Marinas have a constant demand for fast WiFi Internet from boat owners, how can they deliver?

Marinas provide a unique service for their customers with regard to WiFi access to the Internet, however face several types of pressures that no other business has.

• Marinas are at remote locations that may not have a 5G mobile service and so the WiFi service might be the only method of Internet access.
• Marina customers who need Internet access will pay the price for a good WiFi service.
• Boats have a lot of technology and need constant access to the Internet to update weather forecast information, fish tracking information and maintenance information such as updating maps for chart plotters.
• Marinas require a carefully planned WiFi project to ensure that one or more powerful outdoor wireless access points can provide coverage over the large docking area, where small boats may be behind big boats which will block the WiFi signal.
• Marinas want to charge for the WiFi service and make a profit, marina customers expect to pay a fee for Internet access, provided that the Internet service has a good speed that allows them to do what they need.
• Marinas are located at remote waterfront locations, the location is determined by the access to lakes or to the sea, and the location may not have access to fiber cables that access the Internet. The only Internet access may be via a satellite service such as Starlink.
• A big data bandwidth is required for a large number of users, plan for 5Mb/s for each of the boats docked in the marina, 100 boats requires 500 Mb/s of bandwidth for the Internet connection.

Many marinas already provide a WiFi Internet service for boaters but in many cases the range of the WiFi is limited to a small area around the marina buildings so boaters have to go ashore to access the Internet, and the service is also limited to the number of people who can connect to the Internet service at any time.

Three important issues when planning a marina WiFi installation

Marinas have to grapple with several issues to provide a great WiFi service for boaters in their boats. Marinas have a big advantage that no other businesses have regarding WiFi for the public; for marinas cost is not a problem because they can charge a price for the service that will pay the investment back quickly.

What are the considerations for a marina that wishes to install a WiFi service for boaters, or upgrade an existing service that has poor performance and causes boat owners to complain?

• Fast access to the Internet is essential. The ideal type of connection is a 1Gb or faster fiber connection. That type of Internet connection is usually not available for a marina. It may be possible to get a point-to-point wireless connection from an Internet service provider. The last alternative is a satellite service, and Starlink provides the fastest satellite data service. One antenna can provide a data speed of up to 200Mb/s and with a priority account can reach 250Mb/s. It is possible to have several Starlink antennas connected to a load balancing router to get a faster service. For example, cruise ships have several Starlink antennas to get fast Internet service for guests. A marina can install up to four Starlink antennas with a priority service to get a 1Gb/s Internet access when the antennas are connected to a load balancing router.
• Wireless WiFi coverage for the dock area of the marina requires careful planning and measurement so that boaters can get WiFi access on their boats. Many boaters install an external WiFi antenna on the boat that is connected to a router inside the boat so that they can connect to a shore based WiFi antenna.
• A WiFi management controller such as Guest Internet is required that has several tasks, the tasks include sharing the available bandwidth between boaters, charging for the Internet service and blocking the use of services that might get the Starlink account terminated, such as sharing copyrighted material without authorization.

The high-speed Internet connection alternatives that a marina can install

If the marina has access to a fast fiber connection of 1Gb/s to the Internet then that is the best and lowest cost method of access. If no fiber connection is available then the marina should investigate the possibility of getting a wireless point-to-point link provided by a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP). The current wireless technology can provide a link speed of 1Gb/s. The wireless point-to-point link will cost more than the fiber connection.

If the two methods of high-speed Internet access listed above are not available then the Starlink service can be installed. Starlink is a much more expensive technology than fiber or wireless, however the Starlink technology works very well and the marina will charge the boat owners for the service and so the investment and operating costs can be recovered.

A Starlink antenna will provide a data speed up to 200Mb/s and with the priority service can provide 250Mb/s. Starlink also has a more expensive high performance antenna that can provide faster speeds. When the data speed of one antenna is not sufficient then more Starlink antennas can be added to sum the speeds of the antennas installed. When more than one Starlink antenna is installed they are connected to a load balance router to share the available bandwidth between the users.

The next section describes the Guest Internet GIS-R40 controller that permits up to four Starlink antennas to be connected to the WiFi service.

An important point to note is that the marina can begin with one Starlink antenna and then add Starlink antennas as the demand for the WiFi service increases, spreading the investment cost.

The Guest Internet WiFi controller is the central part of the Internet service installation

The Guest internet WiFi controller is an essential part of the marina WiFi system and it has five important tasks.

