mark1882
Well-Known Member
Hi, sorry meant to reply earlier my boat is currently in Chichester
Mark
Mark
Wifi Bat and Mailasail Red Box v Digital Yacht equipment
- Thread starter mark1882
- Start date
MBullock
Active Member
I've lot confidence in magazine reviews. They seem to lack detail, and are rarely based upon real life or represent anything other than the people who advertise with them!
Anyhow, we have a Rogue wave, see wavewifi.com. It's been mounted externally for two or three seasons in Scotland now without any issues. I try to seal the connections using self amalgamating tape but other than that it's fine. They do one with a SS base which is probably better. It uses Ethernet not usb which is what I wanted for a couple of reasons. The cable from the antenna to the pc or router can be a lot longer, and I wanted a router onboard. My current setup has a domestic router connected to the antenna that any device can connect to. It's not fool proof but it works for us. The wave wifi ui is nice, but it's far from cheap.
A friend recently fitted the digital pic stuff and I don't like it. Overly complicated to install (I've worked 20+ yrs in enterprise it so I know how this stuff works!), and the ui for finding sites to connect to wasn't pretty.
I've not seen the mailasail stuff in the flesh but I'm not a fan. Expensive, and other thoughts I'll keep to myself.
I'm currently using an unlocked mifi on a virgin payg sim to connect my boat to the Internet as she's on the hard and away from wifi signal plus i want reliability whilst I'm not there (I can check onboard power, temperature, power consumption etc. from the Internet). I'm getting 1gb for £10 mth, and three do unlimited 4g for 20/mth in the uk, seems there are good deals locally in country in Europe and shortly uk providers will have to give euro wide coverage for no premium.
If i were to change I would look at the latest range of combined wifi/3G/4g kit. For example http://www.thewirie.com/ seems designed by cruisers for cruisers. There are others coming, I think wave wifi have one and Glomex have just brought one out http://www.glomex.it/webboat/eng/it1004.php. There were all announced this year. No doubt [insert name of companies that rebadge and add margin] will rebadge one and put on some margin!
Anyhow, we have a Rogue wave, see wavewifi.com. It's been mounted externally for two or three seasons in Scotland now without any issues. I try to seal the connections using self amalgamating tape but other than that it's fine. They do one with a SS base which is probably better. It uses Ethernet not usb which is what I wanted for a couple of reasons. The cable from the antenna to the pc or router can be a lot longer, and I wanted a router onboard. My current setup has a domestic router connected to the antenna that any device can connect to. It's not fool proof but it works for us. The wave wifi ui is nice, but it's far from cheap.
A friend recently fitted the digital pic stuff and I don't like it. Overly complicated to install (I've worked 20+ yrs in enterprise it so I know how this stuff works!), and the ui for finding sites to connect to wasn't pretty.
I've not seen the mailasail stuff in the flesh but I'm not a fan. Expensive, and other thoughts I'll keep to myself.
I'm currently using an unlocked mifi on a virgin payg sim to connect my boat to the Internet as she's on the hard and away from wifi signal plus i want reliability whilst I'm not there (I can check onboard power, temperature, power consumption etc. from the Internet). I'm getting 1gb for £10 mth, and three do unlimited 4g for 20/mth in the uk, seems there are good deals locally in country in Europe and shortly uk providers will have to give euro wide coverage for no premium.
If i were to change I would look at the latest range of combined wifi/3G/4g kit. For example http://www.thewirie.com/ seems designed by cruisers for cruisers. There are others coming, I think wave wifi have one and Glomex have just brought one out http://www.glomex.it/webboat/eng/it1004.php. There were all announced this year. No doubt [insert name of companies that rebadge and add margin] will rebadge one and put on some margin!
mark1882
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the info and links but I cant find any prices for the Glomex one, any ideas how much it costs or where I can find the cost.
Mark
Mark
MBullock
Active Member
Sorry I don't Mark. It's new but I guess anyone selling Glomex could get one. I think a friend mentioned 1000euro so it may be very expensive! I got some of these new products from the comments in this blog post so it might be worth a read http://www.victronenergy.com/blog/2014/03/09/off-grid-color-control-gx-to-vrm-portal-connectivity/ . I have the ccgx connected to my victron stuff as of this week and it's brilliant to watch your energy usage remotely. The display is also very useful / cool aboard. Of course you need a boat full of victron stuff first!
