Boat WIFI system questions

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To stream to a full sized tv you need to hard wire into an HDMI port on the tv. This way Verizon won’t be able to detect a remote streaming device and won’t throttle you down. The adapter is only available from Apple directly AFAIK. To avoid being tethered to the tv via a 24” charging cord go online and get a couple of 10’ FireWire extension cables, that way your streaming device will act as a wired remote that you can run from the sofa in the saloon.
 
twistedtree said:
The only other thing I can think of is that some access points are set up to only connect to specific devices. It's mostly used for point to point setups as opposed to open access points. I've seen a few of those with symptoms like you describe. No password, you can connect (sometimes), but no data flow.
Click to expand...

That is our experience too. Some marinas wifi will not transfer data thru an amplifier, even though our I-devices will connect directly. Hotspot on our I-phone usually works great until we go over our monthly limit, then it slows to 2G speeds.
 
Not sure what you are getting for $6k, but whatever it is it is definitely overkill based on your use-case.


I am heavily dependent on wi-fi (knowledge worker) and have two outdoor wi-fi 'antennas' (Wireless APs). One is directional (Ubiquity Nanostation M2) for very long range. With this one I can connect to Cable-WiFi Alliance hotspots more than 5km away, but I have to 'aim' it. The other is a Mikrotik Groove, which is good for connecting to the Marina's wifi or (in emergencies) my cellular phone hotspot. Both are mounted on the radar arch, and connect to a Mikrotik 951Ui, which then serves up the wifi throughout the boat. I think my total cost for everything including the enclosure for the Groove is under $600.

Bob Stewart at islandtimepc dot com will sell you an entire system at a modest markup, set everything up before shipping it to you and has excellent instructions for installing it. Unless you are a networking expert, you can save a lot of time and frustration by getting your stuff from Bob and installing it yourself.


Good luck!
 
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Lots of good advice here. Having a separate access point / router is definitely more flexible but not for the novice. If you want to stream onboard consider a router and chrome cast or fire stick. As others have said having a phone / hot spot AND a WiFi system is the most flexible.
 
I've done quite a fair share of installs for "boat internet" ranging from WiFi to LTE/cellular, and many other options. I've also written an article or two on my site about various options to choose, but one of the previous posters has it right:

Boats are just like apartments or houses - none of them are the same, none of our budgets are the same, and add in to the mix that your travel profile could be wildly different than the next person, and you have a complex set of choices when you're looking at getting internet on your boat.

I personally recommend the Peplink products because I've installed 100's of them and had very little issues, great customer reviews, and they are easier to use than many of the cheaper solutions. Combine that with an amplifier/booster for LTE service, an outdoor WiFi booster like a MikroTik, and you have a full solution that can grab remote WiFi signals when available, and use LTE/cellular the rest of the time.

There are a few plans out there on the LTE side that are essentially unlimited, but they slow you down after 20-30GB of transfer per month, or when you're in a congested area. At least in my cruising grounds, which is Puget Sound/Seattle/British Columbia, I have found that WiFi is less and less available, and less and less reliable, so having a good LTE system is important to me.

Happy to provide more specific advise via a PM if needed.
 
So why do I need WiFi? Its a serious question.

Currently we have Verizon cell service. As long as I have cell service I have access to the internet. I use my phone as a "hotspot," regardless if I am in a marina or not. I also have a cell booster.

So again why do I need to spend money on WiFi?
 
Alaskan Sea-Duction said:
So why do I need WiFi? Its a serious question.

Currently we have Verizon cell service. As long as I have cell service I have access to the internet. I use my phone as a "hotspot," regardless if I am in a marina or not. I also have a cell booster.

So again why do I need to spend money on WiFi?
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I prefer having both choices, as I am a high bandwidth user. I can easily blow through 30GB on T-Mobile in a week or less, and they start slowing me down. I have the Verizon "unlimited" plan as well as a secondary SIM in my router, but when I am close to metro areas like Seattle and the like, they slow it down too.

Having WiFi allows me to connect to a network and still continue to use lots of bandwidth and save the cell bandwidth for when I am further away.

Many people will not need WiFi if they have a good cell plan/provider, and don't do tons of bandwidth-intensive stuff.
 
stevemitchell said:
I prefer having both choices, as I am a high bandwidth user. I can easily blow through 30GB on T-Mobile in a week or less, and they start slowing me down.

Many people will not need WiFi if they have a good cell plan/provider, and don't do tons of bandwidth-intensive stuff.
Click to expand...


From what I understand a VPN can take care of that.
I don't like big brother looking over my shoulder so have been running one for years anyway and do a fair amount of bandwith intensive stuff.

https://www.privacyend.com/bypass-isp-throttling/
 
Alaskan Sea-Duction said:
So why do I need WiFi? Its a serious question.

Currently we have Verizon cell service. As long as I have cell service I have access to the internet. I use my phone as a "hotspot," regardless if I am in a marina or not. I also have a cell booster.

So again why do I need to spend money on WiFi?
Click to expand...

