VRM Portal connection Q?

[BAD ORCA]

For those of you who are using the Victron remote portal to access your system when away from the boat, how are you connecting the Victron comms to the internet on your boat 24/7 when your away?

I dont have a computer aboard with wifi that i can leave turned on 24/7. The Cerbo GX does not seem to have its own cellular connection to a remote network either.

Are you all using a laptop or computer aboard with internet connection or are you using something like the Victron Global link

https://www.fisheriessupply.com/vict...y/ass030543020

or the GX modem?

https://www.fisheriessupply.com/vict...m/gsm100200400

[Hartleyg]

I just installed a Peplink MAX BR1 Mini HW(3), using a 22G antenna mounted atop the solar panel mount. It works a treat, and the whole setup doesn't consume much power at all. The Cerbo is connected via Ethernet cable, though the onboard WiFi is still up,

In prior years I was dependent on a marina wifi for connectivity - works fine where its available, but many winter haul out marinas don't offer WiFi.


Hartley
S/V Atsa

[SailingHarmonie]

but you do not need a computer, that's not even the best way to do it.

You CAN use the GX modem, that works, but he Cerbo has its own wifi system, and can connect to any wifi system available to you.

If you are in a marina, you can connect directly to the marina's wifi, just like the computer. If you are not in range of a wifi, then the best solution is likely a GX modem, because the data needs to come from SOMEWHERE.

Remember, the Cerbo IS a computer, and can do a lot of its own lifting.

[BAD ORCA]

Thanks for the replies. My marina only offers wifi to the apartment residents not boaters. I actually just found a great video explaining the GX LTE modem and how to get it connected. Seems like this is what i need. There is so much info and so many Victron devices, it gets a bit confusing and daunting for us newbies.

Link for anyone in same situation wondering...I thought it would be way more expensive, pretty inexpensive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER-R6eIcJv8

[dutch-barge]

do NOT use the built in WiFi for monitoring.
The idea of the wifi is to provide a connection to a tablet/phone as screen. It was NOT designed for a long term connection.
easiest is either the GX modem, or a cable to your G4/Lte router/modem

One thing to remember if your router sometimes decides to go to sleep or just act up and it needs to rebooted, you can do so by using on of the relays in the Gerbo.
Connect the router/modem to a relay which you set on ON.
program the Gerbo to reboot if the connection is lost longer than XXXX minutes.
Then the Gerbo wil reboot, the relay at start wil be off and then during booting up will turn on and the router/modem has also rebooted.

[SailingHarmonie]

Originally Posted by dutch-barge

do NOT use the built in WiFi for monitoring.
The idea of the wifi is to provide a connection to a tablet/phone as screen. It was NOT designed for a long term connection.
easiest is either the GX modem, or a cable to your G4/Lte router/modem

One thing to remember if your router sometimes decides to go to sleep or just act up and it needs to rebooted, you can do so by using on of the relays in the Gerbo.
Connect the router/modem to a relay which you set on ON.
program the Gerbo to reboot if the connection is lost longer than XXXX minutes.
Then the Gerbo wil reboot, the relay at start wil be off and then during booting up will turn on and the router/modem has also rebooted.

Except the internal WiFi connection works fine for a permenant connection. Ours has been up and running that way for years. First directly connected to a marina WiFi when in a marina, then through a pep wave router connected to either marina WiFi or LTE as available, and now through the pep wave and Starlink. Never an issue. Your concern is way more theoretical than practical.

It is a bit different, maybe, for full time liveaboards like us, if there ever was an issue it’s addressed on site. For someone remote who for some reason, absolutely NEEDS 24/7 connection to their boat systems every hour of every day, I might do something different.

[dutch-barge]

Originally Posted by SailingHarmonie

Except the internal WiFi connection works fine for a permenant connection. Ours has been up and running that way for years. First directly connected to a marina WiFi when in a marina, then through a pep wave router connected to either marina WiFi or LTE as available, and now through the pep wave and Starlink. Never an issue. Your concern is way more theoretical than practical.

It is a bit different, maybe, for full time liveaboards like us, if there ever was an issue it’s addressed on site. For someone remote who for some reason, absolutely NEEDS 24/7 connection to their boat systems every hour of every day, I might do something different.

Yes you being live aboard wifi can work. But Victron warns that they can not guarantee that, and suggests a cable connection, especially when remote.