how to improve my wifi/ internet on board for free

[OldGoat]

I can only make suggestions from what I have done over the years with little success, but NOW:-

 

I have bought Huawei E5332 MiFi units from eBay, £20-40, get an unlock code (99P eBay), key in the code - unlocked.

the Mifi sits in the pigeon box with a cheap external aerial (£4.50 - £20).

Magic, works every time, SWMBO can Hudl her emails, and I can use the laptop. No internal wires and I can swap the SIMS between 3 (best) and Vodafone (Ugh, poor coverage and antediluvian systems - would you believe mostly manual systems????).

Apart from the internal connectivity bonus, if I used a dongle it usually has to have the network provider's own specific software installed on it. The Mifi seems to work with "all" providers.

 

I've tried using externally

• a stubby aerial
• a two section aerial,
• a fours section aerial,
• variations on these up a pole
• ditto with the dongle in a water resisting box...

There were differences - but these were small.

After three years of faffing around with all sorts of dongle models, getting wet and frustrated with aerials, this last year using an E5332 has been a revelation....

 

The thought of stuffing a MiFi or phone on a mast (apart from the dampness issue) doesn't make good sense as you have to get the WiFi component through the steel of the boat - which was same sort of problem with the mobile signal??

 

Beware of Vodafone because

• their systems are non industry standard,
• their back office systems are manual,
• coverage is not as good as the others and that has to be 3G at least
• Contact staff as great but the systems / information that supports them is pants. Complaints ? want a resolution for your own particular problem ?
• Forget it. Walk.

 

 

 

[Paul C]

I can only make suggestions from what I have done over the years with little success, but NOW:-

 

I have bought Huawei E5332 MiFi units from eBay, £20-40, get an unlock code (99P eBay), key in the code - unlocked.

the Mifi sits in the pigeon box with a cheap external aerial (£4.50 - £20).

Magic, works every time, SWMBO can Hudl her emails, and I can use the laptop. No internal wires and I can swap the SIMS between 3 (best) and Vodafone (Ugh, poor coverage and antediluvian systems - would you believe mostly manual systems????).

Apart from the internal connectivity bonus, if I used a dongle it usually has to have the network provider's own specific software installed on it. The Mifi seems to work with "all" providers.

 

I've tried using externally

• a stubby aerial
• a two section aerial,
• a fours section aerial,
• variations on these up a pole
• ditto with the dongle in a water resisting box...

There were differences - but these were small.

After three years of faffing around with all sorts of dongle models, getting wet and frustrated with aerials, this last year using an E5332 has been a revelation....

 

The thought of stuffing a MiFi or phone on a mast (apart from the dampness issue) doesn't make good sense as you have to get the WiFi component through the steel of the boat - which was same sort of problem with the mobile signal??

 

Beware of Vodafone because

• their systems are non industry standard,
• their back office systems are manual,
• coverage is not as good as the others and that has to be 3G at least
• Contact staff as great but the systems / information that supports them is pants. Complaints ? want a resolution for your own particular problem ?
• Forget it. Walk.

 

 

 

 

Good post.

 

My Wi-Fi signal goes through the boat fine, ie if I (I rarely do it) put the mifi unit in a bag on the TV aerial, the laptop inside goes from 5 wifi bars to 4wifi bars. I am sure its not a bottleneck.

[KJT]

Reliable internet access is important to us for business reasons. I too use the Huawei E5332 Mi-Fi with very good results on '3' with an external aerial from Connex Technologies.

I needed another one and got an E5756s-2 which is the current offering from '3'. It is a bit more expensive but has two internal aerials which I am led to believe is more efficient and faster. I have had both on side by side to test it out and is noticeably faster using the internal aerials. It also has the same external aerial socket as the E5332 and is also noticeably better using the external aerial.

[souladventurer]

Aren't some of the replies missing the point? As soon as someone says "internet" , they get replies about mifi dongles, whatever they were actually asking.

 

True, the thread title mentions wifi, but unless I am mistaken (I have been before on tyhis subject) I think the OP means that they can broadcast wifi from their PHONE provided they can get a strong enough phone signal. And they specifically say they don't want the expense of a dongle (in other words, I think they are using data included in their phone contract, not data paid for separately on a mobile data contract with a mifi dongle).

 

Can I ask SoulAdventurer what your priority is?

 

Is the mention of wifi incidental, and you really just want to get a good phone/data signal inside the boat to access the internet on your phone screen. Or is the wifi bit important, and you really would like to access the internet on a tablet or laptop using the wifi hotspot produced from your phone?

 

The second is easier! (if your phone can produce a wifi hotspot).

 

 

 

 

hi thanks for replying to my thread.

 

Indeed I have an eat as much data package with the phone which I tether to my pc or tablet so I don't wanna pay some monthly internet thing unless it becomes a real issue. I appreciate your feedback as you have hit the nail on the head.