RobbieW
Well-Known Member
As I've found in upgrading my setup this year, not all 4G is equal. Although the WiriePro talks about 4G capability, the detail says it its only capable of HSPA, 21 Mbps, performance when 4G can be capable of up to 150Mbps. The MR3020 or WR703N I mentioned earlier is, in combination with a dongle, a MiFi - though with the extra capability of an ethernet port to give it more connectivity options. In choosing a 4G dongle I found a multiplicity of bands, 4G seems to have twice as many bands as 2G/3G. To get flexibility, the device needs to match the area visited - much as tri & quad band 3G phones did - so careful research is necessary. I ended up with a Huawei E3276-150 which seemed to support a wide range of bands as well as being supported by the software running on the device it connects to.
That niggle aside the Wirie looks to be, along with RogueWave, among the better designed bits of kit for our sort of use. As MBullock observed, one of the detail points is the user interface to select available services which can be difficult to use in its raw form, ie. that installed by the original manufacturer(s). On the basis of some research (though not personal use) I believe what RogueWave, and probably Wirie, do as resellers is add some bespoke software to tidy up some of the rough edges - and this is reflected in the prices asked as the solutions are more than simply a bundle of disparate parts in a fancy box.
MBullock
Active Member
Excellent point! I've not researched dongles recently but US 4G is different (just look at how many IPhone types Apple ship) and a device from the US may not be totally compatible... it may however be possible to replace a bit on something like Wirie. As I said I've had the Rogue Wave for a while and it's a doddle to use. Also, with it being Ethernet (with PoE) I could (but dont) hike it up the mast on a Halyard if I really wanted a better signal. It's noticeable how much better the reception gets with height. Another thought I've had is to replace their antenna as the ones quoted in this thread are certainly bigger. I find we need a reasonable signal for it to work, I'm not sure what that means in Db as the Wave hides all that, so what I know if that I need at least green lights and not red!
I am sure that this is an area that will get a lot of development of the next couple of years. I would wait around a bit now or cheap DIY for something that does both WIFI and fallback/forward with 3/4 G mobile. Ultimately I think it will go mobile. I have a friend who runs his IT business from home in London using 4G - there is a dedicated service operating there now!
RobbieW
Well-Known Member
A Bullet M2HP (I think thats whats in the Wave) + antenna at c. £85 + MR3020 at c.£20 using stock TP Link firmware + 3/4G dongle will do exactly that with failover whichever way you want. Downside is that you'd have to configure it yourself and put up with disparate user interfaces. I think one of the Alfa setups can also connect both 3/4G and Wifi with failover but cant remember which - at least there its just one supplier!
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MBullock
Active Member
Spot on! Just done a search and found http://dl.ubnt.com/datasheets/bulletm/bm_ds_web.pdf which is definitely the device I have. I bought my Wave in the US at a boat show I happened to be at, and (I think) it was early days of this stuff, at least I'd not researched it properly! Since them I'm come across the bullet a few times and this seems to be the unit most build upon. As I've said (and it's personal choice) I much prefer the Ethernet based devices over USB but the pdf above describes the model I have which is Ethernet based. If the software shown on the PDF is onboard then it looks easy to use too. Bugger - feel more research and some more Amazon parcels arriving! cheers
laika
Well-Known Member
The bullet seemed to be weapon of choice when anyone asked for a recommendation on cruisersforum but rarely seems mentioned on ybw. I got invited on a new Allures last summer and the factory installed set-up there included a bullet and a TP-Link router (and some gofree stuff with a rather questionable topology, but that's a little off topic). It's probably my primary candidate if I were to go for something rail mounted: I've no problem cutting the end off a bit of UTP and re-crimping after feeding through the deck and conduit to the saloon/chart table but as per my earlier post I'd be less keen to attempt that with USB.
As a side issue...anyone wanting to use OpenCPN's radar plugins on a wireless-connected laptop should probably consider the capabilities of their internal access point, but maybe I should start another thread on the PBO forum about that...
As a side issue...anyone wanting to use OpenCPN's radar plugins on a wireless-connected laptop should probably consider the capabilities of their internal access point, but maybe I should start another thread on the PBO forum about that...
Drews
Active Member
I've been using Digital yacht WL510 along with the Inavhub for the last 16 months.
Very well designed and built equipment, interface is extremely user friendly.
