Boat wifi router

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Bi111ion

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What wifi routers do people use on their boat? I have these features on my wish list
1) I want my Yakker NMEA to wifi bridge to broadcast via it. So phones and tablets connect to this one wifi ap (and dont just switch to yakker it when at sea)
2) Has a usb port that can handle a 3G dongle or usb Ethernet tethering to a phone for inshore sailing with a phone signal
3) I can connect to marina wifi ( Maybe with higher antenna) and other boat devices can use marina wifi via router... hopefully to circumvent the restriction that only one or two devices can connect. I know this is harder.
I expect I will also run some IP cameras (or old phones repurposed as Wifi cameras!) For example as a repeater for my older radar to the cockpit. But If everything else is working that is just an issue of the router's security not blocking such things (eg my home TalkTalk router does)

I know it has been discussed before but routers keep improving! I would rather it just did these things without having to install OpenSource router software like OpenWrt

If people do have experience I would be interested to know if the routers that are nominally 12v supply can handle the 11-14v they might get on a boat domestic supply or if they need a DC-DC converter taht delivers a consistent 12v.
 
Take a look at Panbo.com they’ve just reviewed a small router that I think probably ticks most of your boxes.
 
We used a standard netgear wired and wireless router /hub, run easily of 12v dc and 3G usb dongle plugged in, most netgear hubs I’ve used have the option to run off dongle or wired ADSL
 
GL.iNET GL-AR300M with a Ubiquiti Bullet on the WAN port to get the Marina/Taverna wifi. USB hub with a bunch of serial-USB converters to get the NMEA data from the boat. OpenWRT with kplex to distribute the data around. Can also put a 4G dongle (USB) on to get mobile data when Wifi isn't available.

Been using this for a few years now and fitted it on two boats other than our own. A few pitfalls, if you use the 4G dongle, you need a separately (and sufficiently) powered USB hub, which can be hard to find as many USB implementations in practice are as dysfunctional as the British government. Installing kplex was non-trivial the first time, but I think there is a package in the OpenWRT repository by now or something. The router can get a bit warm and only has passive cooling, so don't stuff it in a poorly ventilated corner - the rear ventilation holes must not be blocked. With that, it works fine even in Greek summer heat (unlike the fridge).

There may by now be better solutions for the external Wifi than the Ubiquiti Bullet - specifically ones that do 2.4 and 5 GHz in one unit.
 
Yngmar said:
GL.iNET GL-AR300M with a Ubiquiti Bullet on the WAN port to get the Marina/Taverna wifi. USB hub with a bunch of serial-USB converters to get the NMEA data from the boat. OpenWRT with kplex to distribute the data around. Can also put a 4G dongle (USB) on to get mobile data when Wifi isn't available.

Been using this for a few years now and fitted it on two boats other than our own. A few pitfalls, if you use the 4G dongle, you need a separately (and sufficiently) powered USB hub, which can be hard to find as many USB implementations in practice are as dysfunctional as the British government. Installing kplex was non-trivial the first time, but I think there is a package in the OpenWRT repository by now or something. The router can get a bit warm and only has passive cooling, so don't stuff it in a poorly ventilated corner - the rear ventilation holes must not be blocked. With that, it works fine even in Greek summer heat (unlike the fridge).

There may by now be better solutions for the external Wifi than the Ubiquiti Bullet - specifically ones that do 2.4 and 5 GHz in one unit.
Click to expand...
If you were to go this route, take a look at ROOter which is an OpenWRT variant explicitly built for modems having support for 3g/4g and gaining experience with 5g. I've been using it for 5-6 years now and find it maximises the performance of your modem where the native code often limits that to PPP protocol speeds . I'm using ROOter now with a Cat6 modem on O2 getting consistently > 20Mbps up & down
 
Yngmar said:
GL.iNET GL-AR300M with a Ubiquiti Bullet on the WAN port to get the Marina/Taverna wifi. USB hub with a bunch of serial-USB converters to get the NMEA data from the boat. OpenWRT with kplex to distribute the data around. Can also put a 4G dongle (USB) on to get mobile data when Wifi isn't available.

