How Metro Wireless deploys and manages Marina WiFi networks

July 1, 2024

Upgraded Outdoor Marina WiFi

Overview

This blog post is part of a multi-part case study series on how we at Metro Wireless upgraded a marina WiFi network to help it provide a great internet experience for its members and staff. We now manage that outdoor WiFi network, and support the marina in monetizing its WiFi connectivity, allowing them to recuperate their investment.

We’ve broken this blog series into a few parts:

  1. Summary and overview post (this blog post page you’re on now)
  2. Upgrading the marina’s underlying infrastructure (electrical and power), also known as structured cabling
  3. Deploying enterprise grade WiFi access points and a 1.8Gbps capable wireless point-to-point backhaul system
  4. Configuring and managing the cloud-based network controller for the upgraded WiFi and wireless PtP backhaul system

A quick shameless plug

The fastest way to get started on your new marina or other outdoor WiFi and wireless network is to email us at sales@metrowireless.com or call us at (888) 203-5826. It’s helpful if you also provide:

  1. The service address or location of where you’re looking to get service; if it’s a weirdly rural location that’s hard to get an address for, a pin drop on a map or GPS coordinates also work
  2. A picture of your dock map or site map, if available; we’ll use this to consult on and perform a design for your new WiFi and wireless network
  3. Any other pertinent information like details on your existing network, number of dock slips, number of users, other needs, etc.

Our design and technical engineering team will assist you every step of the way, and we provide FREE remote surveys, which will give you a predictive picture of what your project will look like once completed, as well as a budgetary estimate to install and maintain your network.

Once the preliminary design is completed, we’ll schedule an on-site survey to finalize the network design. After our business clients accept the proposal and pay the deposit, we can order, provision, and install most WiFi networks within eight weeks.

What is MacRay Marina, located on Lake St. Clair near the Great Lakes

Located about 30 minutes north of Detroit, Michigan, MacRay Marina is situated on Lake St. Clair, which connects to Michigan’s Great Lakes. Operating on a large plot of land next to Selfridge National Air Base, MacRay Marina covers 49 acres (or 2.1M Sq Ft), offering more than 200 dock slips, and various buildings for boater and administrative usage.

MacRay offers plenty of amenities to its HOA member owners, seasonal members, and short term boater guests, including an on-site restaurant, pool, general store, office, and bathrooms with showers. It also has an on-site boat yard and trailer storage facility, and boat condominiums that HOA members can purchase. A gas dock and around the clock security is also offered.

WiFi Heatmap of MacRay Marina

Setting the stage: an existing outdoor marina WiFi network wasn’t meeting modern user demands

After installing its first outdoor Managed WiFi network almost a decade ago, MacRay Marina’s ‘wifi as an amenity’ was falling short of its member’s demands and needs. Users were complaining that the WiFi was slow, or worse, not working at all.

Some boaters in fact had deployed their own internet and WiFi solutions, with some yachts having their own Starlink connections. By the way, we offer and manage 5G, Starlink and WiFi solutions for boats and yachts, just contact us!

Existing WiFi and wireless network was reactively managed, and with no monetization

The existing WiFi network hardware had once been state of the art, but due to obsolescence and poor network management, the Marina WiFi network was crippling.

MacRay’s marina staff and management had no way of knowing whether the network or any particular WiFi access point was working - and had to rely on members complaining about the WiFi and internet connectivity in order to fix anything. This is obviously a very reactive, versus proactive approach in managing a network.

Further, the existing WiFi network and cloud-management controller did not offer a feature set/capability that would allow the Marina to monetize the connection, and recoup the cost of deploying and managing a WiFi network.

Old WiFi network didn’t support modern internet speeds and applications

Even when the existing network worked as intended, the speeds supported by the WiFi access points and the wireless, fixed wireless (line-of-sight) based PtP backhaul system didn’t offer enough bandwidth throughput to power modern internet use cases like TV streaming, video conferencing, etc. Laptops, phones, iPads and tablets couldn’t get fast enough download and upload speed connections.

During our on-site survey testing, we found most access points around the marina’s campus were testing below 10Mbps, which is typically not enough for HD streaming or video conferencing for one user, let alone multiple.

Further, the structured cabling and underlying infrastructure wasn’t set up securely, so boating members would routinely unplug the WiFi and wireless network infrastructure in order to power their tools – eek! Obviously a WiFi network needs electricity to work, but the existing NEMA enclosures were either broken or unsecured.

