EVDO and external antennas/amps
We are looking into increasing our internet options aboard Swan Song. Our
WiFi is great at up to 5 and as much as ten miles but fewer and fewer WiFi
AP's are open or even allow you to sign-up for a fee. Too bad as money is
left on the table :-(
Venezuela has EVDO from two carriers and Edge from another. We seem to think
that EVDO is a better choice than Edge so have looked hard at it.
Many websites extol the virtues of this antenna or that amplifier to use
when long range is required but 99% of these sites are dealing with land
based fixed site installations virtual none have over the water mobile
experience.
Given that most cell equipment today is not looking out at the sea but
focused where the subscribers are has anyone real world experience with EVDO
or Edge for that matter while out at sea looking back to land aka cell
towers and what range/speed they have seen?
Land based system can be 20 miles or more with a 3 watt amp/antenna. But if
we are looking at the back side of a tower antenna I assume it will be much
much less regardless of the equipment on my end.
The carrier frequency here is 850 band and the "modem box is the Axesstel
800 wireless modem.
http://www.axesstel.com/fixed/broadband_evdo_modem.php?id=1
This box offers both USB connection and Ethernet to our boats network so it
is independent of any computer. It takes comes with diversity external
antennas one of which can be remove to install an amp external antenna to.
As Nancy and I are hooked to the internet we need to expand our options
while cruising. Any options/opinions with be helpful :-)
Cheers
Dave & Nancy
Swan Song
Roughwater 58
On the US East Coast we opt'ed for a Digital Antenna purchased from
www.wpsantennas.com . The antenna was easier than the lead. We have the
antenna up on a tower and use a 30 ft lead. That is about the max. The
lead losses easily overwhelm the antenna gain. Our arrangement
always produces at least one bar increase in reception over just sitting on
the fly bridge with the cell phone or EVDO card. My main goal was to
increase range, and we have shown connectivity from as far as 30 miles off
shore, although that must depend on the particular tower arrangement
ashore. I did not feel I needed to go the extra step (and cost) of an
amplifier, although there have been others on this list reporting excellent
results from Digital's amplifier.
wps antennas was very helful on the web and on the phone, and I went
throught 2 antenna leads until I got something that would fit (bigger
diameter is better in leads) and still show a gain. When I just bought a
new cell phone, they were able to supply a new adapter cable.
John
S/F Profishent
Deale, MD
On Nov 25, 2007 9:38 AM, Dave Cooper swansong@gmn-usa.com wrote:
We are looking into increasing our internet options aboard Swan Song. Our
WiFi is great at up to 5 and as much as ten miles but fewer and fewer WiFi
AP's are open or even allow you to sign-up for a fee. Too bad as money is
left on the table :-(
Venezuela has EVDO from two carriers and Edge from another. We seem to
think
that EVDO is a better choice than Edge so have looked hard at it.
Many websites extol the virtues of this antenna or that amplifier to use
when long range is required but 99% of these sites are dealing with land
based fixed site installations virtual none have over the water mobile
experience.
Given that most cell equipment today is not looking out at the sea but
focused where the subscribers are has anyone real world experience with
EVDO
or Edge for that matter while out at sea looking back to land aka cell
towers and what range/speed they have seen?
Land based system can be 20 miles or more with a 3 watt amp/antenna. But
if
we are looking at the back side of a tower antenna I assume it will be
much
much less regardless of the equipment on my end.
The carrier frequency here is 850 band and the "modem box is the Axesstel
800 wireless modem.
http://www.axesstel.com/fixed/broadband_evdo_modem.php?id=1
This box offers both USB connection and Ethernet to our boats network so
it
is independent of any computer. It takes comes with diversity external
antennas one of which can be remove to install an amp external antenna to.
As Nancy and I are hooked to the internet we need to expand our options
while cruising. Any options/opinions with be helpful :-)
Cheers
Dave & Nancy
Swan Song
Roughwater 58
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I also use equipment from Digital and wpsantennas.com and find those
guys extremely helpful, I have a Yagi antenna, mounted at about 30 feet
with an amplifier, I could not get a usable signal from Sprint at home
without the amp.(I live aboard in the middle of freakin' nowhere) The
Yagi is directional however and not much use away from the dock, I have
however found the signal usually carries over water much further than
the providers claim. Traveling would probably require an
omni-directional antenna.
Cole
MY Voyager
41 President
Tanyard Landing, VA
John Walsh wrote:
On the US East Coast we opt'ed for a Digital Antenna purchased from
www.wpsantennas.com . The antenna was easier than the lead. We have the
antenna up on a tower and use a 30 ft lead. That is about the max. The
lead losses easily overwhelm the antenna gain. Our arrangement
always produces at least one bar increase in reception over just sitting on
the fly bridge with the cell phone or EVDO card. My main goal was to
increase range, and we have shown connectivity from as far as 30 miles off
shore, although that must depend on the particular tower arrangement
ashore. I did not feel I needed to go the extra step (and cost) of an
amplifier, although there have been others on this list reporting excellent
results from Digital's amplifier.
wps antennas was very helful on the web and on the phone, and I went
throught 2 antenna leads until I got something that would fit (bigger
diameter is better in leads) and still show a gain. When I just bought a
new cell phone, they were able to supply a new adapter cable.
