Pacific Northwest Wifi/Cell coverage/Boosters?

[Mark424]

Getting a boat for cruising puget sound north to BC and hopefully get the chance to get up to AK and around Vancouver Island.

What is the availability of accessible WiFi and cell signals? Do Wifi and Cell boosters actually help in these areas, or when you have signal you have it and when you don't you don't.

WeBoost 4G-x seems to be popular for cell, Coastal Marine for Wifi, and the Wirie for a combo unit.

Appreciate any guidance.

Mark

[NewMoon]

We have only a moderate WiFi booster (Alfa), but our experience is that there are few unsecured WiFi signals available in the harbors of SE Alaska. Some places have pay WiFi, however. More WiFi provided by marinas along the east side of Van Isle. Little WiFi available along the north coast of BC.

With no cell booster, AT&T cell service has been available in many locations up to Port Hardy or Blunden Harbour, mostly unavailable from there to Prince Rupert. Available in many parts of SE Alaska.

[Mark424]

Originally Posted by NewMoon

With no cell booster, AT&T cell service has been available in many locations up to Port Hardy or Blunden Harbour, mostly unavailable from there to Prince Rupert. Available in many parts of SE Alaska.

Thank you, I also found this blog (Wi-Fi in the Wilderness – Riveted ) which refers to AT&T dominating AK, but other services being a better option in BC.

[Macblaze]

Originally Posted by Mark424

Getting a boat for cruising puget sound north to BC and hopefully get the chance to get up to AK and around Vancouver Island.

What is the availability of accessible WiFi and cell signals? Do Wifi and Cell boosters actually help in these areas, or when you have signal you have it and when you don't you don't.

WeBoost 4G-x seems to be popular for cell, Coastal Marine for Wifi, and the Wirie for a combo unit.

Appreciate any guidance.

Mark

The best guy around here to ask about this would be MrWakefield. He will likely respond here eventually as he usually has some good input.

Visit his webpage on Wifi for details on his setup. Denali Rose: Cellular and WiFi Data

[Toaster]

Originally Posted by Mark424

Thank you, I also found this blog (Wi-Fi in the Wilderness – Riveted ) which refers to AT&T dominating AK, but other services being a better option in BC.

Yes, ATT is best. Verizon is not reliable (I know from personal experience....)

Wifi on the way to AK is non-existent except for just a few places that we know of. Once you leave the Strait of Georgia, wifi and cell are essentially gone until you reach AK or Prince Rupert.

The exceptions are:
Pt McNeil and Pt Hardy on Van Isle, reasonable bandwidth, but you need to pay for a slip in the marina or go for a coffee somewhere. You might find some marinas in the Broughtons with cell repeaters (we did at Echo Bay).

From here north, it's just satellite links, usually overloaded.

Pruth Bay on Calvert Island with "bytes per day" limited access (please respect their policy). Good service, and free.

Shearwater had paid wifi, but it only works at night after everyone else has gone to bed.

We did not find any other wifi locations until Prince Rupert.

Cell phone, sometimes a weak (repeated) available around a few First Nations villages such as Bella Bella, but the carrier is Telus. Your phone may not work.

A bit of a plug for my wife's book here: she talks about this in the first chapter, and what you might want to do in advance, and what you might expect vis a vis cell and wifi. The book is mainly about sailing wind and tidal currents on the way to AK. To find it, go to Amazon, and search for "taken by the wind the northwest coast".