Decision

med2463 · Apr 3, 2011

Mr Long sir. You can tether your cell phone to your computer. Add a cell phone amplifier and be in touch most of the time allong the shore. I know this as, I am in the gulf coast ICW as we talk. Congrats on making a decision. Congrats on going afloat. We loved it. Are discussing selling out and going back to living on a boat at 70 (me) the admiral is over 21.

zeehag · Apr 3, 2011

roger--i know there is a lot of free wifi in marinas and near hotels and airports and navy bases--military personnel have hotspots and some even dont lock em. oops did i say that out loud??????
there are measured data transfer programs from cheap plan companies such as cricket...i use my sprint toomuchmoney plan with a dial up broadband card--it works anywhere there is a cell tower--roaming is free on mine--and roaming is via verizon with sprint. no i amnot advertising, merely stating to you guys what i have learned as i have to ask questions of the rep at sprint to keep from paying tooo much fro my stuff.
look into the cell smart fone with data plan thing-- the folks i know using htat are happy with it. i also know i cannot use a rave rv wifi--it doesnt seem to receive outside half mile. eeps. i dont wanna park in anyones living room, puh-LEEEZE.
there are good antennae for wifi--cpt creel told me of one last yr i was going to look into but i cannot remember name of it to save my life at present.
i can tell ye in a few weeks first-hand......

sailormanbigd · Apr 4, 2011

Roger, I feel your pain, pleasure

I can totally relate to the "dream" and trying to put yourself deep into the dream to try and see what it would (will) be like. I have also vasilated between what i would want in the way of creature comforts and techno wizzes and gizmo's. I think for me at least i will keep it simple, laptop on board-sure, with solar charger. Wifi booster antenae-sure, but other than that i think i will leave the gagets at that. I don't think that i will be trying to non-stop around the world like Joshua, so won't be offshore for weeks or months at a time. Might just enjoy the break i think. Tough decision me thinks but better to do it without than to not doit. I do think shortwave or ham is pretty much a neccessity. I dunno. good luck.

Bill Roosa · Apr 4, 2011

So Roger, why not just embrace the Ham/marine radio network? they have weather, current events and are long range comms so you are never out of touch. There is no subscription fee and you can set yourself up on a "sailnet" email account so others have a way to get a hold of you too.
I guess my observation is if you are concerned that the internet being on board is going to distract you from the joys of cruising then don't go there. The internet is not a requirement for safe cruising and, quite frankly, is not that the point of cruising, to "get away from it all?"
Addiction is a terrible thing.

captstu · Apr 4, 2011

Zeehag (what a lovely name), Sprint has 2 data plans - the much to expensive plan for the air card and a $15/month for unlimited tether on your capable cell phone (choose carefully). They are the same speed and the same coverage.

Try a Sanyo 8200 - works great, low cost and OK speed.

Why choose -do both. I use the Sprint when WiFi isn't available such as the Bahamas ad use WiFi when it is - faster - with a $60 Hawkins adapter. /Stu

TomY · Apr 4, 2011

Hi Roger, I enjoy your posts here and elsewhere. When we're off for a few weeks, mostly on the coast of Maine down through New England waters, I find enough wifi along the way for a laptop.

We don't have an antenae to boost the signal(a good idea for you) but often find signals along the way on our macbooks. And you can always take it onshore to a local library or whatever is available. At any rate, we find it enough to get what we really want on the internet, the stuff you mention. I sort of enjoy the self limiting this imposes.

More of a problem is the power it takes (we usually have our 2 college aged kids onboard. We're a pretty simple coastal sailboat so the extra power needed to charge laptops can be a nuisance, especially when you want to stay anchored for a few days.

Good luck, I'll be looking for your boat in Penobscot Bay if you go through. We're moored in Rockport Harbor (wifi available at the docks), our boats name is CHRISTMAS.

kloudie1 · Apr 4, 2011

Roger, check these guys out..
http://www.data-alliance.net/Page.bok?template=USB wireless adapters
The ALFA adapters talk to the computer through a USB cable .. a software install is required.. with the transcever (ALFA) close to the arial, the signal loss is minimal and the ALFA converts the info to digital and talks via the USB .. gives you different mounting options.. The one I built is a high gain antenna mounted on a PVC enclosure which houses the ALFA.. The active USB cable is run back to the cabin where the computer lives..

sandpiper10471 · Apr 4, 2011

Lots of choices out there, Roger, for wifi boosters and antennae. Even articles on the internet about building your own. www.wirie.com looks really good but is not coming up on my computer today. Perhaps they are out sailing. For not a lot of money, you should be able to get a system which will let you have wifi 7-14 miles from the hotspot, line of sight.
For coastal and offshore, though, SSB is almost essential. ("almost" cause Joshua didn't have it.)

shemandr · Apr 4, 2011

I've used the Alpha adapter with the high gain antenna at the suggestion of this forum with fair success. I can sit in my favorite anchorage and pick up WiFi about a mile away over the water. The problem will become that everyone will encrypt their WiFi pretty soon.

