I'd be interested in knowing what marinas you have difficulty with. I also
have a sailboat and this weekend I was in Bellingham's Squalicum Harbor. My
slip at Gate 6 is in a spot that had very bad reception from BBX, and at
most times of the day I could not make a reliable connection with the
standard wifi card. It was sometimes better (I suspect high tide is better
than low tide). With the high-powered card this weekend I got a rock-solid
100% connection for both uplink and downlink not even using the external
antenna.

I had similar experiences with BBX in Nanaimo at the dock, and at Silva Bay
(Gulf Islands) at anchor. I spent quite a few minutes of cell time on the
help line trying to get connected. At the time I did not have the
high-power card but I'm pretty sure that this would take care of the
situation. I've been using BBX service occasionally for a couple years and
over the past year or so the BBX web site has steadily increased their
insistence that you must have high-power gear to use their service. In my
experience this is often not the case, but sometimes it is very true. I
guess with all the local interference of multiple wifi users, good reception
in populated areas is getting very difficult to achieve.

I agree that this gear can be very expensive, and trial-and-error is not my
favorite way to go. Also, on a sailboat I have wondered about antenna
placement. I would think that the masthead would be the ideal location as
far as reception and protection from lines and sails, but there are a couple
of problems - the 60-foot+ cable run might be too long, and the energy from
keying the VHF at 25 watts with its antenna right next to the wifi antenna
might fry the wifi receiver. Are the frequencies enough different to avoid
this? I thought about putting a wifi antenna at spreader level, maybe 20
feet above the deck, but having the antenna parallel and close to the
grounded mast might reduce its effectiveness. Maybe halfway out on a
spreader, leaving it vulnerable to flapping sails? These problems seem more
troubling than finding the components for the right price. By the way, I
have confirmed that the SMC high-power card that I bought is identical to
the one sold by BBX, even though the brand and labeling is different. The
FCC registration numbers on the card itself match. I'm really not sure who
actually manufactures this card, but there are at least a few different
labels on it.

Don

"Johnhh" wrote in message
...
Actually Don, their "Networked Boat" package is just what I need, but I
just can't justify the $750 price tag on it. I don't have a good enough
grasp of Wi-Fi hardware to know what I can get as a lower cost
substitute - I'm afraid I'd end up spending that much anyway getting
things that didn't work with their system. I just haven't found anything
yet that I feel confident in.

I couldn't even get on line until I got the high power card and 6dbi
interior antenna. Since I have a sailboat, I usually can't get good enough
reception from in the cabin.

John

"Don" wrote in message
...
Broadband Xpress has their "Networked Boat" package that seems like just
what you're looking for. Pricey, though, and I'd bet you can find the
components elsewhere for less money.