jsinaiko
Premium
join:2001-04-25
Chicago, IL
 ·AT&T Midwest
| Distributing a wifi signal on a boat
I am setting up a wifi on a large cabin cruiser for a friend. The actual WALN works fine – we are using a nice new Airport N router.
The question is about Internet access. Because it is a boat, standard cable, DSL, or even a T1 are not in the picture. Direct (satellite) doesn’t do marine stuff, and the other satellite alternatives are prohibitively expensive (timed by the minute or about $1,200 per month for unlimited – at least that’s what the boat owners tell me).
They aren’t concerned with having access on the high seas – this is a pretty big boat, about 85’ long – just when in port. When in port there is sometimes a hotspot set up by the local yacht club. It can be picked up by a machine with a decent adapter. But in many cases there isn’t any local access.
So – my question is: is there any way we can use an air card (Verizon, AT&T, whatever) and then find a way to get that into the router to distribute it across the WLAN? Can we set up an ad-hoc WLAN?
And, if there is a local hotspot that can be picked up by a wifi adapter on one of the client machines, how can we distribute that through the Airport?
Thanks in advance for any ideas or methods that anyone can come up with.
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Illegitimati non carborundum
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jkrusel
join:2003-04-12
Leslie, MO
1 edit | For somewhere in the neighborhood of $120-$175 you can get a wireless router that accepts an Aircard for one of the major carriers like ATT, Sprint, etc. It could replace the existing Airport router or just be connected to it. Get it yourself from several manufacturers, or buy it from the cellular carrier. Make sure it is compatible with your carrier's Aircard(s) if you buy it yourself.
A less flexible arrangement would be to use an Aircard in a laptop, or in a desktop with an adaptor, and use Microsoft ICS to share the connection. Not real pretty but it does work. I actually use this method (Aircard in a desktop) as a backup Internet source for my LAN here at home for when my WiFi goes out.
You will still need the Aircard and data service from the carrier in either case. Try to get a card that supports an external antenna so you can hook one up and get longer range to cell towers on shore.
Jerry
WOOF!
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Wireless from ISP 11 miles away via Motorola Canopy 900MHz, then over 1200ft. wireless bridge of 2 WRT54G/dd-wrt with 15db panel antennas|HP pavilion 2.1Ghz P4 XP-Home-|LAN:Allied Telesys switch|Clients:2 ea. HP Pavilion XP/2.2GHz Acer laptop |
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jsinaiko
Premium
join:2001-04-25
Chicago, IL
·AT&T Midwest
| Many thanks!
You have confirmed my thinking - I'll try ICS first because they just got the Airport, already have an air-card and are now crying poor.
If there are issues with that we'll just go out and get the air-card capable router.
I'll post the results after I get back out there next week.
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stevech0
join:2006-09-17
San Diego, CA
 ·RoadRunner Cable
 ·VoicePulse
1 edit | reply to jsinaiko
Verizon's EV-DO rev A. Much superior coverage and reliability. 1Mbps or so typ.
Cradlepoint makes great 3G sharing routers with WiFi. I have their small travel router. Used with my Verizon USB modem. Can also put that modem into a laptop if desired. |
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Bobcat
Premium
join:2001-02-04
Bedminster, NJ | reply to jsinaiko
Why can't they do DSL? We had a landline phone on our boat. |
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jsinaiko
Premium
join:2001-04-25
Chicago, IL | I very much doubt AT&T will do that. And the boat travels around. Chicago in Summer, FL in Winter, plus the islands, etc.
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Illegitimati non carborundum
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