Fried Ethernet Connectors

During our consultation and design phase, we learned the Marina was paying over $1,000 per month for a 1Gbps symmetrical dedicated (DIA) internet connection, but they weren’t utilizing even a tenth of it (100Mbps) during their peak usage season in the summer. What good is a 1Gbps DIA circuit if they’re not using it?!

A quick aside: why one would want to deploy an outdoor managed WiFi network

Offering WiFi as an amenity, whether that’s a marina, RV park, campground, or other outdoor spaces (e.g., parks) is considered a fundamental amenity to most modern users. Even if access to the network is segmented between a free, limited slow tier and a faster, premium paid tier, WiFi and internet connectivity is expected at most destinations.

There are a few more specific reasons to consider deploying an outdoor WiFi network as well:

  1. Attracting clients: as mentioned above, in today’s environment, most expect to have wireless internet access wherever they travel. Offering free WiFi based internet access can be a competitive advantage for outdoor destinations like marinas. RV campers and others visiting parks may look for this when seeking a place to spend leisure time.
  2. Boosting revenue: Like in our marina project here, we advocate clients to monetize their WiFi connectivity in order to help offset costs. Further, a strong WiFi connection can keep visitors at your outdoor space longer, enabling them to spend more money on your other amenities like shops, bars, and restaurants.
  3. Upgrading the customer experience: we call it work-from-boat, where boaters expect to remain connected with work, friends, and family while out on the water.
  4. Easy and streamlined usage: boaters and other visitors find it painful to leverage their personal phone hotspots, or worse provide their own internet connections via Starlink, 5G hotspots, etc. WiFi as an amenity alleviates this pain point.
  5. Supporting day-to-day marina management: Not just as an amenity for yachts, campus-wide WiFi networks enable staff and management teams to more easily manage marina operations like monitoring gas usage, tracking weather conditions, and managing restaurant and bar reservations
  6. Enabling greater safety and security: Strong wireless connectivity enables more reliable access to security features and safety items like instant weather updates, navigational hazard reports, and surveillance cameras and CCTV systems

Offering free Wi-Fi at marinas and other outdoor spaces can be a value-added offering that enhances the user experience, boosts revenue, and streamlines management and day to day operations. It can also enable better safety and security features that benefit both customers and marina staff.

Metro Wireless designed a Managed Marina WiFi solution to bring the marina and its members up to 2024 standards

Given our deep expertise in wireless networking, our team at Metro Wireless was selected to design, provision, deploy, and manage a new WiFi and fixed wireless backhaul network for MacRay Marina.

During our consultation phase, we explained to the marina’s leadership that any reliable outdoor WiFi network is a three legged stool:

  1. Strong underlying infrastructure (electrical, robust NEMA enclosures, network cabling) to power and support reliable wireless hardware
  2. Enterprise grade WiFi access points and line-of-sight wireless backhaul (mesh) hardware that’s marine grade
  3. A cloud-based network controller for proactively managing a commercial-grade marina network; with the ability to monetize access

It’s not just about comparing WiFi speeds at the yacht or boat level, it's about considering the total network capacity across their outdoor property, and optimizing the experience and bandwidth across all boating members and staff.

Upgraded structured cabling leads to a more reliable user experience

Our first step was to upgrade all the underlying infrastructure supporting the outdoor WiFi network. We upgraded the failing NEMA enclosures to be waterproof and secured such that no one could unplug the power to the WiFi access points. We worked with the marina staff to repair any installation sites (mostly light poles for this project) that were missing power.

The NEMA enclosures were installed in such a fashion that landscapers and other maintenance staff wouldn’t happen to cut into the conduit or other cabling, hopefully extending the longevity of the infrastructure. We wouldn’t want a weed wacker or lawnmower to cut through our conduit or cabling! As you can see, we care about the little things here at Metro Wireless.

New NEMA mounted so less likely to be damaged

Enterprise grade outdoor WiFi 6 access points and wireless backhaul system power a strong WiFi experience to meet modern usage

Our team at Metro Wireless selected Cambium as the hardware manufacturer for MacRay’s new WiFi deployment, given it offers single-pane-of-glass cloud management of:

  1. The core router for routing and managing internet traffic
  2. All WiFi access points, including both outdoor and indoor WiFi access points
  3. The hub and every spoke for the fixed wireless point-to-multipoint backhaul system

Cambium’s WiFi and wireless point-to-point hardware 

We also find that Cambium falls into the sweet spot for most enterprise and ‘middleprise’ (of the SMB market) given that it offers an enterprise level feature set and capability across its portfolio, while also being price competitive compared to its peers.

