Reaching out to see what community thinks. I am heading to the Med in a very short amount of time to help a friend get his new boat over to the US, but some crew onboard are going to be working full time so internet is highly important. We are looking to get a Peplink BR1 mini(hw3) for the boat. Being that we are starting out in the Med but next 3 months, however, the boat will be working it’s way back to the USA(end destination is PNW) where it will live for couple years before migrating back out to being a full time cruising.
First off we will be utilizing the Starlink HP dish as our primary internet source with the plan to failover to the data sim on the Peplink. WiFi WAN would be our final failover in the event there is a network we can connect to.
Owner of the boat isn’t thrilled with the looks of the Peplink Maritime antenna’s and prefers the Peplink Mobility style antenna - but I could probably sway him to the maritime version if it really is going to add much better connectivity in our situation.
Since the boat’s a 55 foot sailboat, I am worried about onboard WiFi coverage supplied by Max BR1 Mini. Should I be looking to add something else as a repeater? If so, any recommendations? What about multi-regional SIM network compatibility on the Max BR1 Mini?
Heres what I’m thinking for hardware:
- Peplink Mobility 22G, 5-in-1 | ANT-MB-22G-S-B-6
- SMA & RSMA extension cables as appropriate (making sure total length is under 30ft)
- Peplink MAX BR1 Mini (CAT 7) | MAX-BR1-MINI-LTEA-US-T-PRM
- Starlink Flat HP Dish
- Sim cards as needed per our locations
What I need help deciding on:
- What should be utilizing for future proofing regarding different country LTE/5G spectrums? Is the MAX BR1 mini a bad choice for this(IE will it function in Europe, Asia, USA, South/Central America)?
- If the Max BR1 Mini is a no-go, what should we consider for global sim coverage?
- Onboard repeater/mesh setup to handle WiFi coverage on the entire boat
- Mobility 22G performance vs Maritime 20G?
** If we go with Maritime 20G what antenna should we consider for outdoor Wifi WAN pickup?
I am completely open to hearing other peoples thoughts and opinions on different solutions/hardware recommendations. If someone thinks this is a completely horrible choice of hardware - please call it out and let me know what would be better options
Rather buy gear once than buy it now, attempt to set it up and realize “this wont work” and have to buy all new stuff in a country we dont know if we can even get the hardware.
Jordan,
We just upgraded this summer our 50’ trawler from some other vendor to a Peplink solution. Previous solution was using Starlink, 4G, and Marina WiFi. Here are some notes that might be of interest to you.
- We dropped cellular all together after having Starlink for a cruising season. Starlink was more reliable and a better data rate consistently then a 4G setup. As long as your travels cover the regions that Starlink does your good to go.
- In door we found that a single AP never provided 100% coverage. We mitigated that by adding additional WiFi AP that are hard wired with ethernet cable back to a industrial DIN mounted ethernet switch. For our boat we have an MBR1 mid-ship a AP One mini in the bow and an AP One rugged running in the stern. Additional APs are powered using POE from the industrial switch so no longer AC power needed.
- We needed additional ethernet ports and also needed it to be DIN rail mountable, have POE+, and be DC 12V powered. This powers up the two AP and two Max BR1
- So we had two ways to approach Marina WiFi WWAN connections. One way is to run coax cable up to our mast which incurs dB loss and is are not the most easy to route due to thickness and quantity. Instead what we did is run a single shielded ethernet cable up to the mast and mounted a Max BR1 within a job box. BR1 then gets power and data through the ethernet cable and then has a elevated line of site to potential marina WiFi AP
- Last we tuned the power level on the three APs on the boat so that in each state room and area the local AP was clearly the strongest dB signal and devices would attach to the closest AP.
Hope that helps.
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Ahoy there!
Great topic, and lots of things worth considering!
Personally, I find the Balance 20x best value for smaller setups.
- Multiple LAN Ports to connect small TimeZero PCs, maybe even for connecting you Simrad/B&G etc. for online access and App control onboard.
- Built-in AP & AP Controller for adding more devices
- USB for additional free WAN Port or even using a MAX USB Adapter for additional or upgraded Cellular coverage.
- Mini-FlexModule for upgrading to 5G if needed
- Runs on 12v
- Shore Wi-Fi, Speedfusion…
I would definitely NOT remove the cellular aspect of any setup. Starlink is amazing… But it should not be your single source of data into the vessel.
As for antenna, keep your runs as short as possible. Anything above 15m should be LMR400. Anything below I’d recommend LMR240 at least, please stay clear of RG58 and LMR195, even for short runs.
The actual antenna all depends on your setup, mounting etc… If you have a rear arch, that would be a good spot to place antenna (if space allows). The mobility antennas are great, but not for long distances, consider the Maritime 20G antenna instead if you can. Alternatively, you go look at Poynting EPNT-4 or MIMO-3-14.
My 5-cents 
Cheers!
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I’d recommend a 42g antenna, and a br1 pro 5g and a starlink.
The br1 pro 5g provides wifi 6 and 5g cellular and supports starlink integration/reporting.
This will give you excellent coverage.
We are a peplink partner and can help you will your order and support after the sale.
PM for pricing and more information.
We can also help you with roaming data plans.
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many posts on this, i dont feel like regurgitating it all
long story short, if you dont want the dome, use epnt-1, keeps the antenna runs short, i wouldnt want more than a few feet
dont mount any atennas on mast or high up, mount off a pole about 6 or so feet high off transom
i opt for the starlink standard dish, it performs well, works in all situations, draws less power, and can easily run off of DC
