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

Gashmore · 21-03-2009, 08:39

The Wi-Fi - Wireless Wiki will tell you almost everything you ever didn't want to know. Don't let it confuse you though. As a casual user however, 99% of it you don't really need to know.

As with anything it takes a little practice to pass the hair pulling stage but once you get the hang of it it is pretty easy to do anything you need to do.

Wifi is very low power. Even a big high power unit needs less than half an amp. A USB adapter like the EUB-362 is powered by your PC so you hardly notice it.

Aside from a reasonably reliable laptop and the wifi parts we have already mentioned you might want a Bluetooth ear piece for Skype if you don't want everyone on the boat to hear your conversation but it will work through the mic and speakers on the laptop. Skype works just about everywhere. The way it works it is almost impossible to block. Cable & Worthless tried to block it in the BVI a few years back and gave up.

You can set up a free or almost free email account with hotmail, Yahoo or several others. That is about all you really need. Once you get connected to a shore side access point it is just like surfing at home just a little slower. Unless the wifi link is extremely weak it is almost always faster than the link from the shore side station to the Internet in the more remote spots. Most Internet in the Caribbean is over relatively slow DSL connections.

21-03-2009, 08:39	#68
Gashmore Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 94	The Wi-Fi - Wireless Wiki will tell you almost everything you ever didn't want to know. Don't let it confuse you though. As a casual user however, 99% of it you don't really need to know. As with anything it takes a little practice to pass the hair pulling stage but once you get the hang of it it is pretty easy to do anything you need to do. Wifi is very low power. Even a big high power unit needs less than half an amp. A USB adapter like the EUB-362 is powered by your PC so you hardly notice it. Aside from a reasonably reliable laptop and the wifi parts we have already mentioned you might want a Bluetooth ear piece for Skype if you don't want everyone on the boat to hear your conversation but it will work through the mic and speakers on the laptop. Skype works just about everywhere. The way it works it is almost impossible to block. Cable & Worthless tried to block it in the BVI a few years back and gave up. You can set up a free or almost free email account with hotmail, Yahoo or several others. That is about all you really need. Once you get connected to a shore side access point it is just like surfing at home just a little slower. Unless the wifi link is extremely weak it is almost always faster than the link from the shore side station to the Internet in the more remote spots. Most Internet in the Caribbean is over relatively slow DSL connections.