Slow Internet in a Marina - Can it be Augmented?

[Stu Jackson]

Easy computer cleanup software I've found is cCleaner, free download. Easy to manage startups which i've found almost impossible to do within W7, cleans up registry stuff, analyzes and easy to remove old files, especially Windows temp files. Very good, free.

[Abrain]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Easy computer cleanup software I've found is cCleaner, free download. Easy to manage startups which i've found almost impossible to do within W7, cleans up registry stuff, analyzes and easy to remove old files, especially Windows temp files. Very good, free.

I hesitate using anything free. I mean nothing in the world comes without a price. This is fine if you feel its working and its your style but I have been in the business since before it was a business and I know there is a catch.

I personally never use antivirus software or any other PC monitoring or cleanup software because they always install other things behind your back, read the terms and be very cautious.

To remove male ware its a matter of manually going into the register and deleting the software. Know your PC.

[bornyesterday]

Originally Posted by Abrain

I hesitate using anything free. I mean nothing in the world comes without a price. This is fine if you feel its working and its your style but I have been in the business since before it was a business and I know there is a catch.

I personally never use antivirus software or any other PC monitoring or cleanup software because they always install other things behind your back, read the terms and be very cautious.

To remove male ware its a matter of manually going into the register and deleting the software. Know your PC.

The OP said he wasn't technically minded and you're telling him to go into the "register" to delete "male ware"

I don't have your vast experience but I'm going to suggest that, just possibly, advising a non-technical person to enter the registry to delete malware might get him into some difficulty.

Unless you might be willing to guide him through the process?

[DeepFrz]

To clean up your processes try Autoruns from MS. It's free but from the manufacturer.

[sabray]

Malwarebytes is great cc cleaner is also very good.They. Get business because they are good. A lot of free stuff I wouldn't trust either. These are good free services. Ocpn is free and a great program.


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[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by Viturina

Ok, so this will reveal my level of technological skills (or lack thereof). I have an iphone 5 and a ipad, but the issue is that my laptop is connecting through the marina's wifi, and that's what is slow. No clue how to get my laptop connected to 4g, since it isn't a smartphone or tablet. I do as much as I can on my other devices, but I prefer working on my laptop for a bunch of things that need to be done. Am I missing something obvious? Thanks for the input!

You can either get a 4G Mifi device, which receives the 4G signal from the local cell phone company and then it broadcasts a wifi hotspot signal throughout you boat allowing up to 5 or 10 devices to connect to it. Or you can get a phone with a local provider and use the phone to act as a local wifi hotspot for 5 or so devices.

I have both, one Mifi device that uses the Verizon CDMA network, and a cell phone/tablet (Samsung Note II) that is an international version that can connect to any GSM cellular system worldwide and provide a wifi hotspot.

If you have a need to make a fully integrated wifi network with router, printers, etc. another option is to add a Cradlepoint router. This allows up to 5 computers to connect via gigabit ethernet, a huge number to connect via Wireless N (150Mb/s) and allows one to add printer/scanner/fax machine, media servers, etc to the entire system. It receives the wifi from the cellular hotspot and rebroadcasts it with higher power to more devices, while allowing the other computers to stream HD video or other high bandwidth data across the network.

I've been testing that type system out at home and I was streaming HD movies to 5 different computers and TVs throughout the house from one media server with a small wallet sized portable HDD while simultaneously streaming Netflix from the web. Worked great!

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by Abrain

I personally never use antivirus software or any other PC monitoring or cleanup software because they always install other things behind your back, read the terms and be very cautious.

Usually there are options when you first download them. Just read the fine print before you do so and you can get clean stuff. cCleaner also includes an uninstaller which is just as easy to use as MS's built-in uninstaller.

I use Windows Defneder for the rest and update Windows Updater daily if there's anything to download.

I've just had to rebuild my laptop because of a crash.

I strongly urge you to make a System Repair disk, a System Restore disc and a System Image on a portable HD. Simple instructions from Andy Rathbone on the internet.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by J Clark H356

If you are in the US, go talk to Verizon and get a MiFi. It acts as a router inside the boat and if you are on 4G LTE, then you have fast speeds and they will connect up to 10 devices - IPhione, IPad, WIndowsPC, wireless printer , etc. If you are in a 3G area, it will only connect 5. I have one with a plug in antenna inside the boat and just got through a 6 month cruise and it was used extensively and worked very well. Your PC must be able to pick up wifi to use the marina system, if not buy a usb wifi receiver for your PC.