• Share access to one or more Internet connections, as described in the previous section.
• Connect to one or more wireless access points and monitor the health of each wireless access point, alerting any failure.
• Ensure that each boat crew gets a great WiFi service with algorithms that ensure a fair share of the available bandwidth.
• Protect the business from misuse of the WiFi service by anyone with criminal intent that might use the WiFi to steal information or money from the marina.
• Protect the business from illegal use of the WiFi service when copyright protected information is shared or when users are connecting with illegal websites. The marina is responsible for any illegal use of the Internet connection by the customers.

The diagram shows how a marina WiFi system may be configured with up to four Starlink antennas and with multiple wireless access points using the Guest Internet GIS-R40.

WiFi controllers manufactured by Guest Internet have fifteen features that are essential to meet the requirements of a great guest WiFi service for boat owners combined with protection of the marina business. The GIS-R40 shown in the diagram is the Guest Internet controller that can connect 4 ISP circuits such as four Starlink antennas. Other controllers can connect either one such as the GIS-R2, GIS-R4, or two ISP circuits such as GIS-R6, GIS-R10 and GIS-R20.

The 15 essential features are listed below.

1. Limit the access to the Internet service by giving customers an access code. When the WiFi has open access then many more people will connect and slow the service for everyone.
2. The available bandwidth is shared by setting data speed limits for each customer, if this is not done then one user can slow the Internet for everyone, or many people will cause network congestion
3. Optionally set data limits for guests, this is essential when the ISP charges for data use, or else charge customers for additional data use.
4. Prevent abuse of the Internet service as the business will be responsible for copyrighted file sharing or access to illegal websites, the Guest Internet controllers block protocols like Torrent, and can block websites and website categories that are a risk for the business.
5. Increase the Internet speed by adding more ISP connections, dual WAN with load balance and fail-over.
6. Block customers' computers that have viruses, such as DDoS, that will slow the network data speed for everyone.
7. Protect the business computers and point of sale (PoS) with a PCI DSS compliant firewall, prevent access to the business computers from the public WiFi.
8. Brand the customer WiFi login experience and advertise additional services that the marina provides for customers.
9. Monitor the WiFi service for failure, get an immediate alert if any problem occurs so that a repair can be made quickly.
10. Guest Internet provides a free cloud management service with information and reports about the service use, the cloud can be accessed from any location.
11. Optionally charge for the WiFi service, there are alternative methods with Guest Internet controllers.
1. Charge for all Internet services with the options of on-line credit card payment or the Guest Internet point of sale at the reception desk.
2. Two-tier charge, provide a slower speed free service and charge for a high-speed data service with a purchase on-line.
3. Time limited access, where the customer has a limited time free access, say 15 minutes, within a 24-hour period, and after the free period expires purchase access at hourly rates, this method is very popular with some customers.
12. Have a dual use WiFi network that is accessed by both customers and staff, the customers and staff are isolated with a VLAN; this will reduce the cost of the network installation.
13. Allow selected website access before login, for example the marina can allow free access for anyone to open a weather information website without login.
14. Auto login of a device using the device MAC address, this is required when the marina has devices that will be connected to the WiFi service, for example TV’s.
15. Where possible integrate the customer WiFi with the business management systems for ease of use. Guest Internet provides Application Program Interfaces (API’s) for integration with billing and reservation systems.

Planning WiFi coverage of the marina dock area

Each marina has unique requirements and the installation of the WiFi wireless access points is determined by many factors. A marina owner who wishes to install a WiFi Internet service for boat owners should call a specialist to prepare a site survey. There are a few rules to follow when planning a WiFi installation in a marina.

• Select the correct type of antenna for the wireless access point. If the wireless access point is located in the middle of the marina then install an omni-directional antenna, such as Omni-WiFi antenna. If the wireless access point is installed at the side or corner of the marina then install a directional antenna.
• Install the WiFi antenna at a high point whenever possible so that the signal can be pointed down at the boats. When a small boat is behind a big boat then it will be the shadow of the big boat and the WiFi signal will be blocked. When the antenna is at a high point then all boats have visibility of the WiFi antenna.

The figure illustrates an ideal installation of WiFi Internet for a marina. The wireless access point is located on a building roof with a directional antenna that is pointing down onto the boats.

Final notes about a marina WiFi Internet installation

Most marina use is seasonal, busy during summer and little business in the winter. It is desirable to have a flexible Internet provider that allows costs to be adjusted according to the seasonal demand. Starlink is excellent in this respect. Each antenna account can be suspended for a period of time if desired which reduces operating costs. The network installation example shown in this article offers this flexibility; have 4 Starlink antennas active during the busy season and then reduce the subscription plans down to one antenna in the quiet season.

For any reader who wishes to discuss a marina project we can help and share our experience of marina installation design.

For more information, please get in touch with us:
info@wispzone.com