We work on an offshore construction platform that is often far out at sea. We are on stand-by at an anchorage about 21 nautical miles offshore. We cannot actually see the shore but we can pick up a 4G signal, although it is very weak.

Because the signal is so weak, OutdoorRouter recommended the directional antenna to get the most out of the signals. But our ship swings around its anchor, so the direction of the shore changes all the time. That’s why we chose to get four directional antennas and point towards different directions. One facing to the bow, another one to the stern, the third one to the port side and final one to the starboard side. There will always be one or two antennas facing the shore in this way of installation.

The four antennas are connected to two routers. One of the routers serves as a Wi-Fi hotspot and is connected by a LAN cable to the second router. The routers are configured to share the traffic load across the two routers and antennas attached to it.

Setting up the two routers individually was very easy but configuring them as described above proved to be a challenge for us. Luckily OutdoorRouter was very determined to help us. First, they wrote detailed instructions, but even with those instructions, we could not get it working ourselves. Then we scheduled a Remote Service appointment. Astor took the time to set up the connection between the two routers, setting up the load balancing and testing all connections. Very interesting also to watch him work.

We are very happy with our 4G connection, which is about 10x faster than our satellite internet connection! Great support from OutdoorRouter and they already offered to help us in the future if we want to expand further and improve our network.

Especially during this COVID pandemic, we make even longer trips than usual due to the travel restrictions and quarantine requirements in many countries. Being able to make a video call to our families at home really makes a difference.

Thanks Outdoor Router, for your great product and excellent service!