WiFi/Cell Phone amplifier

[Nepidae]

I did a search and didn't see this topic discussed.

We have just changed our boat location and found that cell service is nonexistent unless we drive back out the road to a certain point, WiFi, is in the office and therefore reachable or I can walk up and sit on the deck. Sometimes I'd rather stay on board.

A dock mate said he installed a digital antenna he got from West Marine which I have looked at for cell service.

I think WiFi could be obtained on board, as the office is about 200 yards away.

Before I tried anything I thought I’d check with the group and see what experiences I can build on.

Thanks.

[jcollins]

Hi Charles,
I use and have had good results with MicroTik products. They are a little more powerful when it comes to WiFi. I just installed a wireless router, antennae, and AP at a marina.
Go to this page http://shop.mpl.com/42-mikrotik
Scroll down and take a look at the OmnoTik U-5nD access point. I recommend contacting KC at MPL. kcasto AT mpl.com. Mention my name and tell him what you want to do. He will help get you set up. They offer complete setup for 100.00. Very good company and good guy to work with.

[jleonard]

For wifi I bought a "Wirie AP" and used it all last summer while cruising the Erie , Canadian canals, Goergian Bay, etc.
It worked pretty well in pulling in unsecured wifi.
I tried the "Island Time" and could not get it to work, even with the (poor) help from the company owner.
What I like about the "Wirie" is that it only requires 12v power. There are no otrher cables or wires to run, it is all self contained.


Now about cell phone, I don't know. I am now looking for something for my home so we can receive and make calls from or basement rec room. We no longer have a land line, so we need a little better reception. So I'm all ears on this one.

[RobS]

....we need a little better reception. So I'm all ears on this one.

Pun intented, or no

[jcollins]

Personally I'm not worried about but I have heard of Wilson.
http://www.wilsonamplifiers.com/mobile- ... 4AodEVwAFA

Here is a review site I found.
http://cell-phone-booster-review.toptenreviews.com/

I'm not endorsing this product. I have never tried it.

[jleonard]

Well my cell phone reception problem at home may be solved. I bought and just set up a "link2cell" phone system. I bought a Panasonic KX-TG7732 with 2 handsets. The base unit is on the desk in a spare room upstairs and has an answering machine built in and picks up and transmits via bluetooth for either of our cell phones. The 2nd hanset is in the basement room and works like a regular cordless phone. No connection to a landline is needed.
What's nice is we can receive and make calls while the cell phones are charging too.
I think this will work well for us.

[Captn_Dwt]

I installed a DIGITAL ANTENNA cell phone amp on our 36AC. As a ham operator, I understand the problems this device must work with. It is a repeater, working with the same frequency at both ends of it's antenna system. AKA..the better the physical separation between the "inside the boat" antenea and the long-range antenea, the better the system can work. It must, to prevent feedback within itself, be sensitive to the separation of signal from "inside" and the long-range antenea. Which means: If you don't respect its requirements, it will not perform well.
To maximise this separation, I installed the long-range antenna at the tip-top of the mast. The inside antenna is mounted just above the center windshield, facing back to the dining area. The amp can go anywhere....so its inside the flybridge console.
Testing the system...where I had reception at 1 to no bars showing, I was not able to make a G3 data connection without the amplifier turned on. Activating the amp raised signal strength to 2-3 bars and G3 data was excellent. If my cell phone indicated "no service"...the amp did not help; but that only happened a few times and I believe we were blocked by hills from the available tower on Isle-a-haut.
In other words, this amp really does work. Because it recieves your cell signal inside the boat, there's no wired connection between the amp and your phone. You're free to roam inside the cabin...but range is limited to about 5-8 feet max from that inside antenna.
Also, the indoor antenna is very very directional. you must point it in the direction of where you will be.
So, for cruising the coast of Maine, where signal is poor, this device worked for me. I found the price much better at manventureoutpost.com. When they have it, they will email you their price, as it's way below min. retail.
OBTW..they are a very good company to do business with. Different customer focus, but when they have what you want (GPS map display, etc.) they're well worth checking.

