Vesper XB 8000 AIS issues

[Taras]

So I made the jump to AIS and purchased what I thought was the best unit for my needs, the Vesper XB8000 (now part of Garmin I believe). This is a "transponder" so I can "see" and "be seen" what is out there. After hooking everything up as per the instructions, I have had one hell of a time with the WiFi connection. I've been working with their Tech Dept (which has been very good to deal with) and after about a YEAR of trying one fix after another, my iPad just will not connect to the XB8000. Here's the weird thing, my cell phone connects (and will drop the signal regularly) but at least I can get my the app to run on my iPhone SE (running IOS 15.6.1). The iPad is a few years old and can only run IOS 12.5. But still, Vesper says that should not be a problem. That IOS is supposed to work. After trying everything that their Tech Dept has suggested, I just cannot get my iPad to connect with the XB 8000. I used a newer iPad with newer IOS and still could not get the Vesper WatchMate app to connect to their WiFi.
At the end of the day, I am very disappointed with this unit and wanted to provide my specific feedback (in case anyone is considering an AIS).
If you have had GOOD success with your XB8000 connecting to an iPad, I'd love to hear about it......

 

[Flatswing]

I find both my iPads glitchy sometimes. iPhone a bit more reliable. I often have to reboot the iDevice on anchor watch.
Are you using the XB8000 native Wi-Fi? Or are you connecting through your boat’s router? If the latter, you need to assign it a fixed IP address, then it will work fine. (At least it did for me).

 

[DDW]

Connect to mine (two of them, one on each boat) with an iPad, iPhone, and Macintosh. The Macintosh drops the connection every once in a while for a few seconds, then picks it back up.

Some versions of Ixx hardware combined with some versions of iOS, including 12.5, had trouble connecting to and maintaining server connections with older WiFi server chips. This was a known problem, a bug in the iOS. I experienced this with other devices, not the XB 8000. It has been fixed at least by iOS 15, and maybe some later versions of 14.

 

[Cigatoo]

Maybe related maybe not? My iPad regularly drops the wifi connection to my Garmin. My iPhone does not. No router involved. Garmin support while friendly shrugs their shoulders.

 

[w8n4sun]

If you have had GOOD success with your XB8000 connecting to an iPad, I'd love to hear about it......

Our XB8000 was installed in 2019 and we've had no issues connecting our iphones or 12.9" iPad to it for utilizing the anchor watch feature. Sorry to hear you are having issues with your new install.

 

[PMF1984]

Odd. I don’t have a problem, but then I do not route the vesper WiFi signal through my router.

If I understand correctly, when you go the Settings, WiFi, you do not get the vesper as an available network (?)

 

[firehoser75]

I also used the Vesper XB8000 WiFi successfully to connect 3 different IPads (sometimes all at the same time). One is an IPad mini with no cellular, and the other 2 are full sized IPads (one newer and the other older) that have celluar. I also connected a Windows laptop via hardwire. All worked very well. I did not use any additional equipment (router etc.), just the native built in networking. Running Navionics on all IPad (and Coastal Explorer on the laptop), all AIS targets showed up on all devices. I only ran "Watchmate" on one device at a time.
Sorry to hear of your issues.

 

[Portage_Bay]

I find the Vesper XB 8000 wifi to be robust and trouble free. I don't use a router. Your problem may be on the iphone / ipad end of things. I am all Windows and Android, my devices connect to the Vesper XB 8000 flawlessly. She is all iphone/ipad and has endless troubles connecting. I suggest you find someone with Windows or Android devices and ask them to connect.

 

[tozz]

I connect an iPad to the Vesper and found that AP mode works fine. Using the XB-8000 in client mode was a mess and I had to abandon the idea that the unit could connect reliably to my boat LAN entirely.

I also have the NMEA2k port connected to a yacht devices gateway delivering data over the boat LAN reliably.

-tozz

 

[Taras]

I sure appreciate all the responses! Sounds like the wifi connect-ability is hit and miss across this user base. I do not use a router. The Vesper wifi shows up just fine as a selectable wifi network, the problem is it just won't connect to the iPad using the 12.5 IOS. Vesper (now Garmin) claims that it should work just fine. My iPhone is new and it connects to the iPhone but it drops the signal regularly. Overall, I am very disappointed with this system. I'm thinking hard wire is the way to go. Forget WiFi and all the issues. Lastly, the Vesper help desk has been very good to work with and very timely responses but over the course of the last year, none of the fixes have worked.

 

[w8n4sun]

Sorry to hear you are having issues, I'm sure it's frustrating that others have no issues.

Btw, you have a really cool look boat!

 

[PJHoffnet]

This is just a shot in the dark - my phrasing is probably off, but there are plenty of smart people who can correct me. Could your issue be a 5GHz v. 2.4GHz issue? The XB 8000 wifi only outputs at 2.4GHz. Is the iPad (I'm a 'droid kinda guy) only looking for 5GHz signals?

 

[Taras]

This is just a shot in the dark - my phrasing is probably off, but there are plenty of smart people who can correct me. Could your issue be a 5GHz v. 2.4GHz issue? The XB 8000 wifi only outputs at 2.4GHz. Is the iPad (I'm a 'droid kinda guy) only looking for 5GHz signals?

Thank you for the thought. According to Vesper, there should be no issues with picking up the wifi with an iPad so the "Hz" is compatible. However, I just cant seem to make it work

 

[sailorjoe]

Vesper has a support page with more detail setup and debug info, if you haven't seen it yet. Took me awhile to find it but there's lots of stuff about iOS issues. You might save the pages as PDF's since they'll probably eventually be removed by Garmin, and so far Garmin's support page for Vesper is pretty lightweight. For me, I've been running an iPad Air with Aquamap and SeaIQ without issues the last few years as an access point. Currently I've been trying to work it into my LAN but my iPad can't seem to find it even though a scan of my Netgear attached devices shows the Vesper XP connected. Going to try it using a fixed IP address and if that fails I'll go back to AP mode.