I just finished configuring my new Ubiquity NanoStation M2 (NSM2) directional antenna and it out-performs the Ubiquity Bullet M2 omnidirectional antenna by a factor of 2-3x for distance and power which, in a lot of situations, is the difference between making a good connection or not.
I was in a marina in Auckland, New Zealand where I had trouble connecting to their standard WiFi system even though I was only 50m from the antenna. They brought their IT guy in who mounted a directional antenna on our yacht and it made all the difference in the world.
The idea being that with all the other WiFi systems on other yachts broadcasting and onshore sources all competing with each other, the noise and interference was too much and severely degraded the signal strength of the connection I was trying to acquire. By focusing a narrower beam at the source and ignoring a substantial number of other sources the beam antenna can pick up the signal we are interested in much more clearly and from a much further distance away.
After that experience, I researched all the WiFi boosters out there and picked up the NanoStation M2 (NSM2) system from Ubiquity. There’s a newer version of it (NanoBeam M2) but the beam width is more narrow (30 degrees) vs a beam width of 60 degrees for the ‘older’ unit. For a yacht that is swinging around a bit at anchor, the wider beam means you can remain connected better with a shore-based WiFi signal
The difference is amazing and while I’ll continue to use the Bullet that is mounted to my second spreader, I have this additional system to deploy manually when I need to by connecting it to a Bimini support when the need arises. It’s already proven invaluable while at anchor back in Russell, NZ as we are about 0.5km offshore and the signal from a shore based station was weak and not very usable with the Bullet. Deploying the NanaStation setup got me a full ‘green’ signal strength bar and excellent speed.
Just trying to keep myself connected so I can post articles like this to all of you!
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Comments so far
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Sailorbill
on August 17, 2016
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Alberto
on May 22, 2016
Very good! We always follow you! Have a good crossing. Alberto
sailing up the malacca strait one could always tell were the good wifi was all the yachts crowded in the bay