wifi extender/booster

[Aquarella]

Has anyone tried this gadget for wifi access on board? I'd like to know if it really works as good as they say it does.
http://www.digitalyacht.co.uk/files/WL510%20Product%20Data%20Sheet.pdf

 

[Alan ashore]

Any idea of the price? - couldn't find anything on the digital yacht site.

 

[Aquarella]

I only have the price from the chandlers in Sweden which converted to sterling would be £588. It's a lot of money but I paid a fortune topping up my prepaid connection in Greece last year.

 

[deuc02]

It works but never got the 4-6 mile range. Get very good speeds but I guess it does help having the marinas booster at the end of the boats berth. Has good software for searching out signals. Upgraded to 510 from 500 as have Mac onboard and no up to date drivers for the 500 and Mac OS Lion onwards. Nice thing about the510 is that it can just be hooked into a standard wifi router and get great signal all over the boat for multiple devices. Digital Yacht are also good to deal with if you run into any problems.

 

[duncan99210]

Look up the Alfa wifi booster for less than £50 which will get you up to about 1km range. The problem however is finding the unsecured wifi points these days. We have both wifi and 3G on board and usually wind up using the 3G because there's no wifi.

 

[RobbieW]

At over £500 on Amazon, no way jose. Theres an Alfa solution for less than £100 that includes both wifi extender and router that many cruisers use. My solution is similar, I just preferred to make the long, external cable an ethernet one - see http://syspringdawn.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/connecting-to-interweb-ii_23.html

 

[Mistroma]

Look up the Alfa wifi booster for less than £50 which will get you up to about 1km range. The problem however is finding the unsecured wifi points these days. We have both wifi and 3G on board and usually wind up using the 3G because there's no wifi.

+1 for Alfa and this has been discussed many time in the past.

I haven't checked the current situation but 2 common models were AWUS036H (500mW or 1000mW) and AWUS036NH (2000mW). There are valid reasons for choosing AWUS036NH model but fact that it is 2000mW vs 1000mW isn't a good one. The older AWUS036H will outperform the NH on older b/g networks. I use 2 AWUS056H adapters (500mW & 1000mW) and greatest range I've had has been just over 5nm.

I'll not go into the legality of using it in EU. I've used mine for many years without any problem but do make a point of reducing power as much as possible in each location.

These are simple boosters but Alfa also make an R36 unit that connects to either Alfa adapter above and then re-broadcasts to provide a local Access Point for all Wifi devices on board. Much cheaper than option OP mentioned.

 

[emnick]

Look up the Alfa wifi booster for less than £50 which will get you up to about 1km range. The problem however is finding the unsecured wifi points these days. We have both wifi and 3G on board and usually wind up using the 3G because there's no wifi.

Looking at Fon has anybody any experience with FON?

 

[RobbieW]

... Alfa also make an R36 unit that connects to either Alfa adapter above and then re-broadcasts to provide a local Access Point for all Wifi devices on board...

The R36, IIRC, has a USB port that will take a 3G dongle so it can be used as a MiFi device or an AP for the WiFi extender

 

[[3889]]

Looking at Fon has anybody any experience with FON?

Yes, always OK in UK and, since last year, usable through SFR network in France - have streamed video using my Fonero connection.

 

[Hadenough]

Slight thead drift from a wi-fi numpty. I use 3G using a wireless pointer for internet connectivity on an ipad. Mast is down at the moment and I have a spare aerial mount. Is there anything reasonably priced that I can install to receive 3G from a mast head aerial. I'm assuming that extra height will be advantageous. Be gentle, I'm a big spanner man!