Cruisers & Sailing Forums - View Single Post - Long-Distance WiFi Device

Gashmore · 20-03-2009, 07:21

Are you constantly re-aiming the antenna every time the wind shifts?

The basic system I described might set you back $200-$225 and a trip up the mast. That is a bit more than twice the price of the Hawking setup but hardly a "commercial" setup. However it will give you 6 times the power and 3 or 4 times the range. After all the subject of the thread is "long range Wifi".

If you want a simple high power single user portable system for under $100 the EUB-362 EXT sitting on the stack pac and an 8.5db omni hanging on the lazy jacks and fed with a 15' USB cable will give you about a mile in good conditions. That is what I use on charters. But if you are cruising it is a lot nicer to just set the anchor, break out the rum and start checking your email than futzing with a lot of wire.

With both the 362 and the 3220 the first time in an anchorage you have to poll for access points and pick the one you want. After that they remember which one you hooked to and connect automatically next time they see it.

BTW, the new EOC 8610 EXT now has WDS so it can act as a repeater just like the 3220 but has 600mw output as opposed to 400 for the 3220 and 200 for the 362. It cost about $145 as opposed to $120 for the 3220 and $50 for the 362.

20-03-2009, 07:21	#55
Gashmore Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 95	Are you constantly re-aiming the antenna every time the wind shifts? The basic system I described might set you back $200-$225 and a trip up the mast. That is a bit more than twice the price of the Hawking setup but hardly a "commercial" setup. However it will give you 6 times the power and 3 or 4 times the range. After all the subject of the thread is "long range Wifi". If you want a simple high power single user portable system for under $100 the EUB-362 EXT sitting on the stack pac and an 8.5db omni hanging on the lazy jacks and fed with a 15' USB cable will give you about a mile in good conditions. That is what I use on charters. But if you are cruising it is a lot nicer to just set the anchor, break out the rum and start checking your email than futzing with a lot of wire. With both the 362 and the 3220 the first time in an anchorage you have to poll for access points and pick the one you want. After that they remember which one you hooked to and connect automatically next time they see it. BTW, the new EOC 8610 EXT now has WDS so it can act as a repeater just like the 3220 but has 600mw output as opposed to 400 for the 3220 and 200 for the 362. It cost about $145 as opposed to $120 for the 3220 and $50 for the 362.