Wi Fi in marina

[Slim]

Tried search function but...……...

 

After a number of years on an idyllic mooring I've been forced to move to a marina by a long term lack of water in the pound I was in. One of the very few advantages is that the marina has Wi Fi. Unfortunately I can't pick it up in the boat. Can anyone tell me, in simple terms, what kit I need to install to do so? To clarify, I want to use either my tablet or my phone. I don't want to have to take a laptop unless I have to. Everything I've been able to find seems to need one.

 

Many thanks

 

Frank     

[Lily Rose]

3 minutes ago, Slim said:

Tried search function but...……...

 

After a number of years on an idyllic mooring I've been forced to move to a marina by a long term lack of water in the pound I was in. One of the very few advantages is that the marina has Wi Fi. Unfortunately I can't pick it up in the boat. Can anyone tell me, in simple terms, what kit I need to install to do so? To clarify, I want to use either my tablet or my phone. I don't want to have to take a laptop unless I have to. Everything I've been able to find seems to need one.

 

Many thanks

 

Frank     

If it's anything like the Wi-Fi at our marina it's a waste of time.  Even outside the boat it's really slow so I just gave up and started using the Huawei mobile Wi-Fi device I bought for when cruising. This works superbly in most locations though oddly one of the few places where it is sometimes slow is the marina.

[Slim]

2 minutes ago, Lily Rose said:

If it's anything like the Wi-Fi at our marina it's a waste of time.  Even outside the boat it's really slow so I just gave up and started using the Huawei mobile Wi-Fi device I bought for when cruising. This works superbly in most locations though oddly one of the few places where it is sometimes slow is the marina.

As it happens I've got a Huawei device (on Three) and a Huawei phone (on O2) that I use when out and about and overall they work OK. It's in the marina I'm having problems. I used their Wi Fi  in their office and it seemed OK it's on the boat that's a problem. Not helped by the fact that I have portholes. Up to last weekend and my move I used the pub A good excuse.

By the way, I was in the Brasenose last week but must have left just before you got there.

 

Frank

[Alan de Enfield]

No help, & no answer to your question but I have used the WiFi in several marinas (probably 6 in the last year) and whilst it may not have been super-speed 4G it has always been sufficient to get emails, post on the forum etc.

I don't expect to be able to watch movies or download humungous files, or process Win 10 updates (last one took 5 hours), but then I'm easily pleased and technology continues to impress - imagine, even in the year 2000, being able to speak and see family on the other side of the world (Skype) all at nil cost - it was an impossible dream.

 

Ebay is only just over 20 years old, 

I pre-date the Sputnik satellite, - what changes we have had in space travel.

 

My boat used a navigation system called DECCA - a land based system using 3 transmitters to triangulate your position - it was such a 'secret system' that you couldn't buy a receiver you had to rent them from the Decca company. It wasn't until the early 80's when the patents lapsed that competitors started production and you could actually buy a receiver.

Absolutely useless in bad weather, fog, rain or snow as the signals were deflected and your position errors could be  out by 'miles', but it was 'magic' and a wonderful scientific breakthrough.

Edited July 18, 2018 by Alan de Enfield

[Dr Bob]

58 minutes ago, Slim said:

Tried search function but...……...

 

After a number of years on an idyllic mooring I've been forced to move to a marina by a long term lack of water in the pound I was in. One of the very few advantages is that the marina has Wi Fi. Unfortunately I can't pick it up in the boat. Can anyone tell me, in simple terms, what kit I need to install to do so? To clarify, I want to use either my tablet or my phone. I don't want to have to take a laptop unless I have to. Everything I've been able to find seems to need one.

 

Many thanks

 

Frank     

Frank, what you need is a wifi router rather than a 4G router. We bought a solwise one and an external antenna so with that set up, you can access the router via a tablet or phone. We use it in our marina which is ok but no good for streaming. I had hoped we would also use it when near pubs etc so we could use their free data but in practice in the 18 months we have had it, our 4 g service has always been better. I do use it in the marina a bit but now we've increased our data, I can is even 4 g more.

The Solwise kit was expensive...circa £200 .... Seems like a bit of a waste now. I guess any wifi router, not 4 g router, with an external antenna will work.

[BruceinSanity]

6 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

Frank, what you need is a wifi router rather than a 4G router. We bought a solwise one and an external antenna so with that set up, you can access the router via a tablet or phone. We use it in our marina which is ok but no good for streaming. I had hoped we would also use it when near pubs etc so we could use their free data but in practice in the 18 months we have had it, our 4 g service has always been better. I do use it in the marina a bit but now we've increased our data, I can is even 4 g more.

The Solwise kit was expensive...circa £200 .... Seems like a bit of a waste now. I guess any wifi router, not 4 g router, with an external antenna will work.

One of these: https://www.solwise.co.uk/wireless-usb-patriot-usb.html and one of these in the boat: https://www.solwise.co.uk/wireless-usb-usbwifirpt-3000a will sort you. We're very pleased with ours but the Mercia WiFi is very good which is a big help. Less than £100 all told.

[Rob-M]

Some of the Huawei 4G MiFi devices can also connect to wireless networks enabling you to piggyback off the wifi.  Might be worth looking to see if the one you have can do this as you may be able to sit the MiFi somewhere outside the boat to connect to the marina wireless and still connect to the MiFi device from inside the boat.

[Slim]

Thanks for the replies. Having thrown 2 routers out a couple of months ago I think I'll go down the Solwise route . My MiFi is only 3G.

 

Frank

[Just Heaven]

On 18/07/2018 at 22:27, Slim said:

Tried search function but...……...

 

After a number of years on an idyllic mooring I've been forced to move to a marina by a long term lack of water in the pound I was in. One of the very few advantages is that the marina has Wi Fi. Unfortunately I can't pick it up in the boat. Can anyone tell me, in simple terms, what kit I need to install to do so? To clarify, I want to use either my tablet or my phone. I don't want to have to take a laptop unless I have to. Everything I've been able to find seems to need one.

 

Many thanks

 

Frank     

Slim

 

You mentioned the Brasenose, are you in Cropredy Marina? If so give up on the marina WiFi it's completely useless!

 

Steve

 

[b0atman]

This year i have changed from my 3 dongle to the 3 Homefi Huawei box Brilliant in Cropredy marina but of all the places I have been its not so great in Bugsworth basin for films and TV however it can take an external aerial so may get one for next years cruise.