WIFI antenna

Javelin

Javelin

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www.southwoldboatyard.co.uk
A few weeks back there was a review in YM on wifi boosters / antennas.
Anyway after three weeks in Holland we decided we need one.
Trouble is I can't find my copy anywhere.
Can anyone remember which ones turned out as the best option.
I do remember that the Digital Yachts one didn't do so well which is a shame as I thought it would be good but there were better and cheaper options.
 
If you would care to walk down the pontoon a little way, I think you will find a thread about this a dozen posts below or so.
 
Javelin said:
A few weeks back there was a review in YM on wifi boosters / antennas.
Anyway after three weeks in Holland we decided we need one.
Trouble is I can't find my copy anywhere.
Can anyone remember which ones turned out as the best option.
I do remember that the Digital Yachts one didn't do so well which is a shame as I thought it would be good but there were better and cheaper options.
Click to expand...

I had the same question and noticed that no one had actually answered your question, just some obtuse remarks.
The Internet booster and router review appeared in YM June 2016 edition:
YM best value router = Wi-Fi On Board scoring 7/10 ~310 GBP
YM premium product = Hubba X4Go scoring 8/10 ~795 GBP
 
jackpetj said:
I had the same question and noticed that no one had actually answered your question, just some obtuse remarks.
The Internet booster and router review appeared in YM June 2016 edition:
YM best value router = Wi-Fi On Board scoring 7/10 ~310 GBP
YM premium product = Hubba X4Go scoring 8/10 ~795 GBP
Click to expand...

Very fortunate that someone who just joined managed to stumble across this old thread by accident and was able to bring attention to some expensive options. :D:D
 
Javelin
I haven't read the previous post referred to here, but I carried out the tests and wrote the report. The best cheap booster was the Kuma long range antenna (www.acdctv.co.uk).
 
jackpetj said:
I read the referenced posts and can't see an answer to "Javelin's" original question.
Click to expand...

Ah, newbie mistake expecting something like:

OP: Where can I get xyz?
A: Go to somesuch.com, I checked and they are the cheapest in the world and have great customer service
A: +1
A: +1
A: I also agree
OP: Thanks, guys I got it.

More normal approach is to answer a different question or say OP shouldn't buy xyz but get abc instead. Both of these approaches get you extra points (a bit like stars in eBay). Try searching for "what's the best anchor" to see how a thread ought to progress.
 
+1 Mistroma, why do people have to open a thread they know they are going to object to, just so they can say why opening the tread was a waste of their time. I opened this one thinking the OP's question would elicit some helpful responses but it was a while before it did, first its very existence had to be questioned :rolleyes:

We're moving to a pontoon about 200m from a wifi access point and would also like to know a good cheap wifi booster if such a thing exists.
 
dk said:
Javelin
I haven't read the previous post referred to here, but I carried out the tests and wrote the report. The best cheap booster was the Kuma long range antenna (www.acdctv.co.uk).
Click to expand...

I seem to remember that thread. I think that the Kuma USB WiFi Wireless Repeater appeared to be an Alfa R36 but priced at £130 instead of £50. There was a suggestion that they'd altered the firmware to justify the price. Not certain about their USB Antenna but think it was a directional panel antenna in a box with USB device based on same chipset used in original Alfa AWUS036NH. I didn't see the report but wondered how the Alfa products had fared in direct comparison with the Kuma. I do know that AWUS036NEH isn't Alfa's best product and some people had issues with R36.

BTW I believe that Alfa are phasing out the R36 and have a replacement in the pipeline.
 
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Niffler said:
+1 Mistroma, why do people have to open a thread they know they are going to object to, just so they can say why opening the tread was a waste of their time. I opened this one thinking the OP's question would elicit some helpful responses but it was a while before it did, first its very existence had to be questioned :rolleyes:

We're moving to a pontoon about 200m from a wifi access point and would also like to know a good cheap wifi booster if such a thing exists.
Click to expand...

No guarantees as line of sight is everything. Performance could be disappointing if there are lots of masts or marina antenna is directional and you are in a blind spot. Try looking at CrucialWifi as he sells genuine Alfa products and they are generally considered to perform well at reasonable price, though there are some exceptions. DON'T choose simply on basis of quoted power, higher isn't always better.

Cheapest products (~£25-£30) might be AWUS036H or AWUS036NHA as long as you don't have Windows 10. I actually have both of these working on Windows 10 but have heard of other people having issues. I don't think that AWUS036H driver is actually meant to work on Windows 10.

AWUS036H: I think it is out of production and there are only a few genuine ones around. It will not see "n" Access Points (APs), only older "g" stuff. However, most public APS still accept "b/g" as well as newer "n"

AWUS036NH: Original version had some problems but current model is fine.

I have both of these and will probably continue to rely on AWUS036H in difficult situations. I've had reasonable connections at 5nm quite often and once had about 12nm (non-standard antenna) but that was a fluke. The AWUS036H is still very good when signal is pretty weak.
 
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geem said:
We are currently connected to this forum via our wifi booster. Nearest civilisation is 1mile away and we are connected to somebodies open connection.
This is what we have https://www.amazon.co.uk/Network-Wi...dp/B019VLO8CE?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0
The antenna is half way up the mizzen mast. It has impressive performance
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I have exactly the same kit and it does work well, though I often find that I cannot connect to weaker APs using Alfa USB unit via R36. Plugging directly into laptop instead solves the problem. The R36 does have some drawbacks.

