Better WiFi reception

[RotorAndWing]

The marina where I keep my boat has wifi but I'm just far enough away to get a very weak signal. Does anyone know if there is an external antenna or someway to get a better signal without having to move the boat?

 

[alaskaflyer]

If you are using a laptop, there are several wifi cards with external antennas.

 

[dsbrantjr]

Just Google "external wiifi antenna" and you will find plenty to choose from, as well as advice on what you need to do. The primary consideration is to have an unobstructed line-of-sight to the access point. If your antenna is in the clear you will have overcome the biggest hurdle to a better signal. Even a fiberglass boat superstructure or a glass window will attenuate the signal considerably. Since you are in a boat which can be expected to move around somewhat, do not try to get an extremely high gain antenna which will necessarily have a narrow beamwidth and be finicky to aim. I would suggest a "flat plate" or Yagi type as opposed to an omnidirectional one since you only need to receive (and send) in one known direction. PM me if you would like to discuss further. Don, N2VGU.

 

[weilke]

I remember reading an article about just that in one of the boating mags. They had different commercial solutions including either high-gain omnidirectional antennas or directional plate like antennas as well as some home-built solutions.

 

[SCCutler]

I say, get a wifi repeater.

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

Underwater cable.

 

[gismo]

If your computer can see a faint signal and it has a SMA connector (1/4" threaded coax) this would likely work:

http://tinyurl.com/wifi-antenna699

If your wireless antenna is built in (typical for most laptops) you could add an external USB wireless adapter connected to the antenna above:

http://tinyurl.com/HiPowerUSB-WiFi

But it's more likely you need this:

http://tinyurl.com/eoc1650

You'd have to connect to the 1650 with an ethernet cable unless you also added a wireless access point/router (any cheap one will do).

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

You will laugh but once my signal was out and I could detect a weak signal about 3/4mi away across the pasture. Desperate to get a couple messages out but they would not go, seemed to start to go, then failed.
I had a 20gal galvanized metal washtub sitting there (used to keep beer cold at a recent party) so I said, why not. I set it on a chair, aimed it at the signal and put my laptop on the lower edge. Dang messages went out!
Tried to connect to the net, yay.
Double checked, took it out of the washtub and no joy.

 

[Henning]

The marina where I keep my boat has wifi but I'm just far enough away to get a very weak signal. Does anyone know if there is an external antenna or someway to get a better signal without having to move the boat?

I used to have a high power SMC card modem that I had an external directional antenna for that worked pretty well. I gave up on that though and use Sprint wireless when in the States, O2 in Europe and 3com in Aus.

 

[RotorAndWing]

Thanks for the tips!