The new WL510 allows boat owners to connect to Wi-Fi hot spots so that their on board PC’s or equipment can connect to the internet. With WiFi on board you can download the latest weather or chart updates as well as having a mobile office on board. Most harbours and ports have either free or subscription based services available.

The system has a compact, DC powered below deck mounted 600mW booster/modem and external, hi-gain (12dBm) antenna with 66ft (20m) low loss LMR400 coax interconnect cable. The antenna measures 0.9m (2.95ft) and can be supplied with deck, mast and industry standard 1” x 14TPI mountings.

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 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.