Wifi extender

[Maker42]

Has anyone used an Aigean Networks Wifi extender? How do you like it? Pros and Cons?

How about any other brands?

[dennisjay]

We have a bad boy xtreme. Works pretty well, although we’ve had problems with corrosion after a year of use.

[a64pilot]

I have a Wirie Pro, easy install, easy to set up and use, real easy.
I have not had it long enough to know about durability though

[barnakiel]

We have a TP-Link one. Matched with external directional antenna and internal access point it is decent, but not great.

Not the easiest to set up.

b.

[Maker42]

What is the best range you have experienced with your various units?

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Maker42

What is the best range you have experienced with your various units?

Extremely dependent and variable, a little like a VHF, some nights it will go a very long ways, some days only a few miles.
Pure line of sight over water say and connected to a very good system at the other end, several miles maybe as much as five?
A few buildings in the way and a weak system at the other end and your doing good to get 100 meters, maybe not even that. The other systems quality / power is hugely important, this is a two way thing.

[barnakiel]

With our DIRECTIONAL antenna, we can see plain routers out to about 300 yards. We can also see some Ubiquity based installations (which are somewhat directional and employ better than average antennas) out to about 1 mile. With our high gain non directional kit we get about 30-50% of this range.

But this does not equal being able to connect. We are in the marina and there is huge amt of signal bouncing due to masts, wires, buildings and such likes. There are also many networks of many kinds as well as other radio equipment.

Our friend was able to connect over 3 miles in his farmhouse with identical kit and two directional antennas on a clear day - open terrain, no trees. This is as far as plain consumer stuff can do before going into more & better kit and of the heavier grade.

As is, in the marina, with the boat always moving a bit and close to 1000 masts around us we are lucky when we get a good link beyond 100 yards.

I believe a directional antenna is a better deal than a wireless extender but there is no reason not to combine the benefits (as we do). Mind the directional idea cannot be used when anchored out.

You are mostly limited by the AP hardware anyways, so no matter what you have onboard, your best investment could be walking to that bar where your AP is located and gifting a good router and a strong directional antenna to the owner ;-) Then just be friends with the waiters there and make sure the antenna is faced your way ... ;-)

Cheers,
b.

[snort]

I'd say a definite "no" to the Wirie for reasons already explained. It's way over-priced, just for starters.

[YachtBroker]

I have Wirie pro for about 3 years. Been all over Texas, Florida, Abacos and still working well and I have seen no signs of corrossion or wear. Very good tech support also.
Marine WiFi & xG System: The Wirie pro – The Wirie

[Jon Neely]

We had our Wirie on our first boat and transported it to Prism. It worked well up to last year where something major died in it. We have the parts and we need to send them back so that it can be diagnosed which part failed. so we got 5 years of flawless service out of the unit, not bad, but they are indeed pricey. The customer service has been good so far, quick response, but they informed us that we are out of warranty so the parts going to cost us.


Jon

[Stu Jackson]

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...re-160043.html

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

With our DIRECTIONAL antenna, we can see plain routers out to about 300 yards. We can also see some Ubiquity based installations (which are somewhat directional and employ better than average antennas) out to about 1 mile. With our high gain non directional kit we get about 30-50% of this range.

But this does not equal being able to connect. We are in the marina and there is huge amt of signal bouncing due to masts, wires, buildings and such likes. There are also many networks of many kinds as well as other radio equipment.

Our friend was able to connect over 3 miles in his farmhouse with identical kit and two directional antennas on a clear day - open terrain, no trees. This is as far as plain consumer stuff can do before going into more & better kit and of the heavier grade.

As is, in the marina, with the boat always moving a bit and close to 1000 masts around us we are lucky when we get a good link beyond 100 yards.

I believe a directional antenna is a better deal than a wireless extender but there is no reason not to combine the benefits (as we do). Mind the directional idea cannot be used when anchored out.

