Hello, recently installed a Cerbo into the cabinet of 2 DC Solar trailers (metal enclosure) and need to find an external antenna in order to connect them to wifi as I have been unable to establish a connection without one. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! We also have a ubiquiti system so an appropriate device from them would be most ideal!
The manual mentions a few USB wifi antennas that have been tested, but if your Ubiquiti system has an ethernet port on the base station that would be the ideal method of connection. If not, the section in the manual discussing tested USB wifi dongles, with the understanding that many others exist which haven’t been tested but may very well work: https://www.victronenergy.com/media/pg/Cerbo_GX/en/internet-connectivity.html#UUID-9d932e2e-f182-1ab9-a574-34c2fffecb9d
Thanks for reply,
It is simply not feasible to have ethernet connected consistently as it would run across a walkway nd would require trenching among other things. The dongles listed in the manual also dont work because we need a solution that can exist outside of the case in all weather conditions and connect to the Cerbo via some sort of wired connection, probably ethernet.
I saw another suggestion to a related question to use a Ubiquiti Nano P2P bridge which sounds like the most likely and reliable way forward
I purchased the vctron USB wifi range extender, and when inserted the cerbo gx wifi goes off line.
Victron part number BPP900100200
I also tried another one based on the realtech chipset i was told victron uses. It also caused the wifi to go off line. The dealer who sold me the cerbo gx couldn’t help me and the dealer of the range extender couldn’t either.
Anyway to get help from victron directly?
Thank you.
Unfortunately not, that’s not the way the manufacturer works - all technical support runs through your authorized distributor, since they’re the ones who sold you the item. Victron does not sell to the end-user, so also does not directly support the end-user. If your authorized distributor doesn’t know the answer, they discuss with their Victron sales manager, and relay the answer.
I will note that the dongle isn’t a “range extender”, it’s an alternate. It often has better range than the built-in wireless, but it’s replacing, not extending, the existing wireless. I have one on my own Cerbo, and incidentally use the same dongle on my desktop computer that has no wifi built in.
All that said, so long as you’re connecting the dongle to one of the two USB ports that are suitable for it, it should be pretty seamless, so if you check to ensure that it’s connected to one of the two USB ports that are suitable for it and you continue to experience issues (of course try rebooting the Cerbo, and the usual computer troubleshooting tactics) then talk to your authorized distributor about getting an RMA to send it back to them for testing.
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Appreciate your reply, some good ideas there. I think I’ll try and install it into my laptop and see what happens.
The dealer i didnt buy the device from didnt offer much help, but i did buy the rest of the equipment from him, MultiPlus-II, two 250/100 MPPTs smart shunt and cerbo gx.
Kinda ticked me off.
Every distributor/dealer is responsible for providing first-level technical support on the Victron component they sold, but that does not extend to components sold by other dealers/distributors, so while I can certainly understand your annoyance, I also understand your dealer’s response if they didn’t offer (free) advice regarding a component they didn’t sell. Paid advice is a different thing, some dealers offer paid technical support for components acquired elsewhere.
Knowledgeable techs are very expensive for a dealer or distributor to keep on staff, and due to many factors over the past year in particular many dealers have either gotten rid of those techs entirely or have become much more stringent in managing the techs’ time.
Hi y’all, I’d appreciate if we keep the thread on topic. Thank you.
On the note of connecting to the correct usb port, would it be one of the first two from the left side? (non powered) that I should plug into? I have a dongle I have previously used for my laptop on hand that I wanted to try.
Also curious if anyone has had much success plugging in one of the small simple adapters victron recommends while the cerbo is in a metal cabinet, if one of those dongles would be strong enough to still get signal? I doubt it, but worth asking…
I tried plugging into all three but my antenna doesn’t work from any of them it seems. Usually lights up when plugged and connected.