NMEA2000 to WiFi Adapters?

[Serene]

Researching and selecting components for an electronics upgrade on my vessel and looking for feedback on NMEA2000 to WiFi adapters. Purpose will be to display AIS targets via the Navionics app on an iPad and for the iPad to receive GPS position data from a more reliable source than the internal GPS chip.

I have found the following three devices;

Digital Yacht NavLink 2
Yacht Devices YDWG-02
Actisense W2K-1

Any feedback on any of these?

I could use any of these devices and they are all similarly priced in AUD, so looking to see if there is any reason to select one over the other.

Any other device I have missed which I should consider?

 

[STB]

I've used both the ActiSense and YachtDevices. They are both great. I happen to like the form factor on the YachtDevices better. Just preference.

If you happen to have STNG connectors on your N2K bus already, the YachtDevices product can be ordered that way to save you an adapter.

This is just from memory. Obviously check the offerings and specs.

 

[boomerang]

I don't know which AIS you have but for our last boats I have always purchased an AIS with wifi capability to use as a data multiplexer and merge the data to send to our nav programs via wifi. Does your chartplotter have wifi? So much navigation equipment comes with that option nowadays I would just want to review all of the options to make sure I needed an adapter/dongle

 

[heysteve]

I have the Digital Yacht NavLink 2 and am using it with Navionics on an iPad. I'm currently only using it for depth but I'm sure AIS wouldn't be a problem as it seems like a quality device.

 

[stevemitchell]

I have all three and prefer the Yacht Devices. If I have my timing right, theirs has been around the longest, so they've figured out (most) of their bugs. They also have a lot of nice additional features that the others don't which you can use for troubleshooting and extending things a bit more.

 

[Serene]

I've used both the ActiSense and YachtDevices. They are both great. I happen to like the form factor on the YachtDevices better. Just preference.

If you happen to have STNG connectors on your N2K bus already, the YachtDevices product can be ordered that way to save you an adapter.

This is just from memory. Obviously check the offerings and specs.

Network will be mostly STNG so the YachtDevices is attractive as it means one less adapter. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Serene]

I don't know which AIS you have but for our last boats I have always purchased an AIS with wifi capability to use as a data multiplexer and merge the data to send to our nav programs via wifi. Does your chartplotter have wifi? So much navigation equipment comes with that option nowadays I would just want to review all of the options to make sure I needed an adapter/dongle

No AIS yet. Still in the process of designing the system and selecting equipment, but have found the availability and price of AIS units with Wifi in Australia to not be competitive.

e.g. the Em-trak B954 is AUD$1,995

vs

GME AISS120 (splitter) AUD$419 + GME AIST120 (transceiver) AUD$878 + YachtDevices YDWG-02 (WiFi) AUD$415 = AUD$1,712

So AUD$283 cheaper to use the separate components.

Not sure why having in-built WiFi would be any different to an external WiFi adapter. Wouldn't this still make the NMEA2000 data available off the physical N2K network?

What am I missing?

 

[Serene]

I have all three and prefer the Yacht Devices. If I have my timing right, theirs has been around the longest, so they've figured out (most) of their bugs. They also have a lot of nice additional features that the others don't which you can use for troubleshooting and extending things a bit more.

Thank you. This is the sort of info I was chasing that you can't find by looking at websites.

Plus it comes in an STNG version so does away with an extra DeviceNet to STNG adapter. And it is quite a small form factor.

 

[Ka_sea_ta]

I installed a NMEA 2k network on our boat this summer, I primarily use coastal explorer for navigation. In order to get the required NMEA 2k information to the CE computer it required a gateway and I choose a Quark A036 (https://www.quark-elec.com/product/...0-gateway-with-integrated-voyage-data-logger/ ) I've used a quark AIS receiver for a few years and it was trouble free. The A036 not so much, the device is an excellent gateway and bi-directional info flows to CE and from CE to the AP all that works perfectly. I also wanted to do route planning on my IPAD and the a036 seemed like the perfect solution. The issue is that the Quark's Wifi network will not authenticate so there is no inter connectivity. I understand that sometimes things are faulty that is what a warranty and tech service is for. This where my complaints start. The factory was no help other to read the manual to me and off load any responsibility to the Nav-store where I purchased it. The Nav-store referred me to the factory and appears to have given up and went crickets when I suggested a replacement unit. This device is less then a year old and still in the warranty period.... While this is a device that will do what you want, in good faith I wouldn't recommend it just because of customer no service....

 

[Woodstock]

Researching and selecting components for an electronics upgrade on my vessel and looking for feedback on NMEA2000 to WiFi adapters. Purpose will be to display AIS targets via the Navionics app on an iPad and for the iPad to receive GPS position data from a more reliable source than the internal GPS chip.

I have found the following three devices;

Digital Yacht NavLink 2
Yacht Devices YDWG-02
Actisense W2K-1

Any feedback on any of these?

I could use any of these devices and they are all similarly priced in AUD, so looking to see if there is any reason to select one over the other.

Any other device I have missed which I should consider?

I installed the YDWG-02 to do exactly what you want to do and it works great. My system is Raymarine so I got the one that connects directly their Seatalk network. I use one or sometimes two iPads as additional navigation devices but they are wifi only so don't have an internal GPS chip. I connect them to the YD wifi and get AIS and GPS position data on Navionics and AquaMaps through the device.

 

[Serene]

I installed the YDWG-02 to do exactly what you want to do and it works great. My system is Raymarine so I got the one that connects directly their Seatalk network. I use one or sometimes two iPads as additional navigation devices but they are wifi only so don't have an internal GPS chip. I connect them to the YD wifi and get AIS and GPS position data on Navionics and AquaMaps through the device.

Perfect. Thank you.

 

[Serene]

I installed a NMEA 2k network on our boat this summer, I primarily use coastal explorer for navigation. In order to get the required NMEA 2k information to the CE computer it required a gateway and I choose a Quark A036

[SNIP]

Thank you. I wasn't aware of Quark, but appreciate your feedback.