A lot has been learned about how boaters are using Wifi along our coasts, and it’s darn exciting. Savvy folks are using the Internet to the max for fun, work, and even cruise planning (weather, slip reservations, and now even VOIP phone calls etc.) using fast wireless connections, either free or from dedicated marine services, in anchorages and marinas from the Abacos to the Straits of Georgia. You won’t hear much about this in the marine press because it’s kind of a helter skelter scene with very few big players.

Yet a clear key to success is good equipment. You might find an occasional hotspot using Laptop built in Wifi and standard Windows XP Wifi software but you’ll do a whole lot better with a high power (200-600 mw) Wifi card or USB device connected to a high gain (6–12 db) 2.4 GHz omni directional antenna with low loss LMR400 coax cable and some decent Wifi software. This equipment can sometimes be difficult to setup and configure for the average mariner. Most of the time the system has to be installed by a professional.

For this reason we have come up with the Ship-To-Shore Wifi Kit for sailboats to Mega Yachts and even RV's who want to access the internet hotspots with a built in wireless access point client and router combo. The kit includes an all in one NEMA 4 class waterproof aluminum enclosure with a 400 miliwatt radio and 1 watt booster amplifier.  The unit itself can be placed close to the antenna for true low loss RF signal from the 12 DB Omni directional antenna with down tilt. This unit can reach 2-5 miles (line of sight) to any shore based hotspot with exceptional signal strength. Setup is easy and the pre configured unit after installation will probably work out of the box just by accessing the hotspot via the web interface or using our windows STS Manager utility which can be found in the download section.