Wave Wifi Rogue Pro - cable connection

[HenryD]

Hello
I have been using a Wave Wifi Rogue Pro for a while and have been happy with it's interface and performance. A month or so ago, it stopped working (I thought) until I found the Ethernet cable seemed to be not working. I replaced the Ethernet cable up the mast and while connecting the antenna noticed, the Ethernet connector just falls out of the Wave Wifi Rogue Pro. I contacted WaveWifi and was told by their tech support that a) do not connect the cable and twist the antenna onto the antenna mount - this will cause the cable to twist and damage the antenna b) the proper way to connect the unit is to connect the cable to the antenna and then twist the mount into the antenna.

On my boat, I have a mast with a spreader bar that has four antenna mounts welded to the spreader bar. The only way to hold the antenna steady and twist mount would involve spinning the boat 5-6 rotations...and the cable would still be twisting.

Any suggestions on how to keep the Ethernet connector in the bottom of the antenna? If there was room, I would screw, weld, glue a right angle to the bottom of the antenna so I could wire tie the cable securely to the antenna. The WaveWifi rep suggested maybe epoxy, silicon and gasket maker - apparently they have received this question before.

 

[drb1025]

Try pre-twisting the Ethernet cable, so as you screw it on the mount it will untwist.

 

[FlyWright]

What drb says....then add a shot of RTV Silicone to hold the cable secure and seal the connection from moisture. My ethernet cable will slide out a very little bit and the connection gets lost. The cable clip is present, but does not hold it secure enough. Adding the RTV is moving up on my to-do list.

 

[dwhatty]

What drb says....then add a shot of RTV Silicone to hold the cable secure and seal the connection from moisture. My ethernet cable will slide out a very little bit and the connection gets lost. The cable clip is present, but does not hold it secure enough. Adding the RTV is moving up on my to-do list.

Silicone? But, but RT Firefly says ixnay?

 

[Bacchus]

Silicone? But, but RT Firefly says ixnay?

Why not a little dab of butyl tape??

Don

 

[MYTraveler]

Insert the ethernet cable into the base of the wifi. Slide the cover up (if you are holding it right side up), but hold the bottom of the cable, where it protrudes from the cap, stationary (relative to the unit) while you twist the cap on. There will be a little friction, but you can easily overcome it.

By the way, I had occassion to unscrew my cap only to find it was full of water -- it didn't quite reach the bottom of the ethernet cable, but the cable and the wifi radio were both at risk. I put a very small drill hole into the very bottom of the cap and put rescue tape around the joint between the wifi radio and the cap hoping to prevent water future intrusion. So far so good.

 

[FlyWright]

I've got a hot glue gun that gets used for some issues, too. Everything has its limits. This may be the limit of responsible RTV use on a boat but I keep all arrows available in my quiver.

 

[HenryD]

Thank you all...the Hot Glue and Pre-twisting the cable are going to get tested tomorrow.