Just a few years ago it was relatively unheard of to have internet on your boat. Now marine internet and connecting your boat and all the devices needed for everyday life is a relatively easy process once you understand the basics. I will briefly talk about my set up at the dock in this post and I will link to a very well written article from a cruising boater who goes into depth about the technical and logistical issues and fixes to have an enjoyable internet experience on your boat.
I may be in a very unique situation at my marina. I dock at a marina with no marina wide internet but they do have a house on the property that has internet capability from both Xfinity and Verizon Fios. The Current occupants of the house are using the Xfinity service so I called and was able to get Fios installed. When the installer came I had her install the modem in a housing at the demarcation box from the street so my modem is actually installed right where the Fios service comes into the house. I then installed a Ubiquiti Nanobeam M5-16 Wireless antenna at the house and another Ubiquiti Nanobeam M5-16 Wireless at the dock near my boat. These antennas were probably over kill for my needs but they are great antennas and are sometimes referred to as “air fiber” because they have a very fast high bandwidth capability along with a very long range. Once I had the antennas installed I installed a TP-LINK N300 Long Range 11n 2.4G Wireless Outdoor Access Point on the dock. The access point lets me “share” the internet with all of my devices just like your modem or router does at your house.
For a more in depth look at internet on the water from a boater who just spent a year on the water with his family please read Ben Stein’s article on Panbo.com
https://www.panbo.com/marine-internet-a-connected-year-on-the-water/