Leading UK magazine PBO carried out a test on wifi access systems in this months issue. It’s a comprehensive test and our WL510 was awarded “Best on Test” as it outperformed all other systems.
Our WL510 is a two part hi power wifi access system comprising high gain external antenna and below deck modem and amplifier.
It allows boat owners to connect to wifi hot spots so that their on board PC’s or equipment can connect to the internet. With internet connectivity on board you can download the latest weather or chart updates, watch movies, listen to music as well as having a mobile office on board. Most harbours and ports have either free or subscription based services available. With the range offered by the WL510, you’re not limited to local access points either and many users take advantage of free wifi from cafes, bars and other sites even when a few miles offshore.
The system has a compact, DC powered below deck mounted 600mW booster/modem and external, hi-gain (12dBm/15dBi) antenna with 10m (33ft) low loss LMR400 coax interconnect cable. The antenna measures 0.9m (2.95ft) and is supplied with a deck mount base. There is also an option 1″ adaptor fitting to suit industry standard 1″ mounts
The WL510 modem connects to an on board PC through a regular RJ45 CAT5 network cable for simple driver free installation. Connect the WL510 to a router such as our iNavConnect or iNavHub and everyone on board can share the long range wireless internet connection. Compatible with all popular operating systems – Windows XP/Vista/7, Mac OS X 10.3 (and higher) and LINUX, the WL510 supports 802.11b/g protocols as well as WEP/WPA/WPA2 encryption.
Wi-Fi range depends on many local factors, but Digital Yacht has seen ranges of up to 4-6 miles with this low cost system. In general, using an internal Wi-Fi adaptor typically found on a notebook, you’ll be lucky to find the signal at the end of the dock, so if you plan to access the internet whilst on board, the WL510 could be the solution for you.
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