Internet while Cruising

[weavis]

Originally Posted by travellerw

Sigh.. Sometime I wish people offered their opinion in a different way.. Sailing is supposed to relax people!

Yes I know all about attenuation and I realize I cannot plug 50 feet of low loss cable into a low power device... I bought the stuff months ago and couldn't find the link to the cable I bought (actually too lazy to log into amazon). So I posted the first one I found. The cable I bought is actually 30 feet, but I only plan to use a small amount for this install. It will all depend on the boat and where/how I decide to do the install. I will probably mount the MIFI device in a weatherproof enclosure close to the antenna.

Sir

I say the following with respect.

I dont know you. I have no idea of your professional skills or background, I have read everything you have written this far, I am interested in the topic myself and love to learn those little tips from people who know what they are doing.

You were not offered an opinion. You were stated facts. If you "know all about attenuation" then what question are you really asking?

You wish for an opinion stated in a different way? Be careful what you wish for. Some of the other professionals on this board are not so kind in their responses...Especially if they feel the person asking is not really listening......

Your not sailing right now. You are doing a hypothetical run through a setup for a signal transmission and receptor unit. You say you have all the bases covered....... Then what are you asking?

When you have your vessel and set up the electronics, you will have to tune it to your individual boat. Find the right spot for placement, and all these other things that can only be done when sailing. But then, you probably know that.

Im trying to learn something from your knowledge base or see if I can offer some practical experienced advice from a setup on my vessel that works, (and for which I got a lot of help with it from CF experts) only, you probably know all about that.

As for me, I wish that we could help you, but fear that its a case of not being able to help the helpless.

[Kenomac]

To the OP,

Writing this as a complete Neanderthal (me), I have to ask the question:

Why did you buy the internet stuff months ago... and at least a year prior to your plans to purchase a boat?

Technology in this area seems to be changing daily, yesterday it was 3G, now 4G... oh wait... no this area only offers 3G... no that's over on that island, this island doesn't offer anything other than the bar with dated Wifi, here only available along the roads... etc. etc. You get the idea.

Why would you invest today, and test the equipment on land... where you don't even intend to use it?

[sailorchic34]

As far as attenuation, at 1ghz, 30 feet of ultra low loss cable (per LMR400 specs) has 1.17 dB of attenuation. At 2100 Ghz it's 1.8dB or a bit more then 50% signal reduction. Add in that the marine antenna at 2100 GHZ has no gain at all, so your looking at a net loss of signal at 2100 GHZ of over 50% over just using the hot spot without an external antenna.

Yes some frequencies do have a ~2dB gain even with the cable loss. Most are zero net gain. At 800 MHZ you'll be at about zero net gain, at 2100 it's a net loss.

The nice thing about cruisers forum is there are many experts on the board who really know their stuff. Most are older then dirt.

Here is a link to various LMR cable specs: https://www.fccable.com/lmrs.php

Sorry to pick on the OP. Some of us old folk do keep up on tech, just a wee bit.

[travellerw]

I'm pretty confidant that 3G/4G will be the prevalant technology over the next 5 years. The beauty of that solution, when it does change, I simply replace the MIFI device. Cruising (with a family) is logistically a difficult puzzle. I'm simply trying to put as many pieces together before we go.

Anyway.. I don't believe this is constructive anymore. If anyone has questions about technologies or techniques for low bandwidth (the vps, ect), pm me and I will be happy to help.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[weavis]

Originally Posted by travellerw

I'm pretty confidant that 3G/4G will be the prevalant technology over the next 5 years. The beauty of that solution, when it does change, I simply replace the MIFI device. Cruising (with a family) is logistically a difficult puzzle. I'm simply trying to put as many pieces together before we go.

Anyway.. I don't believe this is constructive anymore. If anyone has questions about technologies or techniques for low bandwidth (the vps, ect), pm me and I will be happy to help.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

We have a number of members on the CF who are ham radio operators. You already communicated with a highly qualified Engineer on here. There are a few professional Electronics Engineers, some retired military communication experts and one or two people I cant mention by name who specialise in covert communications skills.

Maybe you would be so kind in a future post, to inform us of your experience with, or professional abilities with communications so we can use you as a "go to" resource? We always look for experienced people to give a comment.

thanks.

[gilgsn]

Hello, I would suggest using a Yagi antenna, but then you have to make sure it points in the right direction and wether setting it up vertically or horizontally ( r.e. The elements, not the boom) (polarization) works better.. As to loss, the solution is indeed to put the transceiver at the antenna..

Gil.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[miaow]

To the OP - I come late to this thread, but wanted to thank you for posting your specs. I think it was a great idea to try stuff out before you started living aboard. Several of the comments seem to have missed the point of your original post. Anyway, I may never post here again, but joined in order to thank you - I found your information very instructive - I'm going to investigate setting up my own proxy server to save on bandwidth.

[Canibul]

so, does this mean that people new to a technology know more about it than the people who developed it?