Oen
Well-Known Member
Has anyone had any experience (positive or negative) of the quality of the service, connection speeds, problems, etc? Particularly in Gosport, but elsewhere also of interest...
Square Mile - Gosport Marina (and elsewhere)...
- Thread starter Oen
- Start date
Sixpence
Well-Known Member
are you talking about the wireless connection through ( or connected with ) mymarina.co.uk
Oen
Well-Known Member
Yes...
Sixpence
Well-Known Member
I'm not actually in that area at all but I'm trying to find out what sort of reputation they have , any comments , apart from the obvious one at the moment
julianspurr
Member
Hi
I used it (Wireless) from October 2005 to April this year in Haslar when the free offer ended and I never got around to taking out a paid subscription - plus I didn't use it a great deal. It was OK and worked most of the time but I am quite close to one of the aerials. Others in the marina said that it was very intermittent and it did seem to matter where the boat is in relation to the situation of the aerials. This may have changed but I reckon that the best way to tell is to try a wireless laptop from where the boat is berthed and you should pick up the network login screen whether you subscribe or not and see what the signal strength is.
Overall it did work for me and was reasonably reliable - but as I say I was 50 meters from the aerial on the toilets on G pontoon.
I used it (Wireless) from October 2005 to April this year in Haslar when the free offer ended and I never got around to taking out a paid subscription - plus I didn't use it a great deal. It was OK and worked most of the time but I am quite close to one of the aerials. Others in the marina said that it was very intermittent and it did seem to matter where the boat is in relation to the situation of the aerials. This may have changed but I reckon that the best way to tell is to try a wireless laptop from where the boat is berthed and you should pick up the network login screen whether you subscribe or not and see what the signal strength is.
Overall it did work for me and was reasonably reliable - but as I say I was 50 meters from the aerial on the toilets on G pontoon.
Sixpence
Well-Known Member
is their customer service reputation any good , so if someone complained about poor connections would they deal with it promptly etc
BlueChip
Well-Known Member
I am at Haslar and got a low cost deal and subscribed the first year it was available, but had real connection problems and SQM extended my subscription. Performance varied from day to day, sometimes excellent and othertimes could not manage any connection. I used an airbridge powered wireless bridge to increase my transmission power but it didnt make a huge difference. When my subscription expired they moved to a free model and I used it from time to time but again it wasn't reliable.
Now SQM is fully subscription again, I tried to use it a month or so back on PAYG but I couldn't get a connection and wouldn't bother again.
Their tech support used to be £1 a minute and I couldn't call them from my Orange phone as Orange don't allow calls to premium lines with that high a charge. I believe they farmed it out to a third party support house.
Their tech support may be different now.
Haslar is wired for telephones so its straightford to get a landline at a berth and a number of people have done that.
Wireless in a Marina is a nice idea and I am sure one day will be made available by every marina operator but I think at the moment the technical difficulties seem to be too great for it to be reliable
Now SQM is fully subscription again, I tried to use it a month or so back on PAYG but I couldn't get a connection and wouldn't bother again.
Their tech support used to be £1 a minute and I couldn't call them from my Orange phone as Orange don't allow calls to premium lines with that high a charge. I believe they farmed it out to a third party support house.
Their tech support may be different now.
Haslar is wired for telephones so its straightford to get a landline at a berth and a number of people have done that.
Wireless in a Marina is a nice idea and I am sure one day will be made available by every marina operator but I think at the moment the technical difficulties seem to be too great for it to be reliable
jwilson
Well-Known Member
On 20th July I wrote to Square Mile as follows:
Dear Sirs,
On Tuesday evening I signed up for pay as you go wifi internet access in Weymouth Marina. I was online for about ten minutes, after which time I gave up trying to download my emails, as the connection speed was so slow. The problem was not the website I was accessing, as your own login page was also ultra-slow to load. Also, I later went to an internet cafe in the town, and downloaded all I needed very quickly.
I tried again using your connection in the marina on Wednesday, and this time took about 25 minutes to download emails, and briefly look at one more website. On my own 512Kb broadband connection I could have done all this in a minute or less. I would rate the speed of your connection
at Weymouth as far slower than even a non-broadband modem.
