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Old 28-06-2019, 12:14   #1
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wifi / cellular booster

I've been having a bear of time both finding if there are devices that serve as wifi boosters, but can then have a cell SIM (t-mobile in our case) for when wifi is unavailable/unreliable.

We're both going to be needing connected time for work and I'm not finding devices that do both. The forum provide A LOT of other related info though!
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Old 28-06-2019, 12:35   #2
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Re: wifi / cellular booster

Take a look in this thread that is currently active. There are some good ideas and links in there for exactly what you want to do.
WiFi Range Extender vs MiFi Hotspot vs etc - Page 2 - Cruisers & Sailing Forums
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Old 28-06-2019, 12:38   #3
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Re: wifi / cellular booster

there are cell phone signal boosters, they were $$$$$$ last I looked

If you can get a cell signal and not a wifi signal (and access point) you use that and forget about the wifi.
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Old 28-06-2019, 12:40   #4
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Re: wifi / cellular booster

will do
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Old 28-06-2019, 12:48   #5
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Re: wifi / cellular booster

WiFiRanger is supposed to be hitting the market next month with wifi/cell booster in the same package. We are anxiously waiting for it's release.
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Old 28-06-2019, 13:27   #6
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Re: wifi / cellular booster

Wifi "range extenders" "boosters" and "repeaters" are generally bad. They use the notion of picking up an R/F signal and rebroadcasting it locally. That means any time you go to a new place you have to configure all your devices to talk to this new wifi.

You want something that provides its own local wireless network, and can also connect to a provided wireless network for internet. If you've ever used DSL or cable modem, it's basically the same thing but uses wifi instead of cable or DSL for internet.

I personally have a Pepwave. For internet it has a 5ghz antenna, 2.4ghz antenna, and a cellular modem that does a wide range of frequencies including US 4GLTE. It also has a wireless access point for broadcasting your own wireless network for your boat.

Now all my devices (phones, laptops, printer, etc etc) connect to the pepwave and never have to be reconfigured. When I connect to a marina wifi or cellular network the pepwave routes all my devices' internet requests out the correct path and they go to the internet.

There are other devices that do similar things for less, but I've never found any as robust or reliable as the Peplink products, and my Pepwave Max BR1 MKII has been pretty solid for the past year.

My main argument, though, is that repeaters / booster are BAD BAD BAD. Make your own network, and then connect it to someone else's network for internet. That's how the internet is meant to work.
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Old 29-06-2019, 08:39   #7
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Re: wifi / cellular booster

I use Wave WiFi. I can use a standard router and connect all my devices to it, then the router plugs into the long range WiFi antenna. As I cruise around and change ports, I only have to open the WiFi antenna browser page, select any available WiFi which then allows all devices on my router to connect. Works great. I am not sure, but I believe they have a Cell/WiFi antenna that can do the same. It is not cheap but it works great. My WiFi only antenna was about $300.
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Old 01-07-2019, 15:01   #8
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Re: wifi / cellular booster

I made my own system consisting of a Bullet wifi radio and a 4G MIMO cellular antenna on the stern rail, connected to an onboard router and 4G modem with a switch. All devices on the boat connect to the router via wifi, and the switch allows the choice of cellular data through the 4G Modem (containing a sim card) or wifi through the Bullet. You can download a detailed write-up from my blog.

How do you get internet on a boat? | Terrapinsailing.com
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Old 16-09-2019, 16:00   #9
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Re: wifi / cellular booster

In our marina in Long Beach, CA I get marginal service. Generally ok for calls but for data and streaming just doesn't cut it so....I purchased the Sea Tech Cell Booster Kit with Shakesphere external antenna. Now I just wish I had my money back as this piece of kit is useless. Did nothing to enhance the signal. I'll leave it on in hopes that maybe it will work when we get to Mexico or Central Am. next year. Sea Tech did get back to me when I contacted them but didn't offer much in the way of solution. I was led to think that this would Boost my signal, nope, they said that it would just make the signal that was there stronger....nope. Expensive mistake for me.
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Old 16-09-2019, 16:08   #10
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Re: wifi / cellular booster

Panbo.com does reviews of these devices, here is a recent one:

https://www.panbo.com/wave-wifi-mbr-...a-boat-router/

We use otrmobile.com for unlimited $60 per month LTE Internet over the AT&T network. We have a Ubiquiti Bullet that has gotten less useful over the years as WiFi options have dried up. Island WiFi is a great option in the Bahamas and they are working on Mexico and Caribbean countries.

