Wireless on Abaco - The FAQ

[Sinclair]

Updated November 2 - WRTG54g and WRT54gs now recommended


This is a work in progress. If you don't see what you need here, send me a Private Message (Simply click on 'Sinclair' above and select "Send a private messagew...') and we'll either reply or include the answer here. Please be aware that cleanup and recovery from Frances and Jeanne is taking most of our time.

Where we reference equipment we have included links to sites where you can order the equipment. If you shop around you may find better prices. Here on Abaco at Abacom in Marsh Harbour there is a usually good selection of wireless equipment and Rohan Spicer is available on an hourly basis with selection, installation, and set-up help if you need it.

I'm coming to Abaco [tommorrow/soon], need Internet, staying [anywhere]

My best advice is to bring a wireless equipped laptop and be prepared to walk. bicycle, golf cart,... to the nearest hotspot. It will be easier in many cases to find wireless connectivity than a working phone line (BaTelCo hasn't restored our dial-in or PBX lines downed in Frances). Just ask around when you get here. I wish I had a picture of the Canadian couple with two lawn chairs and a beach umbrella in our Treasure Cay parking lot.


What equipment do I need?

The short answer is "It depends" but there are really 3 cases that pretty well cover the possibilities.

1. Laptop with wireless capability. The wireless can be built in or you may purchase any WiFi PCMCIA card from your local computer store or mail-order supplier. This is not a long range solution, the built in or card wireless can only communicate within a few hundred feet of a Wireless Access Point, but Abaco has HotSpots, too many to list here and the number growing, where one may carry in your laptop and connect to the Internet, perhaps for free as a guest, or for a reasonable charge.

Note that some wireless cards, Proxim/Orinoco in particular, have provision to attach an external 'range extender' antenna

http://cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=634350 The Gold Card
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/def...spx?EDC=192435 Range Extender

The card has an 'MC Card' connector and you might purchase a 'pigtail' adapter with a conventional coax connector on the other end. There are many options, see:

http://www.fab-corp.com click Cables<5ft "Pigtails"

And here is a great link on Pig Tails from Seattle Wireless

http://www.seattlewireless.net/index.cgi?PigTail


2. Use a Wireless Bridge. The wireless equivalent of a DSL or Cable Modem is called a "Bridge". The bridge connects to the antenna and has an enthernet jack as the data connection to your computer. We have used the Linksys WET11in the past but we now have a more capable unit in a modified Linksys WRT54g. We'll modify a stock WRT54g or WRT54gs to act as a bridge and a wired (not wireless) router for a fee at Abacom in Marsh Harbour. If you wish modify the unit yourself,see: http://linksysinfo.org/modules.php?name=Downloads


http://www.cdw.com/shop/search/Resul...m=all&x=17&y=7 WET11
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/def...spx?EDC=447401 WRTG54g

The WET11 uses a "reverse SMA" pigtail, the WRT54g uses the "reverse TNC" connector.


3. Go whole hog. Here you feed a local Wireless Router with a wireless bridge. You can direct connect computers and other network devices with ethernet and connect wirelessly to your own private local wireless network. Here we prefer the WRT54g as the router. We're testing the WRT54g as a combination Router/Bridge and should know more about that possibility in a couple of weeks.

Tell me more about antennas.

The wireless Laptops and PCMCIA cards have built-in antennas that generally a good for several hundred feet around a hotspot.

Once you use a bridge you have many options.

If you have a boat and anchor out you'll need an omnidirectional antenna, as you swing a directional antenna will lose the signal:

http://www.sharperconcepts.net/produ...products_id=37

At a fixed location, you should use a directional antenna, even though the sensitivity may be the same or less than available on an omni, an omni is sensitive to interference over 360 degrees, the directional antenna is less sensitive to noise off axis.

At short ranges, 2-3 miles, you have the choice of flat panel or what we call 'bazooka yagis'. The choice is really with which is easier to mount in your situation.

http://www.sharperconcepts.net/produ...products_id=28 Flat Panel
http://www.sharperconcepts.net/produ...products_id=31 Bazooka Yagi

At longer ranges we use the big grids.

http://www.sharperconcepts.net/produ...products_id=43 Big grid

You can build your own very acceptable antenna, and we're not joking:

http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/has.html

And follow the links off that page for all kinds of wireless information.

And here are the parts you need (except the Can)

http://www.sharperconcepts.net/produ...products_id=70

And there is one rule that always applies to improving antenna performance:

*** The More Air Under the Antenna, the Better. ***

The exception may be in a hostile radio environment where by keeping low to get under inteference you actually improve the performance of your link.

I'm bringing my boat to Boat Harbour (or any of our larger marinas), what equipment do I need there?

Assuming the trends we've seen so far continue, the WiFi environment where there are many users will resemble an electronic warfare battlefield. Many boats will have their own wireless routers set on random channels and some will assume the way to get above the congestion is to amplify their signals further. drowning out their neighbors. Even though there are 11 channels in the 2.4 GHz band, the channels overlap to some some degree, adjacent channels overlap a lot. Just turning on a wireless laptop or installing a bridge right out of the box will usually lead to poor and disapointing performance.

