Holes drilled in the top and plugged with foam ear plugs make disassembly easier.
As most sailors have found, trying to use a typical laptop WiFi card to connect to a marina or yacht club hotspot doesn’t cut it. A more acceptable compromise is an amplified WiFi card which can theoretically boost transmission power to about 1,000 milliwatts.
PVC plumbing protects the USB amplifier from the elements.
Practical Sailor has reviewed several solutions for boosting your WiFi connectivity on board, including the 5MileWiFi (January 2009), the Bitstorm, Wave WiFi, and The Wirie (April 2010). Reader Ed Mini of Mystic, Conn., recently wrote us about his DIY approach to ending his frustrations with lackluster Internet connections while aboard Margalo, his Columbia 8.7 (bought new in 1977). His setup includes some of the same components as systems we’ve tested, but his is more affordable than the off-the-shelf systems that PS has tested, and is easy to set up. Although PS has not yet tested this particular device, we have used some of the components. Mini said it has given him flawless performance for two seasons.
Mini’s setup uses the same amplifier as The Wirie but it costs less than $100, compared to The Wirie’s $250 pricetag. The installation takes about an hour and requires no electrical know-how. Instead of using a watertight box as The Wirie does, Mini uses PVC fittings from Home Depot, which he claims are completely watertight. Except for the PVC, he bought all of his materials online at Data Alliance. Data Alliance also sells the Ubiquiti Bullet2 wireless access point ($40) used in the two other WiFi systems we reviewed in the January 2009 article on marine WiFi systems.
INSTALLATION DETAILS
Amplified WiFi Card: The card is an Alfa AWUS036H ($27.50); Mini’s is rated at 500 milliwatts, but the latest version is rated by the manufacturer at 1,000 milliwatts.
Antenna: The antenna is a 2.4 gHz, 24-inch, 8.5-decibel vertical antenna ($18) with an N-type female connector at the bottom. Although Mini did not buy the “marine” antenna listed on the Data Alliance website, the marine version is only a few dollars more.
Software: You will need to install the driver and interface for the chipset in the new Alfa card. This card’s chipset is a Realtek 8187L; the proper PC or Mac driver and the interface utility can be found on the Realtek website, if it’s not included with the card.
Housing: The PVC container assembly comprises a 3-inch diameter pipe that is 6 inches long, with a matching domed cap and a screw-on base. (About $10 total for the parts.)
Accessories: Mini used a 6-inch-long coaxial pigtail RP-SMA female (at the Alpha end) to N female (8.5 dB antenna end) to connect the card to the antenna. To connect the Alfa Wi-Fi booster to his computer, he used a 2-foot-long USB male mini-B to male mini-A adapter cable to start the cable run. After that, he used an an active repeater USB cable to connect to the computer. The active USB cable contains a small booster that is needed to overcome any signal loss over the length of the wire run. The cable is only 12 feet long, but multiple active USB cables can be “daisy-chained” together for longer runs. Although most instructions for this sort of installation call for a coaxial cable, using it would quickly negate any signal gain from your new amplified antenna.
INSTALLATION DETAILS
The PVC base cap screws on.
1. Install the driver and utility to the computer. (If you need help with this, find the nearest teenager and ask for help).
2. Using the USB cables, coaxial pigtail and required adapter, assemble the antenna components for testing. The sequence of components, working from your computer to the 8.5 dB antenna is as follows: computer, active USB cable (2 or more if needed), USB male mini-B to USB male mini-A adapter cable, Alfa WiFi adapter, pigtail adapter, 8.5 dB antenna. Be sure the booster in the active USB cable (a conspicuous bulge) is at the end farthest from the computer. When testing, remember that you will NOT be using the internal WiFi software; you will be using the Realtek utility that comes with the card. Click on its icon; the Realtek management screen will appear.
3. To build the PVC housing, first drill a hole in the domed PVC cap to take the base of the antenna. The base of the antenna is too short to leave enough threads for screwing on the retaining ring, but Mini was able to secure his by snugging up the coaxial pigtail to hold it all together.
4. Cut a hole in the screw-on base-cap to let the USB cable exit the bottom. This hole should not be in the center of the base-cap, as it might interfere with any threaded center-mounting arrangement.
5. To secure the card inside the PVC pipe, cut a 2-inch-long piece of scrap wood so that it fits snugly inside the pipe, then glue it in place. Mini glued the card to the wood insert, but one could easily use adhesive Velcro tape, which would allow you to more easily remove the WiFi adapter, if needed.
6. Cut a hole in the base to hold a mounting clamp if you intend to mount the antenna on deck. (Mini modified a standard antenna rail clamp.)
The homemade antenna uses the same Alfa WiFi amplifier as The Wirie.
7. Drill a couple of quarter-inch holes in the cap to make it easy to disassemble using a long screwdriver for leverage. Fill the holes with earplugs to keep water out.
8. Put everything together. The antenna will stick out the top, the USB cable will come out of the bottom, and the antenna mounting clamp will be on the bottom-center—and all will be waterproof.
9. If you want to be able to hang the antenna in the rigging for greater range in some places, you can screw on a small ring-eye.
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
And how does the FCC feel about this?
