Digital Yacht's WL510 WiFi System Wins Best on Test in PBO

This month's edition of UK boating magazine PBO features a useful review of wifi access systems. More and more boat owners are demanding internet access whilst afloat and hi power wifi is a reliable, low cost and fast solution.  Our well proven WL510 came out Best on Test in this comprehensive test.

Here's a reminder of some of its features:

The 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. This combination can give up to 4W ERP.  

The antenna measures 0.9m (2.95ft) and is supplied with a deck mount base.  There is also an option to utilise a 1" adaptor fitting to suit industry standard 1" mounts. The WL510 modem connects to an on board PC/MAC through a regular RJ45 CAT5 network cable for simple driver free installation. 

Alternatively, 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 5-7 miles with this low cost system. In general, using an internal wifi 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. 

FEATURES

• Ideal solution for permanent installation and new builds
• Network Interface for connection to one PC or to a Router for shared long range connection
• Easy to setup and control from any browser through web based interface
• Adjustable (up to 600mW) Wi-Fi modem and high gain (12dBm/15dBi) omni-directional antenna gives ERP up to 4W
• Supplied with threaded deck mount for antenna and 10m of low loss LMR400 coax cable
• Supplied with 1m network cable - can be extended with any CAT5 network cable (up to 50m)
• Requires connection to boats 12v DC supply
• No drivers – works with all popular operating systems as connects via network interface and set up is done through the web browser