Adding Picostation to Bullet M2HP

dgadee

dgadee

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I set up a Bullet M2HP for wifi access from an onboard PC, but have decided to add boat wifi, too, so a Picostation has just arrived in the post. Unfortunately, the email from the person who gave me a link to his friend's web site with the settings for this installation seems to have vanished into the ether. Can anyone point me in the direction of the required settings? They were substantially different from the ones I used with just the Bullet.

Also, any idea of a decent intro (book or site) to networking?
 
dgadee said:
I set up a Bullet M2HP for wifi access from an onboard PC, but have decided to add boat wifi, too, so a Picostation has just arrived in the post. Unfortunately, the email from the person who gave me a link to his friend's web site with the settings for this installation seems to have vanished into the ether. Can anyone point me in the direction of the required settings? They were substantially different from the ones I used with just the Bullet.

Also, any idea of a decent intro (book or site) to networking?
Click to expand...

What are you intending to connect the Pico too - do you have a router on board?

I used to use a Pico m2hp connected to the wan port on a domestic Tp link wireless router powered from the 12v ship supply, to pickup the shore wifi.

This works fine - the router's wifi is more than powerful to provide boat-wide internet.

If you use a router you can also plug in additional devices such as an IP camera ( - mounted on the pulpit or mast so you can keep a watch whilst down below) or a Nmea to ethernet adaptor to send nmea data to any wifi laptop/tablet/ipad. see http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?417332-Cheap-diy-nmea-to-wifi-adaptor-tested-and-working
 
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The instructions which I have lost the link to were to use the Bullet to access onshore wifi, and the Picostation to give onboard wifi to iPads, phones etc.

If I got that working I would maybe think about adding a router but - at present - I am having enough difficulty in working out what to do with the picostation.
 
dgadee said:
The instructions which I have lost the link to were to use the Bullet to access onshore wifi, and the Picostation to give onboard wifi to iPads, phones etc.

If I got that working I would maybe think about adding a router but - at present - I am having enough difficulty in working out what to do with the picostation.
Click to expand...

So at the moment the Bullet is plugged into a laptop?

Here is info on what you have and a couple of pdf's. You need to connect the Bullet and Pico together using the poe injector shown = which you might not have.

http://www.wifigear.co.uk/complete-wireless-kit-for-boats
 
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It would have been cheaper to just use a wifi router instead of the Pico. Just connect the Bullet to the routers wan port and that's it.
(A TP Link wifi router is £20 from Amazon and nothing else is needed.
 
ianj99 said:
It would have been cheaper to just use a wifi router instead of the Pico. Just connect the Bullet to the routers wan port and that's it.
(A TP Link wifi router is £20 from Amazon and nothing else is needed.
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Yes, but what is cost when you are a boat owner?

I have just found this - http://mvvikingstar.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/wifi-repeater-for-boat-update.html - and it may be that there was another cheaper way to do it using a less expensive item than the picostation. However, when you are a network idiot like me, following instructions is the best approach. Unfortunately I lost my instructions.
 
ianj99 said:
So at the moment the Bullet is plugged into a laptop?

Here is info on what you have and a couple of pdf's. You need to connect the Bullet and Pico together using the poe injector shown = which you might not have.

http://www.wifigear.co.uk/complete-wireless-kit-for-boats
Click to expand...


Thanks - this looks fine. Yes, I have two POEs and 24v regulated supply, so the hardware is available. The knowledge might be in these pdfs.
 
The page at http://mvvikingstar.blogspot.co.uk/2...at-update.html contains everything you need to set up the Bullet and the Picostation (or AirGateway - cheaper at £19.50). The system should operate by just connecting power (via an ethernet cable) and you should be able to see the Picostation's wireless ID from a PC or phone. Unfortunately I seem to have been sent a non operatable device (no lights, no SSID ...) so it'll have to go back to the vendor.

I was sold the idea of this system by someone up in Lochinver who said that he was getting good wireless reception throughout the north west with it. It seems that BT wifi home networks also operate as connectable wifi nodes (I may be wrong about this - correct me if I am) so that wherever there was a house with BT wifi there was an a means to get a wireless connection, since the Bullet has a very good range.
 
dgadee said:
The page at http://mvvikingstar.blogspot.co.uk/2...at-update.html contains everything you need to set up the Bullet and the Picostation (or AirGateway - cheaper at £19.50). The system should operate by just connecting power (via an ethernet cable) and you should be able to see the Picostation's wireless ID from a PC or phone. Unfortunately I seem to have been sent a non operatable device (no lights, no SSID ...) so it'll have to go back to the vendor.

I was sold the idea of this system by someone up in Lochinver who said that he was getting good wireless reception throughout the north west with it. It seems that BT wifi home networks also operate as connectable wifi nodes (I may be wrong about this - correct me if I am) so that wherever there was a house with BT wifi there was an a means to get a wireless connection, since the Bullet has a very good range.
Click to expand...

Are you saying the Pico does not work when connected through its poe adaptor? You need to connect the lan sockets on the two poe's with a cable (possibly a crossover cable), once you have set it up.

The idea is fine, the mistake in my view was to buy the pico instead of a domestic wifi router (cable type) but don't forget that although the Bullet has a high power, the wifi router on shore probably won't have so the results may not be good depending on the signal strength.

BT wifi routers do offer public wifi access from many domestic routers provided the owner consents, and the speed is also limited so it does not impact upon the owners broadband experience. (On the West Coast, broadband speeds are often poor anyway.) (it was called Bt Fon and you needed to pay fee to use it, which varied on the duration)
In fact there was a story recently, that if BT take over O2, they will switch from using the Cell phone network to their wifi network for mobile internet.
 
ianj99 said:
Are you saying the Pico does not work when connected through its poe adaptor? You need to connect the lan sockets on the two poe's with a cable (possibly a crossover cable), once you have set it up.

The idea is fine, the mistake in my view was to buy the pico instead of a domestic wifi router (cable type) but don't forget that although the Bullet has a high power, the wifi router on shore probably won't have so the results may not be good depending on the signal strength.

BT wifi routers do offer public wifi access from many domestic routers provided the owner consents, and the speed is also limited so it does not impact upon the owners broadband experience. (On the West Coast, broadband speeds are often poor anyway.) (it was called Bt Fon and you needed to pay fee to use it, which varied on the duration)
In fact there was a story recently, that if BT take over O2, they will switch from using the Cell phone network to their wifi network for mobile internet.
Click to expand...

Yes, pico device doesn't operate from any of the three POEs I have connected it up to.

I wouldn't have known how to set up a domestic router. If I had found detailed descriptions of how to do it, I might have tried that route. Having found that website, I would now have used the cheaper AirGateway. But I have the Picostation and it is supposed to be good for 100 metres.

Yes, BT fon was what I was thinking of.

Thanks for the all the information.
 
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