dongle extensions

[Woollymishka]

Hi everyone

we move onto our boat nest week for 6 months and am about to buy a Vodaphone dongle (2gb) and as I anticipate working on the lap top inside the boat I obviously need some kind of extension cable for the dongle so that it can go onto the roof or somewhere similar (I think I do anyway).

The question is - do I look for any thing in particular or does anyone have any advice on the matter? Visits to PC world or similar may be in the offing methinks - well if I know what I am looking for?

Thanks everyone

[cotswoldsman]

I am not very technical I have a cable that is about 3ft long and use 3. Normally it is fine just hanging over the curtain rail inside the boat but every now and again I have to hang it outside the window, in three years have never had to put it on the roof.

[alan_fincher]

A number of different answers, depending on your boat layout, and how much you need to extend.

 

You can buy just a "USB extension Cable" in say a 2 or 3 metre length, (typically £10 to £20 depending on supplier and quality), but anything longer probably needs a fancier "active" type.

 

If your dongle is one that has a small connector for an external antenna, (some but by no means all have this), it may be a better option to use one of these. Currently our dongle is hung inside, in a window, but a fine lead passes out through the window to an antenna on the roof, (maybe 15" high, and on a mag mount, so nothing else to do).

 

We find that more satisfactory than trying to have the dongle outside, as the antenna is designed to be, the dongle not, and, with lights on, rather draw attention to themselves, unless you cover them over.

 

A dongle that will take an antenna can typically be bought on e-Bay for £7 to £15, (or that's what we found....)

[cariad]

Hi everyone

we move onto our boat nest week for 6 months and am about to buy a Vodaphone dongle (2gb) and as I anticipate working on the lap top inside the boat I obviously need some kind of extension cable for the dongle so that it can go onto the roof or somewhere similar (I think I do anyway).

The question is - do I look for any thing in particular or does anyone have any advice on the matter? Visits to PC world or similar may be in the offing methinks - well if I know what I am looking for?

Thanks everyone

 

 

i bought my dongle extension from amazon, they do various lengths and are quite reasonable.

[nb Innisfree]

Dongle antenna this can be connected straight into a dongle with a suitable socket, you then plug dongle into laptop or into a router and have wifi connectivity, lots more to ogle here

 

We have the Huawei E156G dongle, very good.

Edited April 23, 2011 by nb Innisfree

[Chalky]

The USB 2 standard sets a limit on the cable length at 5M.

You can get a dongle to work inside a boat, but the data transfer rate (not signal strength) will be affected by transmitter location, where the dongle is in the boat, where windows are in relation to the transmitter (multipath), what the boat and fittings are made from (attenuation) etc. Try it and see if it works. I've achieved high data rates in some places and none in others.

Best solution is an external antenna on the roof with a cable going to a socket on the side of the dongle - I spent 6 months testing solutions for a similar application and that came out best.

[Scooby]

Hi everyone

we move onto our boat nest week for 6 months and am about to buy a Vodaphone dongle (2gb) and as I anticipate working on the lap top inside the boat I obviously need some kind of extension cable for the dongle so that it can go onto the roof or somewhere similar (I think I do anyway).

The question is - do I look for any thing in particular or does anyone have any advice on the matter? Visits to PC world or similar may be in the offing methinks - well if I know what I am looking for?

Thanks everyone

[/quoteie

Forget all that, Vodaphone maybe the best phone signal but 3 is the best dongle signal, get a 3 contract with dongle which has areil socket and buy a adapter for an aeriel on the roof problem solved, if you want to use more than one laptop etc get a 12 volt router and use it through that for wifi with one hard wired...

[Paringa]

Just been at this problem myself this morning...

 

As has been said cable lengths over 5M and you need an active cable, about 20 quid for 15M. I have put my 3 dongle in a plastic casing used for mobile aerials on the top of my aerial mast. All seems fine at the moment although having done all this today i have not seen any significant gains in reception, although it is a lot neater than hanging it out the window...

 

I never tried the additional aerial from the dongle itself...

 

Perhaps i will be trying it later in the year when the heat or the frost kills my present solution!

[nb Innisfree]

Echo that regards 'Three network', we have been very pleased with their broadband performance unlike their phone network.

Edited April 23, 2011 by nb Innisfree

[Guest]

I am not very technical I have a cable that is about 3ft long and use 3. Normally it is fine just hanging over the curtain rail inside the boat but every now and again I have to hang it outside the window, in three years have never had to put it on the roof.

 

This same solution has worked each and every time for me. We do exactly the same and my dongle of choice is also on 3 - we have never had any sort of a problem, nor ever had to use our Vodafone dongle to get a better singnal.

 

Our cruising area is mainly across the East Midlands but interesting to note Cotswoldsman who has a far more extensive cruising area than we do has had no probs. either.

 

If you rely on the internet for your livelihood I'm sure even better more sophisticated solutions (aka expensive) are available, however, for the regular dabble on the internet as in coming on here, eBay and the like you will be fine.

