Wi-fi works at Wigram's Turn Marina - wow!

Quick report tonight from Wigram's Turn Marina, where Granny's briefly staying (I'll update the cruising log later).  It turns out that the new wifi there actually works within Granny's cabin, using my standard Centrino laptop without needing an external antenna.  This is good news!  I'd already resigned myself to needing one.  Actually I probably still will for my longer term cruising plans; after all, right now I'm fairly close to the marina's office (perhaps 75 yards) and the furthest-flung are more than twice as far away. Rare will be the time when I'm closer to such a bright signal.

The marina's site engineer is one of those outlying moorers.  He's jury-rigged a home-made system, using a Linksys USB wireless adaptor, protected from the weather by a plastic food container on the end of what looks suspiciously to me like a metal broom handle, all lashed together by what looks to me like masking tape.  It works fine, and it's a satisfying solution: for an engineer there is nothing quite so rewarding as working out the problem yourself.

But you might, like me, prefer a bought-&-paid-for result.  If so, this £30 hi-gain external antenna from Maplin might fit the bill.  Although you'll also need a wireless card with a 'TNC' connector (pdf datasheet here) - many laptops such as mine don't have such connectors built in.

Many thanks to Andrew Smith (who installed the system at Wigram's and runs a neat little business called canalpost.co.uk doing the same for other waterways sites - the list will soon be in double figures) for helping me get it work.  (Thanks to him for several other things this afternoon too, but I'll cover those later)

More thanks are due to Keith on Quidditch, who helped me last night by spending valuable time hunting downloading the drivers for the little pocket wireless connector I was carrying.  I couldn't get it working in the end, but not for want of him trying.  Thanks, Keith!

And now back to work for the week.