How Wi-Fi is revolutionising marine electronics

Wi-Fi is fast becoming a lot more prominent in the marine electronics field. Practically, its uses range from allowing leisure boat users to access internet-based entertainment, to helping commercial ship operators by enabling them to remotely monitor navigational data from the ship using NMEA 2000® to Wi-Fi gateway with data logging facility.

A brief history of Wi-Fi

In 1997, Wi-Fi was invented and released to consumers and provided an allowance of two Megabits per second of data to be transferred wirelessly between devices. Since then, Wi-Fi has come on leaps and bounds in many ways, and now, in the age of ‘Wi-Fi 6’, it can, in theory, transfer data up to 9.6 Gigabits per second, 4800 times quicker than the original standard. As Wi-Fi has developed, so has its use across the marine electronics industry.

Marine networks and Wi-Fi

When setting up a network, running wires behind a bulkhead can cause challenges.  There may be a lack of space and limited areas to run those wires through. This means the creation of a fully wired network can sometimes be difficult.

To guarantee data integrity between devices that are critical to a vessel’s safety, a network should always retain a wired core. Luckily, you can now extend that network wirelessly with ease. This assists the user by reducing installation time, effort and cost.

The international standards of NMEA® 0183 and NMEA 2000® have greatly helped to foster an inclusive data network where the sharing of data and Wi-Fi freely throughout a vessel is possible. By connecting a Wi-Fi-enabled marine electronic device to mobile (phone or tablet) devices, navigational data (such as position, speed, course, wind speed, depth, engine data and AIS messages) can be viewed wirelessly anywhere on a vessel.

How NMEA 2000 to Wi-Fi gateways help

NMEA 2000 to Wi-Fi gateways, such as the W2K-2, can transfer data messages from a data network (NMEA 2000 in the W2K-2’s case) to a Wi-Fi-enabled device and be displayed via applications running on it.

Wi-Fi range is limited, and therefore, ship-to-shore connectivity is often difficult without using other technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) in conjunction with a ship-to-shore connection. Connectivity can be achieved using a 3/4/5G data link when close to shore, or over a satellite link when further at sea.

IoT lets devices with internet connections to ‘talk’ to one another. This allows those connected devices to collect information from one another and store it for sharing on a cloud data server. With a cloud data server, a variety of vessel data can be shared, stored and then analysed later, away from the ship on any device connected to the cloud-based data server.

Maintaining a hard-wired core network

Whilst we focus this article on the benefits of using Wi-Fi, there are indeed some critically important reasons to keep and maintain a hard-wired core network on any vessel. Remember that Wi-Fi connections are not 100% reliable, as they operate using radio and microwave signals and require all devices to share the same bandwidth.

This can result in device interference from time to time, particularly in busy marinas, which can reduce responsiveness to commands. With a hard-wired connection (NMEA 2000®, for example), you’ll have a far more reliable and responsive connection. Summarily, a wired core to the vessel’s data network is recommended for high reliability, allowing Wi-Fi to be used where it excels most – in extending the network to very helpful, but not safety-critical devices.

We developed the Actisense W2K-2 NMEA 2000® to Wi-Fi Gateway to create an intelligent link between a hard-wired network and a wireless network, for the ultimate user-friendly vessel.  With the added convenience of data logging, the Actisense W2K-2 is the perfect addition to your hardwired NMEA 2000® network, giving you the added ability to share data wirelessly with Wi-Fi-connected devices.

Understanding data formats

Historically, there was a lack of international standards for sharing data via a serial connection, or over Ethernet or Wi-Fi. This led to an assortment of developer-designed proprietary data formats.

Each of these formats (created over the years for sharing NMEA 0183 and NMEA 2000 over Ethernet and Wi-Fi) is used by a whole host of applications created to support this growing marketplace.  Popular NMEA 2000® Wi-Fi gateways, such as the Actisense W2K-2, must, therefore, be capable of sharing data in many different formats, dictated by the appropriate application processing that data.

