- Joined
- Aug 19, 2008
- RO Number
- 30649
- Messages
- 172
Has anyone had any experience with this device from PepLink dot com?
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PepWave Surf-on-the-go wifi extender
- Thread starter Pathfinder
- Start date
Yes they are a great little unit I don't like the WiFi as WAN part. It's a fairly low power transmitter and it's WiFi range as a bridge would be very limited. However to convert LTE or UMTS cellular data to WiFi it's a nice easy to use device.
Keep in mind depending on the cellular USB modem you may want to add a 694 to 2100MHz marine grade Omni antenna and limit the cable run to under 20 feet any longer than that you should use LMR400 Times Microwave cable. Which carrier and USB modem are you considering using with the Pepwave Surf with?
I would look at the unit at the 3G Store website, they also carry any external antennas, adapters, power cords as well as 4G USB modems.
Bill
Keep in mind depending on the cellular USB modem you may want to add a 694 to 2100MHz marine grade Omni antenna and limit the cable run to under 20 feet any longer than that you should use LMR400 Times Microwave cable. Which carrier and USB modem are you considering using with the Pepwave Surf with?
I would look at the unit at the 3G Store website, they also carry any external antennas, adapters, power cords as well as 4G USB modems.
Bill
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2008
- RO Number
- 30649
- Messages
- 172
Bill, I saw this mentioned by Jeff Siegel on Active Captain. I can do a Verizon hotspot via iPhone or iPad but am looking for something to improve connection to a very weak marina wifi .
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2004
- RO Number
- 14793
- Messages
- 230
I use a Cradlepoint MBR1400 that I installed about 3 weeks ago. I'm very pleased with it. I use the Wifi as WAN feature to connect to my Marina's wifi. They just changed their setup and now have 7 access points. The cradlepoint sees all of them and shows me the signal strength. I set them all up in order from strongest to weakest, and the LTE modem as last.
I was also able to setup a "hotspot" for my kids that will allow them to connect to the marina wifi and browse the boat's network (I have 60TB of movies on board), but will not allow them to surf the net over cellular at all.
I'm very, very happy with this device. Not sure if it was more money than the Pepwave, but I do like it's features.
I was also able to setup a "hotspot" for my kids that will allow them to connect to the marina wifi and browse the boat's network (I have 60TB of movies on board), but will not allow them to surf the net over cellular at all.
I'm very, very happy with this device. Not sure if it was more money than the Pepwave, but I do like it's features.
quote:
Originally posted by praetorian
I use a Cradlepoint MBR1400 that I installed about 3 weeks ago. I'm very pleased with it. I use the Wifi as WAN feature to connect to my Marina's wifi. They just changed their setup and now have 7 access points. The cradlepoint sees all of them and shows me the signal strength. I set them all up in order from strongest to weakest, and the LTE modem as last.
I was also able to setup a "hotspot" for my kids that will allow them to connect to the marina wifi and browse the boat's network (I have 60TB of movies on board), but will not allow them to surf the net over cellular at all.
I'm very, very happy with this device. Not sure if it was more money than the Pepwave, but I do like it's features.
The MBR1400 is a commercial grade bridge/ router and LTE platform. It's simply fantastic when combined with good external antennas.
Bill
quote:
Originally posted by Pathfinder
Bill, I saw this mentioned by Jeff Siegel on Active Captain. I can do a Verizon hotspot via iPhone or iPad but am looking for something to improve connection to a very weak marina wifi .
Jeff and I but heads over WiFi and perceived threats from identity theft. The Wave ROGUE would be a vast improvement for the WiFi side and use the Surf to convert your LTE 4G data to LAN or an access point. Keep in mind the 4G device should have an external antenna on it same with the WiFi (any WiFi). The Wave ROGUE comes with an external WiFi antenna.
Bill
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2004
- RO Number
- 14793
- Messages
- 230
BillyIII, you seem to know your stuff. Until I put the Cradlepoint on, I had a 4G Netgear router and a BadBoy from Bitstorm (the bitstorm connected to a lan port, not WAN - long story as to why).
I encountered a serious problem that I don't think should have happened. When trying to watch a movie, it was slow and jerky. After thinking the problem was XBMC I looked at the network and the Bitstorm was forcing the whole network to go down to 100MB. The Netgear should not have forced all ports down but it did. I could override by manually selecting GB/Full duplex and that reduced the problem but didn't totally fix it. Unplugging the Bitstorm and restarting everything solved the problem.
