How to Choose an LTE Router for Your Boat

NOTE: This article is now a bit dated and many of the products mentioned here are no longer available. We recommend you read this article for the latest information.

As the COVID-19 pandemic caused companies and workers to find ways to work remotely, many of our customers were looking for a way to stay connected while working from the boat. Others simply wanted a way to go cruising but still be fully connected for doing email, social media, web browsing, file sharing and viewing movies on Netflix and Amazon.

After an extensive review of solutions in the market, Milltech Marine became a Peplink Authorized eTailer at the end of 2020 and in 2021 became a Peplink Certified Gold Partner. Onboard Wireless was created as an offshoot from Milltech Marine with a focus purely on mobile connectivity solutions. I have been certified as a Peplink Certified Sales Specialist and a Peplink Certified Engineer. Peplink is a well-established leading supplier of Internet connectivity solutions including routing hardware using LTE and 5G modems for establishing full time mobile connectivity to the Internet.

Peplink has literally dozens of Pepwave wireless solutions ranging in price from $299 to thousands of dollars with a wide range of technology capabilities. For the average user, it can be a bit intimating trying to wade through product brochures, web pages and spec sheets to find the right solution.

This article focuses on eight of the most popular Peplink solutions I feel are appropriate for boaters and provides some guidance on how to decide which solution is right for you.

What are we talking about?

These multi-function router devices usually connect to the Internet using an LTE or 5G cellular modem and route traffic to a local onboard wireless or wired network allowing multiple people and devices to have Internet access. Some solutions I discuss will also allow you to connect to a public Wi-Fi hotspot when available to save using up LTE data. These routers require a user-supplied SIM card associated with an appropriate data plan from a cell carrier. Once installed, the solution will allow you, your guests and your devices to have full-time, high-speed connections to the internet even when out on the water or away from home. Since these are LTE devices – like your cell phone – you must be within range of a cell tower in order to stay connected. If you are cruising in remote areas, a high-gain externally mounted MIMO (multiple-input – multiple-output) LTE antenna will greatly extend range. In addition, as mentioned earlier, some of these solutions can also connect to a nearby public Wi-Fi hotspot, if available, which allows you to maintain connectivity when Wi-Fi is available and the cell signal is weak, or if you want to save LTE data, or if you are roaming in a foreign country where LTE data is expensive.

All the routers discussed here, with the exception of the Peplink MAX HD1 Dome Category 18 LTE Router, can be directly powered by 12-24v DC or 110-240v AC power supplies. The MAX HD1 Dome uses Power over Ethernet. All have multiple antenna connections – usually 2-4 LTE antennas and 1-2 Wi-Fi antennas, as well as a connection for a GPS antenna. Routers include small removable antennas for each port, or you can use optional external antennas.

What about using a phone as a hotspot or a portable hotspot such as a JetPack?

Both of these solutions are possible and widely used. However, users will find the extra battery drain of their hotspot device inconvenient and the range of the LTE coverage may be limited unless boosters or external antennas are used. In addition, some phone cell plans may have limits on how much high-speed data can be used while the device is used as a hotspot.

As a result, many boaters and RVers will want a more dedicated, high performance solution that is purpose built for providing long range, high-speed, uninterrupted internet connectivity.

Considerations

Before diving into specific products, it is worth looking at several factors that will impact which solution or set of solutions makes most sense for you.

Here are some of the most important considerations:

• Speed and bandwidth: Understanding your bandwidth needs is probably the most important first step. Are you mostly wanting to do email, web and document access or will you require lots of bandwidth for watching movies, doing Zoom or Teams calls? Are you looking for connectivity for just yourself or for the whole family? There is no harm in investing in a solution with more bandwidth and speed than you need but like everything, the higher the speed, the more expensive the router. There are a few factors that impact speed:
• Router raw speed: The cellular modems in routers have a category rating that defines the raw speed potential of the device. The solutions we are discussing in this article range from category 4 LTE with a theoretical download speed of up to 150 Mbps all the way to category 18 or 20 LTE-A Pro with a theoretical download speed of over a gigabit per second and beyond to 5G with the potential of 4 Gbps downloads. But in reality, regardless of the router category rating, speed will be more impacted by antenna placement, distance to the cell tower and the number of subscribers accessing the same cell tower. Generally though, the higher the category rating, the higher the speed of your connection.