I too had some business to take care of and it did the job. I don't know how much good the plug in antenna did as it is just a couple of feet above the waterline and inside the salon. One mounted high in the mast would offer a lot more range. I keep it plugged into power all the time. It is also safer than using a public marina wifi as it is more secure I think, and password protected. You can also run Netflix and other tv apps with it to watch movies too.

We did a blog with lots of photos and used Dropbox to sync all of our photos to all our devices. I ran 2 IPads, 2 IPhones, two Windows based PC's, a Roku TV box and an HP wireless printer while we were onboard. I have a tracking KVH antenna with Dish but we did watch an occasional movie on Netflix through the Roku. We averaged about 1 GB of data a day with our max usage 34 GB one month. My data plan gives me a base of 30 GB per month and it was $16 per GB over that base, so I spent another $60 one month. The other months I was below my base usage.

This was through Verizon?

I'm looking at the Verizon website right now, and they have the following plans:

4GB for $50/mo, 6GB for $60/mo, 8GB for $70/mo, 10GB for $80/mo and 12GB for $90/mo.


The best deal I've seen for the Verizon 4G LTE network is through Millenicom, which offers 20GB/mo. for $70/mo. This is a pay as you go plan, you buy the modem outright and just pay for whatever months you want to use it.

[J Clark H356]

My plan is through Verizon but I have a lot of phones on it. That is the difference. My base monthly cost is around $750 for all our phones.

[dohenyboy]

Cheap and easy solution is a wifi extender. Bought one at Best Buy for $50. Quick setup.
It takes a weak signal and boosts it. I use it when traveling too, for anemic hotel wifi.

[dohenyboy]

A weak signal may have nothing to do with how good the router is... A weak signal is slow in the same way a bad telephone connection makes a telephone call longer. Your computer and the router have to ask each other "What did you say" over and over again. Wifi is digital.. If one digit in a packet of data does not come through, your laptop has to ask for it again.

[Red Sky]

Originally Posted by tartansail

If you have an iPhone 5, you already have the equivalent of a mifi device. Apple calls it a personal hotspot. Go to settings>general>cellular. You should see the hotspot setup. Once it is set up, you can turn it on at the top settings menu. You can connect the phone either wirelessly or using a USB cable. If you're connecting multiple devices, you'll need to do it wirelessly. You should check with your cell provider to find out what the data plan will cost. If you're moving a lot of photos and video, you'll be using up data allotments quickly. I find that the wifi in our harbor is faster in off hours for obvious reasons. I will sometimes wait to move big files on the wifi, but use the iPhone connection for routine business during the day.

Tartan sail is correct, your phone is all you need. The wife watches Slingbox or Netflix on her laptop using the iPhone as a personal hotspot every time we're on the boat

[ElGatoGordo]

Another vote for 4G. We live in a marina with a couple wifi services and they suck. We just extended our ATT service to 20GB, we have 5 phones, we pay about $200/month. Our phones all have hotspots and we watch viseos, upload pics, etc. Much happier!

[goboatingnow]

With the increasing penetration of 4G. There no doubt that wifi hotspots will tend to focus on indoor applications. Wifi isn't really great at large outdoor coverage solutions and as a result often such systems are poor or badly installed.

I see their usage dropping off considerably in the face of higher and higher mobile data speeds

Dave


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[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by Abrain

I hesitate using anything free.

Then you are missing out. There is a vast world of open source software out there and much of it is better than what you can buy.

There are two ways that free software becomes available without any "gotchas." First, there are just a lot of people who enjoy writing software and are happy to share it with others. OpenCPN is a perfect example of this. Excellent software, better than most of the commercial software that is available, and completely free. The other kind of free software is best epitomized by Avast Anti-virus. They sell a commercial version for business and large enterprises. The free personal addition is their "loss leader." Thousands of people are familiar with their well-written anti-virus software as a result of using the free edition. Many of those same people are in a position to influence the anti-virus software that their company buys, and guess who they choose?

So, avoiding free software just because you think it can't really be free is a serious mistake in today's world. I've been working in IT for more than 30 years now, and I can tell you that some of the very best software you can get is absolutely free. I very rarely see any good reason to pay for software these days.