Ubiquity Bullet M2 vs PepLink Max BR1 Mini. Wan WiFi

Not sure if any of you that may have a Ubiquity Bullet M2 for WAN WiFi, and if you have had any issues connecting to some marina access point’s? But I have and decided to try a device that has cellular and WAN WiFI failover capabilities. One marina by me St. Michaels Marina has a tough AP to connect too. I have never been able to connect to them with the Bullet, but had zero issues with the Max BR1 mini this past weekend.

The PepLink Max BR1 Mini cost ~$300 on ebay for a new unit, not sure what the retail cost is, but I think it is ~$400. This device allows WAN Wifi access points to be stored with their log-on info saved. This allows for failover between access point’s and cellular if you have a data plan and SIM card loaded. The unit supports two SIM cards. There are many data providers to choose from with unlimited data, so technically you really don’t need the WiFi at all if you have good cell service where you travel.

The one thing that is a little crazy is that you need to purchase a license for WiFi support and failover. It cost’s $100 for the one license. There is a trial license that comes with the unit so you can test everything out, you may only need the cellular support. I bought the license and am very happy I did. This device auto switched AP’s when I left St. Michaels Marina this weekend, it automatically connected to my Marina’s wifi when I returned to my home port. No messing around with having to reconnect to access points.

I haven’t tried the cellular modem yet, because I haven’t subscribed to a data plan. I am not sure at this point in the season I am going to sub right now. Depends on what company I go with. I will say this, I boat in a lot of places that only has cell service and no wifi around. This device is going to be great when I do subscribe to a plan. May not need the wifi support, but will be nice to have both.

I do have DTV on the boat but not anywhere else. So I am hopeful that I can cancel that at some point in the future. I have all FireTv’s at home and sub to YouTubeTv. The BR1 would allow me to use streaming where ever I go. Pretty cool since the DTV sub is now over $100/mth for not so much and there are unlimited data plans for half that.

Thanks to dtfeld for telling me about these guys https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/ this site reviews all cell/wifi devices and data plans. They are not paid to do so, so they have restrict some access to paid subscribers. That said, pretty great site for finding what you need quickly.

This company Ultra Mobile seems to have a pretty good deal right now. It looks like you get 50gig at 4G then it drops down to 3G speeds for the remainder of the month. I am not sure I would use 50Gig a month, maybe get close or go over towards the end of the month, but they look like a great deal.

EDIT: This cell plan is no longer valid.

Agree that wifi-as-WAN opens up a wealth of connectivity options. I also use a Peplink product, the SOHO. It's somewhat larger (and cheaper) as it's not intended for vehicular use and doesn't have embedded cellular modems. It also doesn't require the subscription plan, at least for now. I originally intended to connect a cellular modem but haven't done so as yet. But, the router is perfectly happy to fail over to a wifi hotspot and that is what I've been doing when out of wifi range using either an iPhone and iPad. I have a dockmate who has the same router. He found a cheap Android tablet and had a no-cost hotspot option with his phone plan and is quite happy with his setup so far.
I've also used rvmobileinternet and agree it's great resource. My winter plan is to decide on a capable wifi/cellular antenna and run the wiring down to my electronics enclosure. I also plan to select a cellular modem. Looks like 5G (and backwards) capable units are starting to show up in the market so I'm looking in that direction.

We put the Glomex WebbBoat 4g on the boat two years ago. It has twin sims and an amplified wifi antenna and router. I haven’t used the cell service largely because of the difficulty getting a data plan with ATT. The downside of the WebBoat is that it is currently limited to ATT. Why I don’t know.

The WiFi portion works great, even in locations notorious for poor WiFi (Dimillo’s in Portland Me comes to mind).
Overall it’s a great bit of hardware. We’ve used it mostly for tv streaming and it works well even with high def HDR movies.

My original plan was to put in a sat TV set up, but a neighbor who had Trac vision and switched to streaming talked me out of it. So all in all I think the WiFi/cell set up is a good solution for most people.

I forgot to mention that there is no subscription required for this device. Only the license fee to get WAN Wifi and failover. But that is a one time fee of $99.

I was looking at the Glomex WebbBoat as well as the Shakespeare version the WebWatch, but that is no longer available. That made me want to go with a seperate device that required external antenna's so I wouldn't have to switch everything if I didn't like this device and went with something else.

I picked up a cheap 4G/3G antenna and converted the mount over to a marine SS pedestal mount. I think I got one of the last ones as it is no longer available.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08DGX87GK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also just sub'd to the ultra mobile plan to test the cell side of things before I permanently mount this. And as Henry I am hoping to get rid of my DTV sub.

Received the SIM card today and test things out. Works perfectly and fails over etc. like it suppose to. Very impressed with the HD video quality over cellular while operating the boat. I didn't check coverage but I started streaming before leaving the dock and and on the outside channel the stream was still going. Only paused a few seconds on the switch over. Can't wait to really test this out with a long weekend trip.

