Has Anyone Actually Have Working Wifi On Their Boat?

Hello Folks,
I am radio guy, 30 years experience installing mobile and base radio
gear. I want to install wifi on my sailboat. Common sense tells me to
install a device on the mast, so cable losses are not at issue at 2.5
or 5Ghz. I am not a wireless network guy. My idea was to install an AP
on the mast or hoist it up when I want to use it. I would like it to be
capable of a b g modes.

Now my questions;

What AP's can operate on 12 Volts?
Can I do this with just a AP, wired to the lan jack on my laptop?
You get the idea, Please make a recomendation on what equipment would
be suitable for this purpose (i do not want to be a beta tester). I
have been searching for this info on the net for weeks, and all I read
about are failures and no success stories. I am handy and would not
mind buying a AP and mounting in a waterproof box.


Thank You,
Louie KA2PFL

In article <(E-Mail Removed) .com>,
KA2PFL <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>Hello Folks,
> I am radio guy, 30 years experience installing mobile and base radio
>gear. I want to install wifi on my sailboat. Common sense tells me to
>install a device on the mast, so cable losses are not at issue at 2.5
>or 5Ghz. I am not a wireless network guy. My idea was to install an AP
>on the mast or hoist it up when I want to use it. I would like it to be
>capable of a b g modes.
>
> Now my questions;
>
> What AP's can operate on 12 Volts?
> Can I do this with just a AP, wired to the lan jack on my laptop?
> You get the idea, Please make a recomendation on what equipment would
>be suitable for this purpose (i do not want to be a beta tester). I
>have been searching for this info on the net for weeks, and all I read
>about are failures and no success stories. I am handy and would not
>mind buying a AP and mounting in a waterproof box.
>
>
> Thank You,
> Louie KA2PFL
>


You can run the AP via "power over ethernet" (PoE) and it's easily a
DIY project. Google for "diy poe".

I can't speak to the 12v question, but one of the web pages you find
probably does.







--
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Harrison for Congress in NY 13CD www.harrison06.com
Don't blame me. I voted for Gore. A Proud signature since 2001

--

"KA2PFL" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
| Hello Folks,
| I am radio guy, 30 years experience installing mobile and base radio
| gear. I want to install wifi on my sailboat. Common sense tells me to
| install a device on the mast, so cable losses are not at issue at 2.5
| or 5Ghz. I am not a wireless network guy. My idea was to install an AP
| on the mast or hoist it up when I want to use it. I would like it to be
| capable of a b g modes.
|
| Now my questions;
|
| What AP's can operate on 12 Volts?
| Can I do this with just a AP, wired to the lan jack on my laptop?
| You get the idea, Please make a recommendation on what equipment would
| be suitable for this purpose (i do not want to be a beta tester). I
| have been searching for this info on the net for weeks, and all I read
| about are failures and no success stories. I am handy and would not
| mind buying a AP and mounting in a waterproof box.
|
|
| Thank You,
| Louie KA2PFL

Remember when considering a high gain (especially a directional high gain)
antenna that boats rock and even if in an small inland lake you can get
considerable signal drop out if the gain is much over 3db.

> | What AP's can operate on 12 Volts?

The Linksys WRT54G series can. I've got a pair of them on my boat. One's
in the radar arch maintaining the link to shore. The other's down in the
cabin providing an on-boat wifi network. Works pretty well once we're at
anchor.

> | Can I do this with just a AP, wired to the lan jack on my laptop?

You could do it with a wire straight from the wifi unit. But having a wired
laptop might not be terribly convenient. You'd have to deal with that cord
all the time. Run the wire from the up-mast device to the in-cabin device.

> Remember when considering a high gain (especially a directional high gain)
> antenna that boats rock and even if in an small inland lake you can get
> considerable signal drop out if the gain is much over 3db.

True, and higher gain may also pull in a wider set of networks. You'd end
up listening to "too many" and get even worse performance. And the
radiation pattern from most of these antannae is shaped like a donut. When
the boat is rocking that donut gets tilted up and down, in and out of the
coverage area. Higher gain antennae have a much narrower area of coverage.
So any rocking with a typical 14db omni would render it almost useless.
Same deal goes for a directional antenna, if you swing on anchor there goes
the coverage.

