wifi antenna booster

[Chris & Lenore]

I built a system using the Bullet and it did take a bit of programming!

I would suggest that if you are going to build a system, get a RAVpower fire hub;
http://www.amazon.com/RAVPower-File...=UTF8&qid=1424445399&sr=1-1&keywords=ravpower

Not only does it make it's own hotspot, so all of you devices can connect to that far off system, but it will also charge your phone if needed. BUT, the BIG plus is that you can plug in an external hard drive to it! I did a backup of hundreds of our videos & music to MP4 & MP3s and put them on a 1 Tb external drive and can now access them from our laptops/tablets.

Greg

Now this looks like a great product and at a decent price.

Chris

 

[Stu Jackson]

We bought an Alfa (older model) years and years ago, I think Rick Stidger did, too, since he was my "go to guru" in choosing it. Works great, with a 25 foot active USB cable or the shorter provided one I get marina reception inside our boat, can't get squat with just the laptop's built-in stuff. I also bought a plastic electrical box for it, but have never needed to hoist it up the flag halyard!

We got the Alfa and the cable from Data Alliance in 2010 for $75, includes easy to use software.

http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=122425

Not much has changed since that 2010 post. Wow, five years already. :dance:

These days I'd get the Bullet, all packaged.

Either way, you can't go wrong, but the reality is that there are almost no unprotected wifi signals left, so the use will be to connect to spots that you can access.

 

[Sumner]

I bought this along with an Alfa 1000 mw long range USB adapter....Chris

I have 3 of the Alfa's and use them at home and on the road in motels but they just don't have the range the Bullet or some others have. I ran the Alfa and Bullet at the same time at Boot Key Harbor and the Alfa just couldn't perform like the Bullet...

(Update: I bought a Alpha 1000 mw (1 watt) radio to use on the road with a laptop. The same one that vendors use for marine applications in waterproof boxes. I tried this on the boat while in Boot Key Harbor at Marathon, Florida. I could receive between 25 and 30 WiFi servers with the Bullet 2HP most of the time, but all but a couple were secured. There was one at the Home Depot that wasn't that I could connect with. The Alpha hoisted above the deck to the same height as the Bullet's antenna could usually only receive 10-12 and all of those were secured. The Bullet won that contest easy. I could also make a connection with a marina at Boca Grande on the west coast from Pelican Bay, a distance of about 4-5 miles. It was slow, but it did work. The Alpha couldn't make that connection at all. Now saying that the Alpha works well for us on the road connecting to Motel connections that the internal laptops wireless can't connect to, so I'm glad we have them both. I also use the Alpha at home on the boat computer to connect to our wireless there.) http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor-navigation/WiFi-1.html

I ran the Bullet on the Mac and then put it on the Endeavour where it has been since 2011 and when I got to the boat last month connected the computer to the router (can also connect wireless with the laptop) and it fired right up and it has been in the weather all this time. I've also tried the Alpha here and it just doesn't have the speed/connection quality to run Netflix like the Bullet can.

The Bullet isn't that much more but you do need the antenna and good cable which although not cheap will handle the elements year after year. Those radios Islandtime is using now are even cheaper than a Bullet.

Sumner

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Our Endeavour 37

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[Chris & Lenore]

That's good information - nothing better than a "side by side" test. I've seen the Bullet M2-HD and M5-HD for close to $50. That and an antenna and that $50 wireless router mentioned earlier would be reasonable. I see there is a "titanium" model of the Bullet that's made for extreme environments. They seem to be about $120.

Chris

 

[Delezynski]

That's good information - nothing better than a "side by side" test. I've seen the Bullet M2-HD and M5-HD for close to $50. That and an antenna and that $50 wireless router mentioned earlier would be reasonable. I see there is a "titanium" model of the Bullet that's made for extreme environments. They seem to be about $120.

Chris

The Bullet M2 I programmed (Firmware XM.v5.5.6) is attached to the EnGenius EAG-2408 antenna with POE on a 25 ft. Ethernet cable to that RAVpower router.

I am a house just now and my newish windows 8.1 laptop sees 7 hot spots.
The Bullet system sees 37 hot spots.

The test was done by checking the computer, then the Bullet within less than 1 min.

Greg

 

[Bob 04 H260]

Their Florida boat is a Bavaria 32 named Ihana. They sailed to Bahamas last year and plan a Keys trip this year. They were on the NC trip that you and I did - also with a boat named Ihana (can't remember the boat type). Nice people and on Facebook (search Bob Rouda). They just attended Roy Eatons "Little Current Yacht Club" get together in Punta Gorda a couple days ago. There were a few other people there who also did the same NC trip as we did.

Small world.

Chris

Thanks Chris, yes it is small ! I do remember them now, the boat name did it. Maybe I'll run into them. I think they are probably going to try and get to the Keys ASAP with the weather we are having now. It must be a bit warmer down there . Supposed to be in the 70s here today so I'm happy with that.
Regards, Bob