Mystic Blue
Veteran Member
Can someone recommend a good wifi system for a cruising boat? Will not be too far off shore. Can probably just use Marina wifi but usually too weak to be of much use and also not secure.
So is that the $45/line plan? After the 20gb of high speed data you have unlimited 3G data and everything works fine without slowing down or extra charges?We have the T-Mobile 55+ plan with an additional tablet as our portable home WiFi hotspot. We stream Netflix (included with the plan) and amazon prime using a roku device. 115 GB used this month and still going. We use it in our NJ home,Florida home, and aboard Irish Lady when cruising. Our 37” tv is set to 720p. No freezing at all even while using laptops while watching tv. We use local over the air tv for news and major network stuff.
Marina wifi is so unsecure that you should never put anything there that you wouldn't want the whole world to know. No banking info, not even the name of your bank; no account info, not even where you have an account; no personal information such as your full legal name, your birthdate, your home address. Certainly no securities trading--ever. Use your phone hotspot for all that.
So what is marina wifi useful for? Surfing the internet, but be aware that some ISP's record the websites that you have visited.
We have a wifi amplifier that is useful where we are a long way from a marina's antenna. Otherwise it is turned off.
Nothing. I think I’m a lucky early adopter of both plans. That said, I’d call T-Mobile and see if they have some options for additional hotspot data. My add-on is called the One Plus International, but is no longer offered. I have no affiliation, but have only had positive experiences with them.The TMobile plan sounds a heck of a lot better than we are getting with ATT. We have the "unlimited" plan under ATT, but after 30GB of hot spot data it chokes down to horse and buggy speed and is essentially useless. I have reviewed the ATT plan and called them to see if there was a way to get more hotspot data - not available. Any other ATT users out there with the same experience? Am I missing something in regards to getting more hot spot data?
Edit, after I posted this I did a quick check of Tmobile and it says 20GB of hot spot data for the UL 55 plan. I am reading posts here saying 100GB. What am I missing?
This is my area of expertise/what I do for a living. You’ll need to start by defining what’s “good enough” and how much you‘re comfortable spending. If your needs are just to check email, browse the web, and socialize on the trawler forum, then marina WiFi may be good enough. The biggest problem with any large, public WiFi network is that if you’re (your slip is) a long way away from the nearest access point, you’re out of luck. (WiFi boosters are generally worthless unless they are of the 2-piece variety — in which case you’ll be dependent on the marina’s willingness to install one of the 2 units on their end.) Most of the time, the only real solution to poor marina WiFi will be to get a different slip that’s closer to one of the access points. As for the security issue, as others have said, a good VPN service will address that. I recommend TorGuard. It’s one of the (if not THE) best in terms of speed and absolute privacy. And it’s only $5/month if you pay annually.Can someone recommend a good wifi system for a cruising boat? Will not be too far off shore. Can probably just use Marina wifi but usually too weak to be of much use and also not secure.
That’s impressive. They obviously invested heavily in their network. I’m sure they’re passing the cost on but still good to see that they’re paying attention!The marina in which we live is one. It has installed repeaters on every dock (285 berths). We stream Netflix and other services with ease even on weekends when more folks are jumping on.
Nice. MicroTik makes good stuff. I bought a MicroTik Routerboard for the rack in my lab. Haven’t installed it yet.My Boat is setup with an external wifi AP: MicroTik GrooveA 52HPn and a 951 router for all my wifi devices to connect to. The Groove is used to pull in wifi signals from wherever I can get free wifi and the 951 as my Network.