Frequently Asked Questions
Need help setting up your Wave WiFi system or figuring out which product is right for your vessel? Explore our most frequently asked questions organized by topic to get quick answers and helpful info.
Browse Common Questions
Cellular
15 – 20 Feet above the water line is ideal for catching signals. Cellular antennas can be installed higher as the cell towers usually are higher up than WiFi systems.
Our products are not locked to a particular cellular provider (carrier). Our products take a 2FF size (Form Factor) Sim Card (usually given on a 1FF credit card sized card) that must already be activated, data only, and no E911 services provisioned on it. We are not a cell service provider, yet do provide various sim cards and competitive multi-carrier plans to help you stay connected and are tailored to the transient, seasonal, and/or high data boating community.
Prepaid / Third Party Sim providers may limit what you can