masterofnone
Well-Known Member
Any advice? Been looking at glomex lite/ wifi antenna.
wifi / 4/5g on board
- Thread starter masterofnone
- Start date
stephen_h
Well-Known Member
I have just fitted 3G/4G and still have the wifi to fit.
I used these Wifionboard and so far very good
I used these Wifionboard and so far very good
maby
Well-Known Member
Don't enter into any long term 3g/4g contracts - stick to either PAYG or 1 month contracts. Coverage round the coast tends to be pretty poor and we often find that we have to change mobile network whenever we move the boat. It's very annoying to be forced to continue paying a contract when there is no signal on your mooring!
RobbieW
Well-Known Member
To some extent its going to depend on where you want internet access, ie are you mostly in your home marina, cruising and anchoring, cruising using marinas.....
A WiFi extender may be worth it if the marina has a reliable fast service that, more importantly, stays that way from onboard. I've pretty much given up on using other peoples wifi as its become too unreliable and inaccessible.
5g is unlikely to be useful onboard short term, mainly because the cells that support it are short range (10s of meters). It works by having lots of them.
So focusing on 4g, as maby says its all about the signal where you are. I've been using a simple 4g dongle plugged into a small router to provide an onboard wifi service. A downside of that is that unlimited data plans for multi device SIMS are a bit like hens teeth. A mifi is a simpler way of achieving the same end and if it has an external 4g antenna connection for poor reception areas thats a bonus.
A Giffgaff SIM provides flexible PAYG use, runs on the O2 network and isnt bad overall. In the west country you probably need EE or one of the MVNOs that use the EE network. 3 tends to get weaker the further you are from concentrations of people. Elsewhere its a bit do your own research.
In many ways, for casual use it may be better to stick with the phone SIM using that as a hotspot for other devices.
A WiFi extender may be worth it if the marina has a reliable fast service that, more importantly, stays that way from onboard. I've pretty much given up on using other peoples wifi as its become too unreliable and inaccessible.
5g is unlikely to be useful onboard short term, mainly because the cells that support it are short range (10s of meters). It works by having lots of them.
So focusing on 4g, as maby says its all about the signal where you are. I've been using a simple 4g dongle plugged into a small router to provide an onboard wifi service. A downside of that is that unlimited data plans for multi device SIMS are a bit like hens teeth. A mifi is a simpler way of achieving the same end and if it has an external 4g antenna connection for poor reception areas thats a bonus.
A Giffgaff SIM provides flexible PAYG use, runs on the O2 network and isnt bad overall. In the west country you probably need EE or one of the MVNOs that use the EE network. 3 tends to get weaker the further you are from concentrations of people. Elsewhere its a bit do your own research.
In many ways, for casual use it may be better to stick with the phone SIM using that as a hotspot for other devices.
Last edited:
ryanroberts
Well-Known Member
Don't know how yacht suitable they are, hopefully find out soon, but I use an external OMNI antenna Poynting 4G-XPOL-A0001 Cross Polarised 4G Omni LTE Antenna: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories and an unlocked 4G router that will take the connection. Would be nice to get a wifi extender in the same package and wire in a voltage regulator. The Wifionboard - Wifi onboard stuff looks stupidly expensive for probably out of date chipsets that the Chinese put in crackers. I have had very few true dead spots anywhere inland at least with a decent antenna.
Three have unlimited router / tethering tarrif for not very much, though their network is crappy in some locations. It's mostly good enough to use for remote working.
Wifionboard are taking the mick, that's a £30-40 OEM router and a not particularly good antenna for 600 quid. You can amazon the same router + bits for well under 200.
Three have unlimited router / tethering tarrif for not very much, though their network is crappy in some locations. It's mostly good enough to use for remote working.
Wifionboard are taking the mick, that's a £30-40 OEM router and a not particularly good antenna for 600 quid. You can amazon the same router + bits for well under 200.