Been using this for a few years now and fitted it on two boats other than our own. A few pitfalls, if you use the 4G dongle, you need a separately (and sufficiently) powered USB hub, which can be hard to find as many USB implementations in practice are as dysfunctional as the British government. Installing kplex was non-trivial the first time, but I think there is a package in the OpenWRT repository by now or something. The router can get a bit warm and only has passive cooling, so don't stuff it in a poorly ventilated corner - the rear ventilation holes must not be blocked. With that, it works fine even in Greek summer heat (unlike the fridge).

There may by now be better solutions for the external Wifi than the Ubiquiti Bullet - specifically ones that do 2.4 and 5 GHz in one unit.
Click to expand...

I had a Bullet but it failed very early (the reset button) and I just gave up. It seems that it is not the most reliable bits of equipment. I'd like to know if there are better options to rethink whether I want that approach. What changed things for me was mobile roaming charges being removed - getting wifi was not so important.
 
Bi111ion said:
Thanks. I think this is the link you mean GL.iNet AR750 travel router, a low-cost boat router option - Panbo and this is the router they review GL-AR750S / Slate the " GL-AR750S ..iNet Slate"

It supports USB tethering and USB 4G dongles etc. The page on Ali Express has more technical details: Link
Click to expand...
Its also USB powered so no worries about 12v variability, use one of those cigarette lighter adapters. I have the earlier AR750 (no S) as the onboard router running ROOter as posted in #5.

One thing to be aware of with USB modems is that they may demand more power than the router port can supply, especially when connecting. So use good quality USB cables, 24/28, and a twin outlet power source with a Y cable supplying separate power to the modem.

Or use a MiFi, but you're then stuck with how good or bad the manufacturers firmware is and that is rarely updated
 
Last edited:
GHA said:
Raspberry pi can do all that and *so* much more.
Click to expand...
You might be surprised to learn OpenWRT supports over 3500 optional packages. Basically people treat routers compatible with OpenWRT as small project computers like an Rpi. Just without such extensible hardware, and it shares a common ancestry with more general embedded Linux systems. So yes an RPi could run open plotter and work as an NMEA to wifi gateway and an NMEA splitter as well as being a router... but you could also do some some of that in a router.
 
Bi111ion said:
You might be surprised to learn OpenWRT supports over 3500 optional packages. Basically people treat routers compatible with OpenWRT as small project computers like an Rpi. Just without such extensible hardware, and it shares a common ancestry with more general embedded Linux systems. So yes an RPi could run open plotter and work as an NMEA to wifi gateway and an NMEA splitter as well as being a router... but you could also do some some of that in a router.
Click to expand...
Will openWRT run signalk? Seems pointless to bother if it can't..
 
Actually, in a way Vyacht has already done everything I wanted and more and sell a router preinstalled with OpenWRT and builtin in NMEA Seatalk SignalK multiplexers

NMEA Wifi

Hats of to Swedish person behind that project!

And not too expensive either.
 
laika said:
Shockingly it seems that not everyone wants a time series database of their fridge temperatures :)
Click to expand...
Misguided fools! :)
Though bet you can't think of anything realistic you'd ever want to do with boat data which signalk can't do :)
Has a WRT box got gpio pins for i2c & 1wire sensors Which are dead handy and dead cheap, though not hard to send over wifi with an ESP.
 
GHA said:
Looks like a box using signalk to do all the work, so signalk does run on openwrt then :cool:
Click to expand...
If signalk has source files available then getting it to work on most *IX platforms is a compilation away. Just as we did with kplex to get it running on routers a few years ago
 
I actually ordered a GL-AR750S, I think perhaps I should have just got an RPi a while ago, and let that also be the router if it was up to it. I already have a tiny motherboard PC with SSD running linux at the chart table that runs OpenCPN, I like that it also runs Airmail nicely (under wine) and there is not yet an opensource interface to Pactor, WinLink and Sailmail, so it needs an Intel compatible machine to run the windows binary as far as I understand. So I was reluctant to switch to OpenPlotter and a ARM based navigation computer.

I also still like redundancy. Perhaps this is a bit old fashioned but if the router, the NMEA to Wifi bridge and the chartplotter are separate devices I have more fall back option. The NMEA to wifi bridge can fall back to being a little access point itself, and an android tablet can access it, and so on. It uses more power surely to be running more embedded contrrollers but on the other hand they can be turned off if not all needed? And probably all the instruments have embedded controllers right? We even have a Pic processor that just acts as an autopilot remote control (sends autopilot on and off commands over seatalk bus).
 
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