 

If ever our 3 dongle does not connect I either use my iPhone to go on t'internet if that doesn't connect either we just wait till we move on...

Edited April 23, 2011 by MJG

[sebrof]

Three is definitely best - if there is coverage.

 

My experience, which relates to the K&A, Southern Grand Union, and Thames, is that in remote areas you are more likely to get a signal with Voda than with Three or O2. I haven't tried T-Mobile/Orange.

 

However, if you are near to a built-up area, then you will probably be able to connect to Three, and it will be much faster than the others.

 

I have a Three contract, with PAYG Voda and O2 dongles for when Three doesn't work.

 

There are various aerials available, but I use a 9ft USB extension lead, and that puts the dongle above the roof-line, which makes a huge difference. If I were you, I should be inclined to try that first. Most dongles DON'T have an aerial socket, though you can get one type which places an aerial lead round the dongle with a bit of Velcro.

 

Good luck.

[Lesd]

Another vote for 3 but consider thier MIFI dongle. Its wireless obviously but also has a built in wifi unit so you connect to it wirelesly, all very simple. It means you can put the dongle where you get the best signal and move around with your laptop as you please.

Les

[adam1uk]

We have a 3 dongle, and are generally pleased with the coverage. We have an antenna on the roof (the cable comes in through the window).

 

When we got a newer dongle last year, we found it didn't have a socket for the antenna. So I bought an adaptor which just wraps round the dongle and is held in place with velcro. I also had to buy an FME to SMA adaptor to connect it to the antenna. I works fine, and you'd never know it was connected only by touch.

 

I can't remember where I bought it from, but here is one that's similar.

 

I'm sure our next upgrade will be to the MiFi, though, as having wifi in the boat would be very useful.

Edited April 23, 2011 by adam1uk

[Jo_]

Another vote for 3 but consider thier MIFI dongle. Its wireless obviously but also has a built in wifi unit so you connect to it wirelesly, all very simple. It means you can put the dongle where you get the best signal and move around with your laptop as you please.

Les

 

This - and it will run several devices at once (netbooks, iPod Touch etc). We're currently on the Warwick Ring and 3 Reception has been superb everywhere (we left Mercia on the T&M a week ago, coming anticlockwise after Fazeley).

 

Our additional bit of reception boosting was to buy two little wooden soap racks at Ikea, superglue them together lengthwise, put brass cup hooks either end sticking straight up, a bit of anti slip black flexible stuff resting on the soap racks and then hang this on the curtain rods whichever side has best reception!! Take the phones as well as the MiFi dongle. We're planning to patent this elegant and simple contraption

Edited April 23, 2011 by Jo_

[nb Innisfree]

A Mifi with an external aerial socket would be ideal if one was manufactured, but the prob with Mifi is this inability to connect an aerial which means it has to be positioned carefully one side of boat or the other, if signal is coming from oeither end then it can be a bit of bother trying to position. An aerial on the roof is much better being free from obstructions all round, a yagi directional aerial better still. With either and dongle plugged into a router you have the best of both worlds though having said that routers usually need 230v supply unlike Mifi.

[Keeping Up]

I bought a cheap 3m USB extension cable from eBay for under £5, and I just hang the Vodaphone dongle from the curtain rail. I've been pleasantly amazed to find that it works rather well.

[DaveP]

Absolutely - I'd be more inclined to go with 3 than anyone else - but check broadband coverage for the areas that you're intending to cruise first - use the links from this page to reach each providers map. Also check how much data you're likely to use and what the excess charges are!

 

The higher you can get the receiving aerial, the better, so a dongle that will accept an external aerial is better than one that doesn't. Given that, it may mean that you can keep your dongle inside whilst the aerial suffers the outside weather. Without an external aerial the dongle will need to be in an advantageous position - which means on the outside or close to a window - so a USB extension lead of up to 5m will be needed (over that length the cable will require extra power to overcome limitations in its transmission capabilities - a powered cable).

 

If you have more than one device which you want to reach the 'net with, then a 3G router is an absolute boon. The router takes the 3G signal and converts it into a wifi one, allowing multiple devices to share the internet connection. The mifi is one, but combines the role of dongle as well (the SIM card is contained within it). A 12v powered one allows you to place the router in a more weatherproof area with the dongle on a USB lead in a good receiving position.

 

My setup is a Huawei E156 dongle up a mast (that also supports a TV aerial) with an external antenna, connected via a 3m usb cable to a Huawei D100 router in my cratch. The dongle is weatherproofed in a bicycle inner tube. I've had no problems connecting to the wifi with various flavours of windows, an iphone, and an android phone and tablet. Another advantage of the wifi is the ability to conect to it within 100m or so of the boat, so towpath sitting and surfing is a summer blessing.

[Lesd]

You could stick the mifi dongle in a sandwitch box and hang or tape it up you tv areal or wind turbine pole I've never had t both myself but in poor signal areas it would be a breeze.

