Glomex Webboat 4g lite

[girlofwight]

Good evening, I have a Glomex Webboat 4g lite, around a year old, mounted on radar mast of 42’ mobo.

All running well until about six weeks ago, when the Wi-Fi Access point / hotspot functionality tripped up. I now struggle to get any device to connect to the Wi-Fi on a stable basis - most of the time will not connect at all, sometimes connects but without an internet connection.

I’ve tried the obvious like restarts, power off, etc. Nothing obvious configuration wise in the admittedly simple Glomex app.

I have some cameras hard wired in via Ethernet, and they are working fine, which proves the inward connection to the Glomex is fine, this is via 4g.

So my questions:


1 - I think I have previously seen on here, but cannot now find, a breakdown of what’s “inside the dome” on a component basis. I’m trying to identify what’s gone wrong. Can anyone point me to this?

2 - not sure if the Wi-Fi access point is provided from the router or a separate bit of kit within the dome?

3 - I’ve seen mention of another option for configuring the router via a more sophisticated manufacturers interface rather than via Glomex. Can anyone point me to this?

I‘ve both a good marine electrician and a good IT techie, but this falls between them and I’m trying to do some leg work to bridge the gap.

Thanks in anticipation

 

[KompetentKrew]

Consider the possibility that someone in radio range may have bought themselves a new access point which is causing interference.

I have a cheap AP which I've had for over a year now, and it alternates from week to week between extremes of reliability and unreliability - interference from other wifi networks is the only conclusion I can come to.

During the first lockdown I was the only person in the marina and it worked flawlessly for weeks. I was in France, and they took the lockdown really seriously at first - I didn't even see any marina employees for the first week; there were no houses or other businesses nearby. On other occasions, in busier marinas when my router is being unreliable all day, it is often fine in the early hours of the morning.

It looks like Glomex may have different generations of the Webboat 4g Lite, as searching it shows two different styles of white housing, so I am strongly inclined to suspect that it's ether a rebadged OEM unit or that Glomex have put together some off-the-shelf components and stuck them in a dome.

Regarding your third question, if you can determine the router's LAN IP address, try pointing your web-browser at it - e.g. http://192.168.0.1
It could be any address in the 10.x.y.z or 192.168.x.y ranges.

It looks like the Glomex has a wired ethernet option - if you can run a cable down the mast then you could locate a wifi AP in the salon. It is incredibly frustrating to experience connection difficulties to an AP less than a boatlength away, but I have experienced this with my AP.

 

[girlofwight]

@KompetantCrew - thank you, all things I had considered, and I was teeing things up for an additional cable into boat and AP as you suggested - may still do that.

However I bit the bullet and did a factory reset as a last option this morning, and it was transformational. I was nervous as I wasn’t sure how easy it would be to renter pairing information to the Glomex app, but it was almost a breeze, and everything is now back with steady fast Wi-Fi. Good result, as I can now control temperature monitor and heating during the cold snap - in the last cold snap I had some systems freeze with attendant hassle.