The historic wreck of the SS Pacific, a sidewheel passenger steamship that went down in a storm off the Washington state coast in 1875, was recently located. Aboard the 70’ research vessel Sea Blazer, used to find the wreck, we relied primarily on scanty cellular reception before Starlink internet connectivity for boats became available. On individual handsets cellular signal in the vicinity of the wreck is erratic. Coverage becomes more consistent when using either a cell carrier’s portable hotspot or Wave WiFi’s MBR 550 or MNC1250 wireless routers connected to an external cellular antenna. Even with this equipment, cell service is sporadic around our search area, especially during times of poor propagation.
Arnie Hammerman explains how using Wave WiFi’s products combined with Starlink helped make communications a better user experience for those aboard the research vessel.