Thanks for the nod Skybolt!!

I have been using a Netgear LB1121 that literally just sits up in my arch and is powered with 12VDC-->48VDC PoE injector. We took a cruise up the Chestatee River about 15 miles (pretty rural) and had great reception while watching football the whole way.

If you boat in cellular range, forget Sat TV, go cellular. Peplink has great hardware. I have been using OTR Mobile for unlimited/unthrottled, no data management data for over a year and its very good service. There is cheaper, but this just works.

We are into the era of connected boats.

dtfeld said:

... We are into the era of connected boats.

Click to expand...

If this continues to work as well as it seems, I will be able to ditch DTV, that will be a happy day.

There is nothing like cruising around with friends BBQing, relaxing and watching whatever Sunday ticket (for me NASCAR) floats your boat.

Going to chime into this thread with some help for suggestions on my WiFi setup. A few years ago I went the route of a WiFi repeater in the form of the BitStorm xtreme. It has been less than satisfactory when not at my marina, there are little to no open hotspots open that it will tap in to, and even when I'm at a marina that I know the credentials for, it's pretty hit or miss. When at my own marina, I had been able to use my Xfinity/Comcast logins to tap in to their hotspots, but that lately has become challenging. So, I'm looking at updating my plan, likely going with a hybrid of both a wifi repeater and cellular network. I figured I may as well keep the BitStorm hardware in place because it does still work at times, but then adding a backup plan of cellular.

I've looked through a couple of threads on this site, this one and another. I was thinking I could go with a PepWave Max to tie together the Cellular and WiFi side. I can also add this router to do the broadcasting on the boat. I was considering the Netgear LB1121 Cellular Modem that David has, but was kind of hesitant that it's ATT/TMobile only, and I'm currently on Verizon, but if I can get a decent ATT/TMo plan, I'm not opposed to it (especially if I can find a month to month plan).

I suspect I would mostly be reliant on the Cellular side, given my existing challenges with the BitStorm, so not sure if it's even worth keeping it.

Anything I'm missing? Thoughts from the experts here?
Thanks,
Kevin

The LB1121 will allow any plan, I’ve have Verizon, ATT and T-Mobile working on it as OTR Mobile who is my data provider has cycled through all of them. The issue with the LB1121 is it’s getting a little old and doesn’t support some of the new channels/spectum that newer units have.

With that said, neither does the Peplink Max at this point. I was hoping they would update their modem do allow some of the new channels, but they haven’t done that on the peplink Max line yet.

I’m going to upgrade to a Peplink Max (I was looking at the Peplink Max MK II) at some point, but right now I can stream TV all I want and it works.

if you want to try internet TV on the boat, both will work. If you want to do it right the first time, the Peplink allows for cellular antennas so that might get you a little better range if your heading far afield.

Thanks David, good to know about the LB1121, everything I read in their manual showed only ATT.

I'll look into the MK II. Since I'm starting over, may as well go with the latest.

For range, I was also looking at the Jellyfish/JF-3 antenna since I would have some room for it on the arch, but not sure if it would make that big of a difference or not. Could be something I add on later though, if I don't get the range I'm looking for.

My phone is a hot spot on our boat with Verizon unlimited for $50/mo. I am not a network guy by any stretch, but I've thought about putting a router on the boat permanently and then I just would have to make one connection instead of several...?

This is timely. My wife just asked me to figure out how to get internet on the boat so we can work and stream content to the TV.

This is one topic that just seems like there’s no simple answer. Lots of separate bits that need to be strung together and configured.

b_arrington said:

This is timely. My wife just asked me to figure out how to get internet on the boat so we can work and stream content to the TV.

This is one topic that just seems like there’s no simple answer. Lots of separate bits that need to be strung together and configured.

Click to expand...

So true. I thought I had a good solution with the WiFi repeater, but that didn't pan out as well as advertised so it's back to the drawing board to look at a mix of WiFi and Cellular.

Mark, I agree having the router on the boat is the simple approach, having a consistent SSID to log in to, regardless of what is pulling the data down (Wifi, cellular, etc) is a nice thing to have. Your phone hotspot idea would be good but I'm looking for something more full time since I have a security camera on board too that I like to keep tabs of the boat with while I'm not there (or if I miss her, I can at least see or from a distance ).

Kevin

You definitely need an on board router just like at home. The benefit of not having to reconnect devices alone is worth the investment. I am using a regular home router, Linksys EA4500, I believe it works off of 12v so just hack the power connector and wire it to 12v and your done. The PepLink Max BR1 mini is a great dual purpose iNet source to feed the router with, just like a cable modem does. It has fail over between cell and wifi and with in each. It has two sim slots, so you can have one for the states and one for the Bahama's if your close to them. It also save's the log on info for every SSID it has connected too and will automatically switch when in range. Not much to complain about here. @b_arrington, this is perfect for Port Jeff harbor where there is no signals anywhere, not even Optimum wifi.

