Internet on board

[Gnilias]

I’m seeking advice on what router to buy.

Background - I’m setting the boat up for a half circumnavigation. Looking for a device that can take inputs from Starlink, 4G and wifi, and provide reliable boat internet. Good firewalling capability, separate networks for skipper and guests, low power consumption, must work in Europe, US and Pacific regions. Also capability for NMEA2000 to Wifi and to WAN for remote monitoring. I’m hoping to learn Open CPN and use satellite maps in time as well.

I already have a PredictWind Data Hub (for tracking app purposes) and read earlier posts about questionable hardware quality, so don’t want to use this. I currently use a standard home router for internet on board, but it is old, gets very hot and is clunky.

I know if I was tech savvy like many of you, I could probably combine different items and build my own system. That’s not me though, so I’m looking for something that’s relatively easy to install, configure and use.

I’ve looked at Digital Yacht’s 4G Xtreme, Peplink and Yachtrouter. Maybe they are good solutions for what I am looking for, I’m not sure I understand enough to differentiate between them yet.

I know I could pay someone to specify and install a good system, but seeing as I will need to understand the system before I get too far offshore I figure I might as well start learning about it all now.

Your advice to a newbie in this field is much appreciated.

[mgrouch]

GL.inet travel routers are good product line.
They are on OpenWRT.

I use this one:

https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-x750/

Same vendor might have newer better models.

[RaymondR]

I've given up and just use the "hotspot" facility on my mobile phone.

[shimari]

I use a Peplink along with a high performance Starlink. It's an excellent solution, but you need to have some networking background to make the most out of it.

RVer's seem to like the Nighthawk series of routers. I didn't look into them much. I wanted a robust mobile system and peplink fit the bill.

You don't need to hire someone to help you. I'd recommend you reach out to Doug Miller at https://www.onboardwireless.com. He'll give you solid recommendations. (NOTE: I've no affiliation with Doug. I'm just a happy customer.)

[kaz911]

We have put in the Teltonika RUTX50 5G router - dual SIM + 4 LAN + 1 WAN port as our main router. It is very power efficient. It has GPS receiver so it can report into Teltonika's management network for about $30 / year - incl. GPS position.

I think Digital Yacht and many others buy from Teltonika and put their own labels on - as the RUTX50 looks a lot like the new Digital Yacht 5G...

The WAN port goes to a Starlink.

We got a small 4 port POE switch for cameras - and a larger 8 power switch for everything else.

Our boat got Raymarine - but Raymarine Ethernet network is "stupid" so we had to jump a few hoops to get plotters Internet. But it is solvable (Separate VLAN/WiFi SSID and DHCP range for giving Raymarine Axiom plotters Internet access) - the amount of RFC's Raymarine is breaking is astounding..

Link: https://teltonika-networks.com/products/routers/rutx50

We have then installed "Tailscale" VPN on the RUTX and at home. That gives you very easy "auto connect" VPN from boat to home. It could be used to direct ALL IP traffic via your home if you are in countries which "block" a lot of traffic. But it also gives you permanent (if wanted) remote access to every IP device on the boat. Tailscale is the easiest VPN I have ever installed.


We have separated our NMEA 2000 network into an "always on" (almost) and a "normal" network. The "always on" is powered by a dedicated battery bank - where the router is connected to - together with our Victron Cerbo GX battery monitor. On the always on Network we have our wind, depth and speed sensors - plus a Orca Core unit. So we can always check conditions on the boat. And with latest Orca v24 update - we can remote connect to the Orca from anywhere - incl. Anchor Watch!

[Franziska]

Cruising the Med.


We have a Tetonika Rut 955.


But for the most time we just use an old phone, put the local sim card in and open a hot-spot.

Advantage, if we go to town we just take our "old phone router" with us in the backpack and have internet on both our phones.

We even noticed that the Vodafone data sim card we bought in Italy did not work in the router but it did work in our old phone acting as router.

So really, in hindsight I would not buy an expensive Tetonika router as its not really necessary.

[Gnilias]

Thanks for those suggestions which have given me plenty of food for thought. Kaz911, I really like how you have structured your network. And Franziska and Raymond, I can see the benefits of just sticking with a phone hot spot. Shimari, I have also been looking into peplink, but not sure if I can mount it suitably. I may come back with more questions once I get further with my quest!

[leecea]

To state the obvious, the more complex the system the more likely something will go wrong. If you are not a tech expert you may be stuck. For anything that is critical, I'd want to be sure that when/if things fail they fail in such a way that the critical stuff can still be used via some simpler configuration. I'd also want to test failing over to that simpler configuration.