We stream at least one British murder mystery at 90 minutes or more nearly every evening. We also stream music to the boat much of the day via Bluetooth. Add in my wife’s hour and a half streaming her soaps to her pad before I get up and it adds up. Once your “unlimited plan” reaches its limit and slows you down, you’ll be looking for some fast WiFi.
 
Simi 60 said:
From what I understand a VPN can take care of that.
I don't like big brother looking over my shoulder so have been running one for years anyway.

https://www.privacyend.com/bypass-isp-throttling/
Click to expand...

I run a VPN always as well, but that won't get you around account limits or throttling when you're in a dense area where they are doing "traffic management". The amount of data you stream per month is tied to your IMEI / SIM card and you can't get around them with a VPN. If the provider is doing some sort of throttling due to the amount of people or something else, a VPN won't get around that either.

I run a VPN for privacy, and to get around the video downsampling they do. On Verizon, they will reduce your video quality to 720p or 480p from HD just to save on bandwidth.
 
Woodland Hills said:
We stream at least one British murder mystery at 90 minutes or more nearly every evening. We also stream music to the boat much of the day via Bluetooth. Add in my wife’s hour and a half streaming her soaps to her pad before I get up and it adds up. Once your “unlimited plan” reaches its limit and slows you down, you’ll be looking for some fast WiFi.
Click to expand...

Heh we stream at least one episode of a British murder mystery every night that has a theremin in its opening sequence. I wonder if it is the same one you're watching!

We stream music to the boat all day long, and the crew (usually 1-3 additional people besides me) are taking pictures, uploading to social media, downloading news, and much, much more. When I actually get the drone or ROV out, I'm uploading and downloading even more than that after a successful trip.

We've easily gone through our month's bandwidth allotment in a week or less. For some of the crew, I've had to explain that it is not like their home internet connection, so they shouldn't be watching Youtube videos constantly, etc.

We always get on WiFi if we can just to save on our monthly caps.
 
stevemitchell said:
Heh we stream at least one episode of a British murder mystery every night that has a theremin in its opening sequence. I wonder if it is the same one you're watching!



We stream music to the boat all day long, and the crew (usually 1-3 additional people besides me) are taking pictures, uploading to social media, downloading news, and much, much more. When I actually get the drone or ROV out, I'm uploading and downloading even more than that after a successful trip.



We've easily gone through our month's bandwidth allotment in a week or less. For some of the crew, I've had to explain that it is not like their home internet connection, so they shouldn't be watching Youtube videos constantly, etc.



We always get on WiFi if we can just to save on our monthly caps.
Click to expand...



Good thing you aren’t using satellite :)
 
stevemitchell said:
Heh we stream at least one episode of a British murder mystery every night that has a theremin in its opening sequence. I wonder if it is the same one you're watching!

We stream music to the boat all day long, and the crew (usually 1-3 additional people besides me) are taking pictures, uploading to social media, downloading news, and much, much more. When I actually get the drone or ROV out, I'm uploading and downloading even more than that after a successful trip.

We've easily gone through our month's bandwidth allotment in a week or less. For some of the crew, I've had to explain that it is not like their home internet connection, so they shouldn't be watching Youtube videos constantly, etc.

We always get on WiFi if we can just to save on our monthly caps.
Click to expand...

Midsomer Murders? We really like that one: we are 13 seasons into a 22 season run. We also like Dalziel & Pascoe, New Tricks, Johnathan Creek, Maigrait (both versions), Miss Fisher, Father Brown, Shetland and others.

We joke that rural England, Midsomer County, is the most dangerous place on earth!
 
ranger42c said:
Similar to Cabot Cove, Maine.

:)

-Chris
Click to expand...

Yes, I couldn’t remember that name. You certainly didn’t want to be a b-list celebrity on vacation checking into the inn there: you weren’t long for this world. The thing we really like about British TV is that none of the players have ever had plastic surgery and thus they look like real people and look their age. That and the high level of skill and talent they bring to bear on even the most minor role.
 
Hawaii is the most dangerous place on earth.
Several killings, explosions and plane crashes every day on Hawaii five o
 
What about Oxford England? Getting to class must be an obstacle course of dead bodies...such a shame for a quaint English town.��
 
Wi Fi antenna

The Mikrotik GrooveG-52HPacn-US, from Island Time, is a real good system.

I have been using the Island Time system for many years and I am very pleased with it.

Very good support from the owner.
 
If you decide to go the WiFi antenna and router route, check out Island Times at http://islandtimepc.com - it has some features that are very helpful but take a little geek knowledge to set up. You can't beat the support you'll receive from the owner. That and any router is all you'll need to connect everything on your boat to a local WiFi source (you'll need passwords for secure systems, but that's not a problem when in or near a marina).
 
if you have access to marina / hotel or other wifi you can use a portable / travel router
Screen Shot 2018-12-14 at 2.45.20 PM.jpg

and if needed can be hooked up to a full router to extend range.
I use this set up with my marina wifi, the portable device is on the fly bridge for better reception and an ethernet cable runs into the boat and connects to an apple router. (any router will work).
the whole set up should cost under $100 (if you have local wifi that is :ermm:)
 
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Boat WIFI Systems

I was frustrated when the WIFI signal at many marinas was too weak for me to connect my laptop to the internet. I finally had a hot spot put on my phone, and have successfully been using that method of connecting to the internet for the last two years. It is inexpensive and worked well everywhere we went, i.e. Intercoastal Waterway, Chesapeake and Delaware Bay, Hudson River, Erie Canal, St Lawrence River.
Capt Bill
 
You've gotten a lot of good answers, BUT, there are some other/more considerations.

