I test and evaluate lots of different ways to stay connected while on the water. These articles cover antennas, routers, and plans that you can use to get internet access from your boat.
I've written a lot about my boat network, and in particular, Peplink products that offer a ton of functionality and features. For the last 6 months, I have been playing with configurations and hardware that cost less, but still provide flexibility and features that more expensive solutions offer.
I use an Intel NUC as a boat linux computer to run Grafana, SignalK, Zabbix and many more tools.
For almost two years I have been testing, re-testing, and re-wiring my setup on Grace in an effort to find the best LTE antenna configuration.
Keeping your boat secure is always a challenge. Video security is hard to do because of bandwidth and cost. Arlo cameras have solved this for my sailboat, providing high quality video day or night, low bandwidth use, and easy to install and stow while underway.
T-Mobile changed the unlimited benefit while roaming - the monthly data allowance has shrunk, and the speeds have dropped from LTE to 3G once you hit that limit. Boaters will be affected who use T-Mobile, as I do, out on the water.
My sailboat network is quite extensive, and I made a lot of changes in 2017 including a radar arch, new instruments, updates to connectors and more.
I’m always on the look out for a compact, well performing, easy to use computer for the sailboat. Over the years, I’ve used some rugged tablets, laptops, and other creations, but none have been able to run the software I need while still being easy enough to use. Is the Surface Pro that computer?
I have spent most of my professional life working on and fixing networks, and always want my personal network to be as reliable, speedy, and full of features as possible. My boats are no exception
Recently I had the chance to spend a few weeks working on a local marina WiFi system. The biggest issue was the perception of the boaters throughout the marina, and the need to invest in equipment to improve the signal within their boats.
Large sailboat network including NMEA 2000, SeaTalk, MasterBus, WiFi and ethernet. I believe in deeply integrated and instrumented systems, and want to know everything about anything, anywhere.
Having an AIS receiver on the sailboat means I can take that data and share it with AIS websites, as a base station. Doing that from a bandwidth-limited cellular connection creates some challenges which can be overcome with some scripting.
I’ve been struggling with a remote solar panel at our Eastern Washington family cabin (see Solar learning curve [https://seabits.com/solar-learning-curve/], and Solar panel update [https://seabits.com/
