Long-Distance WiFi Device

[TabbyCat]

you probably won't miss too many beach bar wifi's unless you are anchored right on top of them. At 60' up and with an 8dB antenna vertical beam spread of 16*, your beam will hit a wifi spot located on the shore 427' away (distance = 60'xTan82*).

Thanks for that, I was wondering what the formula was! As it turns out, since I'm a catamaran, I like anchoring in close usally in about 5' of water; think I'm about 250' from the WIFI shack right now. But I'll still try the masthead setup, at least temporarily. When I'm that close, I could just use my Alpha USB antenna if the bullet skips over it.

[W32PAMELA]

Originally Posted by TabbyCat;

I'm about 250' from the WIFI shack right now. But I'll still try the masthead setup, at least temporarily. When I'm that close, I could just use my Alpha USB antenna if the bullet skips over it.

At 250' the Bullet will have no problem seeing the AP regardless of the mounting height or orientation of the antenna. You could probably just lay it on the salon table and do well.

[senormechanico]

FWIW, my Bullet is mounted at masthead, 50 feet above the water, and my NetGear LAN is mounted behind my electrical panel approx 3 feet above the water and 6 feet behind the mast. Even though it's almost 90 degrees from the antenna's highest gain angle, it's always the strongest signal on the bullet signal listing page.

I'm perfectly happy with the antenna masthead location.

[thatboatguy]

I waterproofed an Alfa Wifi rig with one of these little bait boxes (lower left). Convenient little ring on one end for hanging it up in the rigging too. I have it hooked to a 30ft active USB cable and that connection is sealed with rescue tape. But... I have a standard to mini USB adapter (somewhere) so that I think I can fit all the vitals up into that little water tight box. Photos soon.

$6.95 at West Marine Cabelas has them on sale.

George

[thatboatguy]

Here it is just stuck in our main sheet for testing. I have (very carefully) drilled the top for the antenna and sealed with 5200 then notched for the cable coming in from the bottom. We just had the tail end of Nicole and record breaking rainfall here on the bay and my Alfa stayed nice and dry.

George

[AnchorageGuy]

We have made a new housing for our WiFi set up and a variation of this can be used in lots of ways. And it only costs a couple of dollars or you can scavenge up the parts.
http://tinyurl.com/qkjw7o
Chuck

[richardhula]

If you have a client bridge based WiFi setup (Bullet, Nanostation etc.) plugged directly into LAN port on your laptop, you can share the connectivity using your (redundant at this point) built in WiFi adaptor.

Instructions vary with Windows version but this is a good starting point. Select Network & Sharing Centre>Set up new connection or network, & follow instructions for creating adhoc wireless network. Add security if required.

You then bridge the LAN adaptor to the WLAN adaptor. For Windows 7 & Vista go to Network and Sharing Centre>Manage adaptor settings & select/highlight LAN & Wireless adaptors. Right click on selection & choose Bridge option. Selecting this creates Network (MAC) bridge adapter. Note any adapter you choose must have Internet sharing (ICS) turned off in order that it can be bridged.

Once created the bridge remains available for each network adapter. With the adapters bridged Internet connectivity will be available to any other wireless device by simply connecting to the adhoc network you created.

The sharing can be achieved using ICS but I prefer this method as its more reliable, & you don't have to turn off sharing on each adapter when returning to normal use - just right click on bridge & select disconnect.

Note I have shared pay networks using this method which a certain professional supplier of WiFi devices claimed couldn't be done with client bridge.

[thatboatguy]

Tip of the hat to Robert,

I've gone through the same process here in terms of firmware upgrade to the M device. I found clear instructions for doing that in the Ubiquity support site. Other than that I've used the setup instructions for the nano that was close enough to muddle through with.

And thanks once again to Bob,

We can always count on you being right on top of the latest with these things.

George

P.S. For some reason I just got notice of the posts concerning setup back on page 39. These comments were in reference to those posts.

[Jerry Woodward]

To add another twist to this thread, I'm wondering if anyone has thoughts for us bareboat charterers who want a portable setup we can pack in a suitcase and plug directly into our laptop. I'm thinking of two possible setups costing less than $75.00:

1. Bullet 2 with a 7 to 8" "rubber duck" omni directional antenna, poe, and a roll of CAT5 cable. This would be easy to pack and I could simply haul it up on a halyard and not worry about directonality. The antennas I am looking at claim 90o vertical, so should not be a problem on a monohul.

2. Nanostation 2 loco, with built-in antenna, poe, and CAT5 cable. This would need to be pointed in the general direction of the signal, so would be difficult to haul up on a halyard.

The question is, which would give a better signal? The omni up the mast, or a more directional NS2 on the rail? Or, is there something better that someone would recommend?

Thanks
Jerry

[richardhula]

Although a little ugly & unsuitable as permanent installation on a boat, I think the NanoStation would probably work best as a portable unit. Its built in high gain antennas have wide lobes so it only needs to be pointed roughly in the right direction.

A Bullet (2HP or M2HP) would only beat it if it had a high gain omni attached & maybe a little higher but with the caveat of reduced vertical beam width.

So NS2 for portable, Bullet/omni for permanent installation without direction worries.

[thatboatguy]

I think if I were going to bareboat charter I'd pack my alfa 1 and spend the rest on snorkel gear.

George

[Jerry Woodward]

Originally Posted by thatboatguy

I think if I were going to bareboat charter I'd pack my alfa 1 and spend the rest on snorkel gear.

George

Would that give the same range/sensitivity as the NS2? From what I can tell, the alpha attaches with a USB cable, and would sit down below at the PC. It seems that the NS2 up the mast would give much more sensitivity. The price is not that much different: $50.00 for the NS2 vs $27 for the alpha.

On the other hand, the alpha looks like it would have more general use on and off the boat, and I may not need the NS2 if I only want to get an access point a mile away.

You've given me another option, thanks.

[richardhula]

The Alpha whilst not mentioned in your OP may be the best bet for portability particularly the higher power model with as higher gain antenna as you can accommodate. Yes it uses USB lead connected directly to your PC but this can be quite long & powers the device as well.

Note in my previous post I was thinking NS2. The NS2L (NanoStation Loco2) has less Tx power, 100mw & slightly lower gain antenna's so temper my comments accordingly.

[Jerry Woodward]

Originally Posted by richardhula

The Alpha whilst not mentioned in your OP may be the best bet for portability particularly the higher power model with as higher gain antenna as you can accommodate. Yes it uses USB lead connected directly to your PC but this can be quite long & powers the device as well.

Note in my previous post I was thinking NS2. The NS2L (NanoStation Loco2) has less Tx power, 100mw & slightly lower gain antenna's so temper my comments accordingly.

Interesting. I could not find any power rating listed for the NS2L. Compared to the 1W power of the Alpha, that is quite low. So, now the Alpha is sounding like a much better option. But even with a 15' USB, I won't be able to get it as high up. Can you suggest some good options for a higher gain antenna for the Alpha?

[richardhula]

Jerry - rather than posting to two sites simultaneously check here