We didnt make detailed speed-tests in every location because they consume a lot of data.Being 11 miles offshore, mobile reception on the island is weak and variable.Here in the bay today we have 1-2 bars 4G which drops out completely from time to time.
It might have looked a bit daft, but it enabled me to squeeze a bit more Internet out of the ether except in the rain, or when we were sailing, when I didnt risk it. Internet Lock 6.0.4 Key Install A DedicatedToday theres another option: install a dedicated waterproof aerial. Some manufacturers make big claims. Do they work Weve been trying, with some surprising results. Carry on reading if you want the full story, or skip to conclusion. And even if you discount social media, there are plenty of other reasonable excuses for wanting a good internet connection at sea and in port: updates on navigation, local information, travel planning, and in my case staying in touch with work emails and the occasional Skype call. Plans are afoot to make these faster and more affordable (with Samsung, Amazon, SpaceX, Oneweb and even Facebook planning huge constellations of new low-orbit satellites). However for coastal sailors, land-based mobile telephone networks remain the best bet. We bought a good basic non-marine aerial (XPOL-1), spoke with their helpful and knowledgeable UK distributor Solwise, and ended up agreeing theyd provide us with the more substantial fully marinised (waterproof IP68) Poynting Omni-402 for the voyage. Both these aerials can be used to enhance marina wifi too, but we werent equipped for that we wanted to use our own mobile SIM card when possible, for speed and security. The best legal option is a high-gain aerial or two aerials with some separation between them, connected to a mobile hub (router) which creates its own wifi network. Both aerials we tested had two antennae in a single enclosure, and two cables to the router. The XPOL-1 usefully comes with two 5m cables, whereas the Omni-402 has short cables that we needed to extend (adding another unwelcome variable). We connected the aerial (each in turn) to a domestic Huawei B593s-22, which we hid in a dry place (in a cupboard) wired into the boats 12V supply. We arent equipped to carry out formal tests, which would require simultaneous readings from multiple set-ups, but we wanted to get a real-world impression of how the aerial performs compared with a phone, and if possible to test the cheaper, much smaller, non-marinised aerial too. Lord Montagu, we were told, doesnt allow transmitters on the estate. So it was here that we first wired up the XPOL-1 aerial and tried it down in the cabin, in the aft locker, on the stern rail, and even hoisted it part-way up the mast. To my surprise, up the mast gained us little or nothing, and whatever we gained might easily be offset by longer wiring. So we concluded that the pushpit rail (aft) was the best practical location. Mobile signals are strange things radio waves are influenced by atmospheric conditions and other factors that cant be compensated for by fitting an aerial up the mast. Their coverage is said to be good: they have the contract for emergency services which comes with an obligation to cover a high of the country, not just in populated areas. Then we took out a contract for 15GB per month, which we thought would be plenty (I typically use less than 4GB on my phone, which I use a lot). On a few occasions we have specifically made a comparison, which is written up below.
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