Internet on a Boat: How We Get Wi-Fi While Living on a Catamaran

One of the most common questions we get about living on a boat is simple:

“How do you get internet?”

On land the answer is easy.
You install fiber or NBN.

But out on the water there are no cables.

So most liveaboards rely on mobile networks.

Our setup is simple.

We use a smartphone hotspot to create Wi-Fi for the whole boat.

Phones, laptops and tablets all connect through it.

Because of this our data usage is quite high.

Our family uses around 400GB per month.

Everything runs through mobile data:

Location also matters.

We live in the Gold Coast Broadwater, where the mobile signal is surprisingly strong.

Speed tests here often reach 130 Mbps, which is comparable to many home connections.

However, not every anchorage has signal.

For example Jumpinpin is almost completely out of coverage.

But since we usually stay there only for a day or two, we simply disconnect.

That is part of life on the water.

Electricity, water and internet are all limited resources.

Instead of trying to control everything, you learn to work around the limits.