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I’m looking into this at the moment for my new boat so I can leave it Bankside with the inverter off. I’m putting a 12v 5G router in place, and looking at home automation kit which is battery/12v powered and which will connect to the WiFi. Currently looking at this for monitoring… https://shellystore.co.uk/product/shelly-ht-white/ And this for potentially switching the diesel boiler… https://shellystore.co.uk/product/shelly-uni/

On the phone wifi probably needs to be turned off (it does on my android phone) to allow the phone to act as a hotspot

In my limited experience it's generally pants to not existent depending on where you are moored compared to the marina's WiFi repeaters, also it's bandwidth will be shared between all the moorers who manage to connect and are spanking it for all it's worth. If you need to rely on internet for work, get your own.

This offer: Three 500GB 5G Data SIM - 500GB Preloaded Every Month from now until 8th August 2025 - Perfect For Wifi Routers, Tablets & Phones - Business Grade Data https://amzn.eu/d/7luzAdM popped into my timeline today £99.99 for 21 months works out at £4.75 a month for 500gb. Seems good value even though it's "3"

If 80gb is enough per month on 3 then this works out at £2.60 per month until May 2026 Three Data SIM - 5G Business-Grade Data Renewed Monthly - Perfect for Wifi Routers, Tablets & Phones - Choose your Data Expiry Date (Preloaded until 08/05/2026) https://amzn.eu/d/dJJDHdN

I have just purchased the Zyxel NR5103E 5G WIFI 6 + Mesh Router 4.7GBPS. Can someone please advise on what 4x4 MIMO Antenna I will need and if I need to buy any cables or connectors? Was looking at this but really not sure if it has all cables & connectors as I am not good with this stuff. Thanks Poynting XPOL-1-5G V2 Outdoor 4G LTE/5G 3dBi 4x4 MIMO Cross-Polarised Omni-Directional Antenna w/ SMA-Male Connector

That will be lack of HTTPS, yes. With unencrypted HTTP it's possible for parties between the client and server to monitor and intercept requests - either just to snoop, or to pretend to be your server and return something malicious instead of what was requested. Examples I'm aware of in the wild: * operators of public WiFi networks logging users' device info and the pages they visit, then selling the data. (this one also needs encrypted DNS to fix entirely, but browsers are working on that too). * unscrupulous ISPs (looking at you, Virgin Media) returning fake ad-loaded search pages when DNS lookup fails [i.e. there shouldn't really be a page at the address at all] * poorly-configured public WiFi enabling other users to interfere with requests, inserting viruses into the response. * governments (our own, the US and China's among many others) forcing ISPs to let them monitor or interfere with traffic as above. Chinese entities have repeatedly used a technique called 'BGP hijacking' to redirect traffic between other countries that would never normally pass through China so they can do so. None of these are possible with HTTPS. The nature of the content you intend to serve is moot because the data is tampered with before you receive it and after you send it back. The browser vendors and other large companies don't gain at anyone's expense from using HTTPS - in fact as above it makes certain tracking techniques impossible. Certificates are free these days. It's just standard good practice. I'd also be happy to help with sorting it out, your site's a great resource and it would be a shame to lose it.

Is the iPad capable of connecting to 2.5GHz & 5GHz networks? Possible if older it will only cope with 2.5GHz and if the WiFi is 5GHz then it won't have it

I'd like to improve my wifi reception. Currently use an iPhone as a hotspot, ee network. It's very patchy inside the boat, variable depending on which area of boat I am in. Ideally I'd like to be able to watch netflix etc. Don't want to invest a fortune, as we don't live aboard, but I'd like something that worked a lot better. There is an ariel, and a Huwaii mifi unit in a draw that the previous owner left behind, but I'd need another sim and contract to activate it, and not even sure it would be any better.

You could get a small WIFI device and just hang it in a window for less cost. What you propose is good and will perform better than a WIFI device in the window. That model of Poynting antenna will plug straight into the Huawei B535. You could just plug the B535 into a 240v plug with the supplied power supply. Obviously that requires your inverter to be on. As the B535 actually runs on 12v, I prefer to run it direct from the boat's 12v system. To do this safely you need to use one of these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314575275471?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=qvcqqyobsg-&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=DxlPIgDkRra&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY to ensure the router isn't destroyed the 14.2 volts the system might get up to when the engine is running. To connect it to the voltage regulator you could just cut the wire off the mains transformer and wire that to the 12v converter, but that renders your mains transformer useless so I bought this from ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/351319811869?var=620459416696 the 2.1mm plug is the exact model of dc plug the B535 uses. That's all there is to it!