Last edited:
maby
Well-Known Member
There are several unlimited data plans around, but most of them require a 12 month commitment - not really suitable for a boat that is likely to move.
ryanroberts
Well-Known Member
There are global non expiring prepay data plans for IoT devices etc but they are not cheap for personal use. If it is for UK use mostly, an antenna really makes a huge difference.
dune16
Well-Known Member
The wifionboard stuff is up to date but stupidly expensive considering it's just Huawei stuff that you can get anywhere else
I'm using the following with a Three 2 year payg sim. I'll soon see how well it works in the med.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B011YM0QC4
+
Vbestlife, 28dbi High Gain 4G: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics
I'm using the following with a Three 2 year payg sim. I'll soon see how well it works in the med.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B011YM0QC4
+
Vbestlife, 28dbi High Gain 4G: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics
duncan99210
Well-Known Member
Just use a phone and set it up as a personal hotspot. We’ve been doing this for some years using an iPhone whilst we spend the summer months on board. On the odd occasion when we wind up with a poor signal, we put the phone into a waterproof bag and hoist it up the mast using a signal halyard.
One iPhone will support two iPads doing most stuff except for streaming 2 videos at the same time.
One iPhone will support two iPads doing most stuff except for streaming 2 videos at the same time.
ryanroberts
Well-Known Member
They could at least stick it in a serious looking industrial case with an anchor on it or something.
This probably costs more than most of our boats at a guess MeridianXS | Fastest Internet Onboard Superyachts. 4 £10 broadcom SoCs and a raspberry Pi in a fancy box would do it.
V1701
Well-Known Member
I also have a Three 2 year SIM only deal unlimited everything inc when using phone as hotspot £10/m first 6 months £20 thereafter, I live aboard FT, marina wifi is useless. Also same in 70 odd other countries. The longer we go on the less of an incentive there seems to be to fit fancy expensive wifi aerials just to get some low bandwidth wifi & the more incentive there seems to be to fit 4G(5G?) signal boosters...
masterofnone
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the advice, as becomes pbo. From hoisting my mobile up the mast to a superyacht wifi system! It would appear that the only dual system (wifi antenna and 4g sim) combination is the glomex lite. Unless anyone knows better.WEBBOAT 4G LITE - THE NEW GLOMEX COMPACT SINGLE SIM 4G/WI-FI COASTAL INTERNET ANTENNA SYSTEM
RobbieW
Well-Known Member
At the risk of teaching my granny
... installing that at the masthead then changing the SIM card could be... erm... interesting (even with mast steps). See if you can get a demo before you buy, just to try out the WiFi selection (hotspot manager) interface - some are intuitive, some arentryanroberts
Well-Known Member
This looks like a decent boaty antenna with various bracket options Solwise - Poynting High Gain Marine Antenna 450-2700 Mhz - ANT-OMNI-291 | Solwise Ltd . Can fit one or two of those and use a compact industrial router like Teltonika 4G-RUT240 Compact Industrial 4G LTE Router: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories (most home routers are big empty boxes because telcos are vain about wanting their branding on show in people's rooms).
dunedin
Well-Known Member
Thats what we do also - except that in some remote Scottish anchorages (where a text signal is difficult to find, let alone 2G or 3G data signal) the phone goes up on the spinnaker halyard to the masthead, in its waterproof case. The WiFi hotspot easily usable at deck level.
Dilemma
Active Member
We have Huawei B315, 4G Wi-Fi Router and Huawei 2 X External 3G/4G Antenna with vodafone annual contract, £20 per month for 100GB 4G. We have used this without problems sailing all the way from Holland via Belgium, France and Portugal to Med Spain for browsing, TV, iPlayer, eMail, internet radio etc.. The router comes home for our summer and winter break and serves as our broadband in London.