You are mostly limited by the AP hardware anyways, so no matter what you have onboard, your best investment could be walking to that bar where your AP is located and gifting a good router and a strong directional antenna to the owner ;-) Then just be friends with the waiters there and make sure the antenna is faced your way ... ;-)

Cheers,
b.

This seems kind of strange to me.. That is pretty poor performance for both your directional and omni antennas. We have an off the shelf Bullet, mated with a 12DB omni antenna and our record for a standard cheapy linksys router is 1.5 miles. For better equipment we have picked them up as far as 4 miles. Right now I'm connected to an access point 400 yards from me (according to the Bullet), although its a high end Cisco AP at a big resort.

What height is your antenna? Ours is suspended on a haylard and we move it up and down as needed. Many times we need to go down to get the best results. Anything above spreader height is useless as we ALWAYS loose reception. Of course the haylard woundn't work for a directional antenna, but we have never needed one (or want one).

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by travellerw

This seems kind of strange to me.. That is pretty poor performance for both your directional and omni antennas. We have an off the shelf Bullet, mated with a 12DB omni antenna and our record for a standard cheapy linksys router is 1.5 miles. For better equipment we have picked them up as far as 4 miles. Right now I'm connected to an access point 400 yards from me (according to the Bullet), although its a high end Cisco AP at a big resort.

What height is your antenna? Ours is suspended on a haylard and we move it up and down as needed. Many times we need to go down to get the best results. Anything above spreader height is useless as we ALWAYS loose reception. Of course the haylard woundn't work for a directional antenna, but we have never needed one (or want one).

It is on an extensible pole right now. Most of the time about 4 meters above the deck but I adjust this when extreme tides hit in - our tidal range here is up to 3 meters and we are very close to the AP and next to a wall.

Your bullet may/will be a 1W device likely if it was purchased in the US, but EU devices are limited to 0.1W. Just think of how the smaller area translates to an even shorter range and we get half of the story.

https://w.wol.ph/2015/08/28/maximum-...power-country/

You are right the range is poor but as I have explained there are very many obstacles: there is the brick wall in the bar, then there is the glass window and there is also the awning over the terrace of the bar. Next is a an alloy gate to the pontoon and then there is a alloy masts AND THEN FINALLY is our antenna.

When we anchored in the Caribbean we easily fetched wifi from the shore - at times from bars and hotels easily half a mile away. But you know a directional antenna and the anchorage ;-) one of us on the web, the other on the deck - acting as a human antenna controller ;-) So we bought now a less powerful but omni directional now, just for use when anchored.

So I am not grumpy about our kit at all, it is cheap, and it delivers fine.

Finding a good shore hotspot with strong and reliable signal that allows us to plug in is a way bigger challenge today. It used to be mostly open APs 10 years ago, today hardly any is open. And the hardware in beachfront bars is often very basic - good for the guests in the bar but pretty useless for the love thieves in the anchorage.

b.

[Sea Dreaming]

Ill say this about the wirie: Dockmates were impressed with our wifi connection but bought something else (I dont know what brand) but their solution has been difficult and they keep calling Jim for help. But the wirie has not needed his attention at all! At one point they gave up for a while and just camped on to our wirie.

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Your bullet may/will be a 1W device likely if it was purchased in the US, but EU devices are limited to 0.1W. Just think of how the smaller area translates to an even shorter range and we get half of the story.

Yes, that explains it.. Before cruising I used to build WIFI networks. I was so confused by your numbers I thought something had to be wrong.. Nope, just really low power..

Not sure we could improve your performance much.. However we have found that a lower db antenna helps in crowded anchorages where the AP isn't too far away. We usually switch from our 12db to an 8db antenna and definitely get better performance.

I agree on APs being locked today. Its even worse than that, much of the new gear can actually block devices based on a number of factors (distance, using NAT, ect). In really popular locations we have found some of the onshore bars actually doing this. Keeps us cruisers from getting a password for the price of a drink and then going to our boat and surfing away. I suspect in 5 years time, most of the establishments will be implementing this technology. However it may not matter for us as 4G will be pervasive. In the last year (here in the carrib) we have used 4G 1/2 the time.