FourPoints · Apr 4, 2011

Roger Long said:
It's an option I looked at while shopping for a new phone a while ago (actually, I wasn't looking so much as having the salesperson grabbing me by the shoulders, pointing me towards it, and saying, "You have to do this, you have to do this." ) I didn't have any compelling reason for Internet access on the go at the time so I didn't pay much attention and decided to stick with my present semi-smart phone. I do remember that the costs and data charges sounded like they could rack up pretty fast.

Other cruisers have told me that there is a lot of WiFi available along the coast and some have antennas to let them pick it up at longer range. Evidently, there are places where you can find WiFi but not cell phone service.

I saw this in the SBO store:

http://shop.sailboatowners.com/prod.php?9824

It mentions coax connectors. Does anyone know how it interfaces with a laptop?

Roger,

That is only an antenna... you need to connect that to a transmitter, that probably isn't your laptop, and then connect your laptop to the transmitter.

I have extensive long range and outdoor wireless experience, incl wifi. I have long considered building (and reselling) a unit that runs off of 12v, that you could install on the spreader. It would have a high power and high sensitivity receiver that you would use to connect to wifi on shore (with clear line of sight, the typical range would be a mile or more), and then the unit would also act as a wifi hotspot for anyone near the boat (you could password protect access if you wanted).

You could also run a cat5 cable to it through the mast for wired connectivity, or just send power to it. and use it wirelessly as described above.

The hardware wouldn't be difficult as I have already done essentially this before, just never installed on a boat. The only tough part would be making a easy to use interface to control it from your computer as you would frequently need to connect to different wifi access points on shore, my prior installations were land based and never required the user to change the settings. That would take a bit of a time / capital investment on my part to complete, but the tools are available for me to do it.

I could probably sell a complete unit for between $250 and $350, once the user control piece is complete. If volume was enough, could possibly get the price down to a hair under $200

anyone interested? would need at around 15-20 pre-orders to make it worth the time / money required to develop and test the user interface...

FourPoints · Apr 4, 2011

First, I would never use a crappy antenna from Hyperlink, they have horrible propagation properties and consistently perform far worse than rated.

Second, they are using consumer grade hardware installed in a pelican case to waterproof it, with a hole drilled in the side for the antenna. (ok not a bad idea for the actual enclosure, but the rest of the hardware they have sucks)

Third, I would use commercial grade hardware designed for permanent outdoor installations (like cell towers), the radio would be grounded to the mast to prevent ESD damage (something that frequently happens when using cheap wireless gear in outdoor environments, especially with cheap omni antennas)

Fourth, the radio module I would use has the highest output power of any wifi radio you can legally manufacture and sell in the US, and known among commercial wireless providers to be the best quality available. (it would also be end user replaceable if something happened to it)

FourPoints · Apr 4, 2011

For those that don't know, I was the sr engineer for a wireless internet company (that I also founded) for 5 years before selling it to a publically traded company in 2009. I had equipment covering 2,500 square miles of Indiana, and one of my day to day jobs was to build and install wireless gear that would operate outdoors year round in rain, sleet, snow, ice.

In my professional opnion, that wirie unit does not meet the design requirements for all weather year round outdoor fixed installation in the midwest, much less in a dynamic environment like a boat.

Stephen Trapani · Apr 4, 2011

Roger, Happy to hear you are going to go for it, adventure-wise. I have two ideas that stand a remote chance of helping.

First, be sure to check with Skip Gundlach from rec.boats.cruising. He seems to have an excellent system for free internet that is so good he does mini-seminars for cruisers to help them get the same set up. He would be happy to help you considering all you've probably helped him.

Second, I think you are right to give yourself access. If you have the ability to connect, you could conceivably learn to turn it off if it's getting too much. If you don't have the ability to connect, you won't have the choice. Also, it looks like you might have the ability to earn income via the internet with your design work. I'd think big-wig executives would pay big bucks to be able to have an office like Strider! The ever changing magnificent views alone are worth a fortune!

Skip Gundlach · Apr 4, 2011

Roger Long said:
I know Skip and Lydia well. They have been sailing on Strider. They are pretty busy right now with a refit so I haven't wanted to bother them. It's also helpful to everyone to see what I can find out here.

S&L have more patience for the cesspool that rec.boats.cruising has become. I stay away. They pop up on my Facebook page regularly but, last I spoke to them, said they couldn't support enough bandwidth to spend much time in places like this. Maybe that has changed. I'll send them a note.

I'm allowed occasional forays into the web by my slavedriver :{))

Mr. Trapani, thanks for the kudos :{)) We have Vonage-capable coverage here in the marina, from more than one source (good thing, too, as the two strongest seem to overlap in time they're "up" - one shuts down bandwidth (turn off their feed?) a little while after the other one's up - so, when I see no bandwidth, I just switch "providers" :{))

The seminar I do is about all forms of wireless communication, but the last half is devoted strictly to internet connectivity over WiFi (there are other alternatives covered in the first half).

I'd be happy to post it here (long file, of course) if there's enough interest...

L8R

Skip

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Stu Jackson · Apr 4, 2011

Roger,

1. Good, nice to know you'll still be here.

2. I had this very discussion with Rich Stidger a while back: http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=751935&highlight=wifi

I got the Alfa, it works fine right off the USB plug.

zeehag · Apr 4, 2011

roger--i hope to meet ye out there at some time---we leave soon from sd on our adventure--- smoooth sailing!!!!