John
S/F Profishent
Deale, MD
On Nov 25, 2007 9:38 AM, Dave Cooper swansong@gmn-usa.com wrote:
We are looking into increasing our internet options aboard Swan Song. Our
WiFi is great at up to 5 and as much as ten miles but fewer and fewer WiFi
AP's are open or even allow you to sign-up for a fee. Too bad as money is
left on the table :-(
Venezuela has EVDO from two carriers and Edge from another. We seem to
think
that EVDO is a better choice than Edge so have looked hard at it.
Many websites extol the virtues of this antenna or that amplifier to use
when long range is required but 99% of these sites are dealing with land
based fixed site installations virtual none have over the water mobile
experience.
Given that most cell equipment today is not looking out at the sea but
focused where the subscribers are has anyone real world experience with
EVDO
or Edge for that matter while out at sea looking back to land aka cell
towers and what range/speed they have seen?
Land based system can be 20 miles or more with a 3 watt amp/antenna. But
if
we are looking at the back side of a tower antenna I assume it will be
much
much less regardless of the equipment on my end.
The carrier frequency here is 850 band and the "modem box is the Axesstel
800 wireless modem.
http://www.axesstel.com/fixed/broadband_evdo_modem.php?id=1
This box offers both USB connection and Ethernet to our boats network so
it
is independent of any computer. It takes comes with diversity external
antennas one of which can be remove to install an amp external antenna to.
As Nancy and I are hooked to the internet we need to expand our options
while cruising. Any options/opinions with be helpful :-)
Cheers
Dave & Nancy
Swan Song
Roughwater 58
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To unsubscribe or modify your subscription options (get password, change
email address, etc) go to:
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Trawlers & Trawlering and T&T are trademarks of Water World
Productions. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/listinfo/trawlers-and-trawlering
To unsubscribe or modify your subscription options (get password, change email address, etc) go to: http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/options/trawlers-and-trawlering
Trawlers & Trawlering and T&T are trademarks of Water World
Productions. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
Venezuela has EVDO from two carriers and Edge from another.
We seem to think that EVDO is a better choice than Edge
so have looked hard at it.
What about the rest of the Caribbean?
I would expect GSM/Edge/HSDPA to be much better supported internationally.
Having devices with SIM's has the advantage of being able to get a local
carrier's SIM if you're going to stay in one location (like Venezuela) for
an extended period of time. This would turn your device into a local
carrier device so there wouldn't be international roaming, etc.
If you're going to stay in the US only, EVDO/Verizon is a really good
solution. If you're venturing further, GSM/AT&T will work better. I still
think this is true in Canada although last time I said that it generated
some arguments (there are good pockets of EVDO in Canada it seems).
As Nancy and I are hooked to the internet we need to expand
our options while cruising. Any options/opinions with be
helpful :-)
I would only get hardware that supported 3G throughput technologies. And as
I've written about many times, there are more advantages to using a higher
end mobile phone tethered to your computer than using an "air card" type of
solution. If you're thinking about an external antenna/amplifier, a better
mobile phone gives you the additional advantage of amplified voice calls
without switching cables, etc. HSDPA mobile phones allow simultaneous voice
and data communications so you don't have to stop surfing when you want to
make a voice call either.
With a 37dB amp and a 4 or 8 dB antenna, we were able to get 20 miles of
offshore connectivity (NC, SC, GA). This would sometimes shrink to only 7
nm offshore in parts of northern FL - something is causing interference
there (north of Daytona Beach). In most of Downeast Maine, we often get 0
(or fewer!) bars. With the amp, we get 4 or 5 bars with the ability to
maintain a continuous internet connection.
The bottom line is that you can maintain an internet connection continuously
while underway through most coastal cruising situations. If you plan to be
further than 20 nm offshore, you will most certainly lose your cellular
internet connection. The only other place (between Maine and Florida) where
we couldn't seem to keep any connection was in the 25 mile land cut called
the Alligator-Pungo Canal.
Here's a posting I made over a year ago giving some direct measurements:
http://www.irbs.com/lists/trawlerworld/0608/0858.html
Two links within that posting show the route I tested:
http://www.activemap.com/castine-swharbor-route.jpg
...and the signal levels with an without an amp:
http://www.activemap.com/castine-swharbor-graph.jpg (lower value means more
bars)
The posting also contains some lessons learned about the analog wiring and
information about why the amplifier is critical to getting good results.
Here's a posting I made about a year ago giving specific experiences between
Maine and New Bern, NC:
http://www.irbs.com/lists/trawlerworld/0611/0082.html
Selecting and using a cellular amplifier is way more complex than it needs
to be. The prices for these things are all over the map too. You shouldn't
be paying more than about $220 for an amplifier. A good quality marine
antenna should be under $100. Cabling and connectors should add a little
more. If you're finding prices and devices at $400 to $800, you're probably
paying too much or using the wrong type of device.
I'm working on the Going Mobile section of ActiveCaptain to give more detail
to all of this. It will all be up by early 2008.
---=
Jeffrey Siegel
M/V aCappella
DeFever 53PH
W1ACA/WDB4350
Castine, Maine
www.activecaptain.com
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