Adding a Wi-Fi Access Point Radio

A Mikrotik PoE Wi-Fi radio can be plugged into one of the RJ-45 jacks (PoE must be strapped), giving the Omniswitch all of the capabilities of a BaseStation, plus network bridging, minus the internal battery. Radios are available directly from Blue Robotics. You want to get the Base Station Wireless Router variant.

To install, attach an antenna to the radio, and plug the radio into a PoE-enabled RJ-45 jack on the Omniswitch. Out of the box, the radio will be an access point on the BlueBoat network. If you are trying to connect to a wireless Omnitrack, you need to do one of the following.

• Re-program the Wi-Fi radio in the Omnitrack to be a client on the BlueBoat network.

• Re-program the access point radio on the Omniswitch to be an access point for the Omnitrack network.

See instructions for re-programming radios in the Omnitrack manual.

Using the scripts referenced in the Omnitrack manual, it is also possible to re-program a radio attached to the Omniswitch to be a client on either the BlueBoat or Omnitrack networks. The Mikrotik radio is extremely versatile. If you are willing to modify the Mikrotik programming using its internal interface, you can connect to any other Wi-Fi network and/or be an access point on different networks. Regrettably, Cerulean is unable to provide technical support for unscripted radio configuration.

Make sure you don't add a radio to the Omniswitch as an access point on the BlueBoat network if you are also actively using a BaseStation. You don't want two access points for the same network.

Don't try adding a radio unless you are prepared to mount the radio and antenna properly. The antenna must be vertical and away from metallic interference.

A PC USB-C port is usually not powerful enough to supply both an Omnitrack and a Wi-FI radio. You will likely need an alternative power source.