actually transmitting AIS.