Building Broadband Wireless Network On Board

Alex F

Well-Known Member
Nov 14, 2006
9,166
Miami / Ft Lauderdale
Boat Info
2005 420DB with AB 11 DLX Tender, Raymarine Electronics (2x12" MFDs) with Vesper AIS
Engines
Cummins 450Cs, 9KW Onan Generator, 40HP Yamaha for tender.
In order for us to spend more time on the boat we have a need to have internet connection for multiple laptops. I know there're few different ways to do this with different price ranges. But, I'm looking at one that looks pretty good and relatively inexpensive and was wandering if anyone have used it (WRT54G3G-VN)?

http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C2&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1175242816711&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper&lid=1671139789B01

This is about $200+ unit and it looks like the only item that will be needed and I should be able to connect my laptops. I do have Verizon broadband card that we use for one laptop at the time.

I would appreciate any advice and recommendations.

Thanks,
Alex.
 
You do realize how slow your mobile broadband connection is on your phone correct? Also it's possible that your provider could limit you to 1 connection.
 
Should work. Make sure you use security, don't broadcast your SSID, and have an unlimited data plan.

Best regards,
Frank
 
The speed you see with mobile broadband on your phone is NOT the same speed you will see with mobile broadband on a PC or router like this. For example, if you use the same phone as a tethered modem on your laptop, it will be much faster than the web browser and surfing with the phone alone. Using Verizon's EVDO broadband on my laptop with a BlackBerry, I can't tell the difference between it and my cable modem network at home. It is wicked fast. Browsing on the BlackBerry alone however is wicked slow. The bottleneck is not the network but the slow processing power of the phone and it's ability to render XML/HTML. The phones do have enough processing power, however, to pass packets quickly.

I've looked at a few of the all-in-one systems and they are very compelling. The one thing I want though is a card that has the ability to hook an external cell antenna/amp to it... by the time you tuck that little box in a cabinet, the cell signal is going to degrade. I know that Verizon has a few EVDO cards (USB and PCMCIA) that have external antenna connections and that is something you should consider.

Verizon is a stickler for monitoring your traffic and trying to determine if you have more than one computer on the connection... They'll send you a nasty letter if they think you are abusing it. Their service agreement states you can only have one computer using the connection... FYI..
 
Last edited:
That router will work fine. There are others as well, including a company called top Global which works with almost all vendors for cellular cards. One thing I would get clarification about, is when you look at the supported cards, there is only one, and it says to get it from AT&T.

If you want to get serious about your coverage, then it is best to get an air-card that has an external antenna port. Then get an adapter cable from Digital and get an amplifier and external antenna. I get a 10 mile coverage with a similiar, but different setup. I use an Ericson W25 cell router (it only does GSM networks), but you only have to put in a SIM chip to make it work), and a 3 watt external amplifier with an 8' whip cellular/VHF combo antenna.

I am prototyping many different configurations at this time, as I am in the early stages of product development for an off-the-shelf solution for most size boats.

Another thing I recommend, is to get some cheap DC/DC converters to power your equipment, so it won't rely on your genny/shore power/ nor will you require a UPS. It is ineficient to start with DC convert to AC then turn AC back to DC. All these units are DC powered. Also, as a tip, connect your power through some sort of switch, especially if you hide your hardware like I did, because you will want to reboot these systems at some time in their life so the switch makes it easy.

There, I am giving away all my trade secrets. let me know if you need any more help.

briman
 
I have basically the same set-up. I used a Kyocera Router and Kyocera card because at the time it was the only Verizon compatible card that also would accept an external antenna. I have am 8' cell antenna on my hard top that connects to the card in the router. There is also an option to put a signal booster in line here, but so far I have not needed it. The router lives under my helm station. With this setup I can get a good Wi-Fi signal all over the boat and all wi-fi enabled computers can share the connection. The router also has 4 ports for hardwired connections.

I think Verizon would say that you can't use the card for more than one computer, but I doubt they would enforce this. They also theoretically don't allow web cams.
 
