A few years ago, slow internet at the dock was almost accepted as part of boating.

Today, the situation is completely different.

Boaters are watching Netflix and YouTube TV, joining video meetings, checking onboard security cameras, FaceTiming family, streaming music and connecting phones, tablets, laptops, smart TVs and other devices aboard their vessels.

Starlink has been a major part of that change.
It has brought high-speed internet to places where traditional broadband simply wasn’t available.

But there is an interesting side effect for marina owners:

Once boaters experience reliable, high-speed internet, they don’t suddenly stop wanting connectivity when they pull back into their slip.

In fact, one of the important trends in marine connectivity is the use of multiple internet sources rather than relying on only one:

Today’s Boat Is Becoming a Floating Connected Home

Walk down the dock at a modern marina and think about how many Wi-Fi devices may be aboard just one boat.

There may be two or three televisions, multiple smartphones, tablets, laptops, streaming devices, security cameras, audio systems, marine electronics and onboard monitoring equipment.

And then guests arrive.

One slip can easily represent numerous simultaneous Wi-Fi connections. Multiply that by 50, 100 or 200 slips and the marina is supporting something completely different from the guest Wi-Fi networks installed 10 or 15 years ago.

Add someone working remotely on a laptop, children watching videos, guests using social media and cloud-connected cameras uploading video, and the traffic from a single boat begins to look more like a home network.

That means modern marina Wi-Fi needs to be designed around how boaters actually use the internet today — not around the requirements of 2010.

“The Wi-Fi Works on the Dock, But Not Inside My Boat”

This may be one of the most frustrating marina Wi-Fi complaints because the customer isn’t necessarily wrong.

They may walk onto the dock and see a strong Wi-Fi signal.

Then they step aboard, walk into the salon or go below deck and suddenly the signal drops dramatically.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the marina doesn’t have enough internet bandwidth.

The problem may simply be getting the wireless signal through the boat.

A marina access point may be perfectly capable of transmitting a signal toward a boat.

But Wi-Fi is a two-way conversation.

The customer’s phone, tablet, laptop or smart TV also needs to communicate back to the access point. Those devices have much smaller antennas and lower transmit capabilities than commercial outdoor Wi-Fi equipment.

That’s why designing a marina solely around the advertised maximum range of an access point can create disappointing results.

For a deeper explanation of range, mounting height and client-device limitations, see our
Outdoor Wireless Access Point Guide.

Large Boats Change How Marina Wi-Fi Should Be Designed

When a marina contains larger boats and yachts, we generally want the Wi-Fi access points closer to the customers than someone might expect.

Trying to blast Wi-Fi from one powerful antenna at the marina office is rarely the best way to create a reliable network across a large property.

Instead, strategically positioned outdoor access points can be distributed throughout the marina so customers connect to a nearby access point.

Depending on the layout, those locations may include dock entrances, light poles, harbor structures, buildings, utility poles or dedicated Wi-Fi poles.

What If the Marina Wi-Fi Reaches the Boat, But Not Below Deck?

There is a practical limit to what even a properly designed shore-side wireless network can accomplish.

A large fiberglass yacht, an aluminum vessel or a heavily constructed boat may simply attenuate too much of the outside Wi-Fi signal to provide perfect coverage in every cabin.

In that situation, the marina’s job is to provide a strong, usable signal to the boat.

The boat owner can then use an onboard Wi-Fi device to improve coverage inside the vessel.

The concept is similar to the way other onboard internet systems operate: establish a good connection at an appropriate location and then distribute network access where the users and devices actually are.

A Full Marina Is Different From an Empty Marina

Marina Wi-Fi can be deceptive during testing.

Imagine testing a new network early in the spring when half the slips are empty.

You walk the docks and everything looks fantastic.

Then a busy summer weekend arrives.

Suddenly those empty slips contain boats, towers, radar equipment, masts and dozens of additional onboard Wi-Fi networks. At the same time, hundreds of additional phones, televisions, tablets and computers begin competing for wireless airtime.

Then Saturday night arrives and everyone decides to stream something.

More Access Points Isn’t Automatically Better

There’s another common mistake in outdoor Wi-Fi design.

If weak Wi-Fi is bad, it seems logical that installing more access points and turning every radio up to maximum power must be better.

It isn’t necessarily.

Access points that are poorly positioned, improperly configured or operating with excessive transmit power can create additional interference and make roaming less predictable.

The objective is not to make every access point transmit as far as physically possible.

The objective is to create appropriately sized coverage areas so customers have a strong connection to a nearby access point while the network efficiently handles the available wireless spectrum.

Start With the Internet Connection

Before worrying about Wi-Fi coverage, the marina needs sufficient internet capacity coming into the property.

Fiber is excellent where available. High-speed cable can also work very well.

And this is another place where Starlink becomes interesting for marina owners.

Starlink Can Be the Marina’s Internet Source Too

For a marina in an area where fiber or high-speed cable isn’t available, Starlink may provide an internet connection that can then be distributed across the marina.

But there is an important distinction:

Think of Starlink as the internet source.

The marina network then distributes that connection to the places where customers actually need it.

You can learn more about extending Starlink beyond the location of the Starlink router in our
guide to using a wireless bridge with Starlink.

How Do You Get Internet From the Office to a Remote Dock?

This is where many outdoor networks become unnecessarily complicated.

The marina may have an excellent internet connection in the office, but the docks may be hundreds or even thousands of feet away.

Running Ethernet isn’t always practical. Trenching may be expensive or impossible, and marina infrastructure presents challenges that don’t exist in a conventional office network.

One solution is a dedicated
point-to-point wireless bridge.

A point-to-point bridge uses a pair of directional radios to create a dedicated network connection between two locations.

The easiest way to think about it is:

One radio can be installed at the marina office or main network location and the second at a remote dock or pole. An outdoor access point at that remote location then provides Wi-Fi to the surrounding slips.

Put the Wi-Fi Where the Customers Actually Are

One of the most important principles in marina network design is surprisingly simple:

Instead of trying to cover the entire marina from the roof of the office, multiple access points can be placed where customers actually need service.

Depending on the marina, appropriate locations could include dock entrances, light poles, marina buildings, fuel docks, utility poles, pavilions and dedicated Wi-Fi poles.

Those access points can be connected using Ethernet, fiber or
wireless backhaul links.

The result is a distributed network designed around the property instead of one oversized hotspot trying to do everything.

Starlink and Marina Wi-Fi Don’t Have to Compete

There is a tendency to think the marina has to choose one or the other.

It doesn’t.

A boater can use Starlink while away from the marina, cellular connectivity where it makes sense, and the marina’s Wi-Fi when docked.

For boaters who already own Starlink, a good marina Wi-Fi connection gives them another connectivity option.

For boaters who don’t own Starlink, marina Wi-Fi may be even more important.

And for the marina itself, Starlink can potentially serve as an internet source in locations where conventional broadband options are limited.

Wi-Fi Is Now Part of the Marina Experience

People may go boating to get away from everything.

That doesn’t necessarily mean they want to miss Sunday football, give up Netflix, stop checking their security cameras or drive back to the office for Monday morning’s video meeting.

Reliable connectivity has become part of modern life.

At a marina, customers already evaluate amenities such as shore power, water, security, bathrooms, parking, dock condition and location.

Increasingly, internet connectivity belongs on that list.

Marina Wi-Fi Solutions from GNS Wireless