Folks, here’s something I was forced to consider. I’ve been answering this question, almost this exact question, for over 35 years. I was recently reminded of a time when someone asked me all the way back in the 1980s if it was possible to send your cable TV to the second floor wirelessly. Sadly, it wasn’t possible then. In truth, it’s really not possible now, at least on a boat. There are some solutions today that work in specific cases, but chances are marine isn’t one of those cases.
Why wireless transmission doesn’t work
The first thing you need to know is that obviously it’s possible to send large volumes of data wirelessly. You do it all the time with Wi-Fi. But it’s not possible to do it with TV. It’s almost like the powers that be have thought of every possible way to do it and found ways for them not to work on your boat.
Just plain wireless transmission doesn’t work
It’s not legal to rebroadcast TV signals in the same frequency range they are normally in. It’s against the law in pretty much every country which has laws about this stuff. Rebroadcasting is also internationally illegal, thanks to agreements between countries. If everyone could rebroadcast using regular TV frequencies, it would be mass chaos and no one would be able to receive anything over the air. It’s just not done.
Translating to Wi-Fi doesn’t work
Back in the 20th century you might remember a device called an “RF Modulator” which let you move TV signals from room to room over a cable. Today, these things are incredibly expensive due to licensing and copyright protection that’s built into TV signals. However, with enough money it’s possible to have modulators that send signals over IP networks. Theoretically it might even be possible to translate that IP data to Wi-Fi. I can’t see why it wouldn’t be. However, in practice it’s just so costly that it’s not likely to be doable.
Wireless HDMI doesn’t really work, especially on boats
You might see some devices called Wireless HDMI adapters on some of the other sites. They will work on unencrypted signals over fairly short range. However, all satellite data is encrypted and so unless you’re prepared to dip into the hacking world to remove that encryption, they won’t work for satellite. Not only that, but those devices don’t work well at all on boats. There’s too much material in the walls to block signals.
Here’s the option that does work
It may not be what you want to hear, but the best way to get satellite TV throughout your boat is to wire it as it’s supposed to be wired. There are no shortcuts here, unfortunately. There’s no reliable way to bypass the need for a cable that goes into each cabin. With DIRECTV and DISH, you can generally use inexpensive splitters to avoid running wire from every cabin back to one closet. But you won’t be able to get away without running that one wire.
Our marine team has better news, though
There are a lot of options for entertainment on your boat. There are more options now than ever before. And, there’s one place you’re going to find the experts who can talk about them. Signal Connect has done more marine tech activations than anyone else in the world! Call the experts at 888-233-7563 during East Coast business hours. They’ll put their decades of experience to work making sure you’ve got the entertainment and communication you need. We’re ready to help! Call now, or if it’s after business hours fill out the form below. We’ll get right back to you!
