Best Wifi Option to choose for my canal boat?

[CanalBoatEnthusiast]

Hello All,

 

I am new to the canal boating scene, after finally taking the plunge and investing in a canal boat I am getting ready to move into it for the new year!

 

I have a few queries about wifi and wondered if anyone on here could help?

 

I have done some research and found out you can get wireless wifi devices which you insert a sim card into.

 

Does anyone have any recommendations of what they use and what works best for them? for just general use of watching netflix and things of that sort.

 

I have found a company called huawei with what I can see have two viable (affordable) options that I would consider:

 

huawei e5576

https://modem.co.uk/product/huawei-e5576-320/

 

huawei b535

https://modem.co.uk/product/huawei-b535/

 

And tp link also have two here:

 

tp link m7200

https://modem.co.uk/product/tp-link-m7200/

 

tp link archer mr600

https://modem.co.uk/product/tp-link-archer-mr600/

 

What do you guys recommend? 

[GUMPY]

The b535 is the better of the two Huawei units.

It should run off 12v with a regulator for safety.

I use a Huawei 525 at home and it's the dogs.

[CanalBoatEnthusiast]

1 minute ago, Loddon said:

The b535 is the better of the two Huawei units.

It should run off 12v with a regulator for safety.

I use a Huawei 525 at home and it's the dogs.

What the difference between the b535 and your b525?

 

I can see this company has both but you can only bulk buy the b525.

 

https://modem.co.uk/product/huawei-b525/

 

https://modem.co.uk/product/huawei-b535/

[bizzard]

I have the Huawei B360 Wi Fi mobile dongle on (3). Lasts about 4 hours on its own battery, can be charged via USB lead plugged into laptop or any USB socket.  Seems to work well anywhere. Contract. 20 Gorillabites £10 per month.  

[CanalBoatEnthusiast]

1 minute ago, bizzard said:

I have the Huawei B360 Wi Fi mobile dongle on (3). Lasts about 4 hours on its own battery, can be charged via USB lead plugged into laptop or any USB socket.  Seems to work well anywhere. Contract. 20 Gorillabites £10 per month.  

Great, thanks for the recommendation!

 

on https://eFones.com with their wifi devices, I see they offer smarty sims where I can get unlimited data for £15 which is a steal I think!

[GUMPY]

27 minutes ago, CanalBoatEnthusiast said:

What the difference between the b535 and your b525?

 

I can see this company has both but you can only bulk buy the b525.

 

https://modem.co.uk/product/huawei-b525/

 

https://modem.co.uk/product/huawei-b535/

Can't see much difference except 535 is cat 7 and I think the 525 is cat 6.

 

[CanalBoatEnthusiast]

Just now, Loddon said:

Can't see much difference except 535 is cat 7 and I think the 525 is cat 6.

 

Okay cheers for the info!

[GUMPY]

8 minutes ago, CanalBoatEnthusiast said:

Great, thanks for the recommendation!

 

on https://eFones.com with their wifi devices, I see they offer smarty sims where I can get unlimited data for £15 which is a steal I think!

Smarty is the way to go rather than 3 it's the same except smarty doesn't have WiFi calling which is not needed for midi and there is no contract ?

[CanalBoatEnthusiast]

1 minute ago, Loddon said:

Smarty is the way to go rather than 3 it's the same except smarty doesn't have WiFi calling which is not needed for midi and there is no contract ?

Yeah it seems like it's easier to cancel when you want too, cheers again!

[Chewbacka]

Huabei & TP link are both good, the things to consider are the ability to power it from 12v (with a stabiliser) and the ability to connect an external antenna.

If buying the antenna on eBay, make sure it covers the 4G frequencies your service provider uses, as some antennas are not designed for the UK and may not work well here.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

45 minutes ago, CanalBoatEnthusiast said:

What the difference between the b535 and your b525?

The b535 is 10  better than the b525.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[frangar]

16 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

The b535 is 10  better than the b525.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Ahh but thats not 11 better is it.....

[Jen-in-Wellies]

11 minutes ago, frangar said:

Ahh but thats not 11 better is it.....

You should definitely get a b536. It's one better than a b535.

[CanalBoatEnthusiast]

58 minutes ago, Chewbacka said:

Huabei & TP link are both good, the things to consider are the ability to power it from 12v (with a stabiliser) and the ability to connect an external antenna.

If buying the antenna on eBay, make sure it covers the 4G frequencies your service provider uses, as some antennas are not designed for the UK and may not work well here.