Your wifi connection was showing 5.5 Mbs speed and very high signal strength....
Given the high cost of pay as you go access I am most dissatisfied with your service.
Yours faithfully,
etc.....
The reply was:
Sir,
Thank you for your e-mail I will investigate your concerns.
Kind regards,
Nic Woodhams
MARINA ACCOUNT MANAGER
Square Mile International Ltd
…Europe’s largest marina Wi-Fi operator
---------
I have heard nothing more from them.
I was there again about two weeks ago, and once again tried to use the service. Not quite as slow as before, but pretty rubbish....
Dear Sirs,
On Tuesday evening I signed up for pay as you go wifi internet access in Weymouth Marina. I was online for about ten minutes, after which time I gave up trying to download my emails, as the connection speed was so slow. The problem was not the website I was accessing, as your own login page was also ultra-slow to load. Also, I later went to an internet cafe in the town, and downloaded all I needed very quickly.
I tried again using your connection in the marina on Wednesday, and this time took about 25 minutes to download emails, and briefly look at one more website. On my own 512Kb broadband connection I could have done all this in a minute or less. I would rate the speed of your connection
at Weymouth as far slower than even a non-broadband modem.
Your wifi connection was showing 5.5 Mbs speed and very high signal strength....
Given the high cost of pay as you go access I am most dissatisfied with your service.
Yours faithfully,
etc.....
The reply was:
Sir,
Thank you for your e-mail I will investigate your concerns.
Kind regards,
Nic Woodhams
MARINA ACCOUNT MANAGER
Square Mile International Ltd
…Europe’s largest marina Wi-Fi operator
---------
I have heard nothing more from them.
I was there again about two weeks ago, and once again tried to use the service. Not quite as slow as before, but pretty rubbish....
Chrissie
Well-Known Member
I was told that the speed of download is directly related to the capabilities of the slowest computer on the wirefree system, so each computer on the system is slowed down to that speed.
This certainly happens in my house when my daughter conects her old machine, the rest of the computers on the router slow down too.
This certainly happens in my house when my daughter conects her old machine, the rest of the computers on the router slow down too.
pragmatist
Well-Known Member
Chrissie
This certainly won't happen with wireless since each wireless client is independently connected. Almost all slow connections will be the result of a poor signal level. Many people seem to think that an outdoor wireless solution should be as fast and reliable as an indoor one - which is not wholly reasonable. After all you get tides changing the relationship between transmitter and your boat, masts, superstructures etc getting in the way. The quality of the infrastructure does however impact in a major way upon signal strength - we have clients able to use the system up to a mile from the main transmitter.
There is a huge variation in the performance of wireless enabled laptops - and it isn't necessarily the case that newer is better. I visited a a boat on the river which had 2 laptops - one, the older of the 2, connected perfectly (this was about 400-500 yds from the transmitter) - the other, a brand new Senao, needed an external aerial.
The best thing is to try the system with your laptop and be prepared to purchase an external aerial. And beware - at the risk of being accused of being a teenage geek /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif - Windows reporting of wireless strength can be very misleading. In particular, whilst passive it may report a good signal but may often be insufficient once you actually try and connect if you're trying to do this over any distance. Don't forget that laptop manufacturers design their kit to work in indoors - and certainly not through a GRP hull ! A small USB aerial costs anywhere between £20 and £50 and an extension cable helps you to site the aerial in the best place. That place may vary according to the tide, whose boat is in the way etc. Siting one in a window so it has sight of the transmitter is often sufficient, but siting it higher (e.g. on a boom) can significantly improve the signal. And if it rains a plastic bag or clear sandwich box means you can carry on surfing !
As a competitor to Square Mile, plainly I cannot comment on their support.
Penny
This certainly won't happen with wireless since each wireless client is independently connected. Almost all slow connections will be the result of a poor signal level. Many people seem to think that an outdoor wireless solution should be as fast and reliable as an indoor one - which is not wholly reasonable. After all you get tides changing the relationship between transmitter and your boat, masts, superstructures etc getting in the way. The quality of the infrastructure does however impact in a major way upon signal strength - we have clients able to use the system up to a mile from the main transmitter.
