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Internet and WiFi

Discussion in 'Electronics' started by Trak, May 28, 2018.

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  1. Trak

    Trak Member

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    Mar 15, 2014
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    Location:
    Lighthouse Point, FL
    What are you guys doing for Internet and WiFi. Currently I have a WiFi router connected to a Hawking access Point / bridge. I also have a att portable hot spot that can only connect wirelessly. My hawking has trouble connecting to my marina WiFi. So I connect the hawking to the att hot spot wirelessly. There is a wired connection from the hawking to the netgear router. This boat is new to me but I think there is a Wave WiFi antenna on the arch. It must not be powered because I done see in when doing a WiFi search for networks.

    I would like to:

    Be able to use an att hot spot or SIM card at home and Bahamas.
    Be able to connect to marina WiFi where available.
  2. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    I have pretty much given up on wifi because of the few open hotspots. And that's with a Wave booster and external antenna

    See my replies on the managing bandwidth thread. I ve been using a cradlepoint IBR 1150 modem connected to a high end tri band router. The cradlepoint has two sim slots so I keep both an ATT and BTC sims in it, enabling/disabling each depending on which side of the ole stream we are
  3. Caltexflanc

    Caltexflanc Senior Member

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    North Carolina
  4. ychtcptn

    ychtcptn Senior Member

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    We do similar to Pascal, but we use the Pepwave max HD2, has two sims for cell cards, but also has a built in wifi capabilities like the wave.
    There is a lot you can do to manage users and also plug in your vsat or landline to manage.
    The units are very robust, and even have an app to manage on your ipad.
    Unless you are very tech savvy, I suggest getting professional set up.
  5. Danvilletim

    Danvilletim Senior Member

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    Location:
    isleton, ca
    I agree hotspots suck. We tried to use one in Bahamas last year and could barely get it,to work. We also had the wave wifi extender which also seemed to struggle to work reliably. But more important the marina wifi is awful almost everywhere. So far cradlepoint or a cellular router is much better. We just mounted an external antenna and it boosted our signal.
  6. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    In the exumas most of the wifi is expensive with limited bandwith, more expensive than BTC 15GB for $35. Unless it has changed recently, i havent even tried it in a couple of year
  7. Trak

    Trak Member

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    Location:
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    Pascal, with your advise from HOF, we bought a btc sim from mr. Sim on our last Bahamas trip and used an old unlocked cell phone for a hot spot. An external antenna would be nice. My marina just put in new WiFi. People say it works well.
  8. Trak

    Trak Member

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    Location:
    Lighthouse Point, FL
    My work cell phone uses a 100g data pool for all users. I heard that you cal call att and add international data for $15 and just use data off the pool.
  9. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    I used a phone as hot spot but it s a bit slow when you have more than a couple of users which is why i switched to the craddlepoint modem.

    Wifi is great good marina with good wifi, but that s pretty rare.

    Be careful to get written confirmation from att that you will not be charged for roaming... att has increase the data in their passport plans, its now 3 gb for $120 and includes reduced romaing voice and text rates
  10. Nep6012

    Nep6012 New Member

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    Location:
    Jupiter FL
    I have a Ubiquiti Bullet M2 connected to a Linksys home router. The Bullet has an impressive range for connecting to marina wifi. The Bullet configuration is a little tricky but I found some helpful people on the Ubiquiti forum. If you have a hotspot, you can connect the Bullet to the hotspot when marina wifi is not available.
  11. ranger58sb

    ranger58sb Senior member

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    Chesapeake Bay, USA
    FWIW, we use an inexpensive Wave Stealth USB-powered Wi-Fi adapter from Radio Labs. Then we create a hotspot using "Connectify" on a Win7 laptop or the integrated hotspot capability on a Win10 laptop.

    Previously, we used Radio Lab's Wave Magnum unit, but that was only 2.4 gHz and they had no driver for Windows 10, whereas the Stealth also gets the 5.8 gHz frequencies and has a Win10 driver.

    This is just for supporting two of us, though; not sure how it would scale.

    The furthest measurable access we've gotten, back with the earlier Magnum, was about 1/4 mile, and that was well away from the marina we were in at the time. IOW, the adapters have always been able to deal with the distances associated with marina Wi-Fi... and when the signal sucks, it's the marina's side, not the adapter's fault.

    In fact, the marina where we over-wintered this last year had a really grim Wi-Fi system. We had great signal strength and quality at the boat, even from several of their access points, but throughput from their router completely sucked. They suggested it was too many tenants streaming, but nobody in their right mind would have tried streaming in the environment. The also mentioned they were testing a replacement system at another marina they manage. We ended up mostly using our AT&T plan to make a hotspot while we were there.

    -Chris
    Last edited: May 30, 2018
  12. cleanslate

    cleanslate Senior Member

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    I was going to post a new thread on this topic today, but found this one....my marina stinks too, all of the same problems above. Any new things out there today to make the marina Wi-Fi signal better at the boat other than my own hot-spot? Ole Cleanslate needs to keep it simple stupid as I am not very tech savvy . Would also need to keep it small, what ever it is , if IT exists.

    Thanks!
  13. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    There are boosters that will give you a stronger signal but the problem is usually the sheer number of users hooked up on many marina WiFi and the limited bandwidth due to streaming video.

    we haven’t used our booster in years. Instead I have a cradlepoint cell modem connected to our primary router. $60 a months for unlimited data.
  14. MBevins

    MBevins Senior Member

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    Like Pascal, I use a Mobile service , I have a WiFi amplifier on the hardtop but when connected to the marina there is very little band width. There's no way around that unfortunately.
  15. Danvilletim

    Danvilletim Senior Member

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    I tried to get modem only dats plan today and verizon was 80 bucks for 40 gbs. At and t was $50 for 15 but auto charged overages. Who do u use?
  16. MBevins

    MBevins Senior Member

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    https://www.cgcellular.com/
  17. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    We tried those Sprint and Verison WIFI lil gizmo hot spot boxes.
    Then got so fed up with them all (fibbers).
    Went to T-Mobile. Set your phone up as an hotspot.
    When off the dock, we have a great time with all of our stuff (lots & Lots of stuff) thru our phones.
    Unlimited plan, may company, be throttled back at 80 gig. Blown that to bits and never got slow.
    Others with T-Mobile brag on the same.
  18. cleanslate

    cleanslate Senior Member

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    I have Sprint which is now T-going-Mobile..so I will inquire with them about a phone or T-mobile hot spot gizmo/ Jawn. Which I believe is a ''faceless useless cell phone'' basically.
  19. ychtcptn

    ychtcptn Senior Member

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    Do you or anyone else have first hand experience with this company?

    I had something similar but they were shut down.

    Another company I used is now back ordered.
  20. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Never heard of them

    which one did you use before, Finally WiFi? It was great while it lasted