Atlantic Canada and Internet

[SavageMichel]

I have been trying to find a marina anywhere in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, which provides reliable internet services at the dock, from May 1st through October 31st... Very frustrating... Any ideas?

[GRIT]

The RNSYS has wifi, which works fairly well (Halifax). Most marinas have wifi, but it's usually spotty. I had luck in Summerside Marina (PEI) installing my own wifi unit at the club, and pointing it to my boat. You may find a marina that allows you to do this. It does make for a better connection, as there's less traffic on the router, and if you get a directional antenna, it's pointed to your boat.

You'll have to get a membership at RNSYS if you want to stay the whole season, unless you have cash to burn.

Summerside is a friendly and very well protected marina, I'd suggest you check them out, if you can stray from the NS, NB thing.

We tried Telus for mobile wifi, but found it to be more money than the internet was worth. If you're working through the internet, you may find it's worth it for you.

Cheers.
Paul.

[hpeer]

We have Verizon unlimited USA/Canada/Mexico. Pricey for our 2 phones. And in Atlantic Canada we only get 1/2 got of “high speed” data per day, then data rates go down. But it switches between Bell and Tellus and has great coverage even in some pretty remote spots. If you need lots of data at one location it’s not a good choice. If you need moderate data at a lot of locations it’s a good choice.

Our home marina is Lewisporte, NL and they have WiFi.

[hpeer]

You might also try Shelburne, NS yacht club. Slips might be limited. How big are you?

Give them a call.

Shelburne Harbour Yacht Club

[GRIT]

I just gave a call to Wayne at the RNSYS, and they don't allow liveaboards.

Summerside always did, but give them a call and see.

Cheers, and good luck.

Paul.

[SavageMichel]

Thank you all for this valuable info. Living aboard doesn`t seem to be usual in Atlantic Canada, and I can understand that the weather has much to do with it. So, a combination of liveaboard restrictions, of internet limitations, and seasonal limits (some docks go in only in June, docks go out early October). I live in the wrong country...

[GRIT]

Nope, it's not common here. But it's doable if you're only wanting to stay until October. I did it for several years, Atlantic Canada from May to October. Sometimes April and sometimes November, then head to the Bahamas or Caribbean for the winter.

Cheers.
Paul.

[SVTwilight]

We were just up there. Shelburne YC has good internet. Farther north St Peter's marina and most other marinas in the Bras D'or have decent internet. As I recall Brooklyn Marina on the southwestern shore was decent as well.

We also got signal 10-20 miles out along the entire southwestern and eastern shores on Bell's 3G which they seem to crank up for the boaters/fishermen. Not terribly fast but workable for wx reports and texting/email....

If you have the Verizon intl plan. Roaming is now including in Canada for calls and data.

[LyonsPride]

I work in tech, so I test out the different wifi speeds when I stop different places around Mahone Bay and Chester Basin NS.

We have a slip at Gold River Marina, and their wifi is decent (good enough for web/email/netflix/etc). From the dock I get on average 5-20Mbps
https://www.goldrivermarina.com/

We just spend a week at a mooring at the Lunenburg Yacht Club, and their wifi was faster than Gold River (15-30Mbps at the mooring, even faster at the dock).
Unfortunately you have to join the club as a member to stay longer than a week.
Lunenburg Yacht Club

Mahone Bay Civic Marina also has wifi service, but I didn't test it out.
Mahone Bay Civic Marina, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia


I read comments on cell service in a few previous posts, and can confirm Bell/Telus offer really fast LTE speeds up and down the coast of NS. Someone told be a few Bell execs own summer homes here, and that's why, but I don't know that for sure.

I can confirm that a speed test using my iPhone 8 on Bell's LTE (at anchor at Mason Island) I saw speeds of 100+Mbps.

I hope this helps.

Cheers, Geoff