Very well designed and built equipment, interface is extremely user friendly.
MBullock
Active Member
Yep, I've got bits of sliced Cat5 all over (for this and NMEA, plus whatever Raymarine's HSB protocol is called these days) with no issues.
Looking a bit more, the DLINK router seems nice and is very cheap right now - but it only has one ethernet so it wouldn't work for me, the R36 seems better but more expensive. Ideally, having thought briefly about it, i'd want remote access to the router from the internet (they all seem to support DDNS), some sort of port forwarding as I've got two devices I'd like to SSH to onboard, and a Wan and LAN port so I can bring in the 'bullet' and route out to my wired devices, plus offer WIFI to the boat. I can sort of do all this now with my lash up but no fall fwd/back.
Folks with R36 which dongle(s) are you using, are they 4G and unlocked and do they offer any remote management? Now sure how that would work, I assume the Internet IP comes from the mobile provider, so to remote access the dongle would have to provide DDNS, then port forwarding? So port forwarding set on both the router for WIFI, and the dongle for 3/4G ?? thanks
Garry & June 'Friendship'
Well-Known Member
Glomex Webboat
The Glomex is indeed very pricey... it can be purchased from 'WWW.MARATHONLEISURE.CO.UK for the sum of £799, it is also 10" x 12" so I would suggest only suitable for large boats (and large wallets)
The Glomex is indeed very pricey... it can be purchased from 'WWW.MARATHONLEISURE.CO.UK for the sum of £799, it is also 10" x 12" so I would suggest only suitable for large boats (and large wallets)
Garry & June 'Friendship'
Well-Known Member
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291282917049
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291282910352
two cheap Alpha set ups that look just the job
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291282910352
two cheap Alpha set ups that look just the job
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RobbieW
Well-Known Member
How about an MR3420? from memory that has 4x100/1000Mb ethernet ports + the WAN port and runs off 12v (also a factor). No idea on the DDNS/Port forwarding questions except that if the stock firmware doesnt do it have a look at OpenWRT. I've been using the ROOter variant of that, which is explicitly aimed at 3/4G connections - have a look at http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/router_openwrt which should lead you to both the download site and support forum.
Mistroma
Well-Known Member
Similar to packages sold by Crucial Wifi. (http:\\www.crucialwifi.co.uk). Not certain I'm keen on the package with the 5m low loss cable connecting the antenna & AWUS036NH. I'd prefer to connect AWUS036 directly via an adapter or use the Alfa USB tube to avoid any signal loss in a cable (even if it is "low loss"). I'm also sticking with non "N" versions as good connection to weak b/g is more important to me.
I guess that I might have to buy a 3G dongle at some point but have managed so far without ever paying for Wifi (well 1.5 Euro once). Never been a problem for downloading a few TV progs. each week + daily GRIBs & email. It does look as if I might be sailing into a WiFi desert this year, based on forum comments.
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Mistroma
Well-Known Member
The R36 only has a single connector for RJ45, so same as the DLINK you mentioned. I can't help with choice of dongle as I've never used 3G/4G with R36. However, I might be forced to this year in Balearics & Sardinia.
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I'm feeling a bit out of my depth in this thread albeit that it is interesting and topical for me. I find myself understanding about 50% of the words and/or TLA's being used. What would be really helpful would be a nice understandable recommendation that a moderately savvy user could cope with.
I looked at the London show and thought the "package" prices remarkably expensive - £750 seemed to be the going rate for a WIFI and 4G router with attendant aerials. The kit for the same function in a domestic environment seems to be much cheaper, why so?
I looked at the London show and thought the "package" prices remarkably expensive - £750 seemed to be the going rate for a WIFI and 4G router with attendant aerials. The kit for the same function in a domestic environment seems to be much cheaper, why so?
Garry & June 'Friendship'
Well-Known Member
From what I can see this tube model is only 802.11 b/g compatible whereas the set up below is the 802.11 b/g & n model which apparently makes a big difference
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WiFi-Hots...ats-Yachts-Mobile-Homes-Outside-/291282917049
Garry & June 'Friendship'
Well-Known Member
Mistroma you say you are sticking with b/g only but I was told you need b/g & n especially for use in the med...can you elaborate on this please.
RobbieW
Well-Known Member
If you do start another thread, ping me a link cos I dont read PBO as much as others. I can then pitch in, or just copy the relevant bits from cruisersforum