I also have AWUS036H (500mW), 2 x AWUS036H(1000mW) and AWUS036NHA.

My original AWUS036H is falling apart now but is useful as a spare in hotel rooms when they don't have Wifi. I tend to use the Tube via R36 if signal is reasonable and fall back to direct connection otherwise and then my wife uses the other AWUS036H on her laptop. Seems like a lot of kit but I tend to leave the oldest Alfa at home to use when back in UK and one other goes back and forth between boat and UK.

I only bought the latest AWUS036H recently in case of failure. Pretty certain that it is out of production and I'd be lost without it. The AWUS036H(1000mW) with 9dBi antenna is the best of the lot for range and often beats the Tube(G) with 8dBi antenna. Swapping antennae back and forth makes little difference, so it is actually the USB units making the difference.

The AWUS036NHA is really only a backup in case I find myself in an area with no useable "b/g" APs and a reasonable "n" one. The spec. indicates that the NHA model is just as good as the H model on weak "b/g". However, this is not the case and the older model wins in real life situations.
 
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GHA said:
A Raspberry Pi do what the R36 does and much more for less power and money:cool:
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Good point about the Pi, I did know this in theory and thought about it a little ages ago. However, I've had the R36 for a few years and pushed it to the back of my mind as something to check out. I think that I might buy one now you have reminded me as it does have a lot of advantages. I imagine that I'll need to power the AWUS036H from another supply as it probably draws more than 400mA if I push the power up (usually only 250mA via Windows).

Have you tried a similar setup? I assume you'd run Ubuntu but do you use the Alfa USB for both remote connection and AP or have a second Wireless card for the AP. I can do the former in Windows but it is clunky, never tried it with Linux. I have a spare Ubuntu PC at home but it has a wired connection so don't bother with Wifi and mainly use Kali or Windows on laptops.
 
Mistroma said:
Have you tried a similar setup? I assume you'd run Ubuntu but do you use the Alfa USB for both remote connection and AP or have a second Wireless card for the AP. I can do the former in Windows but it is clunky, never tried it with Linux. I have a spare Ubuntu PC at home but it has a wired connection so don't bother with Wifi and mainly use Kali or Windows on laptops.
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I got one of these recently, though haven't really played with it much as I get all you can eat data from a sim card at the moment -


https://www.alfa.com.tw/products_show.php?pc=67&ps=241


Before I blew up the last similar one it got more use - the Raspberry Pi 3 has built in wifi so it can have a high power antenna and usb dongle to get the wifi then rebroadcast in the boat using it's internal wifi.
The openplotter image makes setting up a doddle, even with no monitor, just edit a couple of lines in a setup file. (V0.9 needs a monitor for the initial setup at the moment).
http://www.sailoog.com/en/blog-categories/openplotter-rpi
Openplotter is very powerful, plug in any nmea from a usb/serial adaptor and it will spit it out over wifi as nmea and signalk. Simple to add sensors as well, I've thermometers on the engine costing less than a London beer.

The new Pi zero has inbuilt wifi as well, just out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0FK7d4dJ5k

If you spend a lot of time in hotels then a pi zero running https://osmc.tv/ can come in really handy, doddle to set up and runs just from a mouse so watching films etc from a memory stick is easy, just plug in a HDMI cable into the hotel telly. Loads of plug ins for youtube etc as well.
 
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GHA said:
I got one of these recently, though haven't really played with it much as I get all you can eat data from a sim card at the moment -


https://www.alfa.com.tw/products_show.php?pc=67&ps=241


Before I blew up the last similar one it got more use - the Raspberry Pi 3 has built in wifi so it can have a high power antenna and usb dongle to get the wifi then rebroadcast in the boat using it's internal wifi.
The openplotter image makes setting up a doddle, even with no monitor, just edit a couple of lines in a setup file. (V0.9 needs a monitor for the initial setup at the moment).
http://www.sailoog.com/en/blog-categories/openplotter-rpi
Openplotter is very powerful, plug in any nmea from a usb/serial adaptor and it will spit it out over wifi as nmea and signalk. Simple to add sensors as well, I've thermometers on the engine costing less than a London beer.

The new Pi zero has inbuilt wifi as well, just out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0FK7d4dJ5k

If you spend a lot of time in hotels then a pi zero running https://osmc.tv/ can come in really handy, doddle to set up and runs just from a mouse so watching films etc from a memory stick is easy, just plug in a HDMI cable into the hotel telly. Loads of plug ins for youtube etc as well.
Click to expand...

Many thanks for the update. I'm busy trying to finish everything at home before leaving for my boat in a few weeks and had missed the Pi Zero W announcement. I'll try to get one, assuming they don't run out of stock.

Looks good with built-in Wireless and easy to get Alfa drivers for Linux variants.

I considered buying the AWUS051NH v2 as it has 2.4GHz and 5GHz. However, I seem to remember that the AWUS036NHA was better on paper for things I need. Range was more important and although 5GHz is potentially faster, it has less range than 2.4GHz. The old AWUS036H still beats all other cheap Alfa kit for range.

How did you blow up your old Alfa? Was it a move to Bolivia :D:D, resulting in overheating? Most of the Alfa kit can get quite hot if run at full power. Fortunately, that's usually only needed for short periods.
 
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