 

thank you for your help

 

Regards

[souladventurer]

 

What kind of phone do you use? Some have ports which you can plug an antenna into using a patch lead e.g:

 

http://telcoantennas.com.au/site/catalog/patch-leads/mobile-phone

 

I haven't used them but I would suggest avoiding the passive patch leads they sell as I'm skeptical it would do much but the ones that connect directly with a phone socket work well (at least on my Samsung Galaxy S2).

 

As mentioned above, better reception won't necessarily confer fast download speeds though.

Hi I am using a LG G2 on 3 mobile

[souladventurer]

Just to let you know I have been tethering from phone my phone 6 month's with out issue I put phone in window tether fine I even watch catch up tv via PlayStation3 . Thank u 3 for my all I xan eat plan!!,,

[pbuk]

On the 3 all you can eat plan don't they limit the amount of data you can use for tethering?

 

P

[Paul C]

On the 3 all you can eat plan don't they limit the amount of data you can use for tethering?

 

P

 

 

Yes, 4GB

[DaveP]

On the 3 all you can eat plan don't they limit the amount of data you can use for tethering?

 

P

 

 

 

 

Yes, 4GB

 

So they say, but I've been on this plan since 10th Jan and the unused portion seen on the 'My3/Allowances' page hasn't shifted off 4096Mb even though I've definitely exceeded that - and the January bill was not any higher than the base contract cost.

 

Oddly, in Denmark (roaming on 3DK) last week, the phone was warning me that I couldn't use the internet if it was tethered but didn't actually stop me. This warning doesn't appear in England...

 

YMMV

 

Dave

[Phil Ambrose]

Illegal to use in the UK though. That specific one is on US frequencies, there are other on that site on the frequencies used by UK operators.

Interestingly I was on OFCOM site today about a unrelated matter and saw a heading "Signal Boosters" reading on it appears that such items are illegal and use of them carries a fine of upto £5000-00 , they went on to say that such boosters hail from the east, and that is why phone providers in the UK do not sell them, just saying.

Phil

[nb Innisfree]

Interestingly I was on OFCOM site today about a unrelated matter and saw a heading "Signal Boosters" reading on it appears that such items are illegal and use of them carries a fine of upto £5000-00 , they went on to say that such boosters hail from the east, and that is why phone providers in the UK do not sell them, just saying.

Phil

Only guessing here but I don't think boosters are a prob if they are small enough not to interfere with anything outside the home, they wouldn't be noticed by anyone so wouldn't come to the attention of the authorities (provided any nosey neighbours were kept in the dark!)

[sirweste]

Older 3 mobile plans claim to have a tether limit but actually don't seem to. This was my experience.

Unfortunately I left the country and wanted to restart my old plan but had to take out a new one, this new plan definitely has an enforced 4Gb on 'hot spot' (tethered) data (unlimited 'normal' data - un-tethered). However there is an app (iphone) available that will route your all your data usage through your 'normal', it is called mywi and works very well, or so I'm told ahem...

 

For the original quetion, to boost signal strength you'll need to either get the phone in a window - phone holder for a car with a suction cup. Or outside on the front deck if you have a cover.

 

Or the 3g signal booster that seems to be very interesting, if not a little illegal.

[Machpoint005]

I've a feeling the fundamental difficulty may lie in the 'for free' part. The OP might get a slight improvement, but without paying for it ... well, you probably get what you pay for.

 

Mobile reception is a bit 'digital' - either you can get it, or you can't. There's going to be a lot of 'buffer face', I fear.

No matter how much you boost a zero signal, you still get zero.

[sirweste]

Didn't see the for free bit.

 

Tape the phone to a window, though not really free I guess

 

Put it in a buttie bag and tie it to a pole above the boat.

[kazbluesky]

Older 3 mobile plans claim to have a tether limit but actually don't seem to. This was my experience.

Unfortunately I left the country and wanted to restart my old plan but had to take out a new one, this new plan definitely has an enforced 4Gb on 'hot spot' (tethered) data (unlimited 'normal' data - un-tethered). However there is an app (iphone) available that will route your all your data usage through your 'normal', it is called mywi and works very well, or so I'm told ahem...

 

For the original quetion, to boost signal strength you'll need to either get the phone in a window - phone holder for a car with a suction cup. Or outside on the front deck if you have a cover.

 

Or the 3g signal booster that seems to be very interesting, if not a little illegal.

 

I used MyWi years ago when I used to have to Jailbreak my phone. I didn't know it was able to do what you just said about 'normal' data. Looks like I'll have to install Cydia again.

[onionbargee]

How is the mifi going to improve if its outside the boat, it will get a better signal but you loose that when it has to get back through the boat cabin to your device ?

 

Also as far as I know the USB dongle looses signal the longer the USB cable is, so if you get it up a pole you loose what you gain ?