2019 edition: Are you using a mast mounted WiFi or cellular extender?

[IslandHopper]

My mast is free of internet clutter

As others have mentioned my smartphone is used as a hotspot and hoisted if needed, don't hoist it very often though.........

[svmobert]

Note that AT&T service in SE Alaska is 2.5G (though it will say 3G on the phone). Verizon had voice service but NO data in most of SE Alaska. The Verizon phone indicated "1X" but no data was available, which Verizon customer care confirmed was expected.

Speed was 128kbps everywhere on AT&T unless we were in a major city (like Petersburg or Ketchikan) where we got LTE service through GCI.

Our T-Mobile phone used AT&T 2.5G in Alaska just fine. Both Verizon and T-Mobile worked perfect in B.C. as long as we forced the phones to Telus, where in auto it would try and use Bell or Rogers, neither of which worked very well most of the time.

While roaming in Canada, Verizon slowed down after 500MB each day, where T-Mobile gives 5GB for the month, so you just need to be aware of how you are using the data in each case. When Verizon slowed down, it was pretty much unusable, where with T-Mobile One Plus the reduced 256kbps speed was slow but still usable for many things.

If you are looking for cellular options for a boat you might find this useful...

https://www.sea-tech.com/2018/12/30/...e-for-my-boat/

[svmobert]

Note also that the poll lacks Cellular Router/Extender as an option..

On our boat we have a Cellular Router with it's own external antenna and it's own SIM card, plus a Cellular booster, plus a WiFi Extender, and an Iridium Pilot. The cellular router automatically switches between WiFi, Cell, and Satellite as we move around based on least-cost and available signal.

The cellular booster helps the signal for our phones but the router's external cell antenna gets a strong signal from long ways offshore by itself.

[leftbrainstuff]

Most marina wifi is poorly managed in terms of channel saturation and location of antenna.

Cell service is also challenging with the tides and terrestrial cell antenna location.

We gor for dedicated wifi / internet while liveaboards and use a mix of cell tethering, satellite internet, cafe wifi when on the move.

There are several satcomm initiatives afoot to provide cheap global coverage. These will all have significant bandwidth rrstrictions so will only work with efficient apps and iot devices.

5G will also obsolete wifi but requires magnitudes more towers and access points. Suspect we'll see marine mesh networks using 5g spring up.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by Sea-TechSystems

The cellular booster helps the signal for our phones but the router's external cell antenna gets a strong signal from long ways offshore by itself.

Thanks for helping to demystify the options, but I'm finding the devil is in the details in this very evolving service and the specs/requirements change fast.

Just installed my first sim router https://www.4gltemall.com/huawei-b52...ss-router.html as the b525s-65 was the only one that had 700 Mhz which is used in Palau..

I know Huawei is frowned upon in the US for security concerns, but seems very well entrenched in Asia

My local supplier is having trouble researching a marine antenna for my Model.

I assume it needs to be tuned for all frequencies??

Any comments?

[hpeer]

Depends on where you sail.

Here in the Carribean we have places where we can get free WiFi (like here in the Saints or Dehasies) or paid WiFi but other places, like Marigot Bay I needed to get a local SIM card. When up North or in the Bahamas we get cell service through a program with Verizion, but I sometimes need to run a Bi Directional Amplifier (BDA). I run the antenna up the mast for coverage.

When my Wife was still working part time it was MANDATORY that she have voice coverage on the days she was working. What a PITA.

[hellosailor]

Pelagic-
Your router's cellular antenna only needs to be tuned to those frequencies (bands) that you are going to use it with. So for instance, if the only service in Palau is on 700MHz, in that area that is all you would need an antenna tuned for. And you may find that getting a high-gain antenna that works on 700MHz means it won't work well on 2100MHz or some other frequencies in between the two, that other carriers are using. (Like 850/900MHz traditional GSM).
That may not be a big issue because antenna's don't have to be very expensive. You probably won't be exposing it to salt spray, in fact you may want to keep it in the cabin in order to keep the cable from the router to the antenna as short as possible. There's more loss in the cable, even the best of cable, than most signal boosters can compensate for. So if you have to swap antennas when you swap SIM cards...you know, BFD. Don't let it drive you crazy.

[TBW]

Have goggle fi phone; buy from google fi (not google store or best buy) will be unlocked when you get it.
have been in the bahamas the last few weeks. connects to BTC from at least 10 miles -probably 15- from BTC tower; Highbourne, Staniel. A bit thin in the park at Warderick Wells. Using weboost drive 4gx with internal antenna. Believe it or not this works. My past experience with extenders is that they are like fishing lures, they catch fishermen, not fish. This is a cell phone signal booster; not wifi. You also need an external antenna mounted up as high as you can get it (Mine is about 20-25 feet up on a spreader on the mast. I am a 50 foot trawler.
Google support is extraordinary; Weboost support is excellent.
Coming down the east coast last month, lost signal when too far offshore but when you get near someplace with population you get strong signal. Google Fi phone works as a hotspot (no extra charges). I have a globalstar sat phone (works very well - there is a very nice special available) but used it rarely.
The whole Google setup is remarkable. Do reading. I can make a better call from Norman Cay than I could from home in Easton Md a half mile from the ATT tower. Trust me, Google Fi is the real deal; changes everything. You will be amazed at the charges that go away.

[ranger58sb]

Can't exactly do the survey... don't have a mast.

FWIW, we do use a small external Wifi adapter, USB-connected and powered... and we only ever bother with it when in marinas or otherwise near enough to a likely shore-based Wifi system (as in on a marina's mooring balls or similar). Advertises 1 mile reception, but I've only been able to verify ¼ mile so far.