The answer is to learn how to operate your wireless equipment intelligently - know how to scan for, select and lock in the desired Access Point. To make it 'easy' most equipment will simply lock on to the nearest, strongest signal by default, probably your neighbor's router. In a crowded environment, a directional antenna can be your best friend. Tied to a dock you don't have to worry about losing the signal as your boat swings. If you plan on achoring out simply switch to an omnidirectioal antenna when you leave the marina.
[a name="5"][/a]
Saw your post re: Wireless on the Forum. I have a new G4 MAC iBook with Airport Extreme wireless. We were in Abaco last April & May cruising around on our Tartan 40 sailboat, at anchor every night, mostly away from MH, and we're coming back for a month during Christmas, then again in the spring. I was able to get decent signal between Hopetown & Parrot's, Tilloo Cut, and MOW. I also got good signal sitting on the foredeck moored inside Green Turtle at White Sound. But no way was I able to get a signal at Baker's like Denny & Diana talked about (although my cell phone did work from there). I was considering buying an Apple product called Dr. Bott's ExtendAIR Omni external antenna $100 ... until I saw your post. Do you know if this Apple product is similar to the Sharper Concepts omni antenna you suggest, or will the Sharper's antenna give me better signal & results. And do I want the Gold Card - what is that ? With the Sharper product, is it permently attached masthead, with coax running down through the rig, and then how does that connect to my MAC ? I did see the adaptors / connectors on the Seattle, etc. sites in your post. I'd love to increase my signal strength, without going whole hog ... any suggestions you might have greatly appreciated.

This query is an example of the confusion some have about wireless. The Airport Extreme if not in itself a connection to the Internet. It simply distributes internet data it gets from a DSL or Cable modem wirelessly around a home or office. In the non-Apple world it would be called a "wireless router" . extending its range is not what you're looking for, unless you want to offer your internet connection to your neighbors, a practice we frown on. See our Terms of Service concerning 'Off Premise' use http://69.5.2.252/aws/Terms_of_Service.shtml.

The equivalent of the DSL or Cable modem in our service is called a "wireless bridge", the bridge connects your network, in this case at the Airport Extreme, via our wireless network to the Access Point serving your area. Our Access Points are essentialyy an industrial grade version of your Airport Extreme, instead of serving a radius measured if yards, our Access Points generaly are accessable at ranges of several miles. Our Access Points are, in turn, linked back via micro-wave data channels to one of our fiber optic POPs, Points of Presence, on the Abaco mainland where we couple into the Internet.

A bridge is what you want and where you need the antenna. You've already gone 'whole hog' with G4s and the Airport Extreme. ;-)



Stay tuned, more to come - Sinc

[dp]

Get a Mac laptop! You don't need a special WiFi card - its built-in. You dont need to install driver software - its also built-in. And you don't need to configure anything. Just sit down in one of Abaco's many hot spots and start your Mac. It will (courteously) ask you if you want to connect to the wireless network it just found (automatically). You click "yes" and you're on. Very Mac-like. Someday maybe Windoze will catch up....

[islandtata]

Built in Wifi in Macs is not very powerful. Just a thought.

[ncdd]

We have a Toshiba with the wifi internally installed. But we took Sinclair's advice and bought a Orinoco Gold card and used an external antenae and had GREAT coverage. We could easily sit in Baker's Bay at anchorage and have a strong signal. We had the same results as far south as Tahiti Beach. So basically listen to Sinclair, he knows of what he speaks!!!!!

[dp]

...is thanks to Sinclair. It has nothing to do with your computer.

DP

Sorry but you are incorrect. The signal strength is dependent on the external antenna and the better the antenna the better will be your wireless reception and speeds. Some equipment [see http://www.ydi.com/products/mini-etherant-lr.php] is so good that it has internal amplifiers for both incomming and outgoing wireless signals and a range of 2-3 miles is possible.
The antenna is really the whole game for high quality wireless reception.

Jim Kirk

[dp]

I said nothing about receiver sensitivity, gain, antennas, RF amps, etc. The subject was available signal, and that is dependent on the transmitter and its antenna, not the receiver.

[Abacowilly]

We have used the Orinoco Card and the 20" antena that Sinclair mentions. From our experience it does help. We were using just the card one morning at Cap'n Jacks for breakfast. In the beginning it worked great , but as more folks came to eat and more folks were walking around, we could see a loss of signal. When we connected the antena, that problem was resolved right away. The antena is also another great conversation piece - it was amazing the number of folks who would wander over and ask the obvious - "what are you doing with that there antena??" We usually enjoyed just saying that we were communicating with a satellite out near the alpha bravo constellation to check our e-mail. Most of the time the response was....."oh...OK." But after a few good laffs we had to share the great news about wireless. I had to suspect these nice people were among the "lost" who do NOT read this Board.......but they probably do now!

Keep up the great work Sinclair.

AW

[Angie Paul]

I have been reading the posts. This technology is so over my head, I better go back to writing letters! What kind of stamp do I need????

Angie

[Abacoparrott]

Be honest.....you've ALWAYS communicated with the Alpha Bravo Constellation.....especially after those numerous "Golds"....Ken

[Abacowilly]

..... a little KG would surely improve my general "elevation" thereby bringing me much closer up to them there constellations (or maybe right thar amongst 'em) and their associated satellites. I thought that was the whole intention of their naming that card the "Orinoco Gold" card....meaning that, when used in conjunction with Kalik Gold, users would see an enhanced experience and overall percieved reception.

'Works for me . . . . .

AW

[Abacoparrott]

That explanation would make even Einstein proud. I sense a liquid brain overload that might require a trip to Abaco for proper therapy......ken

[Abacowilly]

.....could be what the doctor would order!!

BTW, I sent you an e-mail tonight.

AW

[big fish]

anyone know locations of free hotspots in HT harbour?

[jhock]

Does anyone know about wireless requirements in Bimini?

[IslandTime]

OK , so much for wi-fi, does anyone know if the wireless aircards work in the Bahamas.
I have the earthlink/vorizon aircard that works on the cellular network at 125 or kbs

thanks