Bill and I took similar routes, but I didn't have a radar arch.

So, to your original question, I have what I believe you were asking
for.

The project has been discussed at length both here and in
alt.internet.wireless, with both Bill and my "from" lines, so I'll not
go into details other than to say:

If you have a fixed computer, are willing to get up to speed on the
router or bridge you use, and have a couple of NICs (one to configure
the router or bridge to receive the signals, the other to then take
and address from the AP you use), it's actually pretty simple.

I have a NEMA box (aluminum in my case) atop the mast. It has on it
an 8.5dbi omni antenna, coupled to a lightning arrestor (through the
box), and thence to a 6" pigtail (inside) which connects to the output
on the bridge. In my case, I started with a Senao, but am now using a
LiteStation2 from Ubiquiti, a superior unit. That's powered over an
ethernet cable, using a POE.

Most of the gear if you choose 12V would tolerate a direct feed (e.g.
5-16 volts operating OK), and a correspondent in my Island Packet
mailing list (we considered an IP in our search, and I stayed on the
list) has said that using the two unused data pairs, one each for a
conductor, is plenty to get the voltage up there. However, that
requires you to have the appropriate tool and gear to terminate the
other data pairs on both ends. In my case, I'd used a commercial unit
to inject the power, buying it before hearing about that method. It
avoided the tools issue, too, but the point is that it works.

So, you have a receiving and transmitting unit atop the mast, with a
cable to your computer. In my case, I studied the patterns for a long
time before settling on my antenna. Bill's, while more powerful, has
the downsides he's pointed out. Mine has very rarely failed to pull
in a signal, wherever I've been, with a population nearby. The rocking
of our boat, with its 64' top point, has not caused problems with
reception, presumably due to the fatter donut resulting from the lower
gain.

In our most current trip, I was able to pick up stations a couple of
miles offshore, picking up my mail as we approached the inlet. On the
hook here, we have several to choose from. None are good enough to
use our internet telephone (the same number we've had for 30 years),
but plenty good enough for browsing, web searches and email. However,
we've had adequate broadband for our Vonage router's requirements in
probably half of our locations. Skype and GoogleChat both work at
lower bandwidths so those persist, and nearly always we're able to use
those, giving up the convenience of the standard telephone handset to
do so.

The only times I've not had a connection since we left last July has
been when we're on the hook in a remote location - without cell
service, either, FWIW, which would render those services dead. We're
very happy with our outcomes. Our next step, always having been
pushed back due to the efficacy, if nuisance value, of our current
setup (we have to swap NICs from acquisition to communication steps)
and the other myriad projects of higher importance, will be to do as
Bill did and have another router which will allow seamless
communication with the mast-top gear as well as provide a wifi signal
to the boat and - depending on how you set the power and/or encryption
- any around you who care to share the signal.

And, finally, another correspondent on the Island Packet list uses
something similar to Bill's, and since he's been entirely inter-
coastal, has been able to upload MOVIES while under way, an entirely
acceptable broadband service. However, that card isn't a cell phone,
nor would it allow the use of our internet telephony, either, so, and
especially as we expect to spend the bulk of our cruising lives in the
Caribbean (once we get some obligations stateside finished up), our
setup appears best for us.

YMMV :{))

L8R

Skip

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

I would like to thank everyone who assisted me in my quest for a WiFi
solution on my boat. I am considering the following as my solution:

EOC-3220 EXT

see data sheet at:

http://www.engeniustech.com/resource...3220%20EXT.pdf

cost about $160 from many sources plus shipping and taxes.

Comes as a complete kit with mounting hardware and Power Over Ethernet (POE)
adapter. I will see from experience if a higher gain antenna will be
beneficial. It comes with a 5db rubber duck antenna.

Anyone with hands on experience, I would like your comments.

Pat Harman
M/V Meriwether
Oak Harbor, WA


"Patrick Harman" wrote in message
. ..
Anyone have a link to an external marine Wifi antenna. I want to mount it
atop my mast and run about 40 ft to my computer.

Thanks,

Pat Harman
M/V Meriwether
Oak Harbor, WA

On Sat, 29 Dec 2007 08:03:00 -0800, "Patrick Harman"
wrote:

I would like to thank everyone who assisted me in my quest for a WiFi
solution on my boat. I am considering the following as my solution:

EOC-3220 EXT

see data sheet at:

http://www.engeniustech.com/resource...3220%20EXT.pdf

cost about $160 from many sources plus shipping and taxes.

