Wifi, Mobile or satphone antenna?

[Tim Good]

I have a removed an old Inmarsat antenna from my stern arch and what remains is a good solid stainless mount and a good mousing line to pull through another cable.

As a liveaboard what would you find more useful:

1. a wifi booster allowing you to pickup hotspots from a few hundred meters away.

2. A decent mobile antenna allowing you to pickup better 3/4/5g signal Viana pocket wifi router.

3. An external antenna for my Iridium satphone for better and reliable signal.

 

[RobbieW]

2 or 3 depending on my sailing plans. I have no experience with current satphone kit, I did find it difficult on a transat about 12 years ago to get a decent signal using the handheld kit

 

[r_h]

2 or 3 depending on my sailing plans. I have no experience with current satphone kit, I did find it difficult on a transat about 12 years ago to get a decent signal using the handheld kit

That's still the case - signal and download speeds are hugely better with an external iridium antenna.
Strangely, I've found they work less well in a marina than simply putting the Iridium Go in the cockpit, presumably due to being in close proximity to lots of masts. To test it after installing the antenna you may therefore need to go for a short sail.

 

[Graham376]

Gave up on wifi years ago, find 4G mobile router without external antenna fits all our needs, more reliable and quicker downloads. Would look at Iridium only if going far offshore.

 

[Yngmar]

Assuming you have a GRP boat. For metal hulls it's a wholly different story.

I never found that cellular signals needed boosting (or benefitted from it). You either have a good signal, in which case you have it in the cabin too, or you don't and in that case any antenna fiddling even way up the mast does offer little to no improvement.

Wifi booster is well worth having IMHO, because not only do you occasionally get to pick up free wifi at anchor from a nearby hotspot, but it also helps with poor reception in many marinas (a forest of masts and steel rigging turns out to be quite the hindrance to wifi signals).

Satphone antenna on the stern arch would also work. Doesn't benefit from the raised position, but it would offer a relatively unobstructed view of the sky.

So 1 or 3, depending on your priorities.

 

[geem]

We have a wifi booster antenna on the spreaders of the mizzen mast. I am using it to pick up free internet here in the Caribbean. Our friends on the boat next to us dont have a booster so they are using a sim card. We find here in the Caribbean we can get free internet about 50% of the time with a booster. The connection here is particularly good in Tyrell Bay, Carriacou

 

[V1701]

4G booster would be what I'd go for, the longer we go on the less useful I find wifi, i.e. fewer unsecured networks which it's not a great idea to use even if you find one along with generally poor bandwidth. I have a phone contract now that gives me unlimited everything including tethering in UK & 70 other countries for £20/month...

 

[t21]

Option 3 if you going offshore, definitely

Wifi booster if you move around, nip ashore to a bar with wifi and then your computer knows the password and you can knect back at boat.

4g etc great for if you more static cos they tend to be on subscription i think. Is that still the case? I think so...

 

[duncan99210]

I’ve also given up on wifi on board the boat and use a phone as a hotspot. If the signal is pants then occasionally you can improve things by hoisting it up the mast but not often: tends to be pretty binary usable signal or no signal, so I’d not expect great results from a booster.
That leaves a satphone antenna. If I were going offshore I’d look at that option but when I did a transat 3 years back now the Go worked fine in the cockpit. We only turned it on for short periods to download emails and weather forecast so using it in the cockpit didn’t produce any problems.

 

[nortada]

I’ve also given up on wifi on board the boat and use a phone as a hotspot. If the signal is pants then occasionally you can improve things by hoisting it up the mast but not often: tends to be pretty binary usable signal or no signal, so I’d not expect great results from a booster.
That leaves a satphone antenna. If I were going offshore I’d look at that option but when I did a transat 3 years back now the Go worked fine in the cockpit. We only turned it on for short periods to download emails and weather forecast so using it in the cockpit didn’t produce any problems.

Who is your provider

When using local (free) WiFi, we find a booster makes a huge difference.

 

[nortada]

Who is your phone provider

When using local WiFi, we find a booster makes a huge difference.

 

[duncan99210]

Who is your provider

When using local (free) WiFi, we find a booster makes a huge difference.

EE, got a contract with them which includes 40 gb of data within the EU plus unlimited free calls and messages . Not cheap but cheaper than buying pay as you go in Greece and a lot less hassle. No idea how the contract will stand up next year but we’ll sort that as it happens.
Most places we go to don’t have any wifi even with a booster, hence the decision to go for the EE contract.

 

[nortada]

EE, got a contract with them which includes 40 gb of data within the EU plus unlimited free calls and messages . Not cheap but cheaper than buying pay as you go in Greece and a lot less hassle. No idea how the contract will stand up next year but we’ll sort that as it happens.
Most places we go to don’t have any wifi even with a booster, hence the decision to go for the EE contract.

Thanks for that.

We use Three £20 per month, unlimited in UK 30GBt per month in 74 other countries (this should make it Brexit proof), unlimited call and texts.