WIFI

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scoty

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Can or will some person that understands WIFI explain how it can or cannot be used while coastal or river cruising, please , for example I see adverts for antenas that say a range in kilometers, yet we pay for a coffee or beer to make a conection.
thanks in advance,
 
In general it can't.
A high gain omnidirectional antenna will pick up a close range 'open' wifi connection as you pass it but it wont be held for long.
I have a suspicion that you might be confusing a straightforward wifi connection to the net with a wifi 3g 'dongle' where the connection to the net is via 3g but the connection from the 'dongle' to the laptop / tablet is via wifi.
 
LadyInBed said:
In general it can't.
A high gain omnidirectional antenna will pick up a close range 'open' wifi connection as you pass it but it wont be held for long.
I have a suspicion that you might be confusing a straightforward wifi connection to the net with a wifi 3g 'dongle' where the connection to the net is via 3g but the connection from the 'dongle' to the laptop / tablet is via wifi.
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The Ubiquity Bullet claims 12 miles range, I haven't seen that but I am currently sending you this message attached to a wifi AP 2.4 miles away across a built up area if that's any help. At sea I could maybe get more but I tend to sail the boat and stow the PC.
 
scoty said:
while coastal or river cruising,
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You need to define whether you mean 'while on the move' or simply when static (berthed or anchored). With decent equipment you have a good chance whilst 'static' of finding a usable wifi signal. Open connections seem to be disappearing fast (:o) ....... but BT WiFi (from personal BT WiFi routers) are proliferating. Access is free if YOU use BT Broadband, but cost extortionate otherwise!
 
We bought a 3G SIM to work with Globe surfer 3 and have an antenna for 3G up top. Works extremely well.

The Ubiquity Bullet is an excellent sub £150 set up although I am getting it confused with the Yachtspot setup available to make for under £150. We spoke at great length about it a few years ago so dig around YBW via google to find it.
 
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Need to be careful about terminology here.
Wifi is a point to point system where a single access point is connected to the Internet via a hard wiring. Whilst you remain in range of the fixed end of the station, you can access the Internet. As you move out of range of the station, you will need to manually search for a new wifi station to log on to.
3G is the mobile hone network and it automatically stays in contact with the Internet provided there is a signal.

To use wifi at ranges of more than a few tens of metres, you need a booster antenna of some type. There are many on the market: I use a an Alpha booster and can get ranges of up to about 1 km. However, the downside is finding an open network to log on to: it is getting increasingly difficult to find one as people use the built in security offered by most wifi modems. Paid for wifi is ridiculously expensive so unless you can identify a bar on the waterfront, get their password when having a drink and the use their signal on the boat, wifi is therefore bit of a busted flush for folks on the move.

For this reason, most of the time we use 3G to access the Internet. We use either a 3G USB dongle or a micro SIM in an iPad. That gives us access to the Internet in most places at reasonable cost.

Hope that helps.
 
Assuming you do mean wi-fi, that's a licence-free system meant for small, local networks. It's illegal to broadcast over a certain small amount of power, and the penalties are severe. The reason for the power limitation is that high power broadcasts would interfere with nearby networks, and pandemonium would ensue.
 
elton said:
Assuming you do mean wi-fi, that's a licence-free system meant for small, local networks. It's illegal to broadcast over a certain small amount of power, and the penalties are severe. The reason for the power limitation is that high power broadcasts would interfere with nearby networks, and pandemonium would ensue.
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To whom are you replying :confused:
 
As always Nigel, I have to point to reviews (and same comment by manufacturer) stating that the AWUS036H is a better bet with weak "b/g" APs. So I usually tell people to go for that instead of the AWUS036NH. However, it does depend where you are going to use it. At home with a pure "n" network, go for the NH model.

Having said that, the NH is still an excellent unit and it just loses out at extreme range with "b/g" APs. Around 5.4nm is abut the best I've from an AWUS036H at anchor. However, line-of-sight is everything with Wifi and a move to another bay closer to the AP can result in total signal loss.

PS I bought the directional antenna as you suggested and it did help in a couple of extreme case when the normal antenna wouldn't lock on. Unfortunately, it died about half way through the season.

Bottom of this link shows a review. They are easy to find and Alfa had similar information on their site at one time. However, things change and public APs will move more to "n" but for time being there's still plenty of older kit in areas I cruise around.

http://www.alfanetwork.no/awus036nh.html
User Review::
This AWUS036NH vs. Alfa's popular AWUS036H 802.11g adapter: We have compared this model to the 1-watt AWUS036H adapter from Alfa. This model pulled in more signals than the AWUS036H. However the AWUS036H was getting stronger signals to many of the access points both could detect. Not a great deal stronger, but enough to indicate the AWUS036H 1-watt adapter has a better receive sensitivity for 802.11g networks. The AWUS036H is only 802.11g standard though, whereas this AWUS036NH is 802.11n standard and can get longer ranges and faster speeds when used with 802.11n standard access points. Because 802.11n is a newer standard, many of the access points around you (in neighborhoods or places you travel) will still be 802.11g. However over the next year, many technology publications indicate that a high number of people and businesses will be upgrading their wireless networks to 802.11n to meet the growing need for faster speeds. The AWUS036NH will work with these new 802.11n signals as they begin to spring up everywhere, and will work with them better and faster than the AWUS036H and other long range Wi-Fi products on the market today. If you are trying to decide between the AWUS036H and the AWUS036NH, what it boils down to is how you want to use the product. If you plan on using mostly with 802.11g signals and are trying to get the strongest signal strengths, the AWUS036H may be the best option. If you are trying to get the best range, or will be using with 802.11n access points, the AWUS036NH is the best option.
 
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Thanks everyone for your replies, I must learn the language of dongle, 3g and all the other terminology, because I still don·nt know how to connect to WIFI internet other than buying a coffee in the winter or a beer in summer, being an "old sailing sod" as my girl friend once said (now ex) I will stay with old tried and tested methods of communication.
 
Storyline said:
Are all these boosters at the transmit end ? There is free WiFi at our marina but not all areas can get a good signal. Is there anything that can be used to receive the signal better ?
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See both links in my post #12 above.

I've got one of the ones I first mentioned (in the quoted text). Without it I can only get a signal in the marina coffee bar, with it I can get a 5-bar signal in my berth, over 200m away.
 
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nigelmercier said:
See both links in my post #12 above.

I've got one of the ones I first mentioned (in the quoted text). Without it I can only get a signal in the marina coffee bar, with it I can get a 5-bar signal in my berth, over 200m away.
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Sounds good. In the info it mentions you have to plug in by USB so good for laptops. It says it works with Linux but any ideas if it would be good with a tablet ?
 
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