6 ms·
I lived and worked (as a coder) on a boat for a number of years. I used long range wifi to steal internet from cafes, LTE, and for worst case, satellite interne
by pdc56 3y ago
I lived and worked (as a coder) on a boat for a number of years. I used long range wifi to steal internet from cafes, LTE, and for worst case, satellite internet (insanely expensive, just for emergencies, back in 2014-6).
A lot of my time was spent messing about keeping internet. Whenever the boat moved around I had to move the high gain wifi antenna. LTE at the time was great but small data caps.
For ~$6k a year it's a total game changer.
If I didn't have kids now I'd buy a boat again and do it in a heartbeat. Hell if I can afford it, maybe if my company exits, I'll jump at it with the kids.
It's the future folks, and it's freaking awesome
- belter 3y agoWhat type of antennas did you use? Asking for a friend...
- pdc56 3y agoGood question. I tested heaps. The winning design by a landslide was a metal plate reflector, with essentially two diamonds around 15mm in front of it, side by side, apx 15mm on the edge. I thought it was called a 'butterfly antenna', but web searching now I don't think that's correct. I built one for a friend just with wire and pliers. The tolerances mustn't have been that important because it worked well. Maybe someone on here knows the name of that antenna design?
- belter 3y agoSomething like this? - https://www.tindie.com/products/agrf/ultra-wide-band-04-3ghz-butterfly-antenna/ https://www.tindie.com/products/agrf/ultra-wide-band-04-3ghz... Did you try Parabolic antennas modified for WiFi or did your space constrains did not allow for it?