WIFI on a Trawler

YOUR MILEAGE WILL VARY.

This section is being written from the perspective of my own personal situation - and will vary tremendously from other user's circumstances. As technology rapidly develops, one would also expect that the information and observations in this section may not be relevant as time goes on...

One of the biggest challenges that I have had with marina life has been wifi. The reason for this is that I work from the boat. I have a high tech job, that requires 8 hours a day, 8-5 (plus occasional evenings / weekends / holidays) online access. I use a VPN connection to log into corporate unix servers, and have frequent Teams meetings with co-workers around the globe.

If I were only using internet for recreational use (email, streaming videos, Amazon shopping, etc), that would be a different story.

The problem is that I depend on my internet connection for live meetings multiple times a day. It's not acceptable to be presenting in a meeting to groups of people from around the world (that are difficult to schedule all at the same time, given time-zone differences), and have your internet drop - even just 5-10 seconds at a time.

The marina provides 2G and 5G wifi service "for free". Generally, the 5G wifi is quite good. When it works. Unfortunately, the marina wifi is (not surprisingly) very spotty. Sometimes I can go an entire week without losing connection. Other times I'll lose connection for minutes or up to an hour at a time.

My cell phone service is through T-Mobile. As a backup for the poor internet wifi service in the marina, I purchased a 5G hotspot from T-Mobile, and subscribed to their 100G plan. Unfortunately, my experience in the marina is that the hotspot drops with the same frequency as the marina internet. When one is down, the other is also strangely often down at the same time.

Since using a hard-wired internet connection on a boat is not practical, I eventually gave in and tried Starlink (satelite internet).

Starlink

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The first major disappointment with Starlink came when I tried to do the setup. Setup and operation of Starlink essentially REQUIRES their phone app. Unfortunately, when I tried to download the Starlink app, the Google app store informed me that the app could not be installed on my phone. Phones fall in the water. And I have far too many things to do and far too many projects to spend money on to own an expensive phone. No - I had a $200 "cheap" phone. Sure, it ran all the basic apps, including Navionics. It did everything I needed it to do. But it wasn't good enough for Starlink.

I had to upgrade to a $500 cell phone to be able to install and use the Starlink App. This is one thing NOBODY tells you about when you're reading the literature about Starlink, or watching you-tube videos. Apparently, the Starlink app depends on having a hardware compass (not just GPS) on the device. Again - this is not mentioned anywhere on the Starlink site. Nor is a list of acceptable / supported phones provided. I was literally in the T-Mobile store, asking the sales associate to turn on a potential phone, go to the Google Apps Store, and see if the phone was able to download the app.

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First experiment:

Due to timing... my Starlink equipment showed up just before I returned to my home in Austin for several days. Since I have "RV mode", and had not permanently installed the "dishy" (yet), I took Starlink to Austin with me. It was disappointing. Now, it might be because I only temporarily set up the "dishy" in the back yard, in the clearest spot possible - but still with some tree obstructions.

My experience was that Starlink dropped 2-3 times an hour for 5-10 seconds. Again, for recreational usage, this would be fine. For a business professional, it is simply not acceptable to drop connection for 5-10 seconds multiple times in a one hour meeting.

Back at the boat, I still only have the dish temporarily mounted. Even with my temporary mounting solution, the Starlink app is not showing any obstructions overhead (this is a cool feature of the app). It will be interesting to see how well Starlink does during the next week of regular work days.

Currently (about 1am on Sat. night), the Starlink app is reporting that I am getting about 120Mbs download, and 4Mbs upload. The Google Speed test reported only 11Mbs download and 2.6Mbs upload.

So far - I have not had any problems with bandwidth, when I have a connection. The only problem I have been experiencing is drops. My signal strength with Marina Wifi, T-Mobile hotspot, and Starlink have all be fine, if it weren't for dropped connections... Everyone drops internect connections from time to time. That's understood in this day and age. But it can't happen multiple times an hour - or even multiple times a day.

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Update:

Mounting: I ordered the "Groung Pole Mount" from Starlink. $55 seems pricey for a two-piece 8 foot pole - but it fits the dish, and is designed with mounting Starlink in mind. I mounted the dish on the pole (as intended), and clamped the pole to the bimini on my back deck. After a week of usage, I'm still very happy with Starlink's performance.

Router: I have placed the router in a "waterproof plastic enclosure box" that I ordered on Amazon. So far, it's been working great - though temperatures have stil been very mild (early March). There is no venting in the box, and it is simply sitting on the upper deck of the boat. Not in direct sunlight, but not protected. It will be interestin to see if the router overheats in the summer time. Using the waterproof enclosure, the dish and router are outside, plugged into an outside electrical outlet. Therefore - NO HOLES through the boat!!!!

Power: The rated power for Starlink consumption is expected to be 50-70W, using 120V power. So far, my usage has only been at the dock while under shore power. If I ever go out on the hook, or run the boat "off-grid" for solar / battery experiments, Starlink can easily be run off an inverter. I really don't see the fuss that people are making about not having a DC option available for Starlink - Just get a small inverter!!! If I were running Starlink from DC long term, I would most likely get a small inverter just for Starlink - so that I could manage the power for Starlink separately.