[sociable_hermit]

A note of caution here...

 

I've had a '3' dongle for ages and it was really good until about 2 months ago, when '3' did some 'improvement' work in our area. The consequence of this seems to be that for those in the flatter, more exposed areas of the Marina (such as Jo and MJG) the signal is better than before. But where I am, sheltered by one of the facilities blocks and down in a dip, it is now much worse.

 

Jo lent me her MiFi dongle and that can connect with a full 5 bars, moemtarily, but it keeps dropping out again. It's fine on their own boat. My own HTE dongle used to get 2 or 3 bars but at least it was consistent. Now, however, it's struggling to get 1 with an external aerial attached (one of those with the velco pad, as Adam1uk has shown).

 

'3' customer services were very keen to blame the old ZTE dongle, which is out of warrantly, so I bought an E156G to try and that's worse. I've also replaced by USB extension cable, just in case. Next stage is to get the adapter to hardwire the aerial to the E156G, as it has a suitable port, to see how much difference that makes.

 

As a furher experiment I've got a Vodafone PAYG sim. That gets 3 bars and is reasonably quick, though not as good as the '3'/ZTE combination used to be when it worked properly. However I have high hopes for Vodafone sim + E156G + hardwired external aerial. Fingers crossed...

 

It is rumoured that most of the mobile companies have over-sold 3G and are now having serious problems due to the massive growth in smart phone use. If that's true then one's ability to use phones and dongles will be directly related to the number of other users on the same system in the same area at the same time. Perhaps '3' have been victims of their own success here, because they were always held to be the best provider for this Marina, so now most people here use their network. Vodafone, on the other hand, weren't supposed to be much use, but now appear to be better - perhaps because no-one else is using their services at the moment?

 

With this in mind it might be best just to keep two or three PAYG sim cards on the go and swap them around where necessary to get the best coverage. If competition for bandwidth is the problem then it might pay to try the network no-one recommends, rather than the most popular one.

[alan_fincher]

It is rumoured that most of the mobile companies have over-sold 3G and are now having serious problems due to the massive growth in smart phone use. If that's true then one's ability to use phones and dongles will be directly related to the number of other users on the same system in the same area at the same time. Perhaps '3' have been victims of their own success here, because they were always held to be the best provider for this Marina, so now most people here use their network. Vodafone, on the other hand, weren't supposed to be much use, but now appear to be better - perhaps because no-one else is using their services at the moment?.

On the other hand we have used "3" throughout, and nothing else, and are generally finding it more reliable now than in the past, particularly when moving, as I am now.

 

I attribute this in no small part to going for an external antenna that plugs into the dongle.

 

My radio training tells me it's a no brainer that a proper external antenna has the potential to work far better than just the internal one in the dongle, itself propably hung in a window or port hole.

 

My serious advice is try external antenna with your current network - hard to see how it can not improve things if they are poor at the moment.

 

Oh and I'm using a second-hand Huawei E156, which I have no issues with.

[Kiwipeter]

This works for me

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003VURGXU/ref=oss_product

[Bat & Frog]

I have a vodafone dongle which kept dropping out and as we were both using (fighting over) it we decided to get the 3 mifi.

( the best deal we found was to buy the mifi for £40 and get a 30 day rolling contract @16/5gb (Ihave heard you can upgrade to 10gb for £17 but if you start with this they will charge you £70 for mifi))

With the mifi we can connect upto 5 devices and as we both have smartphones on different networks means we have 3 sources of internet. The smartphones can link to mifi using its data allowance rather than phone contract.

Seems to work for us but having an external aerial would make it the dogs doda's.

[Lady Muck]

I've a pretty new Vodafone dongle, the model number being K3805-Z Look on the back of yours, it might be the same. For some reason, mine will not tolerate being connected to an extension lead (every other one we've had has been fine). So I bought an aeriel from this place and it works just fine. Make sure you email them first with the model number of your dongle.

[DickBrowne]

There are two stages of improvement possible here - the first benefit is getting the dongle physically away from the RF interference caused by your laptop, the second is getting some method of signal reception outside the metal tube that is your narrowboat.

 

I find that most times a 1m extension is adequate, but it things are a bit marginal, I have an external antenna (about a fiver, eBay seller in Hong Kong) for my E156 modem which sorts things out in most cases.

 

If all that fails, I try to have a conversation with the wife. Wouldn't recommend that option.

 

Richard

[bigcol]

Total agreement with Innisfree

 

3 is the cheapest out there with no contract £10 per month 1gb and £15 for 3gb,

I top my credit on line alternating between the 2 monthly tariffs overlaps nicely

Also have the 3 router wifi again like Innisfree,

but the router is 12v anyway attached to transformer plug for 240 mains.

I just cut the plug of! and connected directly into 12v

System, works brill no problems for nearly 2 years

 

Great bit of kit and wifi in the boat

 

Col

Cheap as chips

Edited April 24, 2011 by bigcol