Ubiquity Bullet M2 vs PepLink Max BR1 Mini. Wan WiFi

SKybolt said:
The BR1 Max Mini accepts a POE connection through the WAN plug, I found that very strange since the LAN connector is what is going to mostly be used. Mine has been powered that way since I installed it, because I am too lazy to re-route the 12v plug connector, but that is on my todo list when I open the AV cabinet again.
Click to expand...
I noticed that when I got mine and started setting it up at home to bench test it. I've built a little 2 tier rack that I'm planning to mount everything on and then tuck it away in a locker in the boat, so I'm looking for ways to clean it up to make it a nice, neat install. I included a POE injector, just for future use, so I may look at using that instead of routing both power and network cables to save on some of the rats nest.

Here's what it looks like so far, I'll trim the network cables to custom length, replace all the wall worts with power cables direct to the fuse block, paint the shelves and screw everything down.
 

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GnrlPatton said:
... Here's what it looks like so far, I'll trim the network cables to custom length, replace all the wall worts with power cables direct to the fuse block, paint the shelves and screw everything down.
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That should work out nicely when your done.
Question, what are you using the R-Pi for? So many things can be run on that now it's amazing.
 
SKybolt said:
That should work out nicely when your done.
Question, what are you using the R-Pi for? So many things can be run on that now it's amazing.
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Initially, I'll be running it as a Plex server. The wife loves her movie nights on the boat, and I have a NAS at home that I'm building out a library of movies on. Having the 3TB hard drive that I can bring back and forth to the boat, I can just load it up at home, plug it in to the USB Hub when I get to the boat, and the Plex server sees it and then can broadcast it to the TVs already on the boat over the router. If I have a good connection, I can also just stream from my home media server via Plex and skip the hard drive option.

There's so much more that I could do in the future with the Pi, I'm new at working with them, so this is the first step.
 
Played around with this more this afternoon. The InControl management is very cool.

Nice, compact device overall...

upload_2021-2-18_18-30-19.png


upload_2021-2-18_18-31-40.png


GPS is a neat adder. Shows the location of the device.
 
GnrlPatton said:
Initially, I'll be running it as a Plex server. The wife loves her movie nights on the boat, and I have a NAS at home that I'm building out a library of movies on. Having the 3TB hard drive that I can bring back and forth to the boat, I can just load it up at home, plug it in to the USB Hub when I get to the boat, and the Plex server sees it and then can broadcast it to the TVs already on the boat over the router. If I have a good connection, I can also just stream from my home media server via Plex and skip the hard drive option.

There's so much more that I could do in the future with the Pi, I'm new at working with them, so this is the first step.
Click to expand...

I thought thats what you were doing with it. Really cool stuff. I have great success with remote access to my Plex server at home. I use FireTv and also have Kodi running on it as well. Got to keep everyone happy or no boating ...
 
bajturner said:
Played around with this more this afternoon. The InControl management is very cool. ...
Click to expand...

So what can you do with the InContorl aspect? Full remote management and all?

There phone app allows priority changes but not wireless AP changes.
 
SKybolt said:
I thought thats what you were doing with it. Really cool stuff. I have great success with remote access to my Plex server at home. I use FireTv and also have Kodi running on it as well. Got to keep everyone happy or no boating ...
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm glad I went that route, it wasn't difficult to do, didn't cost too much, and I learned a bunch while doing it, so win-win-win. :)

I likely won't need to use the hard drive option much, unless I'm in the far northern reaches of Canada where I won't get cell signal. I've already tested out the streaming option locally and it worked pretty well even when going over cellular.
 
bajturner said:
Played around with this more this afternoon. The InControl management is very cool.

Nice, compact device overall...

View attachment 99765

View attachment 99766

GPS is a neat adder. Shows the location of the device.
Click to expand...

I skipped the InControl2 as I don't have the need for remote management and didnt want the expense. But I cant see how I can access the GPS location on the device locally. Is there a way to utilize that function without IC2?