By way of an example, the Actisense W2K-2 supports:

• NMEA 0183 (International standard ASCII character format)
• ASCII RAW (Proprietary ASCII character format for sharing individual CAN frame data)
• Actisense RAW (Proprietary binary format for sharing individual CAN frame data)
• ASCII N2K (Proprietary ASCII character format for sharing complete NMEA 2000 PGNs)
• Actisense N2K (Proprietary binary format for sharing complete NMEA 2000 PGNs, v2)
• Actisense NGT (Proprietary binary format for sharing complete NMEA 2000 PGNs, v1 in use since 2008 and compatible with many existing chart-plotter applications).

Since NMEA 0183 was created, ASCII data formats have been popular in the marine industry as they can be viewed using a standard text application (such as Notepad). However, it’s worth mentioning that ‘ASCII’ formats are inefficient, and its messages are typically twice the size of an equivalent binary format.

Actisense ‘RAW’, ‘N2K’ and ‘NGT’ use a binary format that can halve the data bandwidth required, which is inevitably of financial benefit if that data is eventually shared over a 3/4/5G or satellite data link.

‘RAW’ formats can be used to create a low-level interface to share individual CAN frames, which has its benefits, however, this places the extra burden of reconstructing NMEA 2000 messages on the receiving application.  This is the reason why ‘N2K’ and ‘NGT’ data formats are more popular as they create a higher-level interface to share complete NMEA 2000 PGNs, ultimately making application development quicker and easier.

Choosing the best connection method

The two dominant connection methods on Wi-Fi networks are Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP).  Each protocol has advantages and drawbacks depending on the data type and application.

• TCP: Built-in “data lost” detection and retransmission ensures guaranteed data delivery, but with lower data speed and fewer devices supported (typically 5-10).
• UDP: Offers higher data speed and supports more devices, but occasional data loss may occur.

NMEA 2000® Wi-Fi routers such as the Actisense W2K-2 can create a Wireless Access Point (WAP) for mobile devices to connect and receive data (and to optionally configure that gateway).  Many gateways also offer the option to join an existing Wi-Fi network, though often at the expense of disabling their own WAP. The W2K-2 allows both simultaneously, guaranteeing accessibility through its WAP while sharing data on an existing network.

Applications: The new frontier

As Wi-Fi becomes common in marine networking, demand for connecting with multiple applications continues to grow. The list of supported devices and applications is expanding rapidly – the W2K-2 currently supports over 20 navigation applications and counting.

Using the W2K-2’s logging capabilities, even if the Wi-Fi signal is lost, NMEA 2000 data will still be logged to an industrial spec SD card*. Logged data can be retrieved whenever required, providing reassurance in situations such as collision investigations.

Analysed data can offer insights into efficiency improvements and better performance, whether in racing, workboats, or leisure boating, enhancing safety and the overall experience.

*The W2K-2 does not include an SD Card, but any industrial standard SD card (up to 128GB) can be installed for logging.

Diagnostics and Remote Monitoring

Wireless Gateways such as the W2K-2 enable remote diagnostics, vessel monitoring and data analysis. New firmware improvements introduced in the W2K-2’s release now include live view of data in both text and graphical format using gauge panel displays and other panel options.

Engine data can be displayed in a gauge layout, similar to an MFD, allowing technicians to analyse data without a laptop or hard-wired gateway.

The W2K is also used in remote monitoring applications such as Vanemar, enabling boat owners, captains and technicians to view vessel status without physical presence. This supports Vanemar’s anti-tampering equipment, motion sensors, alarms, geofencing, servicing schedules, fleet management, security, and remote fault finding. Remote monitoring is particularly beneficial when vessels are offshore and technicians cannot be present in person.

In summary…

Wi-Fi is transforming marine electronics by extending NMEA 2000 networks beyond wired connections, enabling wireless data sharing, remote monitoring, and enhanced vessel diagnostics. While a hard-wired core remains essential for safety-critical systems, NMEA 2000 Wi-Fi gateways like the Actisense W2K-2 provide reliable connectivity for applications, logging, and mobile devices. By supporting multiple data formats, connection protocols, and a growing range of apps, these gateways make marine networks more flexible, efficient, and user-friendly.