ip485
Well-Known Member
I use the Redbox solution together with the 4G module after investigating various others. It works very well. Essentially there is a central hub to which you can connect 3/4G, Wifi and Sat Phone. All sources then become available through a local WiFi connection on board with quite sophisticated control over the amount of data that can be used and from which source. It also means that everyone can share the same access point wihtout each person having to log in. Reception of the 3/4G signal and WiFi is dependent on the quality of the external antenna. The better the antenna, the better the signal. I have come to the conclusion that so called boosters are not quite what they seem. The bottom line is you can boost a signal if one exists but the key to getting a signal is having the best available aerial you can afford. I have seperate 3/4G and WiFi aerials mounted externally and realtively high up onn the arch. I reckon I can pull in a signal if anything of a signal exists, so will typically see WiFi hot spots and 3/4 G connections from signifcant distances.
I considered things like Glomex but came to the conclusion these were no more than a good 3/4G aerial (but not the best) with a 3/4 G modem built in. The advantage is the modem is very close to the aerial so signal loss in the wire is as small as possible. The down side is that changing sim cards may be much less than convenient depending were you place the dome. On the other hand the Redbox Sim unit can be placed somewhere convenient and easy to get to remote from the aerial. Using top quality low loss aerial cable pretty much overcomes the signal loss in the cable, and made good by using a better aerial in the first place.
It is not the cheapest option but very robust and probably one of the best all round solutions in my opionion if you want on board WiFi that taps in to either 3/4 G, WiFi hotspots or your Sat Phone if you have one, and enable anyone on board to connect their device and access any of these sources from one hotspot, with controls in place if needed to limit how much data they can use, or what they can do.
I considered things like Glomex but came to the conclusion these were no more than a good 3/4G aerial (but not the best) with a 3/4 G modem built in. The advantage is the modem is very close to the aerial so signal loss in the wire is as small as possible. The down side is that changing sim cards may be much less than convenient depending were you place the dome. On the other hand the Redbox Sim unit can be placed somewhere convenient and easy to get to remote from the aerial. Using top quality low loss aerial cable pretty much overcomes the signal loss in the cable, and made good by using a better aerial in the first place.
It is not the cheapest option but very robust and probably one of the best all round solutions in my opionion if you want on board WiFi that taps in to either 3/4 G, WiFi hotspots or your Sat Phone if you have one, and enable anyone on board to connect their device and access any of these sources from one hotspot, with controls in place if needed to limit how much data they can use, or what they can do.
pagoda
Well-Known Member
I use Giffgaff, my wife EE. As mentioned there are plenty of places in Scotland with voice only signals , never mind data!. Having two different SIMS is a major plus point, One or other phone acts as a hotspot.
I don't think we would cope with one network on its own..
Ashore - - is a very different scenario.
I don't think we would cope with one network on its own..
Ashore - - is a very different scenario.
masterofnone
Well-Known Member
BT are doing a 50gb sim deal inc unlimited calls and text for £15 pm.
masterofnone
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the replies. Either of these it is then.
TP-Link Archer MR600 AC1200 Mbps 4G+ Cat6 Mobile Wi-Fi Router Dual Band, 4G/3G Network SIM Slot Unlocked, No Configuration required, Support Guest Network & Parental Control, UK Plug .
Roll over image to zoom in
Huawei B525-4G 300Mbps, CAT 6, mobile WiFi Router, unlocked to all networks -Genuine UK Warranty stock (non network logo)- White
and for the antenna
Poynting 4G-XPOL-A0001 Cross Polarised 4G Omni LTE Antenna . thanks
TP-Link Archer MR600 AC1200 Mbps 4G+ Cat6 Mobile Wi-Fi Router Dual Band, 4G/3G Network SIM Slot Unlocked, No Configuration required, Support Guest Network & Parental Control, UK Plug .
Roll over image to zoom in
Huawei B525-4G 300Mbps, CAT 6, mobile WiFi Router, unlocked to all networks -Genuine UK Warranty stock (non network logo)- White
and for the antenna
Poynting 4G-XPOL-A0001 Cross Polarised 4G Omni LTE Antenna . thanks