Okay, cheers for the advice! Do you think an antenna is necessary, is the built in signal not strong enough?

[Chewbacka]

27 minutes ago, CanalBoatEnthusiast said:

Okay, cheers for the advice! Do you think an antenna is necessary, is the built in signal not strong enough?

A narrow boat is a steel box, radio waves will not pass through steel, canals are often in cuttings or low down where signals are weak, so the higher the antenna the better.  So if you moor mainly in urban areas where 4g signals are strong and you put the MiFi unit in the window (on the side the signal is strongest) you will probably be fine most/all of the time.  In areas where signals are patchy then you may get at best very slow speeds, or nothing at all.  
Another answer is that many liveaboard boats moored away from urban areas usually have a 4G antenna up a pole.

[CanalBoatEnthusiast]

6 minutes ago, Chewbacka said:

A narrow boat is a steel box, radio waves will not pass through steel, canals are often in cuttings or low down where signals are weak, so the higher the antenna the better.  So if you moor mainly in urban areas where 4g signals are strong and you put the MiFi unit in the window (on the side the signal is strongest) you will probably be fine most/all of the time.  In areas where signals are patchy then you may get at best very slow speeds, or nothing at all.  
Another answer is that many liveaboard boats moored away from urban areas usually have a 4G antenna up a pole.

Great information, cheers for the info!

[Detling]

47 minutes ago, CanalBoatEnthusiast said:

Okay, cheers for the advice! Do you think an antenna is necessary, is the built in signal not strong enough?

Antenna is to capture the mobile signal outside the steel box and bring it into the router. The WiFi put out by the router is plenty powerful enough.

[OldGoat]

I'm not upto date with the latest MiFi dongles - and  those linked in previous posts aren't the usual types found over here. As well as that anything you buy should have an aerial socket - many don't.

Just to be more miserable I have misgivings about gaming onboard as I don't think these devices can cope with the quite high response speeds / throughput required for gaming.

 

Mebe worth checking here from folks who do game on line - 'cos I don't...

[GUMPY]

1 hour ago, OldGoat said:

Just to be more miserable I have misgivings about gaming onboard as I don't think these devices can cope with the quite high response speeds / throughput required for gaming.

Latency can be a bit slow at 40ms but I get 46mbs from my connection on the Huawei525

 

[Kiwidad]

I had the huawei b535 and ditched it for the archer and external aerial- much better in my opinion 

[36national]

wow meccano

[MarkH2159]

My choice would be a small 12v powered 4G router such as this :

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/KuWFi-Wireless-External-Antennas-Vodafone/dp/B08BC6L7X4/ref=sr_1_21?dchild=1&keywords=4G+router&qid=1605332347&sr=8-21

 

Do away with the 240v adapter and wire it 12v direct.

 

Connected to a high gain external antenna :

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eightwood-Waterproof-1710-2700mhz-Extension-Amplifier/dp/B08B3N9V4C/ref=sr_1_18?dchild=1&keywords=Eightwood+4G+antenna&qid=1605333011&sr=8-18

 

Throw in a cheap Unlimited Data Sim 

 

https://smarty.co.uk/

 

All in for a 100 quid, job done.

 

You could go for the all in one simple external option, easy to do for yachts and other (plastic) boats, a steel narrowboat superstructure might block the signal somewhat, but it should be removable when you are not on board as it will probably get nicked.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/KuWFi-Waterproof-Wireless-Antennas-Monitoring/dp/B07TZ3BCVV?ref_=ast_sto_dp

 

MH

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 14, 2020 by MarkH2159
added router

[frangar]

12 hours ago, Kiwidad said:

I had the huawei b535 and ditched it for the archer and external aerial- much better in my opinion 

Out of interest what have you found better? I was looking at the Archer too & comparing it with the huawei. 

[blackrose]

Another out of interest question:

 

I just use my phone as a wi-fi hotspot for internet - either my personal phone on which I have 100GB (£20/month on O2) or my work phone which I've just been told has an unlimited data allowance. It seems fine to me and I don't really see the point of paying for an additional contract for a wi-fi (mi-fi) hub. 

 

I guess using a phone as a hotspot won't have the bandwidth or speed of dedicated wi-fi hub but would it be possible for me to stream Netflix using my work phone as a hotspot or would it be too slow? 

[Still-waters]

Hi

 

if its any help I have an Archer may be a "400" version. works very well .Will work in good reception areas without connecting to external aerial  although I do most of the time have a cheap ebay one connected most of the time.