Although we have not tested this particular device, we have tested off-the-shelf units that used the same major components (amplifier and antenna) and these have been in compliance with FCC regs. I see no reason to believe that this one would not also comply.
Thanks for the additional info, Darrell !! I have all the parts ..had excellent service from the guys at Data Alliance.. Probably going to have time to put it together after Thanksgiving..
EXCELLENT article.. Mr. Mini deserves a big pat on the back !
Let me know how it goes. We are indeed grateful to Mr. Mini, and all of our readers who share their DIY projects and experiences with products in the field.
It should be pointed out that The Wirie uses a custom external antenna that they have found to be more resistant to corrosion/cosmetic degradation in the field. Mr. Mini’s antenna has been in use for two seasons, so you can get an idea from the photos how it has held up.
I’m wondering if directional antenna would give better range here? Ubiquiti Nanostation for example
Edmidor@Long Range Wireless´s last blog ..Long Range WiFi – How to Connect to WiFi Hotspot From Far Away with Ubiquiti WifiStation
A directional “yagi” type antenna should provide more range, but if the boat is at anchor and moving, this could be a problem. One of our contributors gets terrific results by aiming a Yagi from his boat in a marina to an antenna on his friend’s hillside condo several miles away.
Great article
Thanks to Ed Mini for the info and to Darrell for the expanded details
One man’s booster is another man’s jammer. I’m sure Mr. Mini is a paragon of electronic fabrication, but most folks can’t even solder a noise free joint. We would appreciate it if people would not use these (or FCC approved devices) when in good WIFI coverage amongst others trying to use the signal. We have had hobbyists shut us down when they pulled into ICW marinas with their boosters on.
Chris,
This is interesting. Do you know the names of the specific “boosters” responsible for the interference so that we may test them?
Darrell, I wish I could, unfortunately they are rail clamped to boats moving up and down the ICW. Some one never knows are there–they either turn them off in marinas or have built them well enough and use them in light enough traffic environments they don’t saturate the system.
The problem occurs when they are poorly fabricated and/or left on where they aren’t needed. WIFI access points are sized for specific traffic levels and received power levels. When the AP gets hit with a “noisy booster/signal blaster” the rest of us get electronically ignored. The government (with all its failings) did a good job in requiring amateur radio builders know something before they started fabricating and broadcasting. They did a good thing in preventing the deployment of cellular jammers.
I’m not sure we should be celebrating the deployment of potentially poorly crafted boosters, and I know we need a campaign to get people to not use them when they are not needed. They are denying the rest of us service.
Cantennas are prohibited, directional Yagis present the same problem.
Chris, This system was not meant for those areas where there is adequate Wi-Fi coverage for low-output antenna. There is no soldering in this system and all is within FCC specs, as it should be. With such a limited output, it seems unlikely that this is unit is responsible for the interference you cite. The PVC weather housing may not look pretty to some, but the system itself would be hard to qualify it as “potentially poorly crafted.” All of the essential connectors/components are of the same type used in off-the-shelf systems. The buyer of these off-the-shelf FCC compliant antennas would have to make the same threaded or plug-in connections, so eliminating it on the grounds of complexity would eliminate just about every option for an external antenna. We would not advocate a non-compliant system or one that seemed prone to causing the interference you describe. We’ve been using a similar “high-power” system in marinas throughout the Med with no complaints from our neighbors or evidence that it is causing any interference. We’ll keep trying to reproduce the results you describe, but this does not sound like it is being caused by the system we are describing here.
Thanks for the blog on construction of the Long Range WiFi
I do have a question–it appears from the Data Alliance website illustrations the marine antenna has an N female end to it, and the WiFi card a N female jack. Your Installation instruction details state the coaxial cable pigtail should be “RP-SMA female to N female”. As I review these data, it appears to me female to female connections would not work, therefore, I am questioning if the coax ends should both be male type?
Please clarify this for me
Ron Williams
Ron,
Check with Data-Alliance, I believe that is their name for the required pigtail, but it could be wrong. I’ll try to get the part number.
There’s a lot of sour grapes going on here. The product looks good to me and gives me some ideas for other uses. The FCC approve the devices for sale so their use should not be a problem. We are entitled to use them how we please with a proviso not to make electrical interference. EI is a problem ,overloading a local wifi station might be undesireable but it is not illegal.
Consideration is the main message here both on the part of the users and the knockers.
Well done PracticalSailor I will renew my subscription nw because I got something useful from your publication. Thanks
Thanks Ty, we appreciate the support. We understand that now more than ever, we need to demonstrate our value to the readers. Credit really goes to Mr. Mini. We’ve got a similar article on onboard networking in January issue, using an EnGenius client bridge/access point. It’s more expensive than Mr Mini’s USB Alfa system, but it can be easily paired with an ordinary wireless router down below, so the arrangement can handle all your wireless devices, phones, printers, etc. It’s similar to the Bullet2 mentioned above.
What’s the deal….my lady deb Giza bought a 5 mile WiFi system last year….it does successfully connect to her Acer Windows machine_ in the woods so far NOT on the salt water…..we were both surprised and disappointed to find out upon arrival that it would NOT work with MacOSystems!!!! does YOUR DIY unit have a problem connecting to Macintosh/Apple computers??? What is the technical problem???? thanks…ch and deb off Blackfish Creek on the Cape