802.11n WiFi Standard recommend at least for the “inside” of yachts for now…

As a 2010 recommendation (carried over from 2009)…

802.11n WiFi Standard recommend at least for the “inside” of yachts for now…

802.11 “N” the new standard for wireless access points and client networking devices (such as laptops, pda’s, and smart phones), is an addition to the older 802.11 “B” and 802.11 “G” that we’ve been using for a few years now. I have been recommending 802.11 N capable wireless access points for “WLAN” - Wireless Local Area Network - to yachts throughout 2009. When you get 802.11N you get backward compatibility for 802.11B and G client networking devices as well.  WLAN basically is the wireless equivalent of Catagory 5 / 5e / or 6 wired networking within (inside) a premises. So for Yachts and other Marine Vessels this means your “inside the boat” method of accessing the “Boats Onboard Network” which usually also (through router or routers) gives you access to the Internet (the “WAN” - Wide Area Network, which these days is just a “techy” way of saying “The Internet Connection”.) If you can get both 2.4 Gigaherts (Ghz) along with 5.0 Gigaherts Wireless Access Points in the process that would be even better. 5.0 Ghz (Dual Band Access Points)  is used by some Apple Notebooks and may be available in newer Windows Laptops or as an add-on Network Card. 5.0 Ghz will be less used than 2.4 Ghz since the majority of the zillions of WiFi Users are still on that band. So 5.0 Ghz may be less prone to interference and may give you a dedicated “radio” to talk to in such and access point. If the captain, for example, had a 5.0 Ghz WiFi Card in a laptop and everyone else used 2.4 Ghz, he basically gets a seperate band/channel to himself.

For the outside connection, the WAN or WWAN - Wireless WAN connection to WiFi Hotspots I still do NOT recommend 802.11 “N” because Hotspots will not be using it, and the benefits of it may be lost in an outdoor longer range environment.  WiFi Hotspots won’t have 802.11 “N” because it’s MIMO (Multi Input, Multi Output) Multi-Antenna design. WiFi Hotspots will not at this point have Multiple-Radio, Mimo, Multi-Antenna installations - and might not have this for quite some time, if ever. 802.11 N takes advantage, rather than suffering from, close in, lots of obstacles (multipath radio signals) in the way, and uses it to your advantage. Outdoors this just might not work out that way. There just won’t be that many bounces on obstacles or need for multiple antennas. This may change in the future. If anyone knows of an Outdoor WiFi System that uses 802.11 N please let me know.

References: http://analytics.informationweek.com/abstract/18/1733/Mobile-Wireless/research-why-802-11n-will-revolutionize-connectivity.html

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/802.11n

—

Alan Spicer (KA4UDX)

Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom

http://www.marinetelecom.net and http://www.wifiyacht.net

+1 954-683-3426

communications (at) marinetelecom.net

This entry was posted on 6. January 2010 at 08:00 and is filed under Computer Networking onboard Sail and Motor Yachts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.