Depending on where you're planning on travelling and how you're anchoring
there would be different recommedations. I've had a 10db omnidirectional
stick on my radar arch and it's done a pretty good job of pulling in wifi
signals.

-Bill Kearney

"Bill Kearney" <wkearney-99@hot-mail-com> wrote in message
news:vu-(E-Mail Removed)...

> True, and higher gain may also pull in a wider set of networks. You'd end
> up listening to "too many" and get even worse performance. And the
> radiation pattern from most of these antannae is shaped like a donut.
> When
> the boat is rocking that donut gets tilted up and down, in and out of the
> coverage area. Higher gain antennae have a much narrower area of
> coverage.
> So any rocking with a typical 14db omni would render it almost useless.
> Same deal goes for a directional antenna, if you swing on anchor there
> goes
> the coverage.
> -Bill Kearney

Would there be any merit to fitting an antenna with a gimbal of sorts?

Shaun

> Would there be any merit to fitting an antenna with a gimbal of sorts?

Probably not as the swing period would undoubtedly end up out of sync. A
powered gyro stabilized setup would be a more likely solution. That's what
they use in the satellite TV dishes.

Shaun Van Poecke wrote:

> Would there be any merit to fitting an antenna with a gimbal of sorts?

Most likely no...the strain of the coax would be greater than gimbaled
mass. Even if you attached an extension rod for greater mechanical
leverage, it might not synch up with the swells.

"Bill Kearney" <wkearney-99@hot-mail-com> hath wroth:

>Depending on where you're planning on travelling and how you're anchoring
>there would be different recommedations. I've had a 10db omnidirectional
>stick on my radar arch and it's done a pretty good job of pulling in wifi
>signals.

OK, so you went with the omni. Photos of what I originally suggested.
Might be useful:
<http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/antennas/marine-omni/index.html>

--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

decaturtxcowboy schreef:

> > Would there be any merit to fitting an antenna with a gimbal of sorts?

> Most likely no...the strain of the coax would be greater than gimbaled
> mass. Even if you attached an extension rod for greater mechanical
> leverage, it might not synch up with the swells.

I'm considering a wandy unit on my radar arch with an omni on top of
it...
The wandy is successfully used in marine environments on inshore
freightships.
Distances over 5 km's are reported with good connections.
http://www.wandy.nl/2voc.htm
The utp cable provides (also, next to the signal up and down) the 12v
and there is no long coax that eats a lot of dB's. Gimballing is a
thought but the specs mention a 60 degrees antenna beam width so I
doubt if gimballing will really make any difference. But I agree and
think it's worth a little test before I make the final choice regarding
gimballing it or not.
Like cowboy says gimballing it would be simpler with the "soft"
utp-cable than with the rigid coax.
Keeping the unit leveled at whatever swell could be achieved by adding
a low weight (if necessary).
I intend to make the buy in a few weeks, if the firm allows me to test
it before buying it...
I'll write anything worth reporting to this NG.

Regards, Len.

"Jeff Liebermann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Bill Kearney" <wkearney-99@hot-mail-com> hath wroth:
>
> >Depending on where you're planning on travelling and how you're anchoring
> >there would be different recommedations. I've had a 10db omnidirectional
> >stick on my radar arch and it's done a pretty good job of pulling in wifi
> >signals.
>
> OK, so you went with the omni. Photos of what I originally suggested.
> Might be useful:
> <http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/antennas/marine-omni/index.html>

Yes, that's more or less just the sort of setup I went with. I went with
using a PVC extension to raise it above the radome. I went with using a PVC
end cap that I drilled through to mount the N connector. Then I've got a
thin gauge lead running down to the WRT54G mounted just underneath the
mount, tucked inside the arch. From there I run 12v power and wired
ethernet down into the cabin. Wired ethernet into a switch and power to the
ship's systems via a fuse. Worked quite well. Using it was simple, fire up
the laptop and surf to the router in the arch to select a shore SSID. There
were only a rare few situations where it wasn't possible to pickup a
reasonably strong signal. For this upcoming season I'm considering making
use of a PCMCIA modem bridged to a cellular network.