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My Usage Expectation:

My primary usage for internet connection is for WORK. I need a stable internet connection (that does not drop) with sufficient bandwidth to handle VPN connection for Unix workstation programming and Microsoft Teams video calls.
Secondary usage is for recreational email, shopping, research, and maybe someday streaming movies (movies? Who has time to watch movies when there are so many projects to be done?!!).
I have heard rumors that Starlink will funcion under way at speeds up to 8-10mph, but that operation will stop at speeds in the 8-10mph range. For a trawler, this is not a problem, as typical cruising speed is about 6-8mph.
At this time, I am not anticipating a need to use internet / Starlink while traveling. It would be wonderful to have internet access at anchor (if I ever get to that point), and necessary in the marina.
Power - I have heard that the power rating for my setup is about 50-70W. At this time, that would not be a problem at all.

T-Mobile Home Internet

Background:

Initially, I had attempted to use my T-Mobile hotspot to back up the spotty marina wifi service. (Other user experiences may vary, even in the same marina!) The marina repeater is on a pole right next to my slip. I always had plenty of "bars" of signal. That was no problem. When I tried the hotspot, again, I always had plenty of signal. What I saw was that the data/connection would drop. Never mind the signal strength - there was no data. What I saw was that the marina wifi and the hotspot both tended to drop and remain out at about the same times. My assumption, given that both were out, and that I still had plenty of signal strength on both - was that the tower had issues, and that either the tower, or something else up stream common to both the marina wifi and the hotspot must be the issue. This logic suggested that the T-mobile internet plan would be no better - as the T-mobile internet device is essentially a glorified hotspot.

However, after trying Starlink for a week or two, a friend of mine signed up for T-Mobile Home Internet service, using his home address. He tried the device at his boat (same marina that I'm in, next dock), and reported great results. Since my Spectrum internet service at the house costs twice what T-Mobile is charging, I decided to give it a try.

T-Mobile Internet:

T-Mobile appears to be one of the first companies marketing a "home version" of a "hot spot" type device to provide home internet service from a wireless phone connection.

The home internet device looks like a wireless router. It's powered off a USB-C charger cord (making it DC friendly). When you sign up for the device, you actually get another phone number assigned to your T-mobile account. For all intents and purposes, this thing appears to be a glorified home base version of a hotspot.

In order to sign up for the account - you must provide an address within an approved coverage area. Here's the catch: My home is in an approved coverage area. My boat (the marina) is not. However, the sales person at T-mobile said there was no problem with using the T-mobile Home Internet device where ever I wanted. Obviously, I can't complain if I don't have good results in an area outside their coverage, but there was nothing to prevent me from trying. I signed up (highly annoyed that the first thing you have to do is download yet another app - but at least this time my new cell phone was more than qualified to handle the app), and since I happened to be at the boat - tried the T-mobile Home Internet device at the boat before I've even had a chance to try it at the house!

So far, the results have been VERY encouraging! I've used it for 2 days of online work so far, and have had very good results with no dropped calls or work interruptions.

Starlink Vs. T-Mobile Home Internet

Starlink is satellite based. Aside from Starlink geo-fencing, in theory, the dish will work anywhere on the planet. Currently, the Starlink Terms of Service agreement limit "Roaming" users under my plan to stay within the continent of their official land based address. For me, this is no problem, and would still be no problem if I decided to do the Great Loop. So far, those travelling to the Bahamas and Caribbean have not reprted issues - but that could be coming... Starlink has recently remixed it's plans (again), and is clearly delineating RV type service from Marine type roaming...
The T-Mobile Home Internet device is clearly tied to cell tower service. I would expect it to work about the same as a cell phone - though given results so far, and the size of the box, it may have more or better antennas than a typical cell phone or hotspot (for us OLD guys, hotspot devices are typically about the size of the old fashioned "pagers" - which are a litle smaller than the footprint of most cell phones). For marina use, coastal use, or "doing the Great Loop", this should be fine. One would expect coverage issues in spots on long runs through open areas. But coastal cruisers spend MOST of their time (and certainly most of their anchored or docked time) in areas that, these days, have cell phone coverage. The only limitation here is that you wouldn't have wifi access to weather while under way on a crossing.
Price: T-mobile charges no equipment fee, no installation fee. The only fee is the $50/month service fee, and T-mobile has a policy of locking your price and never increasing your rate or forcing you to change plans. Starlink charged a $600 equipment fee, and has already increased my price from $135 to $150/month, and changed the plan setup on me.
Performance: I've run the Google version of "Speed Test" on both T-mobile and Starlink. For consistency, I'm using the same speed test. What I've seen so far is that Starlink is consistenly faster on download (at least 50Mb/s vs 36Mb/s for T-mobile), while T-mobile is consistently a little better for upload (5-19Mb/s vs. 2-4Mb/s for Starlink). However - what really counts for ME is: Can I function in a Teams call without dropping out? So far, both devices have worked just fine in a marina where Wifi has previously been a very spotty issue!

I'm going to continue playing with both Starlink and the T-mobile Home Internet solution. As initially mentioned - I've had good periods and bad periods. I might just happen to be in one of those "good periods" at the moment. I'd like to contine testing for at least a month before I have strong confidence that either method will be entirely reliable.

Again - Individual usage will vary. Results may vary wildly from location to location.

MOST Starlink users have reported VERY GOOD, very consistent wifi availability when they were in an area without obstructions (i.e. on a boat). Starlink is the "big hammer" (and a very expensive hammer) for when you've got to have internet service to support your job, so that you can support your boat habbit.

It would be really nice if the T-Mobile Home Internet method proved to be a much more affordable, reliable internet option for home and near coastal usage!

As a final note - There are rumors that Amazon is going to announce a satellite based internet solution soon. While I'm stuck with my Starlink equipment purchase, it would be wonderful if competition from Amazon would encourage Starlink to at least hold, if not drop their prices!