WiFi Booster

[larman]

Hi we recently splashed our boat but our marina WiFi signal is weak at our slip as us our cell service 2 bars. Can anyone recommend a booster or extender for the WiFi?

 

[ranger58sb]

If it helps, we use an inexpensive o2Air WiFi router from Radio Labs.

No exterior antennas. It's rabbit ears do receive pretty well over decent distances (a previous adapter with similar antennas worked at 1/2 mile ranges around buildings... and the o2Air seems a bit better.

The other advantage is that it acts as a true router, so we can connect all out devices through that... i.e., without having to log in to the host (marina) system with each...

Setup is easy if you go right to their wizard, ignore anything printed that they include...

Can't say how it might compare to other more elaborate systems...

-Chris

 

[larman]

My marina supplies WiFi but I can barely connect at my ship. Will this work I’m bringing in the signal? Will I need a pc to configure?

 

[ranger58sb]

Connection depends.

Ours receives well from much longer distances than the internal on-laptop or on-device WiFi adapters can. And then it does a better job as a router, compared to using one of the laptops as a WiFi hotspot for additional device connections (and so we don't have to type a marina password 6-8 times).

Yes, it needs a physical (ethernet) connection for initial setup. And for recovery if it gets hosed up for any reason. Latter less likely, but we bounced ours off the saloon floor once on a "bumpy" (!) offshore leg.. and had to go back to square one to get the unit to work again.

-Chris

 

[Woodland Hills]

Have you checked the speed of the marina WiFi to see if it’s worth bothering with?

 

[larman]

It works pretty well a few feet from my boat. What’s the best way to test it?

 

[Woodland Hills]

Fast.com speed test. You need at least 3mbps to stream SD without constant buffering and 5mbps to stream HD.

 

[dz1drwww]

I installed a Rogue Wave booster and am very happy with it. Used it in lots of marinas.... highly recommended it.


https://www.wavewifi.com/product/rogue-pro/

 

[stevemitchell]

Depending on your skill level and the type of networks available, I'd look at the MikroTik Groove. I've written a lot about it and you can find some of the articles at https://seabits.com/?s=mikrotik

It's relatively inexpensive, and can source both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz WiFi signals. It is not simple to configure, though, so if that is a desire, you're stuck paying 2x-5x for a 2.4Ghz only product, but that may be enough depending on your situation.

However, many marinas, two of which I am working with actively today actually, have massive issues with 2.4Ghz WiFi signals and their members being able to utilize them without switching to 5Ghz. I wrote about that a few years ago at https://seabits.com/marina-wifi-hard/ and it's still applicable, if not even more-so today.

I'd say about 75% of the folks I work with have abandoned marina WiFi, and gone full LTE, but that opens up a whole additional set of things to deal with - SIM cards and data limits and boosters and expensive routers. If you can get local WiFi and boost it to an internal cheap router, that's the cheapest and easiest way to do things.