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May 7, 2018 9:42 am
I'm hoping to conduct a bit of an informal poll to hear from you about how you get cellular internet connectivity on your boats. I use a dedicated 4g radio connected into my router with an unlimited SIM from an at&t reseller ( https://www.4gas.com ), Ben E uses his phone as a hot spot. I'm curious how many others are using one of these approaches versus something altogether different.
Ben
Publisher, Panbo.com
May 7, 2018 10:04 am
To be more specific I have Verizon "Unlimited Data" running on a Google Pixel2 XL phone, and it works very well as an internet hotspot for my boat's various computers, WiFi MFDs, tablets and so forth. But "Unlimited" deserves the quote marks as during a monthly billing cycle "after 22 GB used, speeds may be reduced in heavy network traffic."
I recently got to see what that means as I racked up 44.67GB between 4/5 and 5/4 while mostly on the boat. Much of the time after the 22GH threshold, Verizon did not seem to throttle me down much at all, but it got worse toward the end, especially when I was in airports as I traveled Norfolk to Lauderdale to Maine when the phone sometimes became usable as a hotspot. I could have purchased a Data Boost -- 5GB for $35 -- but that sits funny when the Verizon phone app always opens up with "Stream all you want, you've got unlimited data."
May 7, 2018 10:44 am
I have a Peplink MAX Transit Duo router with 4 SIMs in it. Two from T-Mobile, one from AT&T, and one from Verizon. I generally use T-Mobile because I have their unlimited plan for both SIMs, International Plus, etc. so that I get 4G LTE speeds all the time, and even when I travel into Canada. AT&T I use in places where T-Mobile signal is lower, but their unlimited plan is not as "unlimited" so I use it only in those cases. Verizon is my absolute fall back when AT&T and T-Mobile don't work.
T-Mobile's overall throughput is better than the other two, and their latency is also much lower. A recent visit to a nearby marina got me 60Mbps down and 32Mbps up with T-Mobile (screen shot attached) which is very fast.
The router runs off of DC power and is connected to a switch that has a bunch of other things on it. The router itself offers 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz WiFi networks on the boat for other devices, and both a private network for critical navigation stuff, and a guest network for crew and visitors. I have documented most of it here, but it is slightly out of date.
The signal is acquired by an externally mounted WirEng BoatAnt antenna which is connected to a weBoost amplifier, which then has an antenna near the Peplink to provide a boosted signal. That is documented here.
Editor, SeaBits.com
