Improving onboard Mobile communications

[OldGoat]

As with most things (boaty or otherwise) 'how much' all depends. The phone companies will be delighted for you to commit to more than you use or need.

 

Therefore why not apply for a bunch of truly PAYG sims and put a few bob on one / all of them to see not only how much you use but what the connection is like in your patch?

Buy sims from the network providers ONLY in the first instance, then once you've found one that fits, then look around for a deal that suits.

Three has a good website where you can buy date in drips and dabs, Vodafone will do a pound a day and you get 200 meg and more up to midniight. That should do light browsing and emails.

I'm not a fanof EE - 'cos their website's a bit of a mess, but follks on here like them.

 

Let's see what this post dredges up.....

[NB wannabe’s]

Thanks OG. TBH I’ve got a Vodafone contract sim in my mobile, maybe I could give that a whirl? It’s just that I get the impression folks on the cut say that EE has the best coverage. However, perfect internet connection, for most of the time isn’t really a must have so patchy coverage would probably suffice.

[TheBiscuits]

Just now, NB wannabe’s said:

It’s just that I get the impression folks on the cut say that EE has the best coverage

Best coverage means less dead spots over the whole network in this case.  If you never know where you are going to be moored 3 days from now that's quite important.

 

If you can get a good signal when and where you need it on any of the networks, then that will be fine for your usage.

[MarkH2159]

Without going into too much details on antennas, signal gain etc.

Using a 4G router on a boat we found the biggest issues to be the metal cage of the accommodation blocking the signal and the relatively low height of antenna.

Acknowleging the fact that this was for a 20m craft operating 5 to 10 km offshore, it would still be the way to go on any boat, caravan etc.

 

A very cheap solution was to install a stock 4G router. The one chosen is 12v DC for ease of powering and has SMA connections for the antennas, also very reasonably priced unlocked for any Sim network.

Using 2 x 5m extension wires we are able to get the supplied antennas outside of the accommodation and up as high as the cable length will allow.

 

Signal improvement was quite amazing and allowed for a decent 4G connection even at the limits of the working area.

 

I shall definitely being giving this a try on my NB (when I finally get it)

 

Details of the equipment here:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07YC1J2MM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_IiXrFbM48HF6Z

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B073TXBS7V/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_SkXrFb47Y1CHZ

 

Apart from some kind of pole to fix the antennas on there is nothing else to buy.

 

Cheers MH

 

 

[Markblox]

On 20/05/2017 at 20:09, Chris J said:

Anyone tried using a 3 all you can eat data sim in a 4G router? I feel like it's probably locked out by an IMEI number to stop it working as it's really designed as phone tariff and would therefore make the obscene cost of mobile broadband tariffs pointless.... Very unlikely but I'm curious to know!

Yes, it works and is designed to as well.  I use it in a B315 router.

[Guest]

I tried a couple of the standard 'consumer' router/dongles, then settled on the Teltonica RUT240.

 

Can be powered from 12V, has MIMO jacks, and has a really fun/confusing array of information on its admin portal.

 

As with every other device, it's all very dependent on external antennae and contributes nothing itself in terms of reception. Still it's legit industrial and I like it.

 

Side note: I'm on a Three unlimited data contract after bailing from Vodafone due to the massive variability of their data speeds (not the same as coverage).

 

I have a magnetic antenna on the roof and it all works fine, although I might bang a pole and directional antenna on if I ever feel the need.

[jenevers]

So can two ipads/chromebooks run off one mobile sim card simultaneously?

[matty40s]

We can run a TV, 2 laptops, 3 mobile phones, a weather station through ours, yes, all at once if we want to!!

[Guest]

1 minute ago, jenevers said:

So can two ipads/chromebooks run off one mobile sim card simultaneously?

 

Yes.

 

The limit of devices will normally be dictated by your router.

[jenevers]

15 hours ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

Yes.

 

The limit of devices will normally be dictated by your router.

I don't have a router. I have an ipad and a mobile phone. The phone is OK for the internet so if I put them both on Bluetooth, could the ipad get internet?

[Hudds Lad]

8 minutes ago, jenevers said:

I don't have a router. I have an ipad and a mobile phone. The phone is OK for the internet so if I put them both on Bluetooth, could the ipad get internet?

 

You need to enable your phone as a wifi hotspot to share the mobile data, the ipad then connects to this via wifi to access the mobile data. Bluetooth will not do what you’re hoping for.

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, jenevers said:

I don't have a router. I have an ipad and a mobile phone. The phone is OK for the internet so if I put them both on Bluetooth, could the ipad get internet?

 

Ah right, sorry I misunderstood,I can certainly use my Android phone as a wireless hotspot and access the internet on it on 4g simultaneously.

 

Edit - cross post with hudds lad

Edited May 28, 2021 by The Happy Nomad

[john6767]

6 minutes ago, jenevers said:

I don't have a router. I have an ipad and a mobile phone. The phone is OK for the internet so if I put them both on Bluetooth, could the ipad get internet?