  CATEGORY	CELLULAR TYPE	DOWNLINK	UPLINK	MIMO ANTENNAS
  4	LTE	150 Mbps	50 Mbps	2
  6	LTE-A	300 Mbps	50 Mbps	2
  12	LTE-A Pro	600 Mbps	100 Mbps	2
  18	LTE-A Pro	1.2 Gbps	150 Mbps	4
  20	LTE-A Pro	2 Gbps	150 Mbps	4
  5G	5G (NSA) Sub 6Ghz	4 Gbps	700 Mbps	4

• Two or more modems bonded together: Peplink has developed SpeedFusion to allow you to, among other things, bind multiple Wide Area Network (WAN) connections together to form a single virtual connection. This not only increases speed, but it also increases reliability and security. Some of the router solutions feature multiple LTE modems allowing you to combine the speed of multiple connections to form a much faster, more reliable bonded connection.
• External antennas: As with other marine communications, antennas and antenna placement may be the single biggest factor for getting the most out of your LTE router connection. All routers come bundled with small antennas for the LTE and Wi-Fi interfaces. These will work ok on most boats, but if you have antennas mounted outside the cabin – high and free and clear from other metal obstructions – then you will often double the download speeds when compared to using the antennas inside the cabin. But installing external antennas can be challenging so we will discuss them in more detail next.
• External antenna considerations: Using external antennas on LTE and Wi-Fi routers presents an interesting dilemma. On the one hand, your router will perform best if it is connected to high gain antennas installed outside the cabin as high as possible and away from other vertical metal objects. On the other hand, the longer the cable run, the more loss that will occur to the extent that the gain from the external antennas could be wiped out by the loss due to a long cable run. For long runs you will need to use low loss cable such as LMR-400 for the LTE and Wi-Fi antennas but this cable tends to be bulky and expensive. Plus, you have multiple antennas – in some cases as many as seven antennas (4 MIMO LTE, 2 Wi-Fi and one GPS). Having six LMR-400 cables for the LTE and Wi-Fi ports would require a cable chase and deck opening about three inches in diameter. That is probably unworkable for most recreational boats. Keep in mind, that even LMR-400 cable with a 50 foot run will have 2-4dB loss for typical cellular frequencies.
  The solution is to get the router as close as possible to the external antennas and use a shorter extension cable pack such as the Poynting Extension Cable for 7 in 1 Antennas. These kits use smaller diameter LMR-195 which is adequate for shorter runs. The other option is a use a combination of internal and external antennas for the MIMO setups. Or just use the small, bundled antennas and place the router in a location with no metal objects directly above or near the router.
  As mentioned, some routers require up to seven antennas. Installing seven individual external antennas on most boats would not be possible. To overcome this, we offer single antenna housings that have multiple antennas contained within the housing. For example, the Peplink Mobility 42G Combo LTE/WiFi/GPS Antenna has 4 cellular, 2 Wi-Fi and one GPS antenna in a nice small dome enclosure and includes six feet of cable for all the connections. The Peplink Mobility 40G 4x4 MIMO LTE/GPS Antenna has been super popular for use with routers that have Category 18 LTE or 5G modems or even as a single antenna for routers with dual modems such as the Pepwave MAX Transit Duo LTE Router or the Pepwave UBR Dual Modem LTE Router.
  One other solution I will mention is the Peplink MAX HD1/2 Dome family of routers. These weather-proof devices have the LTE antennas and the LTE router electronics in a single dome enclosure. The dome has a single ethernet cable connection which provides both power using Power Over Ethernet (requires a PoE 802.3at power insertion adapter) as well as gigabit ethernet data connected to a separately purchased router or access point inside the boat. The advantage of this solution is you get great reception quality when installed outside with no antenna / cable loss and the ethernet cable can be as long as you need (up to 100 meters) again without incurring signal or data speed degradation. These devices are only LTE routers – in some cases with multiple LTE modems – but they can provide the absolute best speed and range.
• WiFi as WAN: This term refers to connecting the router to a public Wi-Fi access point as an alternate Internet source instead of connecting to a cellular network. Routers that support this feature can connect to public Wi-Fi when available and then automatically switch to an LTE connection when you leave the dock and are out of Wi-Fi range. This can save LTE data connection charges when you have free Wi-Fi access available. The setup is easily configured and allows you to set up networks and priorities in advance so that the switching is seamless and automatic. Note that it is possible to use the single router to both connect to the external Wi-Fi hotspot and have the router provide a private Wi-Fi network for your boat – both at the same time.