The Cradlepoint arrived the next day so I didn't go further into this, but it still confuses me as to why and what happened.
(The reason for using the LAN port is that I used the Bitstorm for DHCP so my kids would be able to surf the net using the marina wifi, not cell. I had my laptop manually set with gateway going to the 4G router). The Cradlepoint resolved this problem much more elegantly, but as you said, it's a commercial unit and I'm still fine tuning it to get the maximum performance for my needs.
I encountered a serious problem that I don't think should have happened. When trying to watch a movie, it was slow and jerky. After thinking the problem was XBMC I looked at the network and the Bitstorm was forcing the whole network to go down to 100MB. The Netgear should not have forced all ports down but it did. I could override by manually selecting GB/Full duplex and that reduced the problem but didn't totally fix it. Unplugging the Bitstorm and restarting everything solved the problem.
The Cradlepoint arrived the next day so I didn't go further into this, but it still confuses me as to why and what happened.
(The reason for using the LAN port is that I used the Bitstorm for DHCP so my kids would be able to surf the net using the marina wifi, not cell. I had my laptop manually set with gateway going to the 4G router). The Cradlepoint resolved this problem much more elegantly, but as you said, it's a commercial unit and I'm still fine tuning it to get the maximum performance for my needs.
quote:
Originally posted by praetorian
BillyIII, you seem to know your stuff. Until I put the Cradlepoint on, I had a 4G Netgear router and a BadBoy from Bitstorm (the bitstorm connected to a lan port, not WAN - long story as to why).
I encountered a serious problem that I don't think should have happened. When trying to watch a movie, it was slow and jerky. After thinking the problem was XBMC I looked at the network and the Bitstorm was forcing the whole network to go down to 100MB. The Netgear should not have forced all ports down but it did. I could override by manually selecting GB/Full duplex and that reduced the problem but didn't totally fix it. Unplugging the Bitstorm and restarting everything solved the problem.
The Cradlepoint arrived the next day so I didn't go further into this, but it still confuses me as to why and what happened.
(The reason for using the LAN port is that I used the Bitstorm for DHCP so my kids would be able to surf the net using the marina wifi, not cell. I had my laptop manually set with gateway going to the 4G router). The Cradlepoint resolved this problem much more elegantly, but as you said, it's a commercial unit and I'm still fine tuning it to get the maximum performance for my needs.
Which model BitsStorm were you using I assume a repackaged Ubiquiti Bullet 2HP?
I understand why most people put the WiFi external bridge unit into the LAN port this way there is no routing the router acts like a simple LAN switch.
Bill
quote:
Originally posted by Pathfinder
Bill, I saw this mentioned by Jeff Siegel on Active Captain. I can do a Verizon hot spot via iPhone or iPad but am looking for something to improve connection to a very weak marina wifi .
To me this is a terrible idea. Jeff and I disagree on almost everything when it comes to WiFi. Using a Smartphone as a gateway via 4G to a WiFi hot spot in many cases can result in poor battery performance, slow speeds due to the Smartphone OS and the WiFi AP is power limited. Also using a Smartphone as a stand alone WiFi bridge results in poor performance due to the limited power available to reach a Hot spot from the handset. Also depending on your carrier the Smartphone can not do data and voice at the same time. I use a phone as a phone it's a nifty data toy but hardly a robust router. It's a great idea if you are in a hotel room, Starbucks or Airport but as a dedicated gateway on a boat, no dice..
It would be my last choice for the Smartphone.
If you want real performance and ease of use I would highly recommend purchasing a Ubiquiti Rocket M2 on 802.11B,G mainly N (with the AirMax dual polarity external antenna) as the bridge to pick up WiFi Hot spots and to rebroadcast in the boat I would use a Ubiquiti Rocket M5 on 802.11a/n with simple rubber ducky antennas.
Only do this if your comfortable with programming Ubiquiti products. If your not comfortable with that Wave is coming out with a similar version their GUI (graphic user interface)is the best on the market in my opinion. I have been a Beta tester for Wave's new EC MIMO N product that uses 802.11 B,G & N products they rock! Now if I could only convince them to use the 802.11a & n as their rebroadcast radio they would have the perfect product for non technical users.
Almost every day commercial AP's are being deployed by the cable companies that broadcast on both bands but only the 2.4Ghz band allows distant use of these low powered public access hot spots. However the 2.4GHz N dual polarity really enhances the "OTA" (over the air) speeds, distance and performance. Having a good "N" bridge unit and external antenna allows accessing these AP's from at least a mile or more over water.
Bill