WiFi cable - access

Kurt, Im starting to think the same ..... Scary knowledge over there ...

Rob
 
BillyIII, I've been following this thread with interest. Last week, I found that the connectivity from my wifi tethering on my cell was intermittent while on the boat. I was trying to provide my 3G thethered signal to a neighboring boat at anchor through my Rogue Wave connected to my wifi router. When I plugged the Wave directly into my computer, it all worked well, but of course, I lost the ability to tramnsmit the wifi. After reading this thread, I think the interference is caused by a conflict between my onboard wifi router and my cellphone wifi transmitter. My wifi router is an oldie left over from my daughter's college years and needs to be upgraded. It sounds like going to a 5.8GHz wifi router that is power and channel adjustable would solve my problem.

What brand/model wifi router do you recommend? I am currently powering my router with the ship's 12V DC and would like to continue this on the next router without the need for an inverter. From what I've seen, many routers use 12V input power, so hopefully that won't be a problem.

Thanks Billy!!
 
Al,

I decided to purchase a few Cradlepoint routers since Bill likes them so much. They're very affordable. The one I have on my boat is 12v, fully configurable, and is very, very small (about the size of a smartphone).

http://www.cradlepoint.com/products/mobile-broadband-routers

The CTR35 retails around $60. And another nice feature, should you want to in the future, is that it not only will work great with the Rogue Wave, but also with a USB 3G or 4G modem. I bought a Pantech UML 290 for about $35 on eBay and I can pull my 4G card out of my Verizon smartphone and create a nice, fast hotspot.
 
Thanks for the info, Kurt. Is this the unit you were able to adjust to 5% power output? I'm looking at the specs and cannot tell if the transmit power is adjustable or if it's 5.8GHz. Looks like a great product at a great price.
 
Al, transmit power is adjustable. I have mine set to 5%. I do not think it is 5.8GHz.
 
Ubiquiti has the 5Ghz Bullet or the Rocket M5 either is a great Access Point if your WiFi enabled devices only need 5GHz or 802.11A/N. I have been marrying CTR-35's to ROGUE units. This way the customers have VZW or AT&T LTE for when out of WiFi range. The CTR-35 supports many of the popular Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint 3G, LTE, WiMAX USB modems. The new control panel called the "Dashboard" on the Cradlepoint is cake to use.
I use the CTR-35s in my boat to convert cellular USB modems hooked to external quad band Omnis to convert them to wired CAT5 connections needed for my Wave WiFi selector switch/ router. The Wave switch/router needs an external Access Point so I am currently using an Enginius smoke detector stype AP that runs off 12VDC in my boat. It supports either 802.11B,G&N on 2.4GHz and 5GHz as 802.11A/N or both as the internal AP for the boat. The power levels is fully adjustable as are the band and mode settings. The CTR-35 as a stand alone works with the ROGUE to rebroadcast on 802.11B&G at low power for those users.
Bill
 
Thanks, guys!! The CradlePoint sound like it's exactly what I need. I'm hoping it doesn't drown out my cellphone wifi signal...hoping the reduced power does the trick. It's only an issue if I'm trying to share that signal with a neighbor.

Just found a new one listed yesterday on Craigslist for $20! Gotta jump on that. I'll report back.
 
Al the trick is what Cellphone and who's service are you using? You can get a USB modem for the same carrier and take the SIM card out of the phone and use it on the USB port of the Cradlepoint. Then you just select through the Dashboard connection manager ROGUE (as WAN) or cellular USB data and the Cradlepoint will rebroadcast either the ROGUE or your cellular USB modem. I have never tried taking USB data from an actual Cellphone and connecting it to the Cradlepoint USB port that might work. So many things to try and just not enough time.
Bill
 
My carrier is ATT and my cell is a Samsung Galaxy SII. I just read today of an app that allows USB tethering for data, so that's another possibility. But if I pull the SIM card, I lose the ability to make/receive calls. (Maybe that's not really a bad thing!)

I'll get the CTR-35 and play with it a bit. Maybe it'll solve all my (not so significant) problems! To tell you the truth, it's kinda nice to have these issues to challenge me instead of electrical, fuel or plumbing problems!!
 
Al, that's why I asked which phone and carrier you could use the Cellphone's tethered USB to the Cradlepoint USB (possibly) to get data when the ROGUE was out of range of your targeted shore based Hotspots. With the new CTR35 Dashboard switching this should be a snap. Then you have the best of both worlds. For AT&T I use an Ericsson W-35 the RJ11 provides dial tome to my V-TEC DETC 6.0 cordless phone system giving me the ability to send the data through the LAN to the Wave WiFi service selector switch/router. This allows me to have a Quad band marine Omni on the arch for better reception then a handset inside the boat and the wireless AP is turned off on the W35 because it is routed eventually to my Engenus Router inside the boat. In your case you could still place phone calls when the USB data connection is attached (I assume the phone does simultanious voice/data but not worry about interference between the ROGUE, your phones WiFi chipset or the Cradlepoint router's AP. It sounds like a win/win if the phone's USB will work with the CTR35. Also if you get the V-TEC that accepts 2 Bluetooth connections you could answer your phone from the cordless system keeping it tethered and charged. I'm just throwing some ideas out there that might work for you.
Bill
 
Billy,

Since I'm still trying to digest all this tech diet, I'm going to have to print off this whole thread, take it to the boat and bite off little pieces at a time. I'm trying to follow you, but you're so far out ahead of me that I can barely see your tracks.

