In my blog "boy's toys 2 - WIFI antenna" I talked about getting a better WIFI
connection by using an external WIFI antenna. Whilst this was the case and it extended our range considerably, unfortunately there were still many ports that we visited where getting a connection was problematic.

After much internet research it transpires that whilst our omnidirectional antenna gave us 360 degree horizontal coverage it only gave us 15 degree vertical coverage (not much good when you're bobbing from side to side...even in a catamaran, or when the tide goes out and the shore station is way above your head) and of course the unit is only 8dbi which gives a range of about 300m.

So here's what we think is the answer; a 16dbi panel antenna with a range of 1400m, 65 degrees horizontal coverage and 27 degrees vertical coverage mounted on a 2m stainless steel pole. We appreciate its not omnidirectional but the mounting allows us to rotate the antenna as necessary to seek out the strongest signal.

Finally for complete flexibility we purchased an AP Router (EW-7228Apn) which allows us to create our own WIFI hotspot so we are now able to connect all our devices wirelessly (Phone's, Laptop's, Kindle's...etc).



If you're interested we purchased all of our kit from WIFI-Link (
http://uk.wifi-link.com) and they ship to EU countries promptly and cost effectively.

The AP router needs to be configured as a "Universal Repeater" but this is easily achieved through the menu driven configuration utility.

All that now remains is to source a 5 volt car power adapter so we can run the router on 12 volts when mains voltage is not available.