Ocean Navigator March/April Newsletter

Marine Electronics:

Internet connections when coastal sailing or voyaging
by Noah Hoagland

Staying in touch with necessary data is becoming more and more important as the Internet age becomes more complex. Everyday lives are filled with emails, web searches, file sharing and chat. Today’s sailors and voyagers are rarely fortunate enough to slim communication down to a “wish you were here” post card. In this day and age the true getaway is only a change in location and not the dreaded lack of connectivity. But fear not, as the solutions you use everyday are already redesigned and ready for your vessel.

Using the Internet, you are connected to updated weather through NOAA and other incredible weather gathering programs like Ocens WeatherNet and ClearPoint Weather. These programs and others combine weather information from all over the world, compress and then deliver it to you over an Internet connection. In addition to weather, emailing and many other applications for everyday life are driven by the Internet and now can be advantageous to coastal sailing and cruising.

Cellular data and amplification:
Cellular communication is becoming a primary means for staying in touch. This common communication tool is taken for granted and in some cases is replacing the activation or installation of a standard phone line in homes. That being said, why stop with using cellular phones solely on land, when they can be used very effectively for coastal cruising and sailing?

In most cases your cell phone has a data kit that can be purchased from your cellular phone provider for between $20 to $50. With this cable and the CD that will accompany it, your cellular phone can be used as an external data modem for your vessel’s laptop or desktop. This quick and easy way to connect a computer to the Internet is often overlooked when considering a data communication system for the vessel. In addition to using your personal cellular phone as a modem there are many products available to improve performance, ranging from PC cards, which install into laptops, to stand alone cellular data modems. All of these devices can be amplified with the quick installation of an external antenna and booster, giving all the cellular devices on board a stronger signal. Typical range is line of sight and can be extended up to 25 miles (depending on line of sight and conditions). When connected to a cellular network, a medium-speed Internet connection is yours to use as needed.

Wi-Fi amplification:
This fast-moving technology is quickly catching on for marine applications. Marinas, boat yards, and coastal cities are quickly realizing that this is a necessary service and “hot spots” are popping up all over the coastlines of the world. Simply adding Wi-Fi to your vessel is as easy as using a computer with a wireless card or Wi-Fi card.

In a city, Wi-Fi connections seem to be everywhere you go, but in the marine world, typically Wi-Fi hot spots are being broadcast by marinas and boat yards. They tend to extend these hot spots out as far as they can but normally only cover the docks. The idea is to allow customers who have a computer with a Wi-Fi card to connect to high-speed Internet. In a most cases complete coverage of a docking system or marina is hard to provide and standard Wi-Fi cards just don’t cut it.

Voyagers who are relying on Wi-Fi for staying in touch, uploading pictures and any other type of high-speed data will want to remove the guessing behind finding a strong signal. To do this they are using Wi-Fi amplification systems. These systems install quickly with an external antenna and a black box. With a correct installation, users will find more hot spots are available to them and that the pesky marina signal that only reaches halfway through the docking system is now extended to the mooring field and surrounding anchorage.

Your vessel the hot spot?
Everyday needs require everyday solutions. The generic wireless router from your local office computer store is all you need to add a hot spot to your vessel. With this addition, friends, family and co-workers can bring their laptops on board and get connected to the Internet. Depending on which model cellular and/or Wi-Fi amplification system you use, a few can be tied together behind the scenes and allow a continuous connection to anyone using your vessel’s hot spot. Just imagine being able to surf the Internet for updated weather at high speeds in a marina. Upon leaving that marina your connection to the Internet automatically switches from the marina’s hot spot to a cellular connection without any configuration from you. After cruising on the cellular phone’s medium-speed Internet connection and arriving at your new destination, all that’s needed is to connect to the new hot spot with the Wi-Fi amplification system. This not only is quick and easy to do when you arrive, but your cellular data modem will become passive again waiting until it is needed.

Bring these systems together, integrating and training on their functionality is what Marine Computer Systems has been doing for years. In addition to MCS there are many resources out there that can steer you in the right direction. The marine industry has many resources to install, integrate and train on these seemingly tough systems. Use these resources, use MCS. We, at Marine Computer Systems, believe that the systems that you rely on can be nothing less than straightforward and reliable. The only thing more frustrating than technology that doesn’t work, is technology that you don’t know how to work. Please email me your thoughts about your hot spot experiences and cellular data, and as always, don’t hesitate to contact me for specific product recommendations or any general questions/comments.
 
Questions or comments for please contact info@marinecomputer.com