I have a USB cell modem from Verizon (my isp). For the northern Chesapeake, it works quite well, except for the fact that coverage is spotty. It's improved over the past few years, but there are still spots where I can't get a connection, or it's very slow (2G). I usually can't make a phone call from those spots either, just text messaging. Moving to another anchorage a half mile away can make all the difference.

I have a cell antenna and a cell amp, which I can attach to the cell modem via a cable adapter. Does not make much of a difference, signal is stronger, but connection doesn't improve noticeably. It also will not make a 4G connection only 3G or lower; it's fairly old, so maybe a newer one would work better.

There is, of course, an additional monthly charge in addition to my other cell phones and the kids iPhones.

I usually just hook into a wifi spot in a harbor I'm visiting (obviously no help when under way). Most harbors or YC's have wifi and let you use it, some places (Provincetown for example) charge a fee. Or, take your laptop to a local Starbucks when in a town... there's hardly a town without one.

We "tether" a cell phone to a laptop to get access.
A fair number of smartphones now have this function, where they can either be turned into a WIFI "hotspot" for your laptop to connect to and/or be hooked up with a USB cable to the laptop, but the carrier may impose limitations or charge.

Our system uses an Android-based phone from Verizon, which we plug into the laptop. Verizon would add a monthly charge of something like $30/month to tether, but we found a program called "Easytether" that costs about $10 and avoids the monthly charge altogether. [url]https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mstream.easytether_pol...
Only costs beyond that is if you go over the data limit on your plan.

Tinkerers will find unique and cheaper solutions, but I decided to get the $30/month hotspot feature on my Verizon 4G smart phone. When in cell range, I can get pretty good Internet speeds even with 3G and low signal strength. When I have 4G and max signal, it is VERY fast.

I have the 6GB data plan and that is more than enough for fulltime usage for us. You can't be streaming movies too often, I would guess.

Wi-Fi can be free, but often slow and with spotty signal strength. I was very pleased with the cell phone solution.

You can also get better wifi connections with an external wifi card with a larger antenna. At our club I get pretty good reception with out it, but all of the masts do interfere at times and I just plug in the adaptor a nd the signal strength often doubles. I friend uses the same thing in St. Lucia when he is on the hook out side of the marina. Search usb high gain wifi antenna

Ross brings up a good point that if you are outside the US coastline, then getting set up for Wi-Fi at long ranges will pay off. In the US, I think the cell solution is still the most reliable.

The MiFi 2200 takes a 3G Sprint cellphone signal and translates into a wireless internet connection. Works well around Puget Sound in WA State, but not in all places in the San Juan Islands.
The device is about a quarter the size of a deck of cards, weighs nothing, costs $60 and has a $5 a month access fee. Downloads run 3.9 cents per MB, which costs practically nothing for email and light browsing. FaceTime (or maybe Skype) will run about 12 cents a minute. Only comes with a 110 volt charger, so I use an inverter when the battery needs it.
If you Google MiFi 2200, their website has details and a Sprint coverage map.
If you already know there is no Sprint coverage in your area, this isn't much use. What I found in the water around Puget Sound is that the map only shows land mass, but coverage extends a few miles offshore.
I think other carriers are offering personal hotspots as well.
Hope this helps.
Jack

On a recent cruise out, one of our skippers had a MiFi box three slips over and it worked well for us, since he was kind enough to share his pws. Worked until the battery gave out and he found out he'd forgotten his charger. :):):) It's a great system if you just want to connect using the wireless in your laptop without any wires. Don't know the cost, since he was kind enough to share and my cell phone is so old it has a rotary dial on it. :eek:

We use a Samsung Galaxy 10.1 tablet that has a 4G sim card in it with a discount carrier, $10 a month for unlimited web browsing so we can do email via webmail. But that plan is going the way of the dodo bird very shortly, not sure what we will do when that happens because data rates in Canada for cellular are obscene, due to lack of competition and lack of serious oversight by government.

I also find the tablet interface is pretty much a poor substitute for a real computer. Just so many glitches and glotchas with the thing, at least half the websites out there do not work with mobile devices worth beans, our ISPs new webmail is a stunning example of how not to get current, just does not work with a touch screen at all.

For WiFi, I have a Ubiquiti NanoStation mounted on a pole on the davits, this is good for a couple of miles. They're pretty inexpensive, about $80 or so but the downside is they are for fairly geeky people. It can be run into either your computer through ethernet or into a WiFi router so you can set up your own hotspot, if you are a super geek.

Hey Bud --

Can you talk more about your Ubiqiti setup? I'm pretty geeky but not familiar with how that kind of equipment works. Just the basics to get started :-)

Thanks!

Most people have heard of the Ubiquiti Bullet, it functions the same as the Nano but the Nano has a built in sector antenna that is fairly directional and in addition you can connect it to an external antenna, like an omni antenna that the Bullet normally uses. The directional sector antenna has longer range than an omni but swinging on an anchor makes it unworkable at times. The device can use either or both of them, it can choose the setup or or you can set it manually. They make outrageous distance claims for this stuff but I have gotten good reception out several miles from good signals. It's waterproof and meant for mounting outside.

You connect it to a computer via ethernet and there's a web interface on it. You go into the web interface and do a site scan for networks, pick one, put in whatever values it needs and connect. That's it at its simplest. But the web interface will scare off anyone that isn't a geek for sure, all kinds of geek terminology half of which I don't even understand. It can operate in 4 different modes, I only understand 1 of them no idea what the others are and what they do. You can run the ethernet into a router and then power your own on board WiFi, but since you still have to get on the Nano web interface to connect to a WiFi station that gets into subnets where geek issues really start.

Their website is [URL="http://www.ubnt.com"]www.ubnt.com[/URL], go to the AirMAX section and all their documentation is available there. People normally pay 2 or 3 hundred bucks for devices that are usually just a Bullet/omni antenna package set up by some 3rd party and given a zippy name while this unit cost me sixty bucks and shipping.

Biggest problem now is lack of open networks. There was a movement to create a world wide hotspot by leaving WiFi routers open but as usual there's always an element of society that will subvert any noble idea for their own nefarious purposes and that has happened with open networks as well.