Comes as a complete kit with mounting hardware and Power Over Ethernet (POE)
adapter. I will see from experience if a higher gain antenna will be
beneficial. It comes with a 5db rubber duck antenna.

Anyone with hands on experience, I would like your comments.

Pat Harman
M/V Meriwether
Oak Harbor, WA

I have one on my boat and it works pretty well although there is a
learning curve associated with getting it configured and operational.

Based on my own experience you might want to also consider a
Senao/Engenius EUB-362-EXT

http://www.wlanparts.com/product/EUB...EUB362EXT.html

I have both on my boat, connected to separate omni vertical antennas.
The 362-EXT is much easier to use and configure, and also has better
receive sensitivity. The down side of the 362 is that it has to be
fed with bulky, low loss LMR-400 coax and it is not weather proof.

For mounting at the top of a sailboat mast the EOC-3220 is the only
pre-packaged solution that I am aware of. If you are comfortable with
rolling your own, take a look at what Skip Gundlach is using on his
boat.

I started this dialog, so I will give you all an update. I purchased An
Eon-3220 EXT:

http://www.engeniustech.com/datacom/...ory.aspx?id=17

My decision was bases on specifications. I have now established
communications with the device, it took a null modem adapter and a gender
changer to do this. Un fortunately I no longer had these in my junk pile.

Stay tuned for my efforts to get on line.

My goal is to get an antenna high enough to clear a boat house or other
obstruction to receive Wi-Fi. I have some confidence that this device will
do what I want it to do.

Funny thing though is I am not a fan of MS Windows, and miss MS Dos, but
plug and play has some real benefits now that I am just a user. It has been
humbling.

Pat Harman

"Patrick Harman" wrote in message
. ..
Anyone have a link to an external marine Wifi antenna. I want to mount it
atop my mast and run about 40 ft to my computer.

Thanks,

Pat Harman
M/V Meriwether
Oak Harbor, WA

I got this device to finally work.You have to go into configuration via your
web browser to search for available Wi-Fi signals.

after you select one you go back in to the network set up in windows to
change the IP address to dynamic. then you launch the web browser again.

Bingo I am on line great signal strength etc. The only problem is I have to
click repair every so often from the icon that represents my network from
the windows network dialog box.

Sorry I have not used the correct syntax, but I think you understand what I
did.

The documentation goes into lots of detail on how to configure the devise
and absolutely none on how to get on line after you have configured it.

The included 5 db rubber duck antenna worked fine, I have a 9 db, which is
about as high gain as I want in while it is mounted on my boat..

It has been a challenge, but I an happy with the results.

Pat Harman
"Jack Erbes" wrote in message
...
Patrick Harman wrote:
I started this dialog, so I will give you all an update. I purchased An
Eon-3220 EXT:

http://www.engeniustech.com/datacom/...ory.aspx?id=17

I found the specs for physical size of that in the User's Guide:

http://www.engeniustech.com/resource...tBridge_AP.pdf

It looks like both models use the same housing and that it is about 6.5"
(163.8 mm) long, 5.3" (135.2 mm) wide, and 1.9" (47.0 mm) high, and
weighs 2.6 lbs. (1.2 Kg).

My decision was bases on specifications. I have now established
communications with the device, it took a null modem adapter and a gender
changer to do this. Un fortunately I no longer had these in my junk pile.

Stay tuned for my efforts to get on line.

My goal is to get an antenna high enough to clear a boat house or other
obstruction to receive Wi-Fi. I have some confidence that this device
will
do what I want it to do.

So the plan will be to mount the EOC-3220 EXT up on the mast, power it
with the PoE setup, and use the supplied or another external dipole
antenna?

They don't say much about the antenna other than it is a 5 dB antenna
with a RP-SMA connector. Sounds like your basic "rubber ducky" antenna
as used by Linksys and many of the other wireless units.

Do you know, does that also have the internal 9 dB patch antenna fitted
so you can use either the patch (which would be directional) or an
external antenna?

At any rate, it will be interesting to hear how it goes.

Funny thing though is I am not a fan of MS Windows, and miss MS Dos, but
plug and play has some real benefits now that I am just a user. It has
been
humbling.

Sounds like you missed the most troublesome times on Windows. There was
a long time when Plug and Play was less pleasant in use. I'm using
Windows 2000 now and consider it to be stable and reliable. I'm sure
linux and Macs are better but I've never been able to get everything
done on those.

I do keep a Windows 98 boot disk around though. If I want to get a W2K
or XP machine into a DOS mode I do it with that. But don't be afraid to
fool around with the Command Prompt on W2K or XP. It actually has
become pretty stable over the years. If it is not visible on your
Accessories menu, you can start it from Start Run typing in "cmd" (no
quotes) and pressing Enter.