[shimari]

Good luck!

+1 on using Tailscale that Kaz911 mentioned. You can run Tailscale on a Peplink now, but I don't recommend running any external facing service on your border router. I run it on a Raspberry Pi 4.

Tailscale is a very user friendly VPN system. You have to provide your own servers or systems unlike the popular and useless services like Nord VPN. It takes a bit of learning if you're not familiar with networking, but it's easier than learning most things we have on boats. The best thing about Tailscale is it allow secure remote access to systems behind a Starlink (Starlink uses CGNAT which does not provide a public facing IPv4 address).

[Dockhead]

For what little it may be worth:

I installed a place to put an outdoor mobile telephone router on my first spreader, when my mast was out 11 years ago. Pulled Ethernet to it.

And in 11 years have never installed anything there.

I was always attracted to these solutions as I figured it would greatly extend the range and would be more robust, but never got around to it. So I use a mobile phone hotspot as so many do. In a pinch I haul it up to the masthead in a waterproof bag. I have a router with more powerful antenna; sometimes that goes up, but very, very rarely.

And I think if you have Starlink, there would be no need at all for anything fancier for mobile phone signals.

According to my thinking, anyway.

[SV Confianza]

I have a Peplink max br1 pro 5g based system with starlink HP, poynting antennas, and a few other gadgets and gizmos. Works like a dream.

Whole setup is written up in detail here: https://www.clevermariner.com/post/o...nk-integration

And I did a video with Practical Sailor on it here: https://youtu.be/5Gh3tF5lH4o?si=IpKBl6dJKBxsB81I

Know a bunch of folks with the digital yacht NMEA to WiFi and it works great.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by SV Confianza

I have a Peplink max br1 pro 5g based system with starlink HP, poynting antennas, and a few other gadgets and gizmos. Works like a dream.

Whole setup is written up in detail here: https://www.clevermariner.com/post/o...nk-integration

And I did a video with Practical Sailor on it here: https://youtu.be/5Gh3tF5lH4o?si=IpKBl6dJKBxsB81I

Know a bunch of folks with the digital yacht NMEA to WiFi and it works great.

I read on your blog that the mobile reception is disappointing.


This could be from attenuation in the coax. Attenuation is huge at UHF frequencies. And different coax has very different attenuation properties. If you're not using LMR-400 or some other very low loss cable, you could be killing your reception right there.


This is why I wouldn't use this type of router. I would use only an outdoor router with the antenna connected directly to it. There is no point in spending €1000 on a router, hundreds on each antenna, and a lot of trouble to install, and not get a huge improvement in reception over an ordinary phone -- wouldn't you agree?

[K_V_B]

One interesting feature of peplink is their remote sim option. So you can indeed put a small router+antenna (ie. their dome product) up in the mast to increase range, without having to worry about signal loss, while not having to climb the mast to swap sims...

Anyone experience with that?

[kaz911]

Originally Posted by K_V_B

One interesting feature of peplink is their remote sim option. So you can indeed put a small router+antenna (ie. their dome product) up in the mast to increase range, without having to worry about signal loss, while not having to climb the mast to swap sims...

Anyone experience with that?

The SIM remote works fine. But placing the mobile receiver at a height is not great for reception. All mobile "base station" antennas - and especially so with 5G - points "downwards" at a slight angle unless it conflicts with the landscape.

So mounting a 5G antenna at a height can be counter productive.

So I would never go above the first spreader in height or 7-8m above water unless you spend most of your time at anchor. If you spend most of your time in Marina's you are better off with a "low level" mobile antenna as antennas are angled towards users on the ground (mostly)

so in short - the SIM remote is usually not needed

[Gnilias]

After looking into all the suggestions, I am leaning towards the Teltonika RUT X50 mentioned by Kaz911. A few questions for Kaz911 and anyone else with this router:
- what antenna did you choose and where have you mounted it? how much better is the external antenna compared to the stick antennas that it comes with?
- what cable did you choose? Presumably you need four or five cables to get the 5G functionality of the router?
- what cable length have you ended up with? We originally thought we’d put our antenna up our mast but that will make our cable run a minimum of 13 metres so now we are looking at having the router and cable closer.
- would you say it is possible to configure it with a bit of patience and some basic knowledge (and a willingness to do research), or does it require a comms specialist to help? Have you found the Teltonika wiki information useful and easy to follow?

Does anyone know if it works in both the US and the rest of the world? are there different versions and I need to specify one particular one for worldwide cruising?

Many thanks for your help!

Julia