Wifi and Routers

[Pascal]

thought i'd post this as it may be of use to others.

i've been looking in providing internet service to guests on board the 70 footer i run. After looking around and following the advice of an electronic guru over on boaterEd, i decided on a Wave Rogue booster and Kyocera KR2 router.

the Rogue is pretty neat. it's very compact and can be installed inside a radar arch, near the antenna. it comes with a short plastic antenna which i'm replacing with a 30" antenna from Digital Antenna. while it's not as powerful as others, its 800 MW power is enough for our needs and much cheaper than the more powerful system.

http://www.wavewifi.com/rogue-wave.html

It is connected to the router with cat 5 network cable, eliminating losses, and powered either by 110v or 12v power injector over the Cat 5 cable.

For a router, I picked the KR2 since it allows me to use my ATT 3G card when wifi is not available. In addition to the standard router connections it has USB, PCMIA and Express ports. I installed it up in the skylounge.

both the router and the Rogue are configured from a browser, no software to install. I can even configure them or pick a new wifi network from the safari browser in my Iphone

with this setup, we can pick hotspots and free wifi from much greater distances but when wifi isnt' available, we can fall back on the ATT 3G service while in the US. Any laptop (or I phone) on board can connect to our hot spot, users/guests dont' have to set up or plug in anything. they just connect with the password provided.

over the past couple of days, I've picked up 3 to 5 times more wifi networks with the Rogue than i woudl with laptop alone. Networks that i could pick with the laptop alone are now much stronger resutling in better speeds and more reliable service.

tricks...
-Kyocera doesn't ship its routers with the latest firmware, I had to download upgraded firmware so that it could recognize my ATT card
-not all 3G cards / modems are compatible, list is available on the Kyocera website
-The Rogue instructions state to type wavewifi.com in any browser to pull up the Rogue utilities and pick a network. I found that typing the Rogue IP adress (192.168.89.1) worked better...

total cost came to about $700 altogether. if you dont' need to share a 3G card then you can use a basic router and save $100/$120...

[Craig]

Good idea, but free wifi has no security, I wiuld be hesitant to hook my pc to an unsecure system.

[TopHattandTails]

I went with a $150 router that accepts my Verizon wifi card (mini). Router sits in the V-Berth. That blasts all over the boat and is secure. Its not wifi (free), but it gets the job done. I can get Pandora running with the Verizon card - which is download intensive (can't over the AT&T network on my phone). Multiple users can access simultaneously. I usually work on the boat 3-4 days a week with 2 computers accessing in the summer - this solution works for me.

[SKYCHENEY]

Good idea, but free wifi has no security, I wiuld be hesitant to hook my pc to an unsecure system.

I do it in almost every port or anchorage that I can. It's never been a problem.

[Pascal]

A router and aircard is fine in the us but in the Bahamas wifi all you get and in many places signal is, at best, marginal

[Pascal]

real world test: the system works pretty well. yesterday while enroute from Bimini to Nassau i was able to connect to the Chub Cay hotspot and upload this picture of the plotter showing jsut udner 2miles from chub from my Iphone.

[Liquid Asset]

This is a a great idea, and I have implemented the Sprint 3G wifi with the Linksys router. I have been looking into Wave Wifi, but there are a few other options out there that can provide some serious power if you want to spend a few extra dollars. If you are in need of the power, try

http://www.bbxpress.net

[carolinacoast]

I just started using a Ubiquiti networks Bullet HP as a wireless booster. the set up is about $180 with an antenna. I haven't gotten to the permanent installation yet(or wireless router), but the results so far are impressive. I got the recommendation from a sailing cruiser forum that had a couple of IT gurus talking about the different systems. with our 2 year old and the recession, we havent cruised much but I'm getting the Bahamas infrastructure ready. I use tetherberry on my laptop through my 3G ATT blackberry as a backup. this setup is FAR faster. security should not be a problem with AV and antispyware.

[Pascal]

using 3G air cards or bberry in the bahamas isn't really an option due to the cost. ATT data roaming is over $10 a meg...

we're anchored off Norman's Cay which is pretty remote with no facilities except a small beach restaurant yet i've picked up a network with a decent connection and i have the helmcam up and running.

so far, it's working really well, not just getting the connection but the sharing. anyone on the boat can use their laptop or iphone. Once i pick a network there is nothing to do or worry about.

the Rogue is enough for our needs, it's not as expensive as the high power systems

[carolinacoast]

it looks like the Rogue Wave is using the Bullet hardware, but according to this article, it is worth paying them for it because of the firmware. I completely admit that the Bullet is not user friendly.

great call Pascal. cell voice and 3G data costs more than Diesel down island. are you using cell calls forwarded to Skype on laptop's wirelessly?
here is what I bought. sorry not enough posts to include URL's.