The beauty of having this type of iNet signal is no need for dtv and having to re-wire the boat for HD. Just use a smart tv or plug a firetv in and you have HD with no extra wires. I am still using Ultra Mobile for $40/mnth and basically unlimited data. So far so good and no issues. I have been working ont he boat these past weekends and have been letting the tv stream away and so far no issues with streaming anything. I also cut the cord at the house and use YoutubeTv, so that also works on the boat as well, same content as at home.

It's all pretty simple to be honest not alot to configure, does take some getting use too when adding in WiFi SSID's.

SKybolt,

Ok, I want to set something like this up on my boat. I travel to the Bahamas quite a bit in the summer so getting a Bahamas Cellular SIM card makes sense for my time there as I need internet to "work from the boat" on my laptop as well as it would be nice to stream some TV as needed as the DTV signal gets "on the edge". Since the WiFi is spotty in most of those marinas this looks like a good solution. Just want to clairify what I need to build this for my application on my boat which has 4 Smart TV's, MFD's, laptop's that all need WiFi.

1. PepLink Max BR1 mini (w/ WAN license)
2. Wifi Router (Linksys EA4500)
3. Antenna? (Peplink Puma 221) https://5gstore.com/product/10301_pepwave_puma.html

Looking forward to your suggestions as this looks like a nice setup.

dtfeld said:

... I’m going to upgrade to a Peplink Max (I was looking at the Peplink Max MK II) at some point, but right now I can stream TV all I want and it works. ...

Click to expand...

Dave, what is it about the MK II over the Mini that you like better? From what I can tell it needs a sub to there cloud fusion service. As where the Mini doesn't need anything except a one time license.

SKybolt said:

You definitely need an on board router just like at home. The benefit of not having to reconnect devices alone is worth the investment. I am using a regular home router, Linksys EA4500, I believe it works off of 12v so just hack the power connector and wire it to 12v and your done. The PepLink Max BR1 mini is a great dual purpose iNet source to feed the router with, just like a cable modem does. It has fail over between cell and wifi and with in each. It has two sim slots, so you can have one for the states and one for the Bahama's if your close to them. It also save's the log on info for every SSID it has connected too and will automatically switch when in range. Not much to complain about here. @b_arrington, this is perfect for Port Jeff harbor where there is no signals anywhere, not even Optimum wifi.

The beauty of having this type of iNet signal is no need for dtv and having to re-wire the boat for HD. Just use a smart tv or plug a firetv in and you have HD with no extra wires. I am still using Ultra Mobile for $40/mnth and basically unlimited data. So far so good and no issues. I have been working ont he boat these past weekends and have been letting the tv stream away and so far no issues with streaming anything. I also cut the cord at the house and use YoutubeTv, so that also works on the boat as well, same content as at home.

It's all pretty simple to be honest not alot to configure, does take some getting use too when adding in WiFi SSID's.

Click to expand...

Thanks, you really simplified this in my mind. Obviously you’ve been in Port Jeff because you know there’s no WiFi out there. Even at my dock there’s no signal.

Are roof-mounted antennas essential to get decent WiFi and cell signals? I see the pep link max has its own short antennas, but theres the option of mounting something else.

ocgrant said:

SKybolt,

Ok, I want to set something like this up on my boat. I travel to the Bahamas quite a bit in the summer so getting a Bahamas Cellular SIM card makes sense for my time there as I need internet to "work from the boat" on my laptop as well as it would be nice to stream some TV as needed as the DTV signal gets "on the edge". Since the WiFi is spotty in most of those marinas this looks like a good solution. Just want to clairify what I need to build this for my application on my boat which has 4 Smart TV's, MFD's, laptop's that all need WiFi.

1. PepLink Max BR1 mini (w/ WAN license)
2. Wifi Router (Linksys EA4500)
3. Antenna? (Peplink Puma 221) https://5gstore.com/product/10301_pepwave_puma.html

Looking forward to your suggestions as this looks like a nice setup.

Click to expand...

That basic set up will work. I would try the supplied antenna first and see what you get. There is a review on that Puma series antenna --> https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/gear/pepwave-puma/

The other issue is going to be finding unlimited data that works in the Bahamas. From my experience, US based plans get very expensive or slow down to unusable (2G/3G) speeds out of the country. I have never looked for an international Hotspot data plan, so thats an interesting issue that would need to be addressed.

The good news is the Peplink has 2 SIM slots, so you could have a US based plan, and a Bahamian based plan in the unit, and it should swap to the fastest option.

Deep dive on internations unlimited data plans --> https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/gear/cellular-data-plans/?fwp_cellular_data_plan_carrier=global