The mobile phone will have a "personal hotspot" ie you can use the phone as a router and connect to it via wifi from any device, phone, computer, tablet etc, and use the internet on those devices.  If the phone is an iphone, and is on the same apple account as the ipad then if you have bluetooth turned on both the phone and ipad, the ipad will be able to connect to the wifi on the phone without the personal hot spot being on the phone screen, this is very convenient.

[jenevers]

11 minutes ago, john6767 said:

The mobile phone will have a "personal hotspot" ie you can use the phone as a router and connect to it via wifi from any device, phone, computer, tablet etc, and use the internet on those devices.  If the phone is an iphone, and is on the same apple account as the ipad then if you have bluetooth turned on both the phone and ipad, the ipad will be able to connect to the wifi on the phone without the personal hot spot being on the phone screen, this is very convenient.

It's an Android phone so will it "talk" to an Apple iPad?

[Guest]

Just now, jenevers said:

It's an Android phone so will it "talk" to an Apple iPad?

 

If you use the phone as a hotspot yes.

Mrs HN connects to my android phone sometimes with her iphone

[Rob-M]

2 hours ago, jenevers said:

It's an Android phone so will it "talk" to an Apple iPad?

Yes, enable the wifi hotspot on your Android phone and you will see the generated WiFi password which you then use to connect the WiFi from the iPad.

[jenevers]

Sorted?. Thanks everyone for the advice.

[Richard10002]

12 hours ago, jenevers said:

Sorted?. Thanks everyone for the advice.

Did you “sort it” by creating a Mobile Hotspot?

 

or something else?

[jetzi]

I've seen there are now a few (expensive) 5G routers now on the market and my provider (EE) has pretty good 5G coverage at this point.

One in particular I like the look of is the Robustel R5020 for £595 ex VAT (so, £715).

 

• Has anyone upgraded to a 5G router and noticed any difference?
• I have a Poynting 4G antenna. Will this work with 5G or should I upgrade the antenna as well?
• This particular company (3grouterstore) say they don't sell to residential customers because "Our Industrial 3G and 4G and 5G M2M IOT Routers ... usually have slower WiFi than a home router". This sounds like nonsense, surely the protocol is the protocol - if not, would I be correct in saying this Robustel R5020 is specced appropriately for high speed?

[rogeriko]

Why on earth would you want to buy a router that receives 5g which is faster than it can transmit WiFi. 5g is about 900Mbps but standard WiFi is only about 300Mbps so whats the point.

[jetzi]

2 minutes ago, rogeriko said:

Why on earth would you want to buy a router that receives 5g which is faster than it can transmit WiFi. 5g is about 900Mbps but standard WiFi is only about 300Mbps so whats the point.

 

Not sure I understand the objection. Because it is faster than LTE/4G (~100Mbps)?

[Guest]

4 hours ago, jetzi said:

I've seen there are now a few (expensive) 5G routers now on the market and my provider (EE) has pretty good 5G coverage at this point.

One in particular I like the look of is the Robustel R5020 for £595 ex VAT (so, £715).

 

• Has anyone upgraded to a 5G router and noticed any difference?
• I have a Poynting 4G antenna. Will this work with 5G or should I upgrade the antenna as well?
• This particular company (3grouterstore) say they don't sell to residential customers because "Our Industrial 3G and 4G and 5G M2M IOT Routers ... usually have slower WiFi than a home router". This sounds like nonsense, surely the protocol is the protocol - if not, would I be correct in saying this Robustel R5020 is specced appropriately for high speed?

 

700 quid for a router?

 

Really?

 

Why would anybody need to spend that much?

[jetzi]

I did say it was expensive! I live aboard and work remotely, and 4G is only just, not quite fast enough. Plenty of people have iPhones which cost well over 700 quid. I also don't understand it, my phone cost 90 and does exactly the same job.

[rogeriko]

5g is faster than wifi. The router will recieve the data quickly but it cannot send it by wifi to your devices as fast as it recieves it.

Does your phone recieve 5g.

5g is transmitted at different frequencies that utilise much higher radio frequencies 28 ghz compared to 700 mhz - 2500 mhz for 4G so your antenna will not work.

[jetzi]

2 minutes ago, rogeriko said:

5g is faster than wifi. The router will recieve the data quickly but it cannot send it by wifi to your devices as fast as it recieves it.

Does your phone recieve 5g.

 

But that's irrelevant as even if I was limited by WiFi speed, it is still faster than LTE. Besides, I am not above connecting an Ethernet cable to my laptop if it will improve my speed.

 

No my phone doesn't receive 5G. It doesn't receive much of anything inside a 6mm thick steel box!

 

I have a Teltonika RUT950 4G router with a Poynting omnidirectional 4G antenna on a 3m tall mast. The limiting factor is currently my 4G.

 

It is often fine but video calls are sometimes just not quite up to scratch, which is a frustrating experience for both me and my clients.

 

So yeah, 700 quid for a router is a lot, and I'd rather spend less, but I'm prepared to pay as much as it will cost to get the absolute best possible experience.