WiFi Aerial

BobnLesley

BobnLesley

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Yes I know there are lots of posts already on here, but they invariably seem to recommend either super-duper Repeatit/Hawking uinit costing £150 or a build-it-yourself Techie option, which can grab every transmission in the northern hemisphere.

We have a lap-top with built in wifi which works fine in most marinas and when we're at anchor we either, go ashore to an Internet-Cafe, forego the pleasure of an internet connection, or just occassionally pick up a weak signal via the built-in aerial. Whilst we're content to continue in this way, it would be nice to increase the number of occassions we manage to achieve the latter, from once to half-a-dozen times in each blue moon.

So, I'm after recommendations for some sort of aerial/booster which is compact/easily stowed, will plug into a USB port, has ten or twelve feet of cable so we can stay below with it outside, that will increase our reception/transmission range from 100 yards to half a mile or so and cost less than £50.

Any Suggestions?
 
You mentioned it, but it doesn't cost what you said! We use a Hawking and it is excellent, much better than the internal wifi. Buy a USB extension lead (ours is 5m) as well so that the Hawking can go outside with the laptop below.

See this link for one at £45. I paid £49.99 for mine IIRC at Maplins but current price is £59.99 I think.

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?sourceid=navclient&hl=en-GB&rlz=1T4TSEA_en-GBGB298GB298&q=hawking+usb+wifi+adapter&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=16272982240392200237&ei=0IjxSrmoFsPP-Qb_zdzkAg&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBkQ8wIwAw#ps-sellers
 
Robin said:
You mentioned it, but it doesn't cost what you said! We use a Hawking and it is excellent, much better than the internal wifi. Buy a USB extension lead (ours is 5m) as well so that the Hawking can go outside with the laptop below.

See this link for one at £45. I paid £49.99 for mine IIRC at Maplins but current price is £59.99 I think.

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?sourceid=navclient&hl=en-GB&rlz=1T4TSEA_en-GBGB298GB298&q=hawking+usb+wifi+adapter&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=16272982240392200237&ei=0IjxSrmoFsPP-Qb_zdzkAg&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBkQ8wIwAw#ps-sellers
Click to expand...
Hi Robin, we tried the hawkins when in Gib and it was useless so took it back and got our money back. If it works for you fine. Now await with baited breath for results of the original question as we are in the same boat(excuse pun)
Peter
 
Good original question. I'll join the queue holding my breath. I did ask a local anorak who kindly told me I needed " a multi directional super snurgal woofer with adjustable byte gain" (or something) His boat has more aerials than a Russian spy trawler and his rigging glows at night. I understand he picks up his wi-fi from the Sydney Opera House.:D :D
 
rivonia said:
Hi Robin, we tried the hawkins when in Gib and it was useless so took it back and got our money back. If it works for you fine. Now await with baited breath for results of the original question as we are in the same boat(excuse pun)
Peter
Click to expand...

But did you turn off the inbuilt WiFi or disable it's connection when trying the Hawking? If you don't, most laptops go for the inbuilt one as the default connection and even if you are looking at the Hawking stations listed, the inbuilt one will only try to connect to what it sees (or doesn't). Had friends in our marina with a Hawking doing just that until I played with theirs.
 
Buy yourself a usb wireless "dongle" with a removable aerial invest in a 9db "rubber duck" omni directional aerial and screw it to the dongle. Purchase a 5m usb cable and hang dongle plus aerial from boom (use polythene bag in rain). Simple, cheap and effective.

We sell this kind of kit to punters on our wifi sites and have had no complaints so far.

Costs way under £50.

Edit - should have said we use the same setup ourselves with the added refinement of a tupperware box instead of the polythene bag for the dongle.
 
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I use an Alpha Networks AWUS036H. It has an omni directional aerial so it is never going to be as good as the directional Repeatit if you keep pointing in the same direction. But it is pretty good all the same and much better when the boat swings. I put the aerial under the spray hood with an extension lead if I need to boost an iffy signal but mostly it is fine inside attached to the back of the Alpha box. You can get a 500mW version for about £30 on ebay or a 1W version for something less than £60.
 
Robin said:
But did you turn off the inbuilt WiFi or disable it's connection when trying the Hawking? If you don't, most laptops go for the inbuilt one as the default connection and even if you are looking at the Hawking stations listed, the inbuilt one will only try to connect to what it sees (or doesn't). Had friends in our marina with a Hawking doing just that until I played with theirs.
Click to expand...

Oh dear....no I did not turn it off. Now a question for you. If I did turn it off how would my lap top be able to receive a signal? your answer simpl please as I am a bit of a Ludite.

Peter
 
Following a long thread earlier this year on this forum I bought a Repeatit. Can't remember what I paid but definately no where near £150.

Works well in marinas; put it in the main's drop in sail bag over the main hatch and sit snugly at the chart table. Went from one or two intermittent WiFi sources to over 20, though had to rotate the antenna to try different sectors of the horizon as it sees about +/- 20 degree from the direction its pointing in, though strong signals still come in when at the back of the antenna. My Acer has built in WiFi but this system overides it once installed. Took me about ten minutes from opening the box to working.

