Selecting correct Peplink device

Product Discussion
1

Hi everyone,

I’ve looked into available options for extending internet onto our sailboat, and while I think I have a good sense of what is capable and what devices will work, I’m not an expert in IT or networking and want to confirm with those who are!

Our goals for the device:

  • Connect to an existing wifi network and use it as internet access for our LAN - (Wifi-as-wan?)
  • Connect to a 5G cellular network
  • Connect to Starlink
  • Make those available over our LAN through existing router.

We do not need Wifi from the peplink device, as that is already existing locally, and I think only need one LAN port to connect to the existing router. The current router onboard has PoE available, however the closet where all the technology equipment is located is fairly low in the boat and does not currently have an antenna conduit.

Given our current setup, I think the BR1 Mini 5G or BR1 Pro 5G could do everything we need. From what I have researched, for the Mini we would also need to purchase the additional licensing, which brings the cost a little closer in line for the two devices.

However, a few questions have come up:

  • On other websites, I have seen multiple versions of the BR 1 Pro 5G available for sale - one with PoE and one without. The datasheet available here, however, only lists PoE on the BR1 Mini 5G, not the Pro version. Is that something web e-tailers are doing after purchase, making PoE available?

  • Because our tech equipment is sort of buried low in the hull, I’ve been looking at pathways to get an antenna outside, but I was also pointed towards the Antenna Max enclosure as perhaps a simpler approach - run one PoE ethernet cable instead of 4-5 rf cables. How does the 40G antenna compare to the Antenna Max - would the benefit of having smaller wire runs outweight the larger, more dedicated antenna?

  • The data sheet for both units says that it supports 2 SIM cards - are those physical cards, or eSim, or any combination not to exceed 2 at the same time? I’ve never used an eSim before, but if I had more than two (assuming we get new ones as we sail) could we just login to the router and replace them as we go?

Thanks for any help yall can provide!

2

I’d recommend the BR1 Pro installed inside an Antenna Max or Max S (Starlink Mini) on your mast. This will allow for a single Ethernet cable, eliminating the RF cabling.
I’d also recommend adding a SIM Injector (supports PoE out to the BR1 Pro if you don’t already have a PoE switch) or SIM Injector Mini to make swapping local SIMs easy.

3

Hi Jason - thanks very much! How does the antenna in the Antenna Max compare to a standalone unit like the Maritime 40G? Would they have a significant range difference between them? I am definitely concerned about running the RF cabling the extra 6 meters or so from the antenna to the internal network location, but if the signal is that much better we can figure it out.

It’s good to know the BR1 Pro has PoE, I did find another reference here on the official website after doing a little more digging, so perhaps the datasheet is just out of date.

Does the SIM Injector have to be directly connected to the Peplink, or just anywhere on the network?

4

The BR1 Pro 5G HW3 onwards has PoE support, the HW1/HW2 models do not.
Specifically, BR1-PRO-5GK is the one you want, as that has the latest 5G modem chip and does support PoE.

Do keep in mind, that the BR1 only has 1 Cellular modem, you can install two physical SIMs and four eSIMs with FW8.6.0 onwards. You can only have one SIM active at the same time.

If you need two or more 5G connections at the same time, you can either get multiple BR1-PRO-5GK or opt for the BR2-PRO-5GK, which has Dual 5G modem chips.

We are very happy with the ANT-MAX or ANT-MAX-S if you want to combine with Starlink Mini. Performance is very good, as you have 0 cable loss between the BR1 and the antennas.

The antenna gain is very close between the ANT-MAX and Maritime 40. Due to cable loss, the Maritime 40 will have less signal strength than the ANT-MAX in most cases. I don’t have experience with the Maritime 40, I’m just comparing the datasheets.

1 Like
5

Daniel -thanks very much for the update and response. One cellular modem at a time should be more than enough for us, and knowing we can swap between a number of SIM cards should work well.

Appreciate the help with the Antenna options as well - I thought that was the case when I looked at the datasheets, but I am not familiar with the best method of comparison between them.