WIRELESS WI-FI CONNECTIONS SAVE TIME

As Wi-Fi has developed over the years, it has become more prominent in marine electronics. The convenience of a wireless connection is one of the main reasons why it is being more commonly used in marine electronics, explains Phil Whitehurst, Actisense CEO.

“Running wires behind a bulkhead to create a network can cause challenges through a lack of space and limited areas to run wires through,” he explained. “Creating a network through a wireless Wi-Fi connection saves a considerable amount of time and effort on installation.”

And he added that connecting marine electronic devices to a Wi-Fi enabled device allows navigational data to be viewed remotely on a boat or ship.

Wi-Fi gateways such as Actisense’s W2K-1, have this ability and transfer NMEA 2000 messages from marine electronic devices to any device connected to it via Wi-Fi, allowing an individual to remotely view a variety of vessel data.

Widely used

“The Internet of Things (IoT) allows for ship-to-shore viewing of vessel data and overcomes the range restrictions of Wi-Fi,” said Phil. “Data shared on the IoT can then be analysed anywhere in the world.”

However, although Wi-Fi is becoming widely used in marine electronics, there is still a necessity for hardwired networks.

“Standards such as NMEA 2000 are much quicker at reacting to commands and more reliable than Wi-Fi - essential for high reliability data such as throttle command and alarm systems.

“That’s why it is important to combine the convenience of Wi-Fi and the 100% reliability of wired networks using Wi-Fi gateways,” concluded Phil.