• One modem or two: All the routers discussed in this article have at least two SIM card slots. This allows you to insert a primary SIM card into one slot and optionally add a second SIM in the second slot which can be used – either manually or automatically based on rules. This can be handy when cruising in areas with variable coverage. For example, in the San Juan Islands, Verizon might have great coverage in one anchorage, but T-Mobile is much stronger in another area. Or perhaps you want to have a US SIM in slot one and a Canadian SIM in slot two ready to be used when you cross the border. In these scenarios, there is only one cellular radio but the possibility to use one SIM or the other.
  We also offer some routers that have two cellular radios and therefore can have two simultaneous connections at once. With the Peplink SpeedFusion technology, this can allow you to have faster, more reliable speeds and smoother connections. The Pepwave UBR Dual Modem LTE Router pictured here is a dual modem router (one CAT 6, one CAT 4) and a great deal at $499. With both modems connected and bonded with SpeedFusion, I typically get over 20 Mbps of smooth download speeds and I have seen as high as 70 Mbps. The Pepwave MAX Transit Duo LTE Router model with a pair of CAT 12 modems has been very popular as a high-end solution.
• Ethernet LAN/WAN ports: LTE routers discussed here include at least one ethernet LAN port. This allows you to connect ethernet wired devices such as computers or printers to the network. If you have multiple Ethernet devices, consider getting a router with multiple ethernet ports. In addition, routers typically also have a WAN ethernet port that can be connected to an alternate wide area network internet routing device such as a cable modem or a satellite communications link. Again, these routers allow you to setup rules and priorities for which connection to use for maintaining internet connectivity. In addition, you can sometimes repurpose the WAN ethernet port as a second LAN port if it is not needed as a WAN port.
• Fast onboard Wi-Fi: The Wi-Fi networking world is constantly evolving with different standards and frequencies used all with the goal of providing better speeds, stability and security. With the exception of the MAX HD Dome series, all of the routers discussed here support some form of connectivity over Wi-Fi to the router and in most cases the ability to also connect the router to an external public Wi-Fi internet source. Some routers only support 802.11b/g/n 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi which is typically slower but goes longer distances while others support the latest protocols with multiple connections, multiple frequencies (i.e. 2.4GHz and 5GHz) and MIMO antenna support. If you need super-fast Wi-Fi network speeds, be sure to get a router that supports the latest protocols.
• Enterprise features: Peplink offers a range of enterprise features that in some cases are bundled with the router or are optional or come with the first year of an annual subscription plan. The Peplink SpeedFusion suite features multi-WAN bonding, WAN smoothing, Hot Failover, VPN support as well as InControl2 centralized web-based management. For example, if you often use a public marina Wi-Fi access point, having a secure VPN connection can help keep your devices and communications safe from others. InControl2 is a great way to manage your router from remote locations to make changes or monitor activity. For more information on these enterprise features be sure to visit the Peplink website.
• Carrier: The routers mentioned in this article support all US and Canadian carriers so theoretically you just need to get a data plan-supported SIM card from your carrier of choice and insert it into one of the router SIM slots. These are unlocked devices and they should configure themselves for the appropriate carrier, although you may need to enter an APN if you are not using one of the big three US carriers. Be sure that you have a SIM card that is designed to work with a data device as opposed to a cell phone SIM card. Some phone SIM cards will not work in a data-only device such as a router especially if you try to use a 5G SIM card in a 4G device. Also be sure you understand the data limits, throttling thresholds and roaming costs or other issues associated with your cell data plan. For more information on this subject, check out Steve Mitchell’s SeaBits blog article here.
• Budget: Finally, there are considerations for how much to spend on your initial purchase vs. additional purchases down the road. Routers range from $299 to thousands of dollars but it is possible to put together an excellent router and antenna solution for less than $1,000. Some routers, such as the Peplink Balance 20X, can be upgraded with additional, more powerful cellular modems at a later time. External antennas can be expensive so it might make sense to get your router first, then purchase the antennas and cables that you want once you have tested the router in different locations.

