WIFI at the marina

[Seif911]

Has anybody else had any problems with wifi at their home ports? I a, having inconsistent issues. It seems if I go on the pier to the front of the boat, it comes in fine. If I go to the pier on the back of the boat, hardly connects. I am within 100' of the repeater they put up. It almost seems as if the boats themselves are causing interference. It seems like I connect well and the bars seem full but the speeds are horrible.

Got me? Us anybody tried a wifi extender?

[waybomb]

Speed is not really a function of one bar or five. The marina probably has the cheapest plan they could buy. Bandwidth for a couple of hundred users could be huge. Imagine if half were into watching youtube stuff or movies or online games. Part of the problem is that available bandwidth as well. And then I would be worried about being connected to a public wifi.

Just get a smart phone and create your own hotspot with it. A 4gb plan isn't all that bad.

[Seif911]

Ya...what was weird is the speed test. So the front of the boat on the dock was ~4 Mbps download where the back of the boat, you would be lucky to connect. The back was towards the middle of the dock and cl over to the repeater itself.

I have Sprint so 4G is non existent. My work phone is Verizon and there is Verizon 4G there but no 4G phones available from y company. Uggg...they are evaluating one now so maybe in the fall.

I did work off of the 3G on my work phone and it was faster than the marina. Not cool!

[waybomb]

Oh man, I remember 3g. That's slow. And the marina is slower yet?!

Try this - turn the damn phone and computer off, grab a scotch and a Cuban, and enjoy the nice evening.

Get ATT - 4g up here is great. It's great in Michigan too, but I even get 4G in Two Rivers.

[Seif911]

Uggg...I think I have no real solution for this year. I am pretty sure it is the band width and not the connection. I have to wait until fall for my new work cell phone, 4G. My personal cell,with Sprint, is way behind the times. They won't be ready until 2014. I have 6 cell phones on the account and am stuck in contract until 2014. Uggg...

[waybomb]

Why not talk to them and make a deal? I bet they'll let you break the current contract if you sign up for another 2. I've done that a few times.

[Mkemper]

I had the same issue at our marina. Somedays it would work most days not. I installed a omni directional hi gain Antenna on the radar arch with low loss cable down to the salon. I added a 2w booster for the long cable run. This connects to a ampedwireless repeater. I have a mini lap top connected to the router and tv.

With setup I can pickup the marina next to me which has a much better set up. The router creates a wifi hotspot so the kidos can be on their iPads the TV uses the slingbox to watch cable or netfix. Wireless keyboard and mouse for controll.

Works great. Plus when I am out I can get into the router with my iphone to check for wifi hotspots. There is also a company that makes this setup as a package but you have to pay a lot more than if you make your own

Antenna

[Seif911]

Do you know the make and model of your repeater and your antenna? I found a bunch on eBay, of course. What did you need for setup, just the I'd and password of the wifi from the marina?

[Mkemper]

Do you know the make and model of your repeater and your antenna? I found a bunch on eBay, of course. What did you need for setup, just the I'd and password of the wifi from the marina?

Most marinas are open so no need for a password. When you scan the name of the network will show and also of it is password protected.

Setup is through the repeater. Takes 5 minutes

Repeater

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005UBNGY ... -1&pi=SL75

Or

http://www.microcenter.com/product/3545 ... t_Repeater

Amp

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002R1FXU ... 06_s00_i00

Cable from interior amp to repeater

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009T7QWU ... 02_s00_i01

Cable from ext amp to antenna

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001O80YR ... 04_s00_i00

Cable from interior amp up to radar arch

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002XIFO8 ... 14&pi=SL75

Antenna

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0046CCYO ... 02_s01_i00

[Seif911]

Wow...that is a thorough response and extremely helpful. I just bought the Amped repeater. I'll give it a shot and see how that works. I have been buying so much for this boat.

I work remotely on computers so my goal is to work from the boat. I will try this setup on the bridge. It would be so awesome if it works!