There is a huge variation in the performance of wireless enabled laptops - and it isn't necessarily the case that newer is better. I visited a a boat on the river which had 2 laptops - one, the older of the 2, connected perfectly (this was about 400-500 yds from the transmitter) - the other, a brand new Senao, needed an external aerial.
The best thing is to try the system with your laptop and be prepared to purchase an external aerial. And beware - at the risk of being accused of being a teenage geek /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif - Windows reporting of wireless strength can be very misleading. In particular, whilst passive it may report a good signal but may often be insufficient once you actually try and connect if you're trying to do this over any distance. Don't forget that laptop manufacturers design their kit to work in indoors - and certainly not through a GRP hull ! A small USB aerial costs anywhere between £20 and £50 and an extension cable helps you to site the aerial in the best place. That place may vary according to the tide, whose boat is in the way etc. Siting one in a window so it has sight of the transmitter is often sufficient, but siting it higher (e.g. on a boom) can significantly improve the signal. And if it rains a plastic bag or clear sandwich box means you can carry on surfing !
As a competitor to Square Mile, plainly I cannot comment on their support.
Penny
Seven Spades
Well-Known Member
In my experiance the service is hopless. It took and age to get to the loggin page as I am not a livabord OAYG is the only real option and the charges are high and connection speed terrible. I woud give it a miss.I think itis a shame that with the level of fees we pay that all marinas cannot bring them selves to provide a free connection as part of the service. I believe that Gosport marina does.
Oen
Well-Known Member
Well, I thought I would see if I was alone in the problems I've been having. No free connection at Gosport, and I must say that my experiences match those here. Hopeless download speed, intermittent connection, and all for £10 a month.
The chap behind it, I am told, plans to be the first 'Dragon's Den' millionaire. Perhaps it's time for a quiet word with the show's producers...
The chap behind it, I am told, plans to be the first 'Dragon's Den' millionaire. Perhaps it's time for a quiet word with the show's producers...
gerry99
Well-Known Member
For those of you who have a more modern mobile telephone, that is GPRS/3G enabled, it is a better option. I tried out WiFi in my marina and found it to be variable, with distance from the aerial being a major factor in connection speed and quality. As i am 2/3 down a long pontoon the only time I could usefully use it was when ashore, or with my laptop perched precariously on top of the sprayhood!
I have a Nokia 6280 mobile phone (but any suitable one will do) so subscribed to GPRS/3G. I connect the phone to my laptop using a USB cable and, using Nokia's PC Suite software, I connect to the internet with no problems and no distance limitations. Connection speeds vary from 112kbps to over 400kbps - all of which ar very usable.
More importantly, as it is a packet system you only pay for the data that is transferred back and forth, not the amount of time you are connected.
I would recommend this approach over WiFi any day.
regards
I have a Nokia 6280 mobile phone (but any suitable one will do) so subscribed to GPRS/3G. I connect the phone to my laptop using a USB cable and, using Nokia's PC Suite software, I connect to the internet with no problems and no distance limitations. Connection speeds vary from 112kbps to over 400kbps - all of which ar very usable.
More importantly, as it is a packet system you only pay for the data that is transferred back and forth, not the amount of time you are connected.
I would recommend this approach over WiFi any day.
regards
peteandthira
Well-Known Member
Those of us using Sq M in Falmouth seem to be satisfied. It caved in a couple of times in the last month but generally it is sound at about 200m from the antenna as we are. Additionally their helpline is now not charged at £1 a minute, just an 0870 number which is a bit more acceptable. I am using a Dell D800 with a Netgear card plugged into the side of the lappy.
Much cheaper than GPRS IMHO.
Pops
Much cheaper than GPRS IMHO.
Pops
Bajansailor
Well-Known Member
I was in Trinidad the past couple of days on a survey job, and saw a brilliant set up on a friend's boat for amplifying the WiFi signal received from the transmitter ashore (he was on a mooring off TTSA). Instead of trying to point the little receiver at the transmitter ashore, Owen had it set up using a parabolic satellite dish to amplify the signal to the receiver, and his signal strength was significantly improved.