Unfortunately we are unable to publicly show the list price for some Peplink products however if you create an account and log into our site, pricing will be shown.  

Recommendations

Here is a summary chart comparing our top Peplink LTE routers:

For full details, check out the product page for each of these routers.

Given all this, here are some recommendations based on addressing selected top line objectives:

• Super fast LTE and 5G and all the features: Pepwave MAX BR1 Pro 5G Router with external Peplink Maritime 20G Antennas (LTE/5G) and OMNI-496 (Wi-Fi) antennas or Peplink Mobility 42G Combo LTE/WiFi/GPS Antenna (LTE/5G/Wi-Fi/GPS)
• Fastest LTE speed only with integrated antennas: Peplink MAX HD1 Dome Category 18 LTE Router (will need to be connected to onboard router such as the Pepwave AP One Rugged Wireless Access Point for connecting wireless devices and users)
• Decent speed with enterprise features: Pepwave MAX BR1 MK2 Category 6 LTE Router with bundled antennas or the external Peplink Mobility 22G Combo LTE/WiFi/GPS Antenna
• Dual modem with high speed: Pepwave MAX Transit Duo LTE Router with a pair of Peplink Maritime 20G Antenna or the Peplink Mobility 40G 4x4 MIMO LTE/GPS Antenna
• Lower cost, dual modem with decent LTE speed, high speed Wi-Fi & ethernet, Wi-Fi as WAN: Pepwave UBR Dual Modem LTE Router
• High speed onboard throughput for Wi-Fi and ethernet, with OK LTE speed but the ability to upgrade, don’t need Wi-Fi as WAN: Peplink Balance 20X Router
• Lower cost basic LTE router with Wi-Fi onboard: Pepwave MAX BR1 Mini LTE-A Router or Pepwave UBR Dual Modem LTE Router

What about 5G

You’ve probably noticed by now that most of the routers mentioned in this article are 4G LTE routers. There are now multiple 5G routers available from Peplink however, we are still in the early adopter phase for using 5G routers on boats. Here are some of the factors to consider:

1. While Peplink does have mid-range and enterprise routers with 5G modems, we are waiting for these devices to be fully certified on all the US and Canadian 5G cell networks. Currently the 5G routers have PTCRB global certifications. T-Mobile announced they have certified the Peplink 5G line. Since every router needs to be certified on the various carrier networks, it may be some time before these are fully supported by all the popular carriers. I have tested the Pepwave MAX BR1 Pro 5G Router on my own boat and have seen very good results with T-Mobile 5G and decent results with Verizon and AT&T. I expect coverage and speeds to improve over time.
2. 5G network infrastructure is still being built out and true 5G speeds are not yet possible on the water given the propagation limits of 5G and the limited deployment of true 5G cell towers. Some carriers are advertising 5G coverage but in reality, these are pseudo-5G networks which honestly don’t appear to be any faster than 4G. For example, when I use my Apple iPhone 12 on the water, I see slightly worse data speeds using 5G vs. using the phone in 4G mode. So even if you had a 5G router, it is unlikely it would connect to a 5G network in remote cruising areas for the foreseeable future. It should be noted, the Pepwave MAX BR1 Pro 5G Router router also supports LTE-A Pro Category 20 so even if 5G is not available, it can work just fine on LTE networks.
3. If you are interested in jumping on the 5G bandwagon, the Pepwave MAX BR1 Pro 5G Router is a great solution that not only allows you to try out 5G but also have the ability to fallback to 4G if 5G is not available. I have been using the MAX BR1 Pro 5G for several months now on my own boat and have been very happy with the results. Having the ability to automatically fall back or even manually select the super fast Category 20 LTE-A Pro mode means the product is fully usable even there are only 4G cell towers in your area.

Summary

This article has turned out to be a lot longer than what I originally envisioned as a short buyer’s guide. Given the intersection of various LTE/5G internet access technologies, Wi-Fi and a host of supporting technologies this can rapidly become a complex topic. There are lots of options available and different models will appeal to different people depending on what they want to achieve.

I would recommend starting with just the LTE/5G router but don’t skimp on the modem speed. The Pepwave MAX BR1 Pro 5G Router is the fastest 4G/5G multi-function, single modem router we sell and is also now our best seller. It basically checks all the boxes. If you feel it is more power than you need or more money than you want to spend, consider the Pepwave UBR Dual Modem LTE Router or the Pepwave MAX BR1 MK2 Category 6 LTE Router. With the UBR, I like the dual modem capability with the primary being a CAT 6 and the extra LAN ports. The MAX BR1 MK2 basically has all the features – including the enterprise extras – of the original MAX Transit but uses a CAT 6 modem instead of a CAT 18 modem.

Once you have your router up and working with the bundled antennas, consider if you need external antennas and where those would be installed and most importantly, where to locate both the router and the antennas in order to have the shortest cable runs. The Peplink Mobility 42G Combo LTE/WiFi/GPS Antenna and Peplink Mobility 22G Combo LTE/WiFi/GPS Antenna antennas are great cost-effective, external, combo antennas that come with 6 feet of cable for all the connections.

In the end, all these devices are great solutions and are engineered for use in extreme environments. If you have questions on any of these solutions, contact us or leave questions or comments below.

Safe Travels!

Doug Miller