Liveaboard Internet Woes

[Little Salt]

Ugh! The marina is not up to par for me to use my laptop on board. The marina has a lot of interference between my boat and the source. I am looking for another option to get great working internet (I am so technically elegant NOT) without using the marina. My cell phone hotspot is not sufficient to run my laptop or iPad. Thanks for any info.

[ranger58sb]

What is the distance from your boat to the marina's access points? Lots of masts around? Do you get better "bars" as you move closer to it (e.g., with your phone or tablet)?

(Unless you're often trying to stream video or something, in which case you're maybe part of the problem...)

Sometimes you can get an inexpensive extender to solve the problem -- sometimes that's as simple as an external WiFi adapter which has better antennas than your laptop or tablet.

FWIW, we use an o2Air Wifi Router from Radio Labs; another advantage is that it then gives us an on-board network so we don't have to log on each of our other devices... You might need some help installing; their printed instructions are completely wrong... but their installation "wizard" works OK if you have a clue. Or there are similar products from other companies.

-Chris

[dwedeking2]

I have yet to find a marina with good internet (other than in Mexico where they had a access point on each dock). I use my phone's hot spot and it works for work items. I stream on my phone (the hot spot has a limit but the phone does not). I use Tmobile and am moored about a mile out in Key West.

[Reefmagnet]

Go check out this bad boy....


https://www.ui.com/airmax/bulletm/

[sguerrero1971]

My wife and I work from the boat and we use: https://unlimitedville.com/

Before this we used a mifi device, but the plans had data limits. The plans available through Unlimitedville are not throttled at all and make it so that we can both be on video conferences at the same time and not have any glitches, something we couldn't do with our other device.

Goop luck!

[Pitchondesign]

We use Finallywifi. Its cell based. Unlimited data, no throttling, no contract, no credit check. We pay $75/mo for speeds of about 6mbs. You can get a higher speed for $115/mo. It requires a $75 wifi hot spot. So far it has been great. We can stream, but at a lower resoultion 480p, but we have a small screen so its fine for us. We are using about 100 gb per month.

[Belezar]

My wife and I work from the boat and we use: https://unlimitedville.com/

Cool service. Unfortunately not accepting new customers currently due to virus, but I will remember them. Mifi devices are sold out around the country right now. I think Verizon told my sister in April it would July before they would have more.

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by Belezar

My wife and I work from the boat and we use: https://unlimitedville.com/

Cool service. Unfortunately not accepting new customers currently due to virus, but I will remember them. Mifi devices are sold out around the country right now. I think Verizon told my sister in April it would July before they would have more.

A different thread recommended a similar service - https://www.otrmobile.com/

No connection and not a user, just noted it and passing along.

Peter

[Sea Beezy]

Curious about Unlimitedville's service in the Caribbean. Their Sprint coverage plan (yellow plan) indicates service throughout eastern and western for $149 a month (plus one time $250 membership fee, not sure about hardware cost).

Compare that to My Island Wifi in the Bahamas which I believe has a fully unlimited $75/month plan for a rental device. This is apparently a first threshold service on AT&T's network.

Both of these services are hotspot only, not phone service but that's fine. What matters is getting that strong LTE signal and not being pushed down a tier as you "roam".

Having blanket coverage with one service as you travel island to island is probably worth paying the premium - if it is reliable service.

[ThereAndBack]

Originally Posted by Sea Beezy

Curious about Unlimitedville's service in the Caribbean.

I'm an unlimitedville customer. They explicitly say that their service is only for use in the United States.

[sguerrero1971]

Originally Posted by Belezar

My wife and I work from the boat and we use: https://unlimitedville.com/

Cool service. Unfortunately not accepting new customers currently due to virus, but I will remember them. Mifi devices are sold out around the country right now. I think Verizon told my sister in April it would July before they would have more.

I just received this discount code: ZNTZ57Q from Unlimitedville

If anyone is interested in this service, it gets you $50 off.

SG

[Mantana360]

Originally Posted by ThereAndBack

I'm an unlimitedville customer. They explicitly say that their service is only for use in the United States.

Hey how are you? I need your help since you using unlimitedville, I'm so stuck with internet options to my boat, I'm from Miami florida and livingabroad. And looking for good internet, I just want to know you opinion about unlimitedville. Is it good is it worth money etc. If you will be able to answer me, I'll appreciate it.
Thank you.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Mantana.

[ThereAndBack]

Originally Posted by Mantana360

Hey how are you? I need your help since you using unlimitedville, I'm so stuck with internet options to my boat, I'm from Miami florida and livingabroad. And looking for good internet, I just want to know you opinion about unlimitedville. Is it good is it worth money etc. If you will be able to answer me, I'll appreciate it.
Thank you.

They're very expensive plans and they have up front costs to join. So... to be worth it, you need to plan on being a subscriber for a long time and -really- need it. If you use 20GB a month, you're better off with something else. If you use 500GB a month, this might be for you.

The speed varies in location and load on the cellular networks and the carrier. We have the t-mobile and att options. We seem to have an average that allows two people to video conference at the same time and streaming movies hasn't been an issue.