Hello Team,
Some of our customers using external antennas, we recommend Max HD2-Dome to overcome the problems caused by antenna losses and mounting difficulties. However, especially yacht users generally would like to use the WiFi -Wan feature. Is this feature already available in the road map? If no, could you add the Wifi-WAN feature to Max HD2 Dome? This feature would be great for yacht projects.
Thank you
Hi
This is a valid request and I have thought about it myself.
The HD2 Dome currently does not have space for the additional antennas required for wifi.
Would you consider a larger dome if it supported wifi?
I would consider a larger dome if it supported WIFI.
Hi, Thanks for your interest. It could be a larger dome. This is acceptable for the WifiWAN feature.
I second this suggestion as well. A slightly larger dome is acceptable.
It would also be good if the WiFi can be configured both as WAN bridge or as AP, as I can see this being useful when you wish to place an additional AP on the exterior, when using multiple domes.
Thank you.
Worthwhile request - would be cool to see WiFi as WAN in the HD1 and HD2, even standalone WiFi as WAN dome.
But
I do have to ask, in a WiFi as WAN scenario, what happens if the dome is mounted higher than the transmitting WiFi AP that might be on a dock? Can the antennas being in a dome some how get a good line-of-sight to the outdoor AP that might be lower on a dock or building? Also, likewise, if one is trying to use a dome for local LAN AP, the antenna orientation being pointed more towards the sky rather than below, could be an issue?
Finally, another thing to consider if the design is going to be tweaks, is 1x14 marine mounting so it can screw onto various mounts made for or already on boats/yachts.
Having done a number of HD1 dome installs on boats, having WiFi as WAN would solidify it as a primary choice for many boaters. Having a bigger dome is totally fine.
Another thing I’d like to see is the BR1 IP67 with the ability to support remote sim.
Once mounted it’s a real pain to retrieve the sims.
It also already has wifi-as-wan, and is a POE powered external rated device.
With WiFi as WAN on the Dome series being an “in the future feature”. What would be the very best alternative for the time being?
I would recommend looking at the Aigean LD-7000ac for WiFi WAN features. It is a very similarly-sized dome and looks fine next to the HD1 dome. You’d need to connect the two domes to a router belowdecks, like a Balance 30 or larger (if you want to include shore Wired and VSAT as options too).
Hi Sam,
How about a BR1 MK2 in a Dome cover? You could replace one LTE antenna with a WiFi antenna within the same cover.
We are currently struggling with the same problem when the Customer wants to have LTE WANs and WiFi WAN on his boat but he wouldn’t accept using BR1 IP67 Rugged due to it’s industrial design.
The Aigean LD-7000ac is almost $1000 which seems wildly overpriced, even for a dual band WiFi device. I’d rather just use a MikroTik Groove for about $100.
The best solution would be a single dome, single PoE cable (there could be multiple power supplies in the dome) with both a CAT18 set of antennas, and WiFi antennas for WiFi as WAN as well. If there are signal/antenna concerns, which I could understand, a MAX dome with only WiFi as WAN in it for something under $350 would be a good companion to a MAX HD1/HD2.
The problem still exists that the indoor router becomes an issue because the WAN ports do not have PoE which means you have to use in-line PoE injectors to power the domes. What is also needed here is an indoor router that does PoE to domes (2x-3x ports please!) and the SIM injector functionality and slots in it as well, so you can move around SIMs to multiple domes.
For the market I work in (superyachts and maritime mobile), the ideal unit (or set of units) is a below deck router, that handles all the computing power, firewall, VPN, and is a SIMinjector, that then coupled to mast located modems/antenna, single, double, or multiple domes, both for 4G/5G and for WAN Wi-Fi. And the interconnection is using CAT-6 Ethernet cable for both signal and power.
I have a dislike to a single Dome housing multiple antennas when we stop respecting antenna distances, and antenna performance simply to get a tight package into the mast. But the need to get the modem and antenna within the same housing is ideal for reducing losses. If peplink could work on this, I think we can all be winners!
Your market of Super yachts that might work. My market of smaller yachts 30-60 feet it does not. People want one or few units, not a lot of wires, aesthetically pleasing, not thousands and thousands of dollars, etc. Hence a single dome with dual cellular, dual simultaneous WiFi as WAN, would likely hit it out of the park. Even single cellular and dual band simultaneous WiFi as WAN would be good, although I do see folks seeing carrier diversity more and more now as they shift to “working from home”. I could probably sell a ton of units that I am describing, if they existed. I previously was recommending the MK2 with separate indoor AP but it is a PITA with all the antennas, wires, etc.
+1 for HD1 with WiFi-WAN