In short, it’s more powerful and better supported than Ubiquiti, but much more affordable than Ruckus. We’ll of course deploy wireless networks with those manufacturers, but we found Cambium to fit well for outdoor wireless networks typically found at RV parks, campgrounds, outdoor campuses, etc.

Powering the new wireless network in this case is the Cambium XV2-23T outdoor WiFi 6 access points. Feeding internet connectivity to the Cambium WiFi access points is Cambium’s 1.8Gbps capable wireless point-to-point backhaul system, the cnWave series. We used one V5000 distribution node, or DN (hub), and the V2000 client nodes, or CNs (spokes).

New Cambium WiFi 6 Outdoor AP

These WiFi access points and line-of-sight (and mesh) hardware will serve the marina for many years to come as they carry greatly increased throughput and bandwidth capacity, and allow for proactive management and monitoring. 

Behind the wireless network hardware is the Cambium NSE, a firewall and router that supports all internet traffic routing and security for the new WiFi network. This hardware appliance, installed indoors near the marina’s ISP connection, is also managed by the cloud-based portal, Cambium’s CnMaestro X.

We can also set up this hardware for ePSK, as well as monetization to help the marina recuperate their investment. See our more detailed post on ePSK and monetizing the Marina’s WiFi network.

A proactively managed network keeps the WiFi operating smoothly

The newly installed network is managed by Metro Wireless via the Cambium cloud-based portal, allowing for email outage alerts, monetization to offset costs, and root cause analysis for troubleshooting. In addition, we can do things like:

  1. Individually monitor each link and WiFi AP for over-congestion and bandwidth hogs
  2. Scale the system to setup new APs as needed to bolster coverage (we’ve seamlessly added three new WiFi APs since the initial install)
  3. Co-manage and support the MacRay team 24/7/365 via our NOC based in Detroit, Michigan

We don’t leave clients hanging after we install their new outdoor WiFi network, we co-manage it with them, ensuring their long term success, and also removing any headaches!

Cambium's CnMaestro X Portal Overview

With peak boating season quickly approaching, our team prioritized a fast install and deployment

With the midwestern boating season being pitifully short, our client wanted to move fast, with a desire to deploy their new WiFi network by Memorial Day, and our initial discovery call was in March. Talk about a fast turnaround!

We met the need, and our final installation was completed in under three months from our initial consultation meeting. Once the deposit was received to order the hardware, our team provisioned and deployed the new network in under eight weeks.

We now manage the entire end-to-end network for MacRay marina, including proactive email alerts for any outages (e.g., WiFi APs going offline), monitoring usage for any ‘bandwidth hogs’ that could degrade the experience for other users, and mundane items like resetting usernames and passwords.

That’s a wrap: conclusion

Designed and deployed in under three months from our initial consultation call with our client, it’s evident Metro Wireless can move quickly to upgrade poor performing or non-existent WiFi and wireless networks.

This case study can be applied for many different use cases, such as outdoor campground WiFi, RV parks, and more (we’re working on a Zoo’s outdoor WiFi design right now!).

To learn more about our Managed WiFi offering, check out our managed WiFi solutions page here. Of course, Metro Wireless deploys a lot of indoor (e.g., office, warehouse) type focused solutions, in addition to outdoor WiFi networks.

Our process to deploy and manage outdoor WiFi networks

We run a robust, yet streamlined and fast process to consult, design, deploy, and manage outdoor WiFi networks like this Marina’s.

In order to start the process, send an email to sales@metrowireless.com with:

  1. The service address or location of where you’re looking to get service; if it’s a weirdly rural location that’s hard to get an address for, a pin drop on a map or GPS coordinates also work
  2. A picture of your dock map or site map, if available; we’ll use this to consult on and perform a design for your new WiFi and wireless network
  3. Any other pertinent information like details on your existing network, number of dock slips, number of users, other needs, etc.

Our design and technical engineering team will assist you every step of the way, and we provide FREE remote surveys, which will give you a predictive picture of what your project will look like once completed, as well as a budgetary estimate to install and maintain your network.

Once the preliminary design is completed, we’ll schedule an on-site survey to finalize the network design. After our business clients accept the proposal and pay the deposit, we can order, provision, and install most WiFi networks within eight weeks.

Read the other, more detailed parts of this multi-part blog series:

  1. Upgrading the marina’s underlying infrastructure (electrical and power), also known as structured cabling
  2. Deploying enterprise grade WiFi access points and a 1.8Gbps capable wireless point-to-point backhaul system
  3. Configuring and managing the cloud-based network controller for the upgraded WiFi and wireless PtP backhaul system

Tyler Hoffman

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