I have other GPS sources, so not really an issue, but curious to see if I could access it.
 
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SKybolt said:
So what can you do with the InContorl aspect? Full remote management and all?

There phone app allows priority changes but not wireless AP changes.
Click to expand...
Haven't tried the phone app yet.

With InControl you can access the device remotely over the WAN. There is a full, large organization interface you can add the device to, and there is also a simple remote management ability that provides the same interface as if you are logged in over the LAN.

Might be useful if you have some devices like security cameras that are having trouble. You would be able to log in remotely and see if they are connected, see if there is a problem with the WiFi AP or WiFi WAN (device should failover to cellular if WiFi WAN goes down).

It may be more neat than useful for our purposes.

InControl came with the purchase. The purchase I did was similar to a cell phone...some money up front then annual payments. Breakeven to paying full up front was after two years.
 
dtfeld said:
I skipped the InControl2 as I don't have the need for remote management and didnt want the expense. But I cant see how I can access the GPS location on the device locally. Is there a way to utilize that function without IC2?

I have other GPS sources, so not really an issue, but curious to see if I could access it.
Click to expand...
When I log in over the LAN without using IC2, I see the GPS coordinates on the Dashboard:

upload_2021-2-18_23-32-28.png

Do you see that?

From IC2, you get an actual map and all the standard GPS data (speed, altitude, etc.).

It could be used as a tracker. Useful if your boat disappears from your slip...not sure for what else.
 
Mine going in the boat this afternoon. I'll compare some speeds to my current setup, and probaly test a few locations before permanent mount. Looking forward to removing the rats nest of wires for the current setup.

Thanks for pointing out the Peplink app! Installed on the phone, as another tool for the setup.

AWSOME!!!
 
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bajturner said:
Haven't tried the phone app yet.

With InControl you can access the device remotely over the WAN. There is a full, large organization interface you can add the device to, and there is also a simple remote management ability that provides the same interface as if you are logged in over the LAN.

Might be useful if you have some devices like security cameras that are having trouble. You would be able to log in remotely and see if they are connected, see if there is a problem with the WiFi AP or WiFi WAN (device should failover to cellular if WiFi WAN goes down).

It may be more neat than useful for our purposes.

InControl came with the purchase. The purchase I did was similar to a cell phone...some money up front then annual payments. Breakeven to paying full up front was after two years.
Click to expand...

Ive been contemplating / thinking through remote access monitoring for the boat. With a little bit of additional hardware, I beleive I can access most of the thing I want to monitor for free or for very little.

The unit I bought was excess inventory but the 1 year warranty was up. I as quoted $199 for the extended warranty and IC2. I thought that too much, just for remote access to the peplink unit (plus I need an excuse to drive up to the boat anyway!).

My issues with the all of these devices is if you start paying for each piece of equipment monthly/yearly, it adds up to $$.
 
bajturner said:
When I log in over the LAN without using IC2, I see the GPS coordinates on the Dashboard:

View attachment 99784
Do you see that?

From IC2, you get an actual map and all the standard GPS data (speed, altitude, etc.).

It could be used as a tracker. Useful if your boat disappears from your slip...not sure for what else.
Click to expand...

I have not seen those coordinates on my dashboard. However, I'm in a basement, so maybe no signal, and hence, no location. I'm installing on the boat today, I'll see if I get a reading there.

I agree that the location would be useful, as the other GPS devices are not left on 24/7.
 
bajturner said:
Haven't tried the phone app yet.

With InControl you can access the device remotely over the WAN. There is a full, large organization interface you can add the device to, and there is also a simple remote management ability that provides the same interface as if you are logged in over the LAN.

Might be useful if you have some devices like security cameras that are having trouble. You would be able to log in remotely and see if they are connected, see if there is a problem with the WiFi AP or WiFi WAN (device should failover to cellular if WiFi WAN goes down).

It may be more neat than useful for our purposes.

