With the very nice bracket now available for a maritime deployment of the “puck” style antennas, what’s the major difference that would drive a decision between the two styles (Puma vs Maritime 20/40G)?
antenna polarization aka lobe pattern?
a boat tied up at dock might not be much a difference but a boat out at sea swaying/rocking might not work well with puck style?
someone please confirm
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Hello @Gregory_Lee,
We suggest that you contact your local Authorised Peplink Partner for specialised assistance.
Your local Certified Peplink Partner can help you with a copy of the Antenna Selection Guide for Peplink Partners , this is a detailed guide and is only available to the Peplink Partners so to ensure that you get helped in working through it to get the most suitable antenna solution to your application.
The guide has images showing how the different types of antennas work in different circumstances.
Happy to Help,
Marcus 
did you review the data sheet pdf for the antenna and compare?
Hello @Gregory_Lee,
Peplink’s antennas can be adapted to various deployments, be that marine or land or vehicle; unfortunately, Peplink’s naming the devices in the way they have implies a scope of use when they can get used well beyond that scope. Peplink’s antenna ranges, much like their routers, are indeed able to be used in a variety of industries. In our view, the new designs are on par and fulfil the niche Peplink|Pepwave routers aim to supply. The performance is on par with those we have seen from many others in the market over the past few years for MIMO installations, and they are already getting used with other manufacturers routers.
The antenna gains and pattern references in the publicly available specification sheets have all the technical information required for making an independent assessment.
The Mobility/Maritine 20G/40G models have different lobe patterns and each work better for different situation. The “puck” design is better for low movement (swaying) environments and where there is extensive coverage or where wind drag is an issue (such as aircraft). The “tubular” antennas are better for where there is a lot of movement; these are often more suitable for moving vehicles on land or water and where the coverage from the towers are further afield.
As an example, in Sydney Harbour, we recommend both the Mobility 20G/40G & Maritine 20G for smaller vessels that don’t leave the sheltered waters, while out beyond the heads, we recommend using the Maritime 40G primarily. The choice comes down to aesthetics and mounting options for each unique vessel (especially those just around the harbour).
It is essential to make your own technical and professional assessment for each unique client situation; no one answer fits all; that is why the Antenna Selection Guide got written as a guide, not the be-all and end-all. If you have already read through the guide, then you maybe are far as you can go without engaging an experienced RF professional.
There are a lot of other RF professionals & engineers in the Peplink Community Forum if you would like to reach out to them.
Custom solutions for marine, land & vehicle are available where there may only be a few external antennas (only four cables). These have to supply a modem/router that requires a dozen-plus antenna connections (such as an MBX & EPX). These solutions are custom designed & built with a very suitable price tag to match.
FYI, The Puma range got recently rebranded to the Mobility range; your Certified Peplink partner may have missed the update.
We recommend the Pepwave MAX DOME HD1 & HD2 where possible over a new antenna installation; these are very suitable for moving requirements (land, marine & air); the performance, simplified installation and external SIM Injector option justifies the investment when compared to custom antenna solution.
Happy to Help,
Marcus
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Marcus- I fully appreciate the vagaries of each installation. Your follow-on response, while general, is extraordinarily helpful and provides very helpful information. Thank you for taking time to add the commentary.
Greg
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I currently have 6 different puck style antennas and 8 different pole style antennas aboard my boat for testing. In general, the puck style antennas work just about as well when at rest as the pole style, but not quite as good in some of the edge cases with lower frequencies, etc.
When underway, the pole antennas are far superior, and they are also better in very low signal situations given the sheer size of the elements vs. the puck antennas.
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what are the “lobe” patterns on the domes? are they closer to a puck or tubular antenna?
I’ve asked Peplink to publish the antenna specs and details for the domes in the past, but there is no official information that I am aware of.
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Peplink please let us know! Thanks!
While not precisely on-point with this string those watching may be interested in the attached test data.
Greg Lee
Roche Harbor, WA
Tons of variables missing. Hard to know if its really a 1:1 test. Gotta make sure connecting to same cell towers, same bands, same time, all the same data plan? etc
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The answer is yes to all questions.
I am confused. Looking up aigean ld-7000ac its a wifi antenna. not lte/cellular?
Of course. The Aigean LD-7000ac is a high end marine wireless client, we use the MAX Transit 5G for connectivity while away from the dock. The Aigean case is a base case for comparison to two antenna alternatives (stock paddles vs Poynting 402). These tests suggest very little benefit in a special antenna when in close proximity to cell service. We’ll test again when next in a remote environment.
You’ve lost me. You are comparing latency and speeds on WiFi versus LTE? Those are two totally different things.
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Nope! The wifi data is merely a benchmark. The comparison is between the two antenna cases which are identical but for the antenna used. Don’t overthink the wifi data. Thus is an antenna string not wifi vs LTE.
Hopefully this data makes sense to you. Comparing a WiFi as WAN source with an LTE source doesn’t really show you much, other than the fact that WiFi could be more reliable while at the dock.
I have the Poynting OMNI-400 and 402, The Peplink 40G, 42G and 20G, plus a few others all on board and mounted in the same locations. I’m about 1/2 mile from you in Westcott Bay and my cruising grounds are the San Juan Islands. I’ve done extensive, year over year testing with varying conditions, recording not just upload/download speeds, but bands, frequencies, signal strength and more.
So many variables play into what you will get as a download and upload speed, and while it is one data point, I find that it is less important than the quality and stability of the connection. You will find that the stock antennas will work great anywhere you have moderate to good signal. The big antennas, if cabled correctly and with short cables, will outperform those when in areas where there is very low signal such as Reid Harbor, Prevost Harbor, Sucia, and many other locations.
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My expectation exactly. Looking forward to learning more about your experiences with the various antenna form factors.
Thanks for the reply.
