This is triggered by the commentary in the thumbs thread...

IMHO (well, most of you know NSM H), something which will take boat
power is best. Mine is the Ubiquiti LiteStation2, and while I now use
a 48V POE, which requires a splitter up there with the bridge
(configured as a router), I have in hand, to install, a 12V POE, which
is a single very small box, takes the unused 4 data lines to put boat
power up the mast; Plug the cat5 into port one and the LS2 does the
translation to power and data.

A NEMA up top, and a cat5 running down, along with the needed pigtails
and antenna as discussed in the thread, is all you need to go to a
NIC; a router such as a Linksys WRT54GL (linux compatible) will allow
you to directly address the unit, as well as spread wifi for as far as
their little dux will allow. So, Lydia and her mom are on laptop, and
I'm on a 12 V (both the LS2 and the computer are happy with 10-16V)
computer built into my nav with a cat5 feed (though I could have
installed a wifi; the router's mounted right next to the computer so
there's no point), all from the same feed.

I've gotten house router signals as far as 3 miles out; Beacon and
similar commercial providers is available up to 5 miles out. I made a
call to my dad, also to Lydia's mom in England, and to Lydia's bank,
all in the same trip, from 3 miles out in Tampa Bay, during one of our
sea trials before we left on our first trip, on Vonage, the VoIP
service we have and use aboard when we have a good signal.

I have yet to be skunked for a signal in the cruising we've done,
other than anchoring in a totally remote location with no homes or
businesses. To my mind, putting your receiver at the top of the mast
is the only way to go unless you're tied up at a marina, in which case
the antenna may not see something really close. Case in point is my
router, Flying Pig (if you're anchored and ever see that SSID, we're
nearby, and you're welcome to use our signal), is only about a -65db,
even though it's right under the antenna...

Those of you who are longtimers here will recall the trials of the
damned I had with two Senao units provided by a clueless vendor who
clearly didn't understand my very specific instructions as to what I
was trying to achieve. A lurker here was kind enough to correct me
and lead me to what I have.

To avoid that agony, go directly to IslandtimePC.com, or drop Bob
Stewart
a line, and buy his setup. More expensive
than a plain $65 unit that you then have to figure out and further
equip to make work like you need it, but plug and play. I can't
recommend him strongly enough. He provided all the consulting I
needed before he received a dime from me; natch, I bought my 12V
computer from him...


For those who prefer an AC POE, I'll shortly have mine available (I
have to go up the mast and do the swapout with the 12V feed into the
LS2, and then install the POE to the ship's power) - it's a Linksys;
it works just fine - it's how I've gotten the power to the LS2 through
today - but needs AC. When I make that change, other than the printer
and the monitor, there will be no AC powered devices in my entire
computer system...

HTH...


--
L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog
and/or http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to
make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its
hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."
(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)

On 2008-09-01 00:26:23 -0400, "Skip Gundlach" said:

This is triggered by the commentary in the thumbs thread...

IMHO (well, most of you know NSM H), something which will take boat
power is best.

Though a friend and fairly technically savvy, I hate to say that this
post was intelligible to me.

And I'm looking for a wifi booster, so am very interested in figuring
this sort of thing out.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-à-Deux -- Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

On Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:04:48 GMT, Jere Lull wrote:

And I'm looking for a wifi booster, so am very interested in figuring
this sort of thing out.

I have something similar to this package from Keenan Systems:

http://www.keenansystems.com/store/c...roducts_id=226

or

http://tinyurl.com/2kdja7


It works well, is easy to use, and an excellent value.

Especially for non-Windows computers, the following kit offers more
power and an ethernet interface (no drivers required):

http://www.keenansystems.com/store/c...roducts_id=237

or

http://tinyurl.com/5xnodg

I have one of these also and it really is the ultimate in onboard WiFi
that I have been able to find. It is not as user friendly as the USB
adapter however and costs more than twice as much.

On 2008-09-20 16:10:11 -0400, Wayne.B said:

On Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:04:48 GMT, Jere Lull wrote:

And I'm looking for a wifi booster, so am very interested in figuring
this sort of thing out.

I have something similar to this package from Keenan Systems:

http://www.keenansystems.com/store/c...roducts_id=226

The

EnGenius USB device seems to require a serial port, which I haven't had
for most of a decade, a serious drawback. The Ethernet version is
seriously expensive in comparison to the others I found.

While we were out for a few weeks, we met up with a friend had a system
with (what he thought was) a 15 db antenna with a usb cable sticking
out, nothing else. No 110 vac needed. They got a good connection about
3-5 miles from our home port.

I'm an old QRP sort of guy, preferring to work on the antenna side of
the equation first, as that improves both receive and transmit.

I don't remember what the name of their stick is, but was able to d/l a
Mac driver for it (as well as Windoze and Linux pmes) that seemed to
connect to the stick, though we were miles away from civilization;
neither laptop could get a connection. Looks like it uses a
ZyDAS/Atheros chipset.