InControl came with the purchase. The purchase I did was similar to a cell phone...some money up front then annual payments. Breakeven to paying full up front was after two years.
Click to expand...

That's pretty much I what I was thinking. They dumbed down there free phone app so that people who need remote management are forced to sub to InControl. But as you point out, it probably isn't needed for our type of use. But I can definitely see the Enterprise benefits of InControl and how it would be needed.
 
dtfeld said:
I have not seen those coordinates on my dashboard. However, I'm in a basement, so maybe no signal, and hence, no location. I'm installing on the boat today, I'll see if I get a reading there.

I agree that the location would be useful, as the other GPS devices are not left on 24/7.
Click to expand...

Dave what antenna did you decide to go with? Also good luck with the install.
 
SKybolt said:
Dave what antenna did you decide to go with? Also good luck with the install.
Click to expand...

Standard paddle antennas for now...I'm going to put it in the same location as the Netgear LB1121 (in the arch) and also behind the TV in the galley and see what happens. If I get good enough reception...ill make a more permanent install.
 
dtfeld said:
Mine going in the boat this afternoon. I'll compare some speeds to my current setup, and probaly test a few locations before permanent mount. Looking forward to removing the rats nest of wires for the current setup.

Thanks for pointing out the Peplink app! Installed on the phone, as another tool for the setup.

AWSOME!!!
Click to expand...

Be mindful that it doesn't allow you to do much because of the InControl sub available now. It does however allow for priority setting of cell and WiFi.
 
I got a chance to try a couple locations for mounting the MAX BR1 mk2 and It doesn’t seem to matter where I place it, seems to get about 15 Mb down 5 Mb up in the slip (is in a covered slip kinda like a metal pole barn).

I also bought and tried Peplink Puma 221 that matches up nicely with the antennas on the Mk2, but unfortunately I dropped the unit and broke off one of the LTE SMA connectors before I really had a chance to test anything. I bought some right angle versions and I’ll install those...it will make install a lot easier.

678EC140-136F-4594-A234-AE1681C90559.jpeg



I put it right back up in the arch with the paddle antennas laying horizontal. Works like a charm. Best of about 5 trials in the slip


D0F84572-6CDF-4566-8C2A-0D966EE3E895.png



However, out on the water I was getting awesome speeds.


4759B3AA-CEE7-4B03-99C9-592069E00006.png



I was able to watch 2 1080p TV's and stream Spotify at the same time...no buffering/issues noted. I think that will get the job done. This is with OTR Mobile (ATT). I was getting much better speeds with the T Mobile SIM I had previously.

Next step is to get the antenna fixed and mounted and see if that improves things. It will at least get the GPS to work (doesn't work in the arch hint hint;)).
 
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dtfeld said:
I got a chance to try a couple locations for mounting the MAX BR1 mk2 and It doesn’t seem to matter where I place it, seems to get about 15 Mb down 5 Mb up in the slip (is in a covered slip kinda like a metal pole barn).

I also bought and tried Peplink Puma 221 that matches up nicely with the antennas on the Mk2, but unfortunately I dropped the unit and broke of one of the LTE SMA connectors before I really had a chance to test anything. I bought some right angle versions and I’ll install those...it will make install a lot easier.

View attachment 100274


I put it right back up in the arch with the paddle antennas laying horizontal. Works like a charm. Best of about 5 trials in the slip


View attachment 100276


However, out on the water I was getting awesome speeds.


View attachment 100275


I was able to watch 1080p TV and stream Spotify at the same time. I think that will get the job done. This is with OTR Mobile (ATT). I was getting much better speeds with the T Mobile SIM I had previously.

Next step is to get the antenna fixed and mounted and see if that improves things. It will at least get the GPS to work (doesn't work in the arch hint hint;)).
Click to expand...
Nice!!!
 
Great stat's Dave, a shame the connector came off.

@ocgrant can you do a speedtest.net when you have time and post? You have the JellyFish so it would be a nice comparison.
 
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