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PIcking up outside wifi signals.


Dave_P

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I'm looking into this because I need a means to get an Internet connection for my laptop which will work somewhere on most days when doing a trip.

In other words, because my boating is done as crew on various other people's boats, some of whom don't have wi-fi at all, and I need to do IT support work which involves being online (usually just for a few minutes) at least once or twice a day, I don't need coverage everywhere. I just need a decent probability that at some point when I'm not occupied, typically when passing a town or village on a lock-free stretch, I can find a connection I'm able to get into without needing a password.

 

So I had a look at this topic, and revived it to ask for advice, particularly as I'm planning to spend Christmas with Emerald Fox (who doesn't have wi-fi on his boat) going up the Pennines on the Leeds & Liverpool; I'm thinking that might not be the easiest of places to get a signal?

 

The booster thing suggested by Paul C in post #5 sounds good, but looks quite big to add to the luggage I already carry when I go boating; I need to be able to walk the odd half mile here and there, with my laptop and a week's worth of clothing and sundry items, so am reluctant to carry much extra.

 

Starcoaster's dongle plus USB cable (see post 11) looks a good candidate, being both small and cheap, so maybe I should just get one of those and try it. But how likely am I to actually find a connection with that on the move, and how much would I improve my chances if I got a BT subscription?

 

It might be relevant that my mobile is a Blackberry, which I've had for a few years on a deal with Virgin; should I be looking to somehow use that (with a USB connection?) to get a connection, given that I think the data usage of my laptop's "Remote Desktop Connection" is low?

 

Help, I'm confused!

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I have used an old router in my house set to bridge mode, as the virgin router downstairs is very weak upstairs as some of the plasterboard is foil backed. Anyway this may work. If you have an old wifi router you may be able to set it into bridge mode where it links to the external wifi and rebroadcasts it. It would need to have an external aerial on the roof and the router inside the boat. However you may need to know the password of the external device to get it to link before you can connect your own device. I hope someone with better wifi understanding can agree or correct my thinking

 

Your pretty well there. But the router would need two aerial inputs one for the outside, to get the signal into the metal box the other to radiate it inside the metal box. There are some mobile signal repeats on the market which will do that for a mobile signal while you can buy them the use is technically illegal. But I would guess there is a similar thing for wifi. A search using "wifi signal extender" brings up quite a few.

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I just hang my phone in the window. If I don't get a ood signal one side then try the other. Use it as a wifi hotspot and can now get 4G in some pretty remote places - Vodafone seem to have increased their masts numbers a lot recently, or do they share masts for 4G? I vaguely remember that was one of the conditions of getting a 4G license.

 

Picking up external wifi sources is ok if you have the password as nearly all are encrypted. (I was once moored near a Mecca bingo hall; had a really strong signal but needed a password. On the basis that Mecca customers would need something simple I tried 'bingo' and ,well, bingo!)

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I've just ordered a mifi dongle from Virgin Media at 24.99, plus £5/month on a rolling contract giving 500Mb of data, my thinking being that I don't think I use much data and I can always change to a bigger allowance if it proves necessary. Time will tell if I've made the right decision, I'll see how I get on next week.

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I'm looking into this because I need a means to get an Internet connection for my laptop ...

If its going into a laptop, and you have a USB port and wifi signal, you can simply use a cheap usb wifi dongle as per starcoasters post.

 

If there's no wifi, you can also use most smart phones to received mobile data sent it out as wifi (or via usb).

 

Aka, as your not trying to take in one wifi network and re-transmit it as another, its much simpler than the OPs and MJGs requirement.

 

 

Your pretty well there. But the router would need two aerial inputs one for the outside...

Sorry, what?

 

 

I was once moored near a Mecca bingo hall; had a really strong signal but needed a password. On the basis that Mecca customers would need something simple I tried 'bingo' and ,well, bingo!)

Ha, excellent, the one Chester?

 

I find Vodafone really fairly poor at times, but then also am often alao surprised.

 

With BT at home I get free use of BTwifi/BTfon which with an app my phone automatic connects too. You never know when you might get it, bit equally its impressive how often you do.

 

 

Daniel

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As well as using an old router in bridge mode as Chewbacka described, if you have a LAN feed from a source better located to receive a wireless Internet signal it can be re-broadcast using a WiFi router, to provide a private network within your boat for example.

 

An old modem/WiFi router can be re-configured as described here

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