Showing posts with label Wifi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wifi. Show all posts
Thursday, March 23, 2017
A simple way to extend your Wifi range afloat
We rely on a typical 4G wireless dongle for internet access when cruising coastal waters on Our Dreamtime. As long as we are not too far offshore, mobile phone coverage along the Australian east coast is pretty good on the whole. However we still often find ourselves unable to connect, particularly when anchored in island bays shielded from the mainland by high hills.
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| The 4G dongle goes into the waterproof phone case for hoisting. The tape is simply to reinforce the plastic of the phone case as we don't want any chance of it splitting and losing the dongle. |
In these instances we increase the range by putting our Wifi dongle in a water proof phone case and hoisting it up the mast to the spreaders on our pennant line. At many of the anchorages we have been in along the coast, particularly in the Whitsundays, we have found the extra height gained this way often provides the difference between getting a connection and not.
It’s comforting to get access to our favourite weather sites and have the ability to stay in touch with family via email and social media etc when we would otherwise be cut off. The downside is that we never know when the battery in the dongle is about to go flat halfway through posting a blog or similar but that’s a problem we happily live with in return for staying connected.
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| Tied very securely and hoisted to the spreaders on our pennant line for additional range |
When we venture further offshore, our recently acquired Iridium Go will provide voice call, sms and email capacity along with access to Predictwind forecasting and weather routing.
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Thursday, February 2, 2017
A Wifi Booster Installation
The Ubiquiti Bullet linked here to their web site has the specs and details about the wifi booster. This is what Sea Trek used for their latest installation.
This is good for where ever there is cell phone coverage, although we carry two different provider devices, because we have come to realize that some cell phones coverage can vary depending where we are. Usually if we can't get service from one, the other will pick up. To complement this and increase our range, we use a cell phone booster, which can give us coverage up to 50 miles off shore. Take a look here for what a cell booster can do for you.
Finally, when we go to a different country, we go and buy their data sim and put it in our device, or buy their device depending how the country has set up their cellular data network. What do you use for internet?
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