How to acess multiple device specific WiFi simoultaneously

[Navtho]

Hello boating friends,

Onboard my sailing boat I have at least two devices that creates separate local WiFi's to transfer information to my tablet:

Device 1 is a Wifi-only depth sounder ((link) that transfers the sonar image via it's own dedicated local Wifi that i creates.

Device 2 is a NMEA to Wifi router (link) that creates a Wifi to provide an NMEA 2000 data stream to the tablet (AIS etc).

My challenge is that my tablet (like all other tablets I know) is only capable of connecting to one WiFi at the time, so when I connect to the device specific WiFi generated by device 1 the tablet must disconnect from device 2.

Does anyone have a solution on how I could merge the data from these two WiFi's into one (probably 3rd) WiFi so that I am able to access both device 1 and 2 at the same time (simultaneously) without having to switch between the two networks.

Obviously device 2 (the NMEA 2000 router) is quite configurable (possible to set IP address etc) whereas device 1 (the SonarPhone) doesn't provide any configuration options when it comes to the Wifi it creates.

I assume others have also experienced the same issue, given all the modern Wifi-enabled equipment onboard which creates local Wifi:s to provide data to tablets.

All help very much appreciated!

[ilenart]

Some sort of Multiplexer? I have a MiniPlex-3Wi(-N2K) Multiplexer onboard.

ShipModul Maritieme Elektronica

[Navtho]

Hi Ilenart,
Thanks, good idea, but I'm afraid it's not really going to solve it. The multiplexer seems only capable of combining data/variable streams like NMEA, but not the actual live sonar image stream. I'm more thinking if there could be a Wifi router, switch or similar that is able to merge the two wifi networks. Or did I misunderstand?

[Joh.Ghurt]

Ilenart, those cost an arm and a leg. I have the same problem an I'm considering a diy-solution with a Raspberry PI. But this project's still quite far down the list.

[tkeithlu]

I'm going to go way out on a limb here and bet that your cheapest solution is a refurbished tablet able to take one job or the other. They are under $50 now.

[wholybee]

I am looking at the Antisense W2k-1, which appears to have the ability to not only be an access point, but to be able to connect to other networks at the same time and bring them together. I don't have it yet and can't confirm though.

See "geek mode" on this page:
https://actisense.com/products/w2k-1...-wifi-gateway/

[LoudMusic]

Is it not possible to configure those devices to both connect to infrastructure wifi that your tablet also connects to? I thought that's how this was all supposed to work.

[Jerry Woodward]

I have a regular netgear router set up as my main access point. But, it is configured as a "dumb switch" rather than a real router. You can log into this just like you would with any wifi access point. The other wifi devices can then connect to the router, and those will be available to any device logged into the router.. I have two devices, a 4G cellular modem, and a Bullet wifi connected via ethernet cable, and my Vesper AIS connected via WiFi. When logged into the router, I can access any of those. I plan to add a Yacht Devices NMEA 2000 Wifi gateway, which can also be connected to the router via WiFi. I'm not sure if your Yacht devices router can connect, but I suspect is can. Not sure about the Dept sounder. If you can connect to the router via ethernet cable, this would be even better.

I have a downloadable .pdf document on my web site detailing how to configure the router in this way. This should work for you if you can get your devices to connect to the router.