Carver Owners Forum

We all have experienced poor WiFi signals at the marina. My current marina advertised that they provided WiFi but after signing the dotted line, I learned that was not true and that the system had been down for a long time without repair. Any hopes for corrective action ended with the arrival of Hurricane Matthew last fall when the dock was heavily damaged and now is being studied by engineers for replacement this summer. Until that time, WiFi has evaded the range of my devices and forced much quiet time for myself and the Misses! Not to mention dashing hopes to update electronics for the 405 easily.

So I have gone on a search for that which I seek, and there is no better way than to get it for free. With that said, I have found numerous venders that provide WiFi extenders for singular devices or "Bridged" systems that pull open WiFi signals from over several miles away through an antenna with the ability to receive a high quality signal through your own secured router for use with multiple devices on board. Compatible app's for android or apple are also available at no cost with these systems to quickly search and link your network. These systems range from $150 to $400 well within striking range of the average boater trying to save some coin..... I am currently looking at the Coastal Marine WiFi Kit found below. If anybody knowledgeable in these systems that can provide informative incite or if anyone currently using this type of system is out there, I would like to here about your experiences.

http://www.panbo.com/archives/2015/06/c ... inner.html

If you have a premium cell phone data package, you can also set up a wifi hotspot with your phone. Super easy and no additional hardware needed.

When I am in areas without wi-fi I use my phone as a wi-fi hotspot. Works well most of the time. Of course you need to be in an area where cell reception is good, but it does work.

Thanks, but I am looking to overcome poor reception at the dock on a continuing basis without using a cellular data plan. I am the furthest from my marinas office and even when the Wifi is up and running my reception was not good.

If your boat is staying in the same relative position to the marina's WiFi system (like just in the slip), then consider a direction antenna. They can easily add 4x factor compared to the normal WiFi whip antenna like the one pictured with that extender.

While I am in the marina I work off of local open Wifi usually from topside as signals are weak. My marinas Wifi has been a joke beyond 20 feet from the office. I plan with a bridge extender to receive an array of available signals no matter where i travel. I will also be out on the ICW as it runs right past my current location and an extender would make connectivity less challenging. Does anybody have one of these systems?

Maybe I'm not understanding exactly what you're trying to accomplish. When I re-read your original post, I'm seeing that you're looking to pull Wifi maybe miles and while traveling the ICW? That's not going to happen. The range extenders are still limited by the power they (and the other station) put out and by the antenna used.

You CAN get a WiFi system to go miles, but you need to use very directional antennas. Anything that gives you the flexibility of moving around from place to place is going to need an omnidirectional antenna. With a good system you might get a 1/2 mile at best with open water between the two points.

From what I have read, the system that I provided the link for and several others have reviews claiming from 2 miles to more than 8. I don't need to be linked all the time, but when I want a signal the probability of reception seems pretty strong with these. I'm located in Charleston, SC and free WiFi is readily abundant around me but to far from the marina for the receivers in most mobile phones, laptops, or tabs as I get one bar and broken signals. The ICW north or south of me is lined with establishments that I could draw from even anchored in the harbor or possibly just off shore. I also use direct tv on the hard, with apps currently available I could also stream my satellite programming through my tab to on board tv's if I chose to.

I installed this setup:
http://mvvikingstar.blogspot.com/2014/0 ... pdate.html

Cost me about $130 and it works like a charm. If you plan on just using at the doc then you can install it next to your docks power source and it will broadcast a wifi signal around your boat and don't need to mess with the DC side of the instructions. It was real easy to set up.

I have been using the device by bitstorm for the past three seasons. It has worked great. I am similar to you in that the marina signal was very weak. We were unable to use anything like Netflix or any other streaming. In fact just checking emails would sometimes be challenging. It took a few hours to install the system. It bridges the signal from the outside so you can connect directly to it via a cat5 cable. In my case i Installed a router and set up a network on the boat. Very reliable signal now and always able to stream. I think some advertise a very long range. That may be a bit optimistic. But, I routinely stream music from 1 mile away as long as it's line of sight.
And if you are out of range. I do want others state. Thether my phone but i go through the bitstorm so the boat wireless is still functional.

Cheers Paul
Here is a link
http://www.bitstorm.com