Product link: http://www.digitalantenna.com/prods/cel ... eater.html

[samsolong]

Starting this year, only a few manufacturers are able to sell these solutions due to FCC regulations. Make sure they are FCC approved to avoid any fines. Wilsonelectronics, surecall, zBoost are among the few that are approved.

[seasalt]

On this cell phone signal issue I am wondering which provider you guys use and in which parts of the country? When I traveled on the boat full time about 10-15 years ago I had Verizon with very few problems from Texas to Maine and up the Tennessee River to Knoxville. Upon moving to Florida I switched to AT&T because you could surf the net and talk at the same time. Verizon did not offer that feature. They may now. So, I began using an AT&T hot spot on the iPhone and found it to be very good. I cut this off when we moved into a house and went with Comcast.

If we travel again I will turn the hot spot back on but am wondering if I am going to lose coverage area.

[samsolong]

Verizon still has the best coverage, at least 4g for sure.

[DougSea]

Ben Ellison at Panbo has a nice write up:

http://www.panbo.com/archives/2015/02/s ... ullet.html

[whwells]

Charles: My former Albin had Wilson system which worked well even to 50 miles.
whwells "Howard"

[Pitou]

We have just changed our boat location and found that WiFi is in the office and therefore reachable or I can walk up and sit on the deck. Sometimes I'd rather stay on board.

I think WiFi could be obtained on board, as the office is about 200 yards away.

Before I tried anything I thought I’d check with the group and see what experiences I can build on.

Thanks.

I'm planning to turn the boat into a satellite office this summer and have tried air cards in the laptop, but the reception is spotty at my marina. The marina does have WiFi is intermittent if I go below. A couple of boats have WiFi boosters and they get good signals. This would also allow for WiFi connectivity to an open hotspot or marina WiFi while cruising. I could grab netflix or connect to my home dish television as well while hanging off of a mooring or tied to a slip.

I've looked at the Rogue Wave and the newer Rogue Wave Pro. They are both inclusive of the repeater/radio and the Wifi antenna, but the Pro is stainless steel and can screw onto any marine 1" X 14 standard mount. An ethernet cable is then run into the boat where one can directly plug in a device or a wireless router. If I go this route I would go with the router and from there be able to connect to my laptop, tablet or phone.
http://wavewifi.com/products/rogue-pro/

The other unit that I am looking at is the NautiCloud which is similar to the Wirie / AP that Jay has, but it has the option of mounting the unit in a cabinet in the boat and running 400 LMR to a 4 ft. 8db WiFi antenna on a 1" x 14 mount on the mast. The NautiCloud also has the wireless router built in. Password protect it and no one else can jump on your onboard WiFi. It can also be purchase as an all in one and mounted on a rail when needed with a cable to your workstation.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com ... LctFjL.pdf

I'm leaning more towards the NautiCloud as eveything is built in and can easily be run as 12 volt DC using less than 1 amp of power. My local electronics shop sells and installs the Rogue Wave products and they have installed the NautiCloud which is only sold direct and they said both have given their customers great results, but they say that the NautiCloud seems to pick-up more hotspots at further distance.

Not sure which way I'm headed, but it will be one of these two.

[texanbok]

I think these comments are older...was searching for Albin Wifi/Signal solutions....and found this forum.

Been a while since we had decent offshore cell phone reception sailing in and around Galveston (even when docked).. I looked at Wilson products...who now seem to renamed weBoost...after some digging around...got this Marine specific unit and only good for your 3G service...but so far so good. I think you can have a 4G booster too....but we were mainly concerned with getting calls in out in case of emergency.

Last thing i wanted to do was have access to the internet on the water...hopefully this helps you guys out there.

Andrew

http://www.signalboosters.com/weboost-d ... -470102-m/

[kaylakingsbury96]

I bought and iPhone 5s last month and the signal was not working perfectly, I tried to contact with the apple customer service but they ignored me about this issue. But that was really dropping networks. I tried some apps from the appstore that doesn't worked. Finally I found a website for signal booter guide. I followed that and its amazing the signal problem was solved.
https://cellphonesignalbooster.us/usa/ did a great job. I would like to recommend all who are faceing network issues with iphone.