We have a wi-fi extender. We got it from a company in MA which just this year, closed their doors. They didn't go into any great detail, just we're closing, Good bye. Therefore do your due diligence on any system you would contemplate purchasing.

The equipment still works so until it doesn't I'll stick with it, but you should consider where you are going to try and use it, what ever you buy.

Obviously some are better than others. The 1 I have has only a single box, which was the attraction, as I didn't have all kinds of wires and multiple parts I had to make room for on the boat. 1 box and a 12V connection.

We are on the Loop and a consideration is, as I said, where you are going to use it. Seems like you will be off-shore quite a bit so wi-fi might not be your solution. We've found that wi-fi in Canada is quite limited.

When my box finally stops working I'll be looking into a Hot Spot alternative. Our cruising in Canada has shown that wi-fi is not the best technology. We currently have AT&T who want just $300/mo extra to give us cell coverage in Canada. I got a local phone for considerably less per mo. Needless to say I am looking for another alternative. Fortunately it doesn't seem to have to happen right away so the cell technology and pricing can mature (get better, get cheaper) as I am waiting.

With your off-shore needs and presuming you aren't springing for satellite, cell is your only alternative to staying connected and the additional expense of a booster, WeBoost, could be a smart expense.

You don't say you have any weather info alternatives but it would be smart to have a weather service for forecasting while off-shore. The cell booster and a hot spot along with your computer would enable you to get weather reports.

Don't know, which steps out of the current topic, if you have a PLB or better, but I might suggest an inReach by Garmin. This item will allow family & friends to know where you are and in an emergency will broadcast an SOS. It has other benefits, go to Garmin's site and check it out.

Good luck with your travels, think and keep it safe. Remember you are not only looking out for yourself, you are also thinking about 1st responders if the SHTF.

​Best regards,
Charles
Charles Williamson
m/v Nepidae
Albin 43 Sundeck
Nepidae.trawler@gmail.com
MTOA 3927
AGLCA 12114

Please keep in mind that emails show no emotion, often omit words, and may be perceived as the opposite of what is intended. A simple phone call is the fastest way to straighten out any misunderstanding or questions.
 
I use a Verizon Jetpack which is nothing more than a hot spot. I get fine service up and down the east coast. I use it constantly for work and for net surfing. My plan allows 50 gig and I rarely top that out. If I do, I call Verizon and politely ask for some help. Usually they will give me a credit and often up my gig allowance as well. I should point out that my plan is a business plan with 8 lines of service. They have also told me that if I move to an unlimited plan that business plans are not throttled down when you exceed 20 or 30 gig.

We also have Dish Satellite TV service which we have been pleased with. At marinas that have decent WiFi we also use an Amazon Fire Stick.
 
King Swift WiFi booster from Dishformyrv is working well for us. 199.00
 
Does anyone here have any familiarity with the Wirie Pro? I installed one about a year before they went out of business. The wifi hotspot works great. The cellular was not set up as the data coverage at the marina is non-existent. I tried to set it up after they went out of business. I followed the manual and was unsuccessful. I have not been able to find any user groups. I know that their unit spec'd GSM, and I tried a T-Mobile SIM card and was unsuccessful setting it up through the Wirie software. I recall Wirie telling me when I bought it that T-Mobile's network was different here in Florida and that LTE would probably not be possible; 4G would. If anyone knows where I can find any help, it would be appreciated.

Also, for those who use GSM cellular data, what kind of plans do you have? Are you on the hook for a monthly amount, or are there any plans where you can buy it as you need it?


Thanks...

Skip
Tampa
 
+1 for the Island Time set up. excellent value and it works great for my purpose.

I have Xfinity cable internet at home, and it comes with the ability to find Xfinity or Comcast hotspots and use them securely as part of your service. I find Xfinity hotspots by the dozens (and even hundreds) in New England and Florida coastal waters. There's probably lots more hotspots than I've found. Each Xfinity customer is automatically a hotspot as the modems have two units included; one for the subscriber and one as a hotspot. it's a great system and doesn't impact the individual subscribers.

I set up my Island Time to automatically log in to Xfinity send the signal to my old AirPort Extreme router, and the entire boat has wifi internet which is just like we have at home. Blistering fast and no throttling.
 
By looking at the MAC ID found in packet headers, a WiFi service can figure out if it's talking to a router or directly to a client device such as a PC or IPhone. Some WiFi services will block router communication. A good example is the City of Alton Illinois which serves Alton Marina. You'll be able to connect with a client, but not with a router.


I've never been able to figure out why these service don't want to talk to routers, but some don't.


BTW, Mikrotik products for extending WiFi and making your boat a hot spot work well. Island Time sells and supports the products.
 
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