OH! This looks like it, though it's 8 db and 400 mw:
http://www.radiolabs.com/products/wireless/wireless-marine-antenna.php

Now home and doing some searches, it seems a 8 db antenna is the best
all-around choice. Nice evaluation of various systems, including the
drawbacks of a 15 db antenna at
http://www.svsoggypaws.com/electronics.htm

Looking further, EnGenius's 362 with 8 db external antenna might work
well for about half the price, but it looks like there aren't any
UNIX/Linex drivers except for a reverse-engineered one from uath, and
that site doesn't give me a good feeling.

All that found and given, I'm leaning towards the RadioLabs WaveRV. Any
suggestions from your end? Heard any good or bad reviews of the WaveRV,
other similarly simple systems?

--
Jere Lull
Xan-à-Deux -- Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

I just bought (and returned) a Radio Labs RVWave usb wifi adapter and
antenna. It didn't work any better (or worse) than the wifi card built into
my laptop. It (and my laptop card) would only give me about 200 feet usable
range from my home wifi router. Other users reported similar results on
Panbo. Out of 3 or 4 posters only one said it worked.

The Engenius system looks nice, but requires 110V ac for the Ethernet DC
injector. It works on 48 V DC, so DC power is not an option on my boat.

I am leaning to a system assembled by a cruiser from commercial parts. See
www.islandtimepc.com. Bob Stewart builds these using an Ubiquiti
Litestation2 board. It is powered by 12V DC injected into the Ethernet cable
and is a 400 mw amplifier. The amplifier specs indicate good sensitivity.
Bob sells a package with cables, POE injector, the Ubiquiti board mounted in
a waterproof NMEA aluminum box and an 8 dB antenna for $329. Skip Grundlach
a cruiser on this board swears by the system.

David

"David Marchand" wrote in
:

I just bought (and returned) a Radio Labs RVWave usb wifi adapter and
antenna. It didn't work any better (or worse) than the wifi card built
into my laptop. It (and my laptop card) would only give me about 200
feet usable range from my home wifi router. Other users reported
similar results on Panbo. Out of 3 or 4 posters only one said it
worked.



It doesn't make any difference if you're mobile is running a kilowatt to
you "home wifi router" running 20 milliwatts (0.020W)! It's not the router
can't hear your big powerful card....it's the card can't hear the peanut
whistle transmitter in the house!

This is also true in many marinas who did wifi on the cheap and are just
running home wifi units. No matter how powerful your boat's wifi
transceiver is....if the marina isn't running similar power levels...it
goes nowhere and the boat equipment can't hear it.

The one that worked had a better base station router with a real antenna.

Larry:

I would have thought that with an 8 dB gain antenna and a more sensitive
receiver, the Radio Lab system should have heard my puny home wifi router
better. It didn't.

I suspect one reason is that my laptop has a pretty good antenna built in to
the flip up screen and so the Radio Lab 8 dB antenna didn't improve much on
it. But the Radio Lab's receiver sensitivity must be no better than the
built in laptop's receiver and that is surprising.

David

"David Marchand" wrote in
:

I would have thought that with an 8 dB gain antenna and a more
sensitive receiver, the Radio Lab system should have heard my puny
home wifi router better. It didn't.

I suspect one reason is that my laptop has a pretty good antenna built
in to the flip up screen and so the Radio Lab 8 dB antenna didn't
improve much on it. But the Radio Lab's receiver sensitivity must be
no better than the built in laptop's receiver and that is surprising.

David




Naw...The 8db antenna might have made a little difference in the receiver
pattern, but the noise floor didn't change, which is what got the tiny
transmitter the sellphone and telephone companies were responsible for it
having in the first place.

Consumer wifi is only supposed to go to the edge of the room....to keep you
from letting your neighbor use it without paying the communications
companies.

On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:58:35 -0700, "David Marchand"
wrote:

The Engenius system looks nice, but requires 110V ac for the Ethernet DC
injector.

Easily supplied by a $30 inverter which will also power your laptop
and charge your cell phone.

The Engenius 362 does not require a serial port. It uses a USB port
which also supplies it's power. Excellent price performance with a 9
db antenna mounted in the clear.

"David Marchand" wrote in message
...
I am leaning to a system assembled by a cruiser from commercial
parts. See www.islandtimepc.com. Bob Stewart builds these using an
Ubiquiti Litestation2 board. It is powered by 12V DC injected into
the Ethernet cable and is a 400 mw amplifier. The amplifier specs
indicate good sensitivity. Bob sells a package with cables, POE
injector, the Ubiquiti board mounted in a waterproof NMEA aluminum
box and an 8 dB antenna for $329. Skip Grundlach a cruiser on this
board swears by the system.

David

I second that motion, heartily.

I have yet to go up the mast to change out my Linksys 48V POE, but his
is boat power, as the LiteStation2 can take anything between 5 and
some ridiculous amount of power, the #1 ethernet port on the board
takes the power from the POE directly, and it's what I connect on,
everywhere. However, unless it's been modified since my purchase, I
think it's only 250mw. That's been plenty for me, in any case.

Nuff said on that. Save yourself a bundle of time and aggravation
(see my posts beginning about 3 years ago on the subject, here and in
a couple of electronics/wifi groups) and buy the package unless you're
a serious networking geek and really enjoy that sort of bashing to
arrive at something similar...

--
L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog
and/or http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to
make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its
hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."
(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)