Where do you get these dishes? Ummm well, try making one yourself - this highly sophisticated parabolic dish was just a standard 10" diameter S/S kitchen sieve.........
Of course this dish would not work very well if the boat is at anchor or on a swinging mooring - one would have to keep on adjusting it as the boat swung - but it works well on a fore and aft mooring (and probably in a marina too).
Where do you get these dishes? Ummm well, try making one yourself - this highly sophisticated parabolic dish was just a standard 10" diameter S/S kitchen sieve.........
Of course this dish would not work very well if the boat is at anchor or on a swinging mooring - one would have to keep on adjusting it as the boat swung - but it works well on a fore and aft mooring (and probably in a marina too).
rwakeham
Well-Known Member
Square Mile is awful. In Brighton they have upgraded their wireless network but it still does not work. I took out a years subscription but wrote to them saying it was not fit for purpose. Their customer service have never answered an email. Interestingly in their billing section you can alter your card details and then they do not seem able to collect anymore cash.
A couple of days ago they sent me an unsolicited email with a load of peoples contact details, user names, passwords, problem reports and network information on it.
They clearly are not up to the job, and also seem on the face of it totally unprofessional.
A couple of days ago they sent me an unsolicited email with a load of peoples contact details, user names, passwords, problem reports and network information on it.
They clearly are not up to the job, and also seem on the face of it totally unprofessional.
tworeefs
Well-Known Member
I see that MDL now offer WiFi access in all of their marinas. Their supplier is a company called WiFi Spark, who also supply a small number of other marinas. What experience does anyone have of using this service? Is it any better or is WiFi in marinas subject to too many variables such as distance from base stations and interference?
Richard10002
Well-Known Member
Having read lots of negative stuff about Square Mile, it would seem that they are just playing at it, and have little commitment, (or ability), to providing a reasonable service.
OR
they are not very good at explaining to customers that a wifi enabled laptop/PC is designed for wifi in the home, (short distances), and some enhancement to transmitting/receiving may be necessary. I think their site suggests buying a booster which costs about £90, and looks like it needs some fitting, when it seems that a £15 USB adaptor will do the trick.
My only experience of WiFi is in the marina at Lagos, (Portugal), where they seem to have 3 aerials mounted around the marina which provide reasonably good coverage 24/7.
I am berthed at one of the extremities of the marina and get excellent coverage with my laptop in the cockpit, but sporadic down below.
I've bought a USB adaptor and 5m of USB cable, and hope that this will sort things out when I return to the boat on Wednesday, so that I can use it comfortably down below.
I wonder if anyone using Square Mile has solved their problems with a £15 gizmo?
Cheers
Richard
OR
they are not very good at explaining to customers that a wifi enabled laptop/PC is designed for wifi in the home, (short distances), and some enhancement to transmitting/receiving may be necessary. I think their site suggests buying a booster which costs about £90, and looks like it needs some fitting, when it seems that a £15 USB adaptor will do the trick.
My only experience of WiFi is in the marina at Lagos, (Portugal), where they seem to have 3 aerials mounted around the marina which provide reasonably good coverage 24/7.
I am berthed at one of the extremities of the marina and get excellent coverage with my laptop in the cockpit, but sporadic down below.
I've bought a USB adaptor and 5m of USB cable, and hope that this will sort things out when I return to the boat on Wednesday, so that I can use it comfortably down below.
I wonder if anyone using Square Mile has solved their problems with a £15 gizmo?
Cheers
Richard
danielbroad
Well-Known Member
I think a lot of people expect to be able to just use their standard built in wireless which isn't always realistic, i get MDL's Wifi in Shamrock Quay from my marina over a km away with this
jb2006
Well-Known Member
I have used Square mile in Gosport marina with mixed success - generally it has been fine and not too slow - I occasionally have to use the computer in the cockpit (so an extension aerial would probably cure that) and occasionally have been unable to connect.
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