August 30, 2006 17:43
The solution partly depends on whether you have a PowerBook or iBook/MacBook. I had a Titanium PowerBook for several years and bought a PC card with an external antenna connector. For that I recommend the Senao 2511. This uses the Prism 2.5 chipset and has very high sensitivity with high output power (200 mw) I sail up and down the Puget Sound and the Straits of Georgia quite a bit and can connect to many marina wi-fi radios from several miles out. I have two antennas, one omni and the other directional. I built them myself and bought the Senao card on eBay for a total cost under $100.
If all the above is gobblygook then a great place to start learning:
http://www.seattlewireless.net/FrequentlyAskedQuestions
They also have an excellent hardware comparison array:
http://www.seattlewireless.net/HardwareComparison
and a great info page specific to the Mac:
http://www.seattlewireless.net/MacOS
I have a MacBook now and am tweaking a USB solution though I find the sensitivity of the MacBook airport card to be sufficient for excellent connectivity if tucked in a marina. Since I work in a marine science lab in the San Juan Islands I often sail across the San Juan channel and anchor for the night. I can get a weak but workable connection to my work wireless with the MacBook without an antenna. Since I manage the wireless network I did cheat by pointing one of our radios over to the bay :wink:
If you don't want to do it yourself the marine ISP I use has custom built setups that are cheaper than the ones quoted earlier. They also use cards with the Prism 2.5 chipset:
http://www.bbxpress.net/
If all the above is gobblygook then a great place to start learning:
http://www.seattlewireless.net/FrequentlyAskedQuestions
They also have an excellent hardware comparison array:
http://www.seattlewireless.net/HardwareComparison
and a great info page specific to the Mac:
http://www.seattlewireless.net/MacOS
I have a MacBook now and am tweaking a USB solution though I find the sensitivity of the MacBook airport card to be sufficient for excellent connectivity if tucked in a marina. Since I work in a marine science lab in the San Juan Islands I often sail across the San Juan channel and anchor for the night. I can get a weak but workable connection to my work wireless with the MacBook without an antenna. Since I manage the wireless network I did cheat by pointing one of our radios over to the bay :wink:
If you don't want to do it yourself the marine ISP I use has custom built setups that are cheaper than the ones quoted earlier. They also use cards with the Prism 2.5 chipset:
http://www.bbxpress.net/