WiFi range extender. Am I wasting my time?

[jimmcgee]

A couple of years ago I built a range extender (actually a repeater) out of a Linksys router running DD-WRT and the Linksys larger antennas. It worked pretty well for bringing in the weak marina signal - for a while. But weather and a big fishing boat all played a part in how good the signal was. All in all it was a pain in the ass and I could pretty much count on the signal dropping out exactly when I really needed it to work.

For a while I used a portable hot spot from Comcast until they discontinued the service.

These days I use a smart phone as a hot spot since I have unlimited data on my plan from work. Check and see what the coverage is for T-Mobile in your area (they offer unlimited data). If you have good coverage go for it.

With the phone as a hot spot I can stream video from NetFlix to the TV using my laptop and a video cable.

 

[AnchorDragger]

http://www.data-alliance.net/servlet/-strse-WiFi-for-Boats-&-RVs/Categories

http://www.pcbay.net/rom2ub80mi24.html

 

[Terry in Naples]

you might look at this http://www.thewirie.com/

I do not have one but it appears to work. Lots on the net about this and the bullett

 

[Chris Patterson]

Oh well. I'm an idiot. For what it's worth, it's still in the box laying in the forepeak. At this point, I'm just trying to decide if it's worth the 70 bucks to take it back.
Time vs. money..

 

[Sailvayu]

Take it back and use your money on something that will work. Best solution is a Ubiquity Bullet and a decent antenna. You want a 2HP model. I have tried all sorts of system as i need wifi for work and live on my boat. Most marinas have crappy wifi and the dock masters have no clue about making it better. I use both a bullet and a 5mile transmiter. The bullet is the most cost effective system. it takes a bit to set up but it is not that hard and you can connect it to a wireless router on your boat so all of your devices can use it. On Ebay you should be able to get a bullet and antenna for less than 150. you can get a 50 foot network cable and hoist the system up the mast for those far signals. I have gotten a connection from a beach house when I was out of sight of land!

 

[Chris5]

I use a range extender at work. It really doesn't do much. We have brick walls at work (old factory loft) and if you get 200 feet away from the extended you get no usable signal at all. It's a Netgear and we paid a good price for it. I do we'll with a little 4G mobile hotspot from Verizon which I use everywhere.

 

[Doc_holiday]

I have a MiFi. It's 4G and seems to work better than using the hotspot on my iPhone. Plus the data package is larger. In areas where only 3G is offered it still does ok. I would just not suggest streaming movies with it.

 

[capta]

For your use the BadBoy Xtreme is probably overkill, but for others following this thread with an eye towards cruising away from the comforts of home, it has been the answer to our needs.
It ain't cheap, but unlike most gear hyped for sailors, it outperforms the manufacturer's claims.
We have been able to connect to internet access points as far away as 2.3 nm (GPS measurement). Not with great speed, but well enough to get a weather report and email.
Everywhere we have anchored in the West Indies, if there was an unsecured access point, we could get on line from the anchorage. No more lugging a computer ashore and sitting in a noisy internet cafe. No more sitting in the cockpit trying to get online.
The same equipment is available as the Bullet for less money, but BadBoy does all the "computer stuff" so it is plug and play, unlike the Bullet which requires some pretty techy stuff to initialize, which is outside my expertise.

 

[Tom Hoffman]

We are sailors as well as full time RVers. We had need of a better wifi as the wifi in RV parks was terrible. We found Millenicom.com wifi hot spot you can run up to 10 items on your own secure network. We use it going down the road and I am sure it will work on a boat while underway. As long as you have a cell signal, even if poor, the digital strength still seems to be better than our cell signal in our home. Plus it is at least double to triple mbps.

Here is a link.

http://millenicom.com/plans/

No contract and great service if necessary.

I highly recommend it.

 

[woodster]

does the bullet thing hook up to your VHF ant or do you need a different ant.......

regards

woody

 

[Captn TJ]

Check out www.panbo.com. Great marine electronics blog. Ben did some research on the same topic

 

[kenn]

does the bullet thing hook up to your VHF ant or do you need a different ant.......

The bullet thing has its own short antenna.

 

[capta]

does the bullet thing hook up to your VHF ant or do you need a different ant.......

regards

woody

You really do not want to hook up anything to your VHF antenna, even a second VHF without an isolator switch at the junction.
There are a variety of suitable antennas available for the Bullet/ BadBoy, depending on your knowledge base and needs. It's all about db's I think.

