Questions from a WiFi Virgin

[boatmike]

Apologies to all for being thick but I am old enough to get confused very easily.
Having started a post on the problems associated with running e-mails on my laptop through a mobile phone a while ago I was convinced by the replies I got that it was such a can of worms that I would just rely on internet cafes and text messages when heading down to Greece in the spring. Now everyone is talking about this WiFi thing on PBO site and it sounds that this might be good. So here are some basic questions.
Is WiFi becoming available generally? Would it be any use to me going down through the French canals, South of France, Corsica, Sardinia, Italy, Ionian?
If so what exactly is it? I have a laptop for nav only at the moment. I assume that to use it I would have to sign up with an internet provider still which raises the question of which one but that's a side issue I guess. (All suggestions welcome) Then if I access the internet through WiFi I can use my Yahoo e-mail address on the boat I suppose but are there any charges other than the ISP? And how many marinas will have connections? Will I find connections other places? If so what do I need to buy to make it work?
Come on all you young IT wizards. Help out an old greybeard trying to keep up with it all please!!

 

[jimboaw]

One grey beard to another. WiFi is ,IMO, the way things are going everywhere. Here in the US the mayor of the city of Philladephia wants to spend public money to turn the whole city into a WiFi zone. Here in Naples Fl. the whole of the main shopping streets are hot spots. You don't even need an ISP! just log on and surf F.O.C. That Europe will go down the same road is inevitable but how fast is another question. The ISPs will do their best to stop it.

 

[boatmike]

No ISP?????? Freee!!!!! I don't belieeeeeve it! There must be some mistake..... Where's the catch??????

 

[BrendanS]

The catch is that you need to pay for access at many 'hotspots'.

There are many free ones though - have a look here to see what they are doing in Bristol for example http://www.bristolwireless.net/index.php/AboutBristolWireless

You need a wireless card for your laptop to make it work. and yes you can use your yahoo email address.

Access is very localised, so don't expect to be able to use it while on the move. There are websites which show the location of 'hotspots' but I doubt you'll find many going down the canals.

 

[JonJon]

I see from their website that a so far successful marina WiFI supplier are going to Charge +£20/month for the privilege plus you need their (more powerful than the average) transmitter and aerial which needs to be plugged into the mains (£150). Unless your boat sits <20 metres or so under the hub aerial.

No free lunches as far as I can see anywhere!!

 

[boatmike]

Thats it then... Back to the internet cafe........

 

[jimboaw]

No catch at all. FREE. If your laptop is WiFi ready (and I think most newer ones are) it will detect signals for you and display networks by name and indicate signal strength. Check out the larger more expensive hotels and Starbucks coffee shops here are all hotspots ,you dont have to be inside buying a coffee!

 

[BrendanS]

There are indeed free wifi hotspots, but Starbucks certainly aren't one of them. You have to be signed up to the T-mobile Hotspot Pass scheme, which is a sort of pay as you go service, where you buy chunks of time. You can check out the details on the Starbucks .co.uk, .com websites, and T-mobile sites

 

[jimboaw]

Rip off UK again! How much do you pay for your ISP these days? Mine is $9.95 a month unlimited by land line.

 

[BrendanS]

Hardly rip off UK, as Starbucks wifi in the US is also provided by T-mobile, and while you can get a one day free pass, after that you are charged for access - see here

There are free hotspots in the UK, as there are in the US, but these have become more limited as time goes by, as companies find it too expensive to provide free of charge. Starbucks in UK and US started off providing hotspots free, but it was made clear that this was introductory to encourage usage, and that fees would apply after a while, which is what indeed happened.

I pay £15, but that is genuinely unlimited - too many so called 'unlimited access' packages have 'fair usage' clauses that would not accept the usage I require

 

[TrueBlue]

Whoops, we're getting away from the location - sur la continent - this has been discussed on PBO r&r / Squigglebob / MoBo flaming pages - think in December.

I only came on to say WiFi on the laptop is OK if you're in the cafe / train station, but if in the comfort of the boat look here on PBO for a discussion of aerials.

Don't be put off, although the technology is microwave, it's amazing what can be done with an old tin can.

 

[trouville]

I use wi-fi when ever i can such as now! It cost about $10 or Euros per hour more or less depending if your useing a telecom card or mac donnalds starbucks($20+) or just given a code to accsses and pay who ever the provider is, there are also many free spots often private wi-fi set ups not really ment for public use- these include garages supermarkets and private flats houses or shops.
If you stay in one place ther are many mothly tarrifs around $20 per month!! much better.
I use a dell x30 PDA to find hot spots and check emails, much handier to carry and works well with skype p2p phone, and for more comfortable working i have IBM X40 which is a very small laptop with 7 hour battery life. Great for cafes.
If your despeate most laptops have bluetooth then you can download your emails useing a portable client and spend very little perhaps paying a 90second call or less?
Best for crusing is to use wi-fi portable phone free supermarket shopping area free accsses pcs and internet cafes as well not forgetting a USB HDD with firefox mozilla skype on it to plug your own OS into any machine without compromising your or the others security.

