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posted to rec.boats.cruising,rec.boats.electronics,rec.boats
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New Marine WiFi Product
Very cool. My current setup requires direct connection to the bridge in
order to set up the shore point to which I connect. And, the NIC has to be set to the same IP net other than the last number. Yeah, different setups might require that. There's probably ways to deal with that but given the adventures you've had thus far it might be prudent to just stick with what works for you. Gotcha - cool that you didn't need the switch (though, I'm wondering why, if the AP has ports, you didn't just use those?). Wiring. There's a router in the arch, it has 5 ports on it. Running wires to it requires going down the gunwales and up the arch, with various bulkheads and panels along the way. There's an access point in a cabinet in the main cabin. This placement to facilitate best coverage within the vessel without spreading it out across the water. Again, getting wires to this location is the issue. The E-80 chartplotter is in the helm, the Sirius weather interface is in a panel behind the stairs. There's an RS-232, a video and an ethernet cable running from the E-80 to the sirius unit. This location is central to where all the devices wiring passes. I don't "have to" provide extra ports for the E-80/weather setup. But at some point I'll be using a PC to interface with those devices. So using a straight cross-over cable between them wouldn't help the expansion plans. But using the cabin's access point would've meant running their wires another 10 feet. That's not a technical limitation but just would've added more labor. This also lets me disable the access point without having it affect the weather gear, but also leave shore connections working. Yeah, it's a few more watts to have the switch running, and at some point I'll check how much. But I took extra effort to make sure all my devices can use 12v so at least there's no loss from inverters or step-down transformers (besides the ones in the devices themselves of course). Mine crashes without the router in between. Well, given your travails thus far I guess you're stuck. And, I don't currently have a means of interfacing (other than a single RS232 for the GPS) any of my electronics to my computer, which I'd like. I'll be adding a PC to the mix probably over the winter. I'll use that as a means to bridge a number of things. I've got a waterproof mouse and keyboard and the PC is an old laptop with a video out. So I'll probably either use the TV or the E-80 as a display for it. That PC will presumably allow me to do some more clever things with webcam and GPS. That and the PC can act as a 'gateway' of sorts of sharing the other NMEA buss data. I'm in a twin engined powerboat. I don't know, nor care about their power consumption. :{)) I don't suppose I would, either. In actuality, we probably will try to maximize our use during wind and sun periods, where we'd otherwise be in shunt mode due to full batteries (solar and wind). Well, I do care somewhat, if only to avoid having the gear drain the ship's battery if AC isn't available. I've got a Blue Sea voltage limiter that'll get installed eventually. I'd rather have it kill the gadgets than run my battery down. Well, that and adding more batteries to the ship's system circuit. this winter. A couple of golf cart type cells are likely additions to help make sure I've got enough to keep all the toys running. I'd meant directly - POE uses the ethernet cable itsef, starting with 48V and stepping down to 12V at the end. The actual power consumption I was wondering about was in the units themselves, leading to what size direct power source wire I'd need. Go back over to alt.internet.wireless and pose the question. Or STFW for websites related to neighborhood wifi. I suppose the first step would be to get actual wattage needs for your gear. Then estimate or measure the actual distance and then do the math. I didn't bother and just took the 'use thicker gauge' shortcut. Viking's going of business sale made it a cheap decision to go with heavier gauge wire than might be "required". My mother-in-law (England) describes our voice quality as better than folks calling her locally. Generally speaking, I've heard no complaint from any one I know on Vonage The main risks of complaint are encoder quality and bandwidth. It doesn't matter if it's free or low cost if it's ****ty service. If you're on a link that's congested you will get reduced audio quality and interruptions. If there's good network routing along the entire path then it's less likely. Audio requires not just a 'fast connection' but one that's free of congestion. It's no good to have a fast link if it's got high latency. but I can say from direct experience that CS in Vonage is great Then keep your fingers crossed. Your experience does not parallel that of others who've reported considerable difficult getting effective support. But then again those with problems are the one's making noise, right? And any of the peer-peer services, or "softphone" (like Skype and Vonage dongles of whatever sort) adaptations, require a computer be on, whether or not you can get away without having to be tied via a headset or even a blootooth device. Well, there's a good chance that'll change. But as you point out VoIP has ATA devices that don't require a PC. Of course, what consitutes a PC these days can nearly come as close to a black box when it comes to size and power limitations. Not usually as cheaply though. Mine just requires the bridge and the (Vonage) router. Because the router is the base station, my new setup doesn't even need an RJJ11 device powered up to have two cordless phones active at the same time, a nicety when both of us want to talk to someone at the same time :{)) Just make sure you're not using 2.4gHz cordless phones. No sense making your wifi troubles worse.. However, I want to try your bridge, as it seems like it would be superior to mine if I don't have to unhook to make my shoreside connections. I'm hesitant to suggest how to work around your situations limits as it's unclear just what sort of mess you've finally gotten working. For me it was easy, from the get-go I assumed I'd have to use two different routers as there's only one radio in a router. I knew I'd have to use one to speak tot the shore and another one entirely to cover devices on the boat. Thus the devices on the boat always have their own network. The shore link device always has a static address on that network. So the laptops always connect to the access point and thus always have a link to the shore interface device. It *may* be possible, in your situation, to do the same. But given the confusion of posts surrounding your setup I really can't say. When you put your unit in a NEMA, how big was the box? Did you take off the case and just do the board, or leave it on? Heh, I skipped the enclosure entirely. I just bought another router. The one that's inside the arch isn't enclosed at all (at least not yet). The access panel is only 6" round but it's hole is about 7". So I disassembled the router, put it's pieces in through the hole and reassembled it. I'll eventually stuff it inside a ziploc with some sort of fittings and a bunch of silica gel packets. But given how cheaply another router was I've been putting it off... -Bill Kearney |
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