3G, 4G, 5G Cellular
Terrestrial cellular internet connections are part of everyday life globally. While 3G is being phased out, 4G is well established and 5G is being deployed in many places globally.
There are many devices available on the market that will allow you to connect to an internet service provider and distribute the signal on your ship. All devices are not equal and price ranges vary greatly.
The most expensive part in your cellular router is the cellular modem. These can cost from $50 (4G basic) to $500 and more (5G high bandwidth) depending on the functionalities of the modem inside the router.
While the first 5G routers are becoming available most current devices will still be 4G which comes in different versions. The most common entry level version is cat 4 and it will go up to cat 20 and 5G.
| Modem Type | Download Max | Upload Max |
|---|---|---|
| LTE cat 4 | 150 Mbps | 50 Mbps |
| LTE cat 6 | 300 Mbps | 50 Mbps |
| LTE cat 9 | 450 Mbps | 50 Mbps |
| LTE cat 11 | 600 Mbps | 75 Mbps |
| LTE cat 12 | 600 Mbps | 150 Mbps |
| LTE cat 16 | 1000 Mbps | 75 Mbps |
| LTE cat 18 | 1200 Mbps | 150 Mbps |
| LTE cat 20 | 2000 Mbps | 200 Mbps |
| 5G Sub 6 GHz | 2500-4500 Mbps | 660-1200 Mbps |
Choosing the right modem
Depending on the type of connection you need you can decide upon which modem category you need. Note that the speeds above are maximum speeds. Realistically the modem will achieve 50% of its maximum which also depends on the cell tower.
You can choose one of our Peplink 4G routers or Peplink 5G routers
For more powerful cellular solution you can install the Satmarin Hyper-G router especially designed to achieve the most stable and powerful connection available in the market.
Port-Wi-Fi
While 4G and 5G can be a very good near shore solution and allow for operational advantages there is also an operational cost for the data subscription with a Mobile Cellular Provider and at Gigabit speed these amounts can quickly become very important.
If you need an industry proof data connection on a fixed location then it can ver very interesting to look at the option of a Port Wi-Fi system. These setups will allow for very high throughput when the ship is near dock and can hold its connection up to several kilometers away with only an omni-directional antenna on board.
The immense advantage is that there will not be any additional cost for the data you transfer between ship and shore.
We have selected Radwin Jet for their extremely reliable solutions and have implemented this succesfully in harbours around Europe.
The application can also be used for inland-cruise or cruise ports requiring a relatively initial investment.