We do sometimes augment that with a virtual hotspot on board, using one of the laptops.

In our experience, marina Wifi is either good to go... or not. The external adapter doesn't seem to have much to do with it. We can have great signal (measured), but lousy throughput. With and without the external adapter.

-Chris

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Jammer

Do you have some type of mast-mounted WiFi access point? How would you characterize the quality of WiFi service in marinas, mooring fields, and anchorages? Do you find that having WiFi on the mast makes enough of a difference to be worthwhile -- in other words, is it often the case that the mast mounted system has a good, solid connection while a deck-level PC or phone otherwise cannot connect?

Not on the mast but I use a Raspberry Pi running openplotter which can be both an access point and log on to another network and share web access from that, just using the internal wifi adapter. For longer range I have a high power usb wifi dongle & high gain antenna which gets rigged temporarily and plugged into the Pi but these days getting a local mobile phone data sim is the usual way to go. The Pi connects to the mobile phone access point. Long time since the antenna was rigged.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Jammer

MIMO = multiple input, multiple output.


Essentially it's a technique for improving the signal by having two or more antennas that are around a wavelength apart. It is widely used at microwave frequencies, such as those used for WiFi and for some cellular services, because the antennas and spacing are both small.

Yes, one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-600...etgear+aircard

How much of an improvement does it make? answer is I don't know, but as I said it did give us a weak signal 10 miles offshore which was sufprising.
Seems to get good reviews on Amazon so for £40 worth fitting. Pins are fragile and need care fitting but I just leave it connected and jammed in the saloon window frame. It's about A5 paper size and speed tests average 40mbps, that's as good as we get from our landline at home nearby.

Overall a huge improvement over the earlier Huawei 3G hotspot, so more than happy to spend (I think £120) for the second hand Aircard and Mimo.

Pete

[terah]

At the moment I have:

• TP-Link TL-WR902AC Travel router
• Microtik Metal 52 AC mounted to arch
• 2 x Huawei B315 3G / 4G / LTE routers (one for Europe bands, the other for US/Caribbean bands) with a MIMO 9db gain antenna mounted to arch

(https://www.frequencycheck.com/ is a good reference for frequencies used in different countries.)

The TP Link travel router is always on and is the main onboard wifi for the boat. Depending on where we are it is connected to either the Microtik or the B315 router.

I've been using a Digicel SIM in the B315 since Martinique at €40pm for 40Gb. The coverage has mostly been OK though it was quite poor in Antigua. My UK SIM can roam onto other networks so if Digicel is poor I'll switch to it. On rare occasions I find my UK SIM in my mobile has better connectivity than when in the B315, so I simply hotspot my phone and connect the TP Link to it.

The nice thing about this is that I never have to change any WiFi settings on the laptops / tablets as they always connect to the TP Link. Another nice feature with the TP Link is a guest network. The kids devices connect to this and it has either no or very limited bandwidth set on it so they don't chew up data.

I use the Microtik when in marinas or anchored near a hotspot. In most cases in marinas it has made poor wifi quite usable - not always able to stream but fine for browsing / downloading.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Pete7

How much of an improvement does it make? answer is I don't know, but as I said it did give us a weak signal 10 miles offshore which was sufprising.

A two-antenna MIMO configuration will typically give you about 3 dB improvement over a single antenna of the same gain and in the same location.


In general terms, that's a small but significant improvement. It would make the difference between being able to pick up a signal within 1 mile of the access point (without MIMO) and 2 miles of the access point (with MIMO), in many cases, as an example.

[Paramotorgreg]

I have a WiFi Bat wifi signal booster which is attached approximately 5m high on my backstay. We attached it to the backstay rather than the mast to avoid the mast creating a signal shadow. This is connected to a RedBox router which has the facility to select between wifi; Iridium phone or 4g dongle. It was pretty expensive and in retrospect I don't think it was worth the money.

The wifi booster is pretty rubbish - although it was advertised as being able to pick up a signal from several miles away it often struggles to get a decent signal from the marina wifi. Having said that, there have been a couple of occasions when it has been able to pick up a signal from the marina or from a nearby bar or cafe which i have not been able to see on any of my devices. I haven't tried it with the Iridium phone or the wifi dongle as yet. I will try it with the Iridium phone when we cross the Atlantic and perhaps it may prove worthwhile.

I have found that by far the most reliable system is to use my phone as a hotspot. In Europe I can use my UK call plan which gives me 12Gb per month. Here in Tunisia I have bought a local SIM card and get 25Gb for £7.50

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Pelagic-

.....You probably won't be exposing it to salt spray, in fact you may want to keep it in the cabin in order to keep the cable from the router to the antenna as short as possible. There's more loss in the cable, even the best of cable, than most signal boosters can compensate for. So if you have to swap antennas when you swap SIM cards...you know, BFD. Don't let it drive you crazy.

Thanks Helosailor.
Interesting that you recommend a portable external antenna over a fixed external one as I was just considering Pros and Cons of that choice for a Cell booster.

My local consultant/supplier said that his research had indicated that a maximum of 10m (30ft) antenna cable was optimum, to still give you the best height vs line loss.

Anyone disagree with that?


That would place the antenna directly above my radar on aft mast, a bit lower than where a TV antenna used to be as you can see on photo. (Masts are wooden)

Just wondering if I should just keep it simple and hoist up on a flag halyard, but that is messy and in rainy season at anchor, not so nice.