Wi-Fi for the boat

Alright... I'm now in the library upstairs directly over the wifi access point which is downstairs in the bar... I'm still connected.
 
The short answer is beam coverage. Think of a flashlight shining from a fixed point on the boat toward a fixed point on shore. As the boat bobs around the beam from the flashlight would shift above and below the target location on shore. The pattern from a typical WiFi antenna is roughly donut-shaped, a circular 'beam' from the antenna. The higher the gain antenna, the more narrow a vertical beam width it's likely to have. As the boat bobs around that narrow beam pattern can shift enough to lose reliable contact with the base station. But if you go with an antenna that has a wide vertical beam width it often loses any decent distance coverage.

Marine satellite TV deals with this by having a motorized base actively re-aiming the dish.


I think you are thinking of directional antennas. These are not used in WIFI routers (at least A&B. otherwise walking around the house with a laptop would cause the signal to vary from strong to nothing. I suppose that your FM radio suffers also on a boat since they have the same antenna setup as the WIFI.
 
Marine satellite TV deals with this by having a motorized base actively re-aiming the dish.

Oh, and you're still a jackass Gary.

COMPLETELY different signal type when comparing satellite TV vs. terrestrial based RF.

And Gary is a "jackass" because he knows what he's talking about? Or because he simply refuses to rest at pointing out when you don't? :huh:
 
Maybe Bill smart guy can explain why a long range wifi receiver looks like a pringles can instead of a parabolic dish....

pringlesonstandbig.jpg


Bill? You there???
 
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The short answer is beam coverage. Think of a flashlight shining from a fixed point on the boat toward a fixed point on shore. As the boat bobs around the beam from the flashlight would shift above and below the target location on shore. The pattern from a typical WiFi antenna is roughly donut-shaped, a circular 'beam' from the antenna. The higher the gain antenna, the more narrow a vertical beam width it's likely to have. As the boat bobs around that narrow beam pattern can shift enough to lose reliable contact with the base station. But if you go with an antenna that has a wide vertical beam width it often loses any decent distance coverage.

Marine satellite TV deals with this by having a motorized base actively re-aiming the dish.

Oh, and you're still a jackass Gary.

You have to be trolling...next you're going to tell us that you get better wi-fi reception by sticking your arms straight out to either side, right?

If you aren't trolling...words fail me. :wow:

-CJ
 
oh MAN has this thread gone downhill.

Dude. . .you just CAN'T provoke people like that! It is JUST not worth it! Even a butthead can have useful things to add to a conversation. If you poke a butthead with a stick, don't be surprised if he farts in your direction and makes you stink. So don't poke with a stick. It makes you smell bad.
 
I might have to give up on helping people in this thread as it seems every time I post wkearney99 tries to "One Up" me or something.

Gary can you explain to me why when I drive down the road at 90mph that the wifi connection in my laptop is still able to pick up hotspots. According to Bill that's not possible or maybe my truck is not bobing around enough.

I bet Bill has problems with his GPS too when he bob's around in his boat if he even has one.

If anyone want's real computer/wifi/internet help just PM me I don't need trolls tring to One Up me every time I post.

Can we get wkearney99 changed to OneUp?
 
Does this help?


Directional Antennas
2.4yagi14dbMini.gif

Directional antennas are used for Point-to-Point or sometimes for Multi-Point systems depending on the setup. If you are trying to go from one location (say for instance your router), to another location, this is the type of antenna we recommend. Directional antennas are [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Backfires[/FONT], [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Yagi[/FONT], [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Panel[/FONT] and [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]dish type[/FONT] antennas.
Omni-Directional
This is the common “Base” antenna used for Point-to-Multi-Point or can be an omni-directional antenna for your car. An Omni-Directional antenna would serve as your main antenna to distribute the signal to other computers or devices (such as wireless printers, PDAs, etc) in your workgroup. You can use 2 Omni-Directional antennas for a point to point system, but this is usually not recommended because there is no real point to distributing your signal all over the place when you only want to going from point A to point B. Please refer to Directional antennas above. Typical Omni-Directional WiFi antennas consist of [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Vertical Omnis[/FONT], [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ceiling Domes[/FONT], [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Rubber ducks[/FONT], [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Small Desktops[/FONT] and [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Mobile vertical[/FONT] antennas.
Point-to-Point
Point-to-Point systems usually involve 2 different wireless points, or building to building wireless connections. But there are exceptions to every rule. If the access point is across a long valley and the owner of the system wishes to share the connection with multiple users on the other side of the valley. This would be a point to Multi-Point system but using directional antennas.
point-to-point-wifi.gif

Point to Point WiFi System

I think you will find that a typical residential or business WiFi is omnidirectional.​
 
I might have to give up on helping people in this thread as it seems every time I post wkearney99 tries to "One Up" me or something.

Gary can you explain to me why when I drive down the road at 90mph that the wifi connection in my laptop is still able to pick up hotspots. According to Bill that's not possible or maybe my truck is not bobing around enough.

I bet Bill has problems with his GPS too when he bob's around in his boat if he even has one.

If anyone want's real computer/wifi/internet help just PM me I don't need trolls tring to One Up me every time I post.

Can we get wkearney99 changed to OneUp?

I appreciate the help and just now revisited the topic.
I have Sprint's USB "Compass™ 597 by Sierra Wireless" card.
I saw your USB router, which, thank you, answered my question. I do need a router and can't simply start the Laptop up with this connected and share the signal without the router. I should have known but haven't played with it.
This also means I need a 12VDC power source for it.
 
I need help deciding which wifi antenna to go with. I am ready to buy this one as mentioned in this thread http://www.radiolabs.com/products/wireless/waverv.php

and basically need wifi on my laptop when at the marina. I can access the wifi from the laptop when up top, but not when down below. I like the all in one solution (antenna with built in network card) and need wifi when in the cabin. I don't have an antenna output on my current network card. Anyone else have another option that might be better priced? I noticed this other antenna, but appears to be more directional. What does everyone this about this one vs the link above?
http://www.radiolabs.com/products/wireless/o2connect.php

I have a 96 270DA
Thanks in advance!
 
I'm no expert on this, but I've heard that it possible to set a trap and when someone connects to an unsecured wireless network the computer can be robbed of its data.
 
Your data could be compromised in a "man in the middle" attack, but not sure if that should be included in this thread, it might just start a "hi-jack"...but if you do it right and start sharing "your" connection, you never know how fast you could get that new 60' footer!
 

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