 

[All U Get]

Last March we stopped in Osprey Marina in Myrtle Beach and I noticed a lobster boat with three radar domes. Now that's what I thought was a serious boater. After jogging my memory a bit, it was Ben from Panbo. We talked a bit about his boat and projects, but my mind was more on the sour dough pancakes that my wife and Capt. Mike were making on the griddle. (When we signed in at the marina we were told to make ourselves at home. They always have coffee and doughnuts but the griddle was idle. So Capt. Mike offered to cook his Silver Dollar pancakes on Sunday morning if they could fire up the grill).
I did ask Ben if having so many radar units caused interference. He had that all worked out. Small ocean.
All U Get

 

[Craerz]

In my marina I can reach wifi okay with laptops, but it's the ipad and ipods that can transmit well enough. The signal strength is fine but I can't even login because the transmit is not strong enough to send the password back to the marina wifi.

So it seems I only need a little extra boost and one of these $40 extenders would be fine. I also intend on streaming movies eventually, but I'm looking for a low cost option.

What has worked for you guys?

 

[Chris Patterson]

A conclusion. (I like a happy ending).

Groovy. I got back here to post what I did. I did at least take that thing I bought and put it in the wife's office. I am absolved. So anyway, of late I have been spending the majority of my time on the boat, so this further compounded the problem of an internet signal. Not good, him like internet.
I went with Bob's complete unit with Islandtime PC. It had gotten where I hang out on the upper reaches of the river, and it's the outback up here. I called Bob first just because my natural paranoia I guess wanted to hear a human. Nice guy, intelligent and to the point. Fabulous. I ordered it immediately. This was on Sunday night by the way. Oh yeah, the one I wanted was $249.00 + 16 bucks shipping. It was on my porch (in civilization) Tuesday afternoon. Wow. And folks, I was again impressed. The packing was first class.

Now I made the semi humble decision to just buy one of these systems outright, because those of you that have read my posts now recognize me as Patterson, Lord of the Idiots. I instinctively knew first hand that I had NO business trying to build something that may possibly work. Most likely not..

It was a plug and play, baby. Impressive looking equipment that involves the "bullet". And powered by 12 volts too, cool. I already had a 1" pole on the stern that used to hold an old gps antenna I decommissioned. So the antenna on this one clamped on there beautifully. It actually looks pretty cool. I'm sitting here right now at the table, (with the heat on, dammit), and can see the led's up there flashing. Neat toys warm my heart. And it gets wifi signals from miles away, absolutely incredible. I called Bob one time the next morning because my dumb ass simply couldn't read directions. Bob answered and walked me through it in two minutes. Thus far I am impressed BIG time.

This may sound like a shameless plug for Islandtime, but I assure you I don't know Bob at all. But he sure did put a complete product together that I'm thrilled with.

 

[RichH]

Take it back and use your money on something that will work. Best solution is a Ubiquity Bullet and a decent antenna. You want a 2HP model. I have tried all sorts of system as i need wifi for work and live on my boat. Most marinas have crappy wifi and the dock masters have no clue about making it better. I use both a bullet and a 5mile transmiter. The bullet is the most cost effective system. it takes a bit to set up but it is not that hard and you can connect it to a wireless router on your boat so all of your devices can use it. On Ebay you should be able to get a bullet and antenna for less than 150. you can get a 50 foot network cable and hoist the system up the mast for those far signals. I have gotten a connection from a beach house when I was out of sight of land!

"BadBoy extreme" uses the Ubiquity Bullet .... I can sometimes 'connect' to Wifi that is several miles away. My installation is at about 15ft. off the deck at the stern of my boat.
http://store.bitstorm.com/bad-boy-xtreme-kits/

 

[Bob Poff]

Take the Netgear box back. I have a couple of those around our house.
My guess is that it's going to be tenuous at best.

 

[kenn]

I went with Bob's complete unit with Islandtime PC. ...It was a plug and play, baby.

Thanks for reporting your experience. It's always nice to find products and systems that do what they say they will do.

Some people enjoy the challenge of figuring stuff out for themselves. More often, people simply have a problem they'd like to solve, once. For them, the extra cost of a properly-configured system is well worth it.

 

[Chris Patterson]

Yeah, that's kind of the reason I threw it back out there. When you get to talking about Lan's, and POE's, I get that 'just burned a big one' look, and the fun's over. Rich sounds like he's got more or less the same thing, the Ubiquity Bullet and such, but Rich is a very smart man. I tend to be, well, not. Mine came with instructions that were very clear, and every single component to make it work. Hell, the clamp for the bracket was even 316 s.s.

Now that my days are now spent mostly on the boat, I wanted something that would work period. I've got way more things to do with my time than fool with a connection that doesn't work, what with my new business venture, an offshore liquor still. It's best this way..