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#1
posted to rec.boats.electronics
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New WiFi Adapter
"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in message
news:1unyg.1370$ok5.80@dukeread01... Nice thing about it is that it is about half the size of a pack of cigarettes so you can tuck it away close to the antenna and eliminate a lot of coax loss. -- Glenn Ashmore I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com Hi, Glenn, and group, - leaving the others below for context: I'm about to return full time, with Lydia, to the boat. She's finally signed on to the merits of my spending the time to achieve wifi connectivity, so that will be one of the things which is on our to-do list before we head out, instead of relegated to the back of the bus. However, my goal has been to be able to do this wirelessly. That is, not running antenna cable or ethernet from my computer to the top of the mast. To be able to use the laptop (and presumably anyone else who could see the signal do so as well, a benefit to other cruisers if I can make my system work, which I've so far failed to do), unconnected Has anyone succeeded in that? That is, whatever and however it's done, you sit with your laptop wherever you like, fire up your configuration tool (WZC, or some other vendor's, like my Hawking external antenna/adapter came with, e.g.), and click on the site you want to try? Alternatively, and the reason for this post/reply, I came to this party late, having been fully occupied with departure from land, so don't know what we're talking about WRT ciggie pax and how they're powered, etc. My other gear, with which I've been wrestling for more than a year, supposedly works, based on other users' experience, to the degree that, once set up per location, and said setup done wirelessly by configuring the wifi nic to the same net sets as the gear, you and anyone else who can see the signal can use it to surf the SSID you've associated. That setup routine's a pain in the neck but better than being tethered. However, I've yet to make it happen successfully. I either can't interrogate them wirelessly, or I get IP conflicts in DHCP, or both, and many knowledgeable folks, including successful users of similar setups (not on a sailboat, but otherwise electronically identical), have tried to assist me in the resolution, to no avail. OTOH, if I want to use my Vonage unit (the thing which outputs the POTS signal to the rj11 output, a benefit to being able to wander with handset in hand vs tied to the unit or some other output point) I need an ethernet connection, anyway, so perhaps having a router or something similar in the boat, with its associated wifi, rj45 and POTS outputs, will be required anyway. So, this is really several questions: Has anyone had successful achievement of my target (suggested to be no, as otherwise why all the wired solutions?)?; what means of achieving my target but allowing wires (coax runs are not in my vocabulary due to the loss experienced)?; and, a new one suggested in other threads by Glenn, elsewhere - if I don't need height, but have this antenna farm already on the stern, with power available there, on the arch about 13' or so off the water, would I be well served to put my something up there, lessening the weight-aloft issues, should there be any, instead of atop the mast? The problem I have had all along with anything other than mast-top has been interference. The mast, the various other antennae, the backstay, the wind generator, and perhaps other things, would all be in the line of sight of this antenna from time to time if I put it there. OTOH, with my 8.5dBi omni stick on the top of the mast, with a slight downtilt (what I bought in the other gear), I'd be over most of the other interference, and at the distances involved, would have a pattern which painted a great deal of the shore vertical space, allowing me to see homes looking out over the water, my presumed likely source of signals I'd use. So, putting all my begs in one ask-it, any help for the truly clueless (I thought I had a clue, but if I ever did, I have learned that it jumped ship somewhere along the way)? L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at http://justpickone.org/skip/gallery/ "Believe me, my young friend, there is *nothing*-absolutely nothing-half so much worth doing as simply messing, messing-about-in-boats; messing about in boats-or *with* boats. In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not." "Queeg" wrote in message oups.com... I assume you got the NUB-362EXT? You need the EXT model to attach an external antenna. Hello Wayne, Yes, I ordered the EXT. Will send a report in a month when the new boat is launched. Thanks for the help. Gary |
#2
posted to rec.boats.electronics
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New WiFi Adapter
On Sun, 30 Jul 2006 09:07:31 -0400, "Skip Gundlach" skipgundlach at
gmail dotcom wrote: However, my goal has been to be able to do this wirelessly. That is, not running antenna cable or ethernet from my computer to the top of the mast. Skip, won't you need to run power wiring up the mast at the very least, even if you can find the right type of repeater/bridge that you are looking for? If so, I'd just go with Cat-5 cable up the mast, and a POE (Power Over Ethernet) device. The unit which I just purchased, and am getting really good results with, is a USB device which gets its power via the USB port and cable. It is feeding a 9 db omni vertical which is relatively near a lot of other "stuff" including a mast, 2 radar scanners, hoisting boom with tackle, 2 VHF antennas, a second WiFi antenna, and a SSB antenna. Even with all that, I am getting very good coverage. |
#3
posted to rec.boats.electronics
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New WiFi Adapter
Hi, Wayne, and thanks for the note. To simplify, I'll clip mostly....
Wayne.B wrote: On Sun, 30 Jul 2006 09:07:31 -0400, "Skip Gundlach" skipgundlach at gmail dotcom wrote: However, my goal has been to be able to do this wirelessly. That is, not running antenna cable or ethernet from my computer to the top of the mast. I'll have to power the unit(s) one way or the other. My goal was to be untethered; power doesn't need my computer. However, I have some doubt that it really can be done - despite the folks over in alt.internet.wireless which has been very vocal in (well one of them, anyway) saying that it can be done with exactly the gear I have, including one who's done it multiple times for things like ski resorts (put the gear on the top of the mountain). I've sort of been nibbling around the edges of success but always get bitten back by either failure to communicate (can't configure once unhooked from ethernet) or IP conflicts. If I have to go with a wire of some sort, I'm happy with the directional results, over an active USB extension, of my Hawking unit which I hang under my dodger. I'm not at all happy with the run/route, but it's ok for on the hard where I'll still be for several/many weeks. So, perhaps some weatherproof omnidirectional unit over usb would suffice if I have to give up. I wish there were some outfit which made an active usb cable in a single jump. I'm not happy about the thought of daisy chaining the requisite 5 of them together to put it at the top of the mast. OTOH, if I don't have to go to the top, and can make it so I just don't hide directly behind the mast, perhaps I could get away with putting it out the back. That would only be ~40 or so run, but getting the wire (without building the cable in situ) through the arch and back to the nav would be challenging at best, and perhaps impossible, as we've got an awful lot going there already, and it's only a 2" tube in the legs... So, what name/number product do you have? Thanks. L8R Skip |
#4
posted to rec.boats.electronics
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New WiFi Adapter
On 31 Jul 2006 07:26:26 -0700, "Skip Gundlach"
wrote: So, what name/number product do you have? http://wlanparts.com/product/NUB-362EXT http://tinyurl.com/s6vkg and http://tinyurl.com/owcvz |
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