Cheers, Rick
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Old 19-09-2019, 12:33   #11
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Re: wifi / cellular booster

There are a number of options for WiFi and Cellular SIM card combo systems designed specifically for boats. They range is price from about $750 to about $3000. There are pretty large differences in the units as far as wifi/cell receive sensitivity and transmit power, as well as cellular speeds, and the biggest difference is the number of cellular bands supported by the devices which determines which countries and carriers the system will support.

You can go on ebay/amazon/etc and buy cheaper units but there are always tradeoffs, most notable is going to be cellular band support and ease-of-use. If you value performance AND ease-of-use then it can really pay off to spend a bit more on a system designed for boaters.

For cellular and wifi combined, I generally recommend a Wave WiFi MBR-550 and Rogue Pro combo which runs about $2000 combined. I recommend these because a.) they are the easiest to use of any other units on the market, b.) they have the most features that matter to average boaters of any other units. c.) they work around the world with any carrier and SIM card. Satellite can also be integrated if you want, as well as wired dock internet for those that are in marinas that provide ethernet or cable internet. As an example you can have a cable connection on the dock as primary, then when you disconnect the MBR-550 will auto-switch to the WiFi Extender which may be connected to the marina's wifi. Once out of range of the shore wifi, the MBR-550 switches automatically to the cellular SIM. If you have satellite and you are out of range of the cellular network, the MBR then switches to satellite. As you come back into range, of course the system switches back automatically and always prefers the cheaper and/or faster connection that is active at any given time. You set the priority. Once you set a priority in the gui, it's all automatic, and you can force it to a manual setting at any time with one click/tap.

If you are staying regional, ie: not leaving North America or US/Canada or US or Europe, then there are more options. You can get a Shakespeare, Glomex, KVH dome unit and get connected with AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc. But these units generally only work in one region of the world, the KVH and Winegard units are most restricted, Glomex is a bit better. And their wifi extender signal strength is not as high as Wave WiFi's Rogue units (which are higher than any of the other wifi extenders on the market).

Another advantage of having a dedicated onboard cellular enabled wifi router like the MBR-550 is that you can put your AIS and/or NMEA router and satellite connection on the same network, a media server, or other WiFi systems and combine them into a single WiFi network instead of 3-5 different wifi networks that you have to switch between. By doing this your tablets, phones, computers can all live on your boat's primary wifi network, get access to the Internet, stream AIS/NMEA data to a navigation app, download weather data, and more all simultaneously without worrying about whether you switched from the Iridium Go WiFi to the AIS WiFi, etc.

There are a lot of ways to solve Internet access problems on boats, but the right solution depends on each sailors needs and wants.. Budget of course, but also cruising area, amount of data used per month, other features and systems that may be on the boat, etc.

Let me know if I can help you figure it out.

Richard
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Old 19-09-2019, 12:36   #12
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Re: wifi / cellular booster

Oh, and yes, you can build your own cheaper setup of cellular router with antennas and wifi extender from non-boater focused components that will work. If you are technically savvy and like to fiddle with things this may be the way to go. But if you don't want to fiddle with things, just want something that works well, with an 800 number to call when it doesn't, then the extra money spent is well worth it.
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Old 19-09-2019, 13:03   #13
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Re: wifi / cellular booster

Our solution is NOT one item of equipment, and it is not hundreds of dollars.

1. For WiFi we use a very excellent BearExtender Outdoor USB Wi Fi antenna. It costs $60. It is very directional and we have used it successfully for three years. Being highly directional it cuts out most of the reflected signals which cause so much clutter and re-tries in a marina environment. It is great in the marina because we stay in one spot. On anchor we have to redirect it quite frequently as the boat swings. Still, it works well over 1/2 mile away from the AP. It is a simple plug into the USB port on the Laptop, no power, no other cables, no other devices required.

2. For cellular we use a USB Modem (dongle) on a 6 foot USB cable (<$100). We buy whatever sim card we need for a country or locality and put it into the USB modem. The cable allows us to put the modem on deck for better cell reception. We shop around for the best deal on a data package. Currently we get 7GB for about $20.00. We can use 2-3 of these a month when we are not in a WiFi area.