Oh yeah, the Kyocera runs on 12 volt DC.
 
I have the PCMCIA card which we use when on the road or away form wi-fi signal near marina. The speed is acceptable and of course it depends on different zones. So, we have the experiance of using this technology on board the only thing is that we need to take it to the next level of providing more than one connection.

Morfeus,
How can I tell if I'm limited, besides calling Verizon and ask?

Gary,
You're right about the signal digrating, but not too much. Although, I remember being in the area with poor signal and if I go down to the cabin it would loose it. So, I was thinking to place the router on the top of the cabinet providing the highest point. Worst case I would put it somewhere in the cockpit. The primary goal is to get that signal.

I have linksys WRT300N unit at home and it works great even with regular G cards.
http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C2&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1175236661542&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper&lid=6154239789B01

Thanks,
Alex.
 
I have this cell amp/repeater installed on my boat:

http://www.digitalantenna.com/prods/cellbooster_4KMR-30M_marinervrepeater.html

I guess if the card was in the zone of the inside repeater antenna, it would work the same. You can also put a Y after the amp and have a direct connection to the amp like the inside antenna has.

I could not get good cell reception in the front stateroom with my BlackBerry and this fixed the problem.
 
Briman/Sea Gull,

Do you have some link to websides I could read more details about the config?

Sea Gull,
I think you're right, it the card gets the signal and IP how would Verizon prevent or know what goes on beyond that?

Many thanks,
Alex.
 
Verizon knows... analysis of the content of the traffic, not the IP address, can show more than one computer on a connection. For example, if there are 2 or more instances of something like Yahoo IM sending traffic, that is a dead give away as only one instance can run on a computer at a time. That data is sent via clear text. There are many other programs like this.... games... logging into shopping, etc... "Look! This person can have 3 different Yahoo IM id's, shop on eBay, trade stocks, and play 2 seperate player names of Star Wars simultaneously! He's good!"
 
Last edited:
Sea Gull,

I was reading interesting site http://islandspirit35.blogspot.com/2007/07/broadband-network-aboard.html that pretty much started my the project and have learned that KR1 had poor support having D-link as managing builder. KR2 looks like an improved unit, but I do like Linksys products (just b/c of my experiance with routers at home). So, if there's an option to go with linksys router I'd like to explore it first, unless I learn more from you guys.

Thanks,
Alex.
 
Verizon knows... analysis of the content of the traffic, not the IP address, can show more than one computer on a connection.

Gary,
Do you think they'll stop me? or is there an option to upgrade the contract?
 
I don't think they'll do anything unless you really abuse it... I have an AppleTV that will be on mine this year so we'll see what they say... downloading 8GB movies might raise a flag.

There is no upgrade... they want you to have an account/number/card for each device... bastards.
 
Setup a VPN from the boat to home and let the router at home redirect everything. Since it's encrypted, Verizon just sees you "phoning home."

Best regards,
Frank
 
That'll work... the problem there is that you will be bottle necked by the upload speed of the network at home... Here in Cox-land, it's like 300 kbs... and if Cox sees a lot of outbound traffic from a home-based cable modem (like trying to run a server), they'll cut you off... You can't win!!!!
 
I don't think they'll do anything unless you really abuse it... I have an AppleTV that will be on mine this year so we'll see what they say... downloading 8GB movies might raise a flag.

There is no upgrade... they want you to have an account/number/card for each device... bastards.

Gary,
I'm trying to recall my conversation with the rep at the time of the purchase of the PC card, he said pretty much what you're stating. There's no limit withing reasonable bounderies. If you go creazy downloading huge files they might start the clock and charge you the over usage with a different rate on top of regular $59 monthly I pay. But, I don't think I should be goiing overthe limits.
 
Alex,
I have had no trouble with the KR1 router, but the linksys should work just fine for you. My main reason for going with the Kyocera card was the ability to add an external antenna.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,946
Messages
1,422,769
Members
60,929
Latest member
Henchman
Back
Top