Engenius 3220EXT WiFi, happy sailor
Last night, I had an enlightening email exchange with Aaron Lynch as he tested his new WiFi setup from a slip at Marina Del Rey:
I spent a buttload of money trying to buy high power cards and then pigtails and antennas on the cheap. $20 or $30 here or there, but it just never quite worked. I was going to get the WaveRV USB, but they never responded to me, and their drivers only supported 10.3, not the current Mac OS 10.4. Finally I got so fed up I bought an Engenius 3220 EXT {$170 on eBay, and elsewhere}. I can’t say enough about it! The most important features for me are the 400mw transmit power and an external antenna connector so I can add a yagi or something like that if I need it {it came with the 5dBi rubber stubby shown}. Currently it’s on the stern rail and I’m surfing at 1.7 megabits/sec where before I would surf intermittently, and very, very slowly. Unlike previous Engenius products this one has a web interface that works with Firefox on a Mac. It has a site-survey feature that makes it really easy to see and connect.
Now Aaron can see 20-30 networks and was able to get online with an open hotel conference room system at about 1,800 feet (illustrated in GE below) and a boatyard that “blew my mind, it’s 1900’ and diagonally through a 60's era concrete hotel building.” The 3220 is a Power over Ethernet (POE) device, like the Port Networks I tried, so you’ll need 110 ac or an inverter. By the way, Aaron has his connected to an Apple Airport Express “which gives me full WiFi signal within the boat, and I can stream music to the stereo too,” but the set up “got awfully complicated” requiring a “weird double-NAT thing.” Thanks, Aaron! (Coincidentally, David Pogue has piece on the travails of WiFi routers in the Times today. Don’t miss the video, especially you Mac fans.)
Can Aaron provide more details on his installation for Mac OS 10.4? The specs for the Engenius note that it is Windows compatible only.