Lake Michigan / WIFI HotSpot Question

L

LawyerBob

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Jul 22, 2013
16
Islander 28 South Shore Yacht Club
After spending 20 fruistrating minutes with the friendly cell provider rep and finally realizing they had never been on a boat and have no idea what I'm asking, I decided to ask here instead.

IF I enable (and therefore pay) for the HotSpot function on my iPhone, does anyone know how far out into Lake Michigan (lets say out of Milwaukee) I can get and still have the HotSpot work? It might be worth it if I can still connect 3-5 miles off the coast, but if I lose signal at a mile, then it's not worth the cost since the only time I'd ever use the HotSpot is on the water. (to connect my iPad (wifi) or laptop).

Thanks
 
higgs

higgs

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Aug 24, 2005
3,638
Nassau 34 Olcott, NY
Wouldn't the range be the same as your cell phone signal?
 
L

LawyerBob

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Jul 22, 2013
16
Islander 28 South Shore Yacht Club
higgs said:
Wouldn't the range be the same as your cell phone signal?
Click to expand
I suppose that makes sense - typically I've always shut my phone off on the lake so I never really tested the range. Guess we'll do that this summer.
 
NoAgenda

NoAgenda

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Apr 18, 2012
45
Catalina 400 MKI 67 LaSalle,Mi
We have cell service out to about 4 miles out but it is week and very slow. It can take 2-3 minutes to load the weather radar. You would still be limited by the cell tower loacations
We are in Lake Erie
 
C

Captn TJ

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Nov 24, 2012
586
LawyerBob said:
After spending 20 fruistrating minutes with the friendly cell provider rep and finally realizing they had never been on a boat and have no idea what I'm asking, I decided to ask here instead. IF I enable (and therefore pay) for the HotSpot function on my iPhone, does anyone know how far out into Lake Michigan (lets say out of Milwaukee) I can get and still have the HotSpot work? It might be worth it if I can still connect 3-5 miles off the coast, but if I lose signal at a mile, then it's not worth the cost since the only time I'd ever use the HotSpot is on the water. (to connect my iPad (wifi) or laptop). Thanks
Click to expand
If you're looking to boost signal - cell or wifi you should consider a booster such as ubiquity bullet. There is a fair amount of info on panbo.com''s website and Ben Is very responsive if you ask him for additional details
 
Jackdaw

Jackdaw

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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Ask around the docks to see who has best coverage. In Bayfield it's Verizon, and you get fast LTE coverage out for 15-20 miles. Have a way to charge however, the whole deal is a battery hog.
 
finding41

finding41

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Nov 23, 2011
2,023
MacGregor 26D London Ontario Canada
WiFi should only work in the vicinity of the signal source. Like at StarBuks... How far can you walk away and still have signal? That's about as far as you can go.
As mentioned above there is different anteni that can be used but that only lengthens the signal marginally. It works great if you are at the end of the dock. Not on the lake.
You may want to get a GPS dongle or the such for your device. (Ipad's have different specks and some come with a type of GPS... It is reliant on the cell signal though.
 
Jackdaw

Jackdaw

.
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
finding41 said:
WiFi should only work in the vicinity of the signal source. Like at StarBuks... How far can you walk away and still have signal? That's about as far as you can go.
As mentioned above there is different anteni that can be used but that only lengthens the signal marginally. It works great if you are at the end of the dock. Not on the lake.
Click to expand
You DO understand what a WiFi mobile hotspot is, right??

Its a feature of your phone that uses the incoming 3 or 4G cellular signal as the basis for a wifi hotspot it creates using its wifi capability. If you have cellular coverage, you can make your own hotspot.
 
seadaddler

seadaddler

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Dec 19, 2006
5,810
Hunter 36 Punta Gorda
Verizon

It might depend on your provider and we use Verizon here in west coast Florida
but up and down the coast from Key West to Tarpon Springs and also on the east coast with no problems.
But do go all over in NY and other New England states with no problem.
Who is your provider,I think Verizon has the best and when other cell signals were week and that it why I have Verizon.
Nick
 
DougM

DougM

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Jul 24, 2005
2,242
Beneteau 323 Manistee, MI
I live on Lake Michigan at Manistee and I can't even get a cell signal at my house let alone offshore.So much for a wifi hot spot...and that's with Verizon.
The better bet If you want weather might bet to use SiriusXm, also it's nice to have good music aboard besides the iPod etc.
I admit it would be great to be able to see up to date weather radar out there. The lake can get really nasty in a hurry.

It's a bit difficult to stick a cell tower out in the big lake every 20 miles or so,
 
Birdman737

Birdman737

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Apr 15, 2012
36
Catalina 400 Milwaukee, WI
With Verizon 4G I've had decent internet about 5 miles offshore from Milwaukee. Spotty 1X coverage much father... maybe 20 miles.

For creating a WiFi hotspot from your phone without paying extra for the feature, consider the "FoxFi" app on your phone. I've only used it a few times, but with great success. Note that you still pay for the data you use!
 
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