Please take a look at the schematic of how I think I should connect the two mast antenna to the MAX BR1 Pro 5G, on a small 10m leisure boat in the UK. Antenna connected with Ultraflex 10 cable.
My questions are:
TIA
Hi,
Why such a high antenna install? Are you aiming to stay connected very far from shore?
You are compromising your signal levels by having such long cable runs, you really want to keep the antennas much closer I aim for < 5M.
You can’t split and combine cellular signals / wifi this way. If it works at all it will be so compromised that you’ll regret it.
When do you need it? If you can wait a moment Peplink will shortly release the new antenna enclosure for the BR1 Pro 5G which is a self contained unit you can power over POE. This installed on your mast with an ethernet cable down to a switch and access point below decks will be much better for you.
If you can’t wait the HD1 Dome pro was designed for exactly this job.
I would suggest a 40G Antenna for your BR1 pro 5G router installed much lower down the mast and closer to the router, and a separate antenna for your mobile repeater - are they even legal in the UK though? Most people I know use voice over wifi.
Will you be adding starlink? Where in the UK are you?
Hi Martin,
Thanks for the info, seems like I need to have a complete re-think!
I was working on the higher the better, but I understand that this may be flawed, and that I need to compromise.
What insight can you provide on the upcoming antenna enclosure, how long would I realistically need to wait, and how would it mount to a horizontal surface (mast spreader), would it use a standard maritime 1" 14 TPI thread mount? At a push I could put the network cable and mount in place now (the mast is down) and fit the antenna at a later date.
I may look at Starlink in the future, but at the moment not keen on the monthly cost.
Currently in the East coast, but preparing for travelling futher afield.
Thanks, Gary.
The way I would work this is first determining what your budget is. You do not want long antenna runs or splitters.
Hi Jokani,
one of the options you could also use is the Antenna Max. This is antenna with enclosure to put Peplink router inside it. That would make your installation much easier. We are going to launch it soon and if you can wait until next week, maybe that could be an option for you.
The main benefit is that router is next to the antenna keeping the minimum cable length for best cellular WAN performance. Antenna Max also include Wi-Fi antennas well.
Alternatively I would use HD1 Dome Pro as Martin suggested. The main advantage of HD1 Dome Pro is that is also suppose SIM Injector which makes SIM management much easier as you can place SIM Injector in the deck at easy accessible location.
Thanks all, I think I will wait for details of the Antenna Max, sounds just what I need, but will depend on the mounting options.
I will then need a SIM Injector Mini and possibly an access point.
You probably also want to look at Starlink for your main WAN network, that will really reduce the use/need for the other methods.
Yep, it’s on my radar Paul, I’ll certainly get Starlink at some point, but I think I would still want reliable cellular & WiFi.
With the Antenna Max option, as it uses ethernet and not coax, is there an advantage to installing as high as possible.
I’m thinking the higher the better form a range point of view for both WiFi and cellular, but harder to to access if any maintenance required - So maybe rather than the top of the mast either the lower or the higher spreader would be best?
To get best performance it is recommended to have line of sight for Cellular and Wi-Fi WAN. So the higher you install, the lower probability there will be any objects between the antenna and the cellular tower. The only disadvantage is that the SIM change. BR1 Pro 5G doesn’t support SIM Injector. You can still use eSIM and upload them to Peplink router via IC2, but in case you will need to change physical SIM things would get a bit complicated.
Damn! I was just getting excited, that could be a deal breaker, I was relying on the SIM injector, I don’t think I can install the BR1 Pro 5G up the mast and not be able to swap physical SIMS. It seems I need another rethink.
I have only just bought the BR1 Pro 5G, and can’t afford to swap it out, but out of interest, which models that are compatable with the Antenna Max do support a SIM injector?
Ahoy There!
Great product, but the drawing and setup is not recommended at all - far too many comprosis.
The new Antenna Max would be ideal choice - but yes SIM Cards would be a challenge. But please consider that Peplink support eSIM.
For any Marine deployment I would always have at least 1x SIM and Starlink + backup (Iridium GO! etc…). Never rely solely on Starlink.
Ahoy there Captain!!
Appreciate the advice, just testing the InControl eSim functionality, looks good so far. So it’s likley I will go the Antenna Max route.
Saves me the cost of the injector, but I did have to sign up for PimeCare.
Hi Jokani,
Sorry I’m late to the discussion but I’d like to share my thoughts…
I’m in agreement with the consensus that the original diagram wasn’t optimal however I did like the vertical separation of the antennae elements as this will have reception benefits.
Cellular frequencies are subject to high losses in coax cables so keeping them as short as practicable is the right approach. (I would avoid splitting these RF feeds, the additional antennae will provide potential redundancy / interchangeability).
I would however question the real cost-benefit of combined antenna & router enclosure package on a 10m yacht in terms of range alone.
Your router in the cabin, connected to dual element antenna on first spreader to provide 2 radios some elevation and another 2 element low profile antenna at deck level for diversity and throughput near shore would provide an excellent performance outcome out to 15nm where network signal is present and raising the antenna elements to the top will only buy you about 5m more height which won’t be a significant jump in range (and that assumes you sail bolt upright). The deck antenna can also house the Wi-Fi & GPS elements as well as potentially adding additional cellular elements for other devices.
A large yacht with significant height gains is the perfect HD Dome and/or Max antenna client but with your mind already looking toward LEO for offshore connection then this will be a cost effective complementary solution.
Just my 2p worth…
Hi Simon, thanks for you thoughts, that’s really helpful. I think I have decided to go with the approach below, with separate WiFi and cellular systems. I like the redundancy, and with the exception or the Antenna Max and AP One Lite, I have the hardware required already.
Looking good, consider running 3x Cat6 cables to the MAX (added redundancy/capacity), replace hub with PoE Switch and add a PoE - DC/DC Breakout/dropper in the Max enclosure to power the Pro 5G and saving running the 12Vdc (perhaps Peplink will have something to facilitate as part of the Max launch - but others exist today too). PoE switch will also power the AP - There is a 9-30V dc input 5-port gigabit PoE (802.3af and 802.3at) switch available from another brand that would suit the application well (although it wouldn’t have the power budget for the Starlink but there are other devices out there to acheive that).
Thanks again for your insight, much appreciated, could I ask you to clarify a couple of things please:
I think I prefer runnning 12vDC separately. I only need a single cable to run 12v+, as I can share an existing 12v- cable. This seems simpler with less points of failure than POE injectors, and also cheaper?
Other than POE, what advantage would a switch give me over a simpler hub? I was keen on the hub, not just because of the price, but the fact a hub seems to use approx. half of the power that a switch does.
Thanks again Simon, appreciate your time.
