PEPXIM, HD4 MBX and SDX (+SFC and Starlink) - how can I get the best out of it?

Product Discussion
1

Hi guys,

I have all of the mentioned eqiupment sitting next to me and was wondering how to use all of it the best possible way.
Right now I have 2x starlink antennas + pepxim connected to HD4 (MAX-HD4-MBX-GLTE-G) with SFC enabled for video conference apps.
I will be getting two more starlink antennas in near future and since I don’t have a 5G with my current setup, I am looking for that upgrade as well.
I have 8 antennas connected to the HD4 at the moment.
What I will finally need is 4 WANs for 4 starlink antennas, one for the pepxim I guess. I am rarely using the sim injector since 8 cards (that can fit in HD4) are enough in most places we are going to cover the Starlink gaps.
How would you set up your network with all equipment mentioned above?

Is there an option to upgrade the HD4 to 5G version by not buying the whole unit but the modem part? Or is it easier to get HD2 Dome, connect it to the sim injector and then have the 5G connectivity that way? Or doing something else with SDX (if it is not of a big use with all of the other equipment)

2

I would put the MBX in a ceiling space somewhere where you can run a bunch of COAX cables from to the outside and mount some vertical polarised marine antennas (keep coax 5m or less).
Then I would use synergy to make that appear over a single CAT6 cable on the SDX in your rack as 4 separate virtual modems.

Then I would connect the Starlinks to the SDX also. Likely using virtual WAN so you could run a fiber from the SDX SPF port to a sensible location on the deck where you could have a switch with all of those starlinks connected.

If I could I would also pop a couple of 5G Domes topside and cable them back to POE injectors and then into the SDX (or if you have the 8 Port POE module on the SDX the domes can plug straight into that).

The Sim injector can be used by the domes and the HD4 MBX.

Yes you can buy a 5G upgrade module for the MBX. Remember you will need more coax connections. Keep them as short as you can.

3 Likes
3

Thanks Martin.
I am getting the HD1 Dome Pro tomorrow and will be connecting it to Pepxim then to the HD4 as WAN together with 2 Starlinks. That should eliminate buying 5G module for HD4 for now.
8 antennas are already close to the HD4 in the celling so I believe the cables are not more than 3-5m long. I have the fiber optics run from the celling down to the rack (into kerio).

What is the advantage of having 4 Starlinks connected to one (dumb?) switch and then from the switch to SDX WAN?

4

Simply reduced cabling. If you didn’t do it this way you would need separate cable runs from each dish which is fine it would just need more cables. You would want to use a managed switch for this so you can have a VLAN per Starlink.

5

Ah I see. Makes sense. Thanks.

I have got the HD1 Dome Pro 5G. Getting quite low DL speeds though. Will be testing for a day or two and see.
The way I set it up is:
Installed the HD1 Dome inside of the TVRO dome since I had the cables pulled there already - connected to SIM injector - SIM injector connected to WAN port of HD4. Antenna is poiniting up. I might try removing it from the dome or point the antena forward to check the performance. Any other idea?

6

I’ve a similar setup as you have, but based on BR2 Pro and 2x PepXims.
I’ve Cell1 & Cell2 as first priority. Cell1 is using the uneven number simslots in each PepXim and Cell2 is using the evennumber simslots in each PepXim. Furthermore, I’ve adjusted the Signal Threshold Settings Acceptable Level for each Cell to 4.

I’ve not had much success with the cycling through the simslots in the PepXims. I’ve an active support case which has been ongoing for several months.

My original thought was to use WaveHunter - Poynting Tech - Antenna Solutions, South Africa, USA & Europe for 4G/5G antenna and upgrade to a HD4 with 5G modems.