If you start looking for other antennas to use with that, try a search
for antenna on eBay. There is always a lot of wireless stuff on sale
there, antennas, adapters, etc. Most good antennas will have a Type "N"
connector on them but you can get N to RP-SMA adapters on eBay too.

Do you have a 48VDC source on your boat? If you do, I wonder if that
can be used for the PoE's 48VDC input? It would get you away from
having to use the supplied wall plug AC/DC adapter.

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jackerbes at adelphia dot net
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine.com)

Bingo I am on line great signal strength etc. The only problem is I have
to click repair every so often from the icon that represents my network
from the windows network dialog box.

Sounds like the DHCP lease is timing out. Determining the source of the
problem would depend on how the leases are being distributed. Is your
router setting up it's own DHCP? Or is it acting as a relay back to the
WiFi network? If it's acting as a relay then source Wifi network may not
have a large enough DHCP range. It may be running out of addresses due to
you and everyone else trying to connect.

At this point your conversation is probably better continued in the
alt.internet.wireless newsgroup

It is being used as a client, not as an access point to receive WiFi in
various marinas I visit.

Pat
"Jack Erbes" wrote in message
...
Patrick Harman wrote:
I got this device to finally work.You have to go into configuration via
your web browser to search for available Wi-Fi signals.

after you select one you go back in to the network set up in windows to
change the IP address to dynamic. then you launch the web browser again.

Bingo I am on line great signal strength etc. The only problem is I have
to click repair every so often from the icon that represents my network
from the windows network dialog box.

At this point it would probably be helpful to know what version of Windows
you are using and how you connect to the internet (dial up with a modem,
cable, DSL, or other full time wideband system, etc.)

Sorry I have not used the correct syntax, but I think you understand what
I did.

The documentation goes into lots of detail on how to configure the devise
and absolutely none on how to get on line after you have configured it.

What mode is the EOC-3320 in? Assuming you have access to a Wide Area
Network (WAN) connection for Internet access and the 3220 is being used as
an Access Point (AP), a typical method would be for the 3220 to be
connected to an Ethernet port on a router and for the WAN port on the
router to be connected to the WAN port on a cable or DSL modem. But there
are many variations on how this can be done.

It sounds like your PC is wirelessly connected to the AP (3220) and you
need to get the AP connected to something that is connected to the
Internet.

I'm not a real networking expert, I tend to have to keep trying and doing
different things over and over and I eventually get it working. Good luck
with that!

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA (jackerbes at roadrunner dot com)
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine dot com)

Your comment about DHCP appears to be right on the money. There is an option
in the set up to enable DHCP for dynamic addressing from the access point.
When I go to my boat later I will configure it per your
suggestion/observation.

Thanks,

Pat Harman


"Bill Kearney" wrote in message
...
Bingo I am on line great signal strength etc. The only problem is I have
to click repair every so often from the icon that represents my network
from the windows network dialog box.

Sounds like the DHCP lease is timing out. Determining the source of the
problem would depend on how the leases are being distributed. Is your
router setting up it's own DHCP? Or is it acting as a relay back to the
WiFi network? If it's acting as a relay then source Wifi network may not
have a large enough DHCP range. It may be running out of addresses due to
you and everyone else trying to connect.

At this point your conversation is probably better continued in the
alt.internet.wireless newsgroup

On Mon, 14 Jan 2008 09:40:27 -0500, "Bill Kearney"
wrote in
:

Bingo I am on line great signal strength etc. The only problem is I have
to click repair every so often from the icon that represents my network
from the windows network dialog box.

Sounds like the DHCP lease is timing out. Determining the source of the
problem would depend on how the leases are being distributed. Is your
router setting up it's own DHCP? Or is it acting as a relay back to the
WiFi network? If it's acting as a relay then source Wifi network may not
have a large enough DHCP range. It may be running out of addresses due to
you and everyone else trying to connect.

At this point your conversation is probably better continued in the
alt.internet.wireless newsgroup

Another possible DHCP problem is Comcast Internet, which doesn't work
well with some wireless routers. Check for updated firmware and/or a
different brand of wireless router.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: http://Wireless.wikia.com
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi How To: http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes

Another possible DHCP problem is Comcast Internet, which doesn't work
well with some wireless routers. Check for updated firmware and/or a
different brand of wireless router.

Which is unlikely to be useful advice in this particular situation.