Peplink AP to cat18

I am going to install a Max Transit Cat18 with a 7:1 Parsec roof antenna. I would like to dedicate the roof WiFi for campgrounds etc long distant use. Can a Peplink AP Mini be used connected to the CAT18 Lan for AP use inside the RV, and can I use any house 12 v power spiced to the AP Mini’s small DC power adapter connector for non Poe connection? Or will the Lan or Wan on the CAT18 provide enough power for the Mini. The distance will be pretty short from the router. I would dedicate it for normal inside use of devices 27 ft motor home. Thanks

Max Transit does no poe at all. So the AP will need to have its own source.

The mini DC port requires a fixed 12V input which your RV house battery likely wont supply.

If your heart is set on the AP Mini then I would suggest using a 12V PoE injector as that will be designed to accommodate varying 12V source. In my van the 12V source is between 11V-13.8V. You need hardware that can tolerate this.

Here is an injector I have used to power a PoE AP in my van. -Tycon Systems TP-DCDC-1248GD-HP

The AP One Rugged supports variable 12V power. And has terminal block to make wiring easier.

I thank you for the feedback I believe your right on the AP Rugged version I could daisy chain the power with the Max Cat18 nearby and use just a short Ethernet cable to connect without PoE…
Thanks
I will test the inside RV WiFi using the external Parsec WiFi antenna first if it doesn’t penetrate enough and give me good results I will order the Rugged AP.

If you expect to be doing a fair amount of Wi-Fi-as-WAN then I would highly suggest a dedicated access point for client traffic inside your RV.

Having separate hardware for wifi-wan and local-client-wifi is MUCH more stable!

Thanks agreed…will probably go with the Rugged AP since I can install everything pretty easy in one shot.

Any idea where or how to connect my Rugged AP one as the Lan AP for my RV devices. I think I have an idea how to configure my Parsec external WiFi as Wan for campground 2.4 and 5.8 but no instructions for connecting my AP by Ethernet to my Cat18 etc.

Not sure if the AP One Rugged set up is significantly different than the AP One Mini, but, I connected it with an Ethernet cable & all I had to do was go to the AP screen on the U/I & check manage external AP. I then went back to the dashboard & looked at the AP Controller Information Status & the CAT-18 had assigned it an IP address. Used the provide power adapter also.
I will be the 1st to admit I tried to overthink it a little bit. Buried somewhere in the manual, there was a little blurb that stated something to the effect, if the device was installed on an existing network, an IP would be assigned via DHCP. Not really that techie, may have messed up that wording a tad.
I’m still playing around with my configuration, but, plan on powering everything via the 120 VAC wiring on the motor home. When not connected to outside 120 VAC power, I will use the onboard pure sine wave inverter & charge the batteries as necessary with the generator.
What advantage would a POE injector provide me in this situation? All network devices will be connected via Ethernet, & will be plugged into a UPS, IOT devices will connect via WiFi (ROKU’s primarily).
A further question; the AP One Rugged was suggested as opposed to the AP One Mini. At roughly twice the price, what advantage(s) does it provide for an installation in a RV. The Peplink manuals are sort of consolidated by product grouping. For us non techies, it’s not always clear what features are/are not available with any given model.
Thanks in advance for any replies. Also apologies for sort of hijacking the thread.
By the way Peplink folks, my son’s dog got a hold of the package. AP One Mini sustained a crushed case along with several bite marks. Much to my surprise, the unit appears to working flawlessly. Peplink products are the BOSS!

Well thanks I read some more info on the AP control SW in the Max and with your input I will use the Ethernet cable for connecting to my Cat18 try to configure the WiFi etc using it that way.
I run everything off 12 volts in my motor home. The Rugged is possibly more powerful than other AP’s and with PoE it gets power by Ethernet for less wiring but I ran 12v directly to it. I want to run my Parsec WiFi as Wan for campgrounds as I have read the dual use with devices and Wan can create problems with data at times. Thanks for the feedback.

2987jb,
Please let me know if that works for you. I had help from this forum & I’m just trying to pay it forward.

I too have a AP One Rugged connected via ethernet to Max Transit Cat18 and is currently powered by 120v. The Cat18 assigned a IP address automatically but I’m thinking I need to create SSIDs on the AP Rugged. Is this correct? If so, I can’t figure out how to get to the Rugged to create these SSIDs. It appears the current SSIDs are running via the Cat18.

In the CAT 18 Peplink Dashboard SW select the AP Tab at the top and create the SSID etc for 2.4 or 5ghz on the AP and save them. I have my Max 18 set for 2.4 WAN external antenna and my AP Rugged set for 5ghz for indoor RV WiFi use. Look in Knowledge Base on Peplink site for running separate Wan with AP info.