I have a customer with a Sunseeker 50 and they keep it in Door County, WI. The cell phone coverage for ATT sucks and Verizon is a bit better. They want to be able to make calls and use WiFi on the water but they're realistic enough to not want it in the middle of Lake Michigan. I talked to someone who said he saw one installed on a mast, putting it about 70' above the water, but that's way too high. This boat does have a radar arch, so a bit of height is possible. Reception from a couple of miles offshore would be good.

I saw BitStorm online and I know there are 120V bases solutions, so that's not out of the question.

Any recommendations?

Thanks.

the company that used to really work great for us is now out of business (MTECH)

here is the unit we have been using in its place:
[Link: digitalantenna.com]

this unit just boosts cellular signals.  If you want to extend wifi range, you should look into this:

http://www.wavewifi.com/

I saw the Rogue Wave in the same comparison as the BitStorm. Do you have first-hand experience with the Rogue Wave?

What kind of range have you experienced with the cellbooster?

This might miss the mark a little but...

Check out the Ericsson W35. You can install it in the boat like a router and put a GSM antenna on the mast. The whole boat will get the cell and 3g data (and fax!). Now their phones can share the wifi and the cell side can be hooked up to a cordless phone that they can carry around the boat.

Like I said.. might not be a good solution but I do it all the time and my clients love it.

We had a few sim cards to swap in for whatever country we were in.

we haven't used the Rogue Wave model, but we have used the EC-HP model quite a bit.  It has an easy to use GUI for selecting hot spots.  You can get a model that has a built in access point, but we usually opt to provide our own wireless router.

I second the suggestion on the Ericcson W35.  if the customer doesn't mind paying a monthly bill for a sim card to keep inside the unit, it works great.

I have had customers tell me that their cell phones have worked 30 miles offshore with the cell booster.  I don't go out that far, so I can't give you a first hand account on that.

I have had great luck with Wilson Electronics

[Link: wilsonelectronics.com]