Not really sure - this is Inner Harbor Baltimore and I'm able to see base
stations a full 2-miles away and I don't even have an eternal antenna! From
what I can understand the issue is the transmission strength from the device
to the base station - normal laptops us approximately 50% to save power.

Overall, I'd just like to make the observation that the last 2-3 years have
been a major change in capability. Wifi @ $30 per month and cellular @ $80
would just have been a wet dream in 2003!

Looking forward to WiMax but even current services outrun my ability to both
type and read!

Dave

"Varis" wrote in message
oups.com...
Dave Isherwood wrote:
I purchased a small gateway from my Wifi ISP in Baltimore and it has a
real
antenna as well as uses twice the power (still legal) of the normal
laptop
units. I've been able to get a usable service from 2-3 miles. I'm using
it
at the moment (somewhat closer) and the Google ping time is 37 ms.

2 miles sounds like a really huge distance when it's a Wi-fi
connection. What kind of an effect does water have on radio waves
again?

I figure WiMax would be optimal for boaters, when considering
radio/internet technologies currently available. Long range, low
latency, high bandwith. (More on WiMAX, eg.
http://www.intel.com/netcomms/techno...imax/index.htm)

Varis