OK, this part I get...

"Al, that's why I asked which phone and carrier you could use the Cellphone's tethered USB to the Cradlepoint USB (possibly) to get data when the ROGUE was out of range of your targeted shore based Hotspots. With the new CTR35 Dashboard switching this should be a snap. Then you have the best of both worlds. "

This part I'm going to have to come back to in a few weeks, but the cell coverage in the CA Delta is pretty good compared to offshore boating. I don't think I'll need to boost cell signal.

"For AT&T I use an Ericsson W-35 the RJ11 provides dial tome to my V-TEC DETC 6.0 cordless phone system giving me the ability to send the data through the LAN to the Wave WiFi service selector switch/router. This allows me to have a Quad band marine Omni on the arch for better reception then a handset inside the boat and the wireless AP is turned off on the W35 because it is routed eventually to my Engenus Router inside the boat. "

This part makes sense, but the cordless phone system might be more than I need.

"In your case you could still place phone calls when the USB data connection is attached (I assume the phone does simultanious voice/data but not worry about interference between the ROGUE, your phones WiFi chipset or the Cradlepoint router's AP. It sounds like a win/win if the phone's USB will work with the CTR35. Also if you get the V-TEC that accepts 2 Bluetooth connections you could answer your phone from the cordless system keeping it tethered and charged. I'm just throwing some ideas out there that might work for you."

I REALLY appreciate you talking the time to drag us technological neanderthals into the digital age. Your advice and guidance make last week's impossible problems seem almost easy to solve!

Thanks, Billy!!
 
PM sent Al, I will be around the computer most of the weekend so if you have any questions either PM or e-mail me.
If I can help research additional information just let me know.
Bill
 
Al once you come up with a solid solution and it is installed it would be nice to come back to the board and report your results.
Bill
 
quote:
Originally posted by FlyWright

My carrier is ATT and my cell is a Samsung Galaxy SII. I just read today of an app that allows USB tethering for data, so that's another possibility. But if I pull the SIM card, I lose the ability to make/receive calls. (Maybe that's not really a bad thing!)
Click to expand...


FWIW: I'll look for Wi-Fi and use the Wave/CTR-35 when available. After that I'll use the 3G or 4G hotspot feature on my Android phone via Verizon. And if I'm in a weak signal area, I'll break out the USB modem, swap the SIM from my phone and hook up the external antenna and amplifier. To continue to receive calls I have a Google Voice number and the Android App "Groove IP". Before I remove the SIM card I forward my calls to my Google number. When the phone boots up without the SIM in it, which it will of course say "no signal" and not receive cell calls, it will connect to the CTR-35 via Wi-Fi and forwarded calls come right on through (outgoing calls are free, which is cool).

And If none of that works, such as off-shore, I forward to my satellite phone and can enjoy browsing the web at a blazing 9k from anywhere! (yes, that's 9k, making 28.8 dial-up seem fast :-)

quote:
I'll get the CTR-35 and play with it a bit. Maybe it'll solve all my (not so significant) problems! To tell you the truth, it's kinda nice to have these issues to challenge me instead of electrical, fuel or plumbing problems!!

Click to expand...


Ain't that the truth! However, isn't it funny how if something isn't broken on a boat we'll still find ways to work on it? :-)
 
quote:
Originally posted by FlyWright

My carrier is ATT and my cell is a Samsung Galaxy SII. I just read today of an app that allows USB tethering for data, so that's another possibility.
Click to expand...


Most Motorola phones have the USB data tethering built in, but it's more of a Windows thing. I don't think the CTR-35 will recognize it. I might give it a shot though. Let me know if you're able to make it work (although I don't know when I'd use that feature as the hotspot app on the phone suffices quite well).

quote:
After reading this thread, I think the interference is caused by a conflict between my onboard wifi router and my cellphone wifi transmitter.
Click to expand...


I'm missing something here. Why would you have both a router running and a phone hot spot? Shouldn't it be one or the other or were you picking up the phones' hot spot via the rogue and trying to rebroadcast? An option for that would be to run Connectify on your laptop. In short the program uses the laptop wifi as the access point to rebroadcast either an ethernet connection from the Rogue or a USB tether connection from the phone. Obviously, it wouldn't be a very strong signal, but if the other boat is close it would probably work.
 
Update: I connected my Moto phone to the CTR-35. The phone recognized the USB connecting and I was able to start the built-in USB tethering app (and it was getting enough voltage to charge too). However, the CTR-35 did not recognize the phone as a modem. Perhaps the folks at CradlePoint could share some light on this?

I think it worth to state that 3G Store recommends that when using a USB modem with any router, it is best to use a USB extension cord and put at least 3' of distance between the modem and the router. It seems the 3G/4G radio in the modem can interfere with the radio in the router.

Bill - is this only a 2.4 issue and wouldn't occur at 5? And, would this also be a concern when using an external antenna connected to the modem? I imagine it would as the modem is probably still active via it's internal antenna and just stacking the signal on top via the external antenna port?
 
"I'm missing something here. Why would you have both a router running and a phone hot spot? Shouldn't it be one or the other or were you picking up the phones' hot spot via the rogue and trying to rebroadcast? "

Exactly! I was trying to rebroadcast the wave-captured cellphone hotspot via my wifi router to a neighboring boat since my cellphone wifi wasn't strong enough. I'm away from the boat for a week or two, and still need to purchase the CTR-35, but will definitely report back here when it's connected.

Thanks for all the advice and assistance!
 
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