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View Full Version : Mac boats-wifi and beyond FYI



seabird51
12-30-2007, 02:44 PM
I posted the following on the Mac Sailing forum and bring it here for anyone who may be struggling with or considering Mac system aboard:).

www.macsailing.net/bbs/

"In all fairness to Quickertek, my Quicky has done very well after the initial send-back and repair. I have used it at Shelter Island in San Diego and marinas in Cabo San Lucas and La Paz as well as anchored way out at Muertos, BCS. The connection has been as fast as my Comcast at home. I usually put it into a baggy, drape over the boom and forget it. Also it does not mind sharing a usb 4-port pigtail with the printer, AIS and GPS. All work well simultaneously.
One little querk - If you disconnect the usb cable with the driver on, it will crash the computer. However if you quit the Quicky driver first it is ok to disconnect. If it is not picking up wifi stations then start the driver and then connect usb cable and it works fine.
BTW - If you are using Iridium data for offshore email let me tell you about MaxGate from Global Marine (GMN). The company was started by a genius named Luis Soltero with X-Gate compression and email management software that simplifies the interface between ps's and Iridium. The now have the same software (MaxGate) for us Mac users. It is definitely my best buy of the year because it saves gobs of airtime with email and esp gribs versus the basic Iridium data interface. User support is on a par with GPSNavX, but I suspect that Luis does not stay up as late as Rich. Even still, got a problem you talk to Luis! Maxgate does prefer its own private usb port.
By changing the location under the Apple menu I can easily flip between wifi and MaxGate."