Other way round. Most accurate tries to use local WiFi networks to refine the position, less accurate only uses GPS. It used to drive me mad until I figured this out, as I'm very often close to the same portable hotspot, but rarely in the same location.

I am connected to WiFi GPS test app says I am connected to 14 satellites.

Agree with the general consensus but would also suggest you use a WIFI analyser app to check the Laptop MIFI connection speed. Also check you are not running any unwanted programs that are accessing the internet in the background.

If you have onboard wifi you could just use a smart plug, and have a 13A plug on the end of the immersion cable. 13A fine for 1kw but maybe a bit tight for 3kw. The ones I use at home are the TCP ones from Screwfix, £16.32 for one. They have been faultless so far. https://www.screwfix.com/p/tcp-wissinwuk-13a-smart-plug-white/231hk

I bought a 4G camera for the boat and set it with motion detection and email alerts.. Quite good actually although as the boat was by a public tootpath at the time it overloaded my hotmail account and stopped it working. A bonus side effect which I was unaware of is that the camera itself, which is outdoor rated, also provides a wifi hotspot and a very good one too being mounted high up.

We have an EE sim in our router and EE block wifi calling over it.

I had the same issue and couldn't figure it out. In the end of turned out that my WiFi on the boat seems to be set at my home mooring even though I'd moved. Once i went outside and got a signal Google maps found my true location. Not sure if this is what's happening with you? Maybe not.

Hello, I am new to the boating world and am looking to get a 12 volt router and sim (Arial if needed) to allow me to work from my boat. I need good upload speeds as I upload data from the office on to my laptop and plug the office phone in to the router to be connected to the office. I have found a post saying that these maybe the best for this but am looking for any advice as really confusing. RUTX50 INDUSTRIAL 5G ROUTER, Smarty sim and a Poynting MIMO-3-17 - 5G / 4G / GPS / WiFi Antenna. Many thanks

Sorry, wifi 6 (wireless connection???) was what I read about. I probably do not need 9Mbps upload speed as I think once it gets over 4 or 5Mbps it works fine. 9Mbps is what I have at the moment. And to be honest I dont think I need duel sim either. Can you let me know if mains adapter will work as the converter in a boat will change it to 12 volt? Sorry for my naivety, just new to all of this. I will have a look at your suggestion now. Thank you everyone for your time. Appreciate it

Retired Gay Guy with 45ft narrow boat seeks male companion to help on short and longer trips. Experience is not necessary, just a helping hand at the locks etc. You have your own sleeping quarters on board and there would be all facilities (WiFi, shower, good food and no costs). Possibly nice for someone who would like to try Narrowboat life before taking the plunge themselves? Or just as a "No Cost" holiday in these financially tight times? Contact me if you would like more details: Neil

Presumably you've got one of these? https://marine-electricals.co.uk/product/antenna-deck-mount-n286fe-ac-marine/ These are intended for supporting relatively short (1m or so) light aerials like this, not 3m masts with a WiFi antenna on the end: https://marine-electricals.co.uk/product/celmar4-3ft-vhf-aerial-acmarine/ https://marine-electricals.co.uk/product/fame2-4ft-am-fm-antenna-ac-marine/ If you put a 3m pole with an antenna on the top into that mount, I'd be very surprised if it survived very long, especially in any wind. The normal solution is a proper pole mount made for the job, like the ones used for TV aerials on houses -- or one made for the job for a boat, but these are several hundred quid... 😞

The Cerbo GX is a great bit of kit and surprisingly simple! It connects to your onboard network/WiFi and allows remote management. All the other Victron kit you may have now or in the future connects to it (cable or bluetooth) to add to your management and monitoring (solar/battery monitors etc etc)... if the budget is ok then its certainly worth it and can grow with your requirements. There are cheaper ways to do all this but Victron kit just works and is very easy to use/setup. Victron provide the free web access to all your devices - no subscriptions etc.

At the moment my phone is not connecting to WiFi as far as I can tell well not when I want it to... I think it does things when I am not watching it! I keep hitting the fan thing on settings but it won't come back on im mystified by the whole thing it's supposed to be a phone why does it need WiFi sorry, no need to explain I don't want to know

Hi all, I want to fit a wifi switch to a Hurricane heating system on a friend NB. I have searched everywhere and cant find any info on how the controller switches the unit on. I have look on the back of the controller and it has a phone type plug and lead which I am guessing is not where I need to tap into. Anyone ever done this? Anyone know where and what wire I could tap into if its possible ?. Thanks.

some brands like eufy/reolink have local storage option so in theory one might do away with £10 data sim(just use a cheap wifi router) if using for navigation. google says its fiddly but possible if you are a nerd