3. On the computer we have installed Connectify which allows us to broadcast whichever Internet connection we have at the moment to all devices in the boat using the laptop's WiFi (recall that the Bear Extender has it's own WiFi). Connectify, by the way, allows you to combine two or more Internet sources to increase your bandwidth.
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Old 19-09-2019, 13:28   #14
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Re: wifi / cellular booster

As I mentioned in my second comment, you can certainly build a solution yourself from a variety of parts and make it work. And it can be cheaper. But there are always trade-offs. This solution works for you and that's great! And it may work for others. But there are disadvantages to this setup that other systems solve. The more advanced setup may not be important to everyone, but they are important to many..

The BearExtender is a great device. Being directional though makes it difficult to use on anchor as the boat moves around. The signal will cut in and out as the boat swings. Certainly not a set-it-and-forget-it solution.

Using a USB dongle is also a workable solution. But it has limits as well. First and foremost is that hauling a little USB stick up on a halyard isn't exactly a weather proof solution. You can add bags or boxes to it, but it's still a bit of a hack as far as weather proofness goes. Second, there are no LTE-A USB sticks on the market today, which means you need more than one of these to get global coverage, and have to switch between them as you move around the world. Is that the end of the world? No. But it's a consideration, and again not a set-it-and-forget-it solution. Third, a laptop can share it's connection via wifi, but then it has to be powered on all the time. And it can't then be a consumer of data over WiFi (like AIS, movies, etc). It's not a dedicated always-on solution and it uses more power than a small wifi router would, and it can't be a network switch for a couple of wired devices.

So if you have one or two devices and you need intermittent Internet at the lowest possible cost. The USB stick and outdoor directional CPE is a simple and low cost solution. But it leaves a lot of room for improvement.

Just my $0.02

Richard

Quote:
Originally Posted by wingssail View Post
Our solution is NOT one item of equipment, and it is not hundreds of dollars.

1. For WiFi we use a very excellent BearExtender Outdoor USB Wi Fi antenna. It costs $60. It is very directional and we have used it successfully for three years. Being highly directional it cuts out most of the reflected signals which cause so much clutter and re-tries in a marina environment. It is great in the marina because we stay in one spot. On anchor we have to redirect it quite frequently as the boat swings. Still, it works well over 1/2 mile away from the AP. It is a simple plug into the USB port on the Laptop, no power, no other cables, no other devices required.

2. For cellular we use a USB Modem (dongle) on a 6 foot USB cable (<$100). We buy whatever sim card we need for a country or locality and put it into the USB modem. The cable allows us to put the modem on deck for better cell reception. We shop around for the best deal on a data package. Currently we get 7GB for about $20.00. We can use 2-3 of these a month when we are not in a WiFi area.

3. On the computer we have installed Connectify which allows us to broadcast whichever Internet connection we have at the moment to all devices in the boat using the laptop's WiFi (recall that the Bear Extender has it's own WiFi). Connectify, by the way, allows you to combine two or more Internet sources to increase your bandwidth.
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Old 19-09-2019, 13:32   #15
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Re: wifi / cellular booster

I've joined the wifi is a waste of time crowd, but here's my maybe not simple but relatively cheap solution that works.


  • Setup an wireless AP like a SimRad/B&G/Lowrance WIFI-1. This can connect to your NMEA network, too if you have an MFD with an ethernet port.
  • Add a USB powered ethernet switch to allow additional ethernet connections.
  • Configure the ethernet network to have an available port for connection of 1 or more devices that provide access to the internet in any way you desire.
  • Configure each of the above devices used for internet access to use a static IP address on the network, and assign each the same IP Address. Configure the network to use this static IP address as the gateway.
  • To swap between WIFI and cellular access - depending on where you are and availability - simply plug the most suitable device into the network.
  • Connect to the Internet via the wireless AP, or plug directly into the ethernet switch.
Problem solved and relatively cheap as chips to do. In my setup, I haul a battery powered cellular modem in a waterproof bag up the mast if needed. A wireless router down below is used to connect it to the wired network/wireless AP. For poaching wifi, a Ubiquiti Bullet replaces the cellular modem.
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