There is a saying that goes along the lines of only getting what you pay for!
 
rivonia said:
Oh dear....no I did not turn it off. Now a question for you. If I did turn it off how would my lap top be able to receive a signal? your answer simpl please as I am a bit of a Ludite.

Peter
Click to expand...

I think below is what happens - from my own investigations I hasten to add not some techy knowledge!

The laptop ordinarily receives via it's inbuilt aerial (I think fitted around the screen?) and built in receiver & transmitter and the external devices replace this, in the case of the Hawking with a mini dish connected via USB. Some laptops, like my Toshiba, have an external switch to disable the inbuilt WiFi, in my case a tiny slide switch on the front edge and a small LED shows when it is 'on'. Others, like a friend's Dell don't have the slide switch and you have to use the 'connections' disable or enable feature in Control Panel to do it. Perhaps some software with some WiFi add-on gizmos does it anyway but in my case and my friend's Dell it didn't and it seemed like the laptop worked on whichever connection was first to be detected. I had a similar problem when I had both a dial-up landline with one ISP and a wireless broadband hook up with another ISP on together (long story) and once again even though broadband was on, the laptop went for the dial-up slow connection if that one had been connected first. It was a long time before I discovered this little anomaly purely by chance.

With my inbuilt WiFi I can currently 'see' 4 networks other than my own here at home. If I connect the Hawking, I can then see 15 most days but all are now security enabled so I can't say how many I could connect to. In St Peter Port in September we were in the outer harbour and able to connect and download emails and internet weather pages using the Hawking from 4 different open sources, one cafe, one pub and two hotels, all in town, all just as well because the harbour WiFi wasn't working as is often the case.

Hope that helps!
 
I've also used the Alpha Networks USB unit which is excellent. It is 500mW so wouldn't be legal to use in UK where I think the limit is 100mW. but highly recommended.

Once picked up an Internet cafe at a range of around 3 miles. I guess they had an antenna on seaward side of the building. Line of sight is important and range reduces dramatically when surrounded by hundreds of masts.

Following points might be useful:
1) I bought a large 9db antenna but reverted to the original (2-3db I think). It didn't seem to provide any benefit as unit almost always picked up a good signal.

2) I also have 2 5m USB extension cables (one passive, the other active). So it is possible to hoist it inside a poly bag. But only needed to do this a couple of times in crowded marina (or bay around the corner from one).

N.B.
Putting a long extension on antenna lead won't work as the loss due to the wire is greater than any gain from a clearer signal. However, USB leads are completely different and will carry a (digital) signal for at least 5m without a problem (any more and an active lead is more reliable). So that's why you put antenna directly into the box and hoist whole thing if needed.
 
Thanks from me for all info,it was clear(Robin). I am going to put it onto the nett(our local am session on vhf) and see who comes up with answers here in Almerimar. At present on a pay scheme which we are happy with 1euro a day. BUT when we move on to anchorages thats when we want the booster/aerial thingy bob.
Many thanks

Peter
 
srm said:
Following a long thread earlier this year on this forum I bought a Repeatit. Can't remember what I paid but definately no where near £150.

Works well in marinas; put it in the main's drop in sail bag over the main hatch and sit snugly at the chart table. Went from one or two intermittent WiFi sources to over 20, though had to rotate the antenna to try different sectors of the horizon as it sees about +/- 20 degree from the direction its pointing in, though strong signals still come in when at the back of the antenna. My Acer has built in WiFi but this system overides it once installed. Took me about ten minutes from opening the box to working.

There is a saying that goes along the lines of only getting what you pay for!
Click to expand...

Can you quote the model number please? I looked at their website but without a higher degree in electronics I found it impossible to understand what I needed.
 
Our Repeatit has been great on mainland Spain, but in the Balearics at anchor we have gone over to a Vodafone USB data dongle and always got a very good and fast 3G signal. If you have to have access for the weather or email this is a very cost effective answer. 250 Mb download for 20 euros has lasted us 2.5 months. It works up to 15 miles offshore.
 
3G over WLAN

sailinglegend420 said:
Our Repeatit has been great on mainland Spain, but in the Balearics at anchor we have gone over to a Vodafone USB data dongle and always got a very good and fast 3G signal. If you have to have access for the weather or email this is a very cost effective answer. 250 Mb download for 20 euros has lasted us 2.5 months. It works up to 15 miles offshore.
Click to expand...

IMHO a far better solution than hunting wi-fi signals

The cost have dropped dramatically all over mainland Europe, for cellular data, in the past 18 months - Bouygues, France and TIM Italy €20 for 100', TIM especially good as any top-up within the month was €4 for 100'.

In Greece I'm paying €30/month for 5Gb - for internet on my chart-table, wherever I am, with no hassle.

Having experienced the costs and aggro of WLAN internet in 8 years in the Med and 2 in the Atlantic, I'll leave it to the masochists to keep on with it.
 
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