 

[boatmike]

Yes but does anyone know if this has extended to the areas I mentioned? When I clear the mainland of southern France does Italy, Corsica, Greece etc. have any coverage or has it not reached there yet?

 

[ashley]

Got to this web site and select marinas and the country you are going to
Italy shows 6 marinas, France 9 but none in Greece or corsica

Getting there slowly though

 

[bbilly]

I've got 3 wifi PCs connected at home but if I move more than 5-6 metres away from the router the connection drops. Looking at Ashley's link and from there going to http://freenetworks.org/moin/index.cgi/ReceiveSensitivity it seems that the ability to get an acceptable signal depends not on the router (the signal strength of the device connected to the 'phone line) but on the sensitivity of the device on the PC to pick up a weak signal (from/to the router) and establish an acceptable connection. I really don't know a lot about decibels and microwatts and as my brain is burnt out by 30 yrs of IT jargon and vapourware I really don't want to learn anything new that isn't connected with boating. So, simply speaking are there any eletronic buffs that can indicate USB wifi antennas that could increase my range of access or explain in simple terms how I can identify a wifi card/antenna that suits my needs (of say 20 metres range)?

Thanks in advance

Will

 

[Steve Clayton]

An acceptable signal also needs to be seen by the router from the PC's. Seems strange that 3 wifi PC's don't "see" the router from more than 5-6 metres away so maybe it's the sensitivity of the router. Is the router in as clean an electrical environment as possible? (eg is there a lift on the other side of the wall). It also depends on what medium the signals are having to get through - line of sight is best; anything else that gets in the way; walls, floors, items that reflect the signal etc will only serve to attenuate (reduce the signal strength) and limit the distance accordingly.

Steve

 

[trouville]

Looking at that list,i would be paying 8Euros P hour in St Tropez (my home port) and the same or 20euros per day in St Raphael !! and sain Maxim hasent got any connection.
When your crusing its not the same as "staying" as then you find afordable services, hopefully-so ill just add that in Italy you can buy a wi-fi card which will give you accsses in most places on the coast and inland, In Greece you will also find wi-fi but for there its as well to have an accsses point or airport connector if you want to use your lap top from a cafe, same goes for Corsica.
However as the last time i used wi-fi in Italy and Corsica was a year ago. prices may well have changed and £40 routers installed and a $20 (euro) monthly conection paid for and so we may now have to pay $15/20 per hour !!! Thats the price in most Italian cafes offering an old pc(very slow) with win 95!!!Some have win 98 but none had XP (last year) and why i use the telecom bornes with my PDA.
It seem thats progress today no service get rich quick.
Now im again going to look for a blue tooth phone that can download my mail to my PDA Far less expensive than going online it seems???Ill also have to ask the macdonalds chain for their Italian prices??
Im going back to Google, in the mean time i hope noone in the capitanerie has made an error providing accsses or perhaps at the end of the month their going to present me with a bill for monthly surfing bigger than my annual mooring charge???

 

[bbilly]

Steve,
Thanks for the response. Actually I had to put the router on the top of a bookcase (at approx. 3m) as the tiles in the bathroom which is between the router and the other 2 rooms where the PCs are seemed to impact the signal strenth significantly so I do tend to agree with you. Maybe I should get a more powerfulll router but then what about electrosmog (maybe this is why I have restless sleep at night too /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Will

 

[boatmike]

I think I see what you mean.... Although at first I had an image of you sitting in the "throne room" with your PC on your lap!!!!! :0)

 

[BlueChip]

[ QUOTE ]
An acceptable signal also needs to be seen by the router from the PC's. Seems strange that 3 wifi PC's don't "see" the router from more than 5-6 metres away so maybe it's the sensitivity of the router. Is the router in as clean an electrical environment as possible? (eg is there a lift on the other side of the wall). It also depends on what medium the signals are having to get through - line of sight is best; anything else that gets in the way; walls, floors, items that reflect the signal etc will only serve to attenuate (reduce the signal strength) and limit the distance accordingly.

Steve

[/ QUOTE ]

You need a powered device - this is the best I found and it works a treat
See http://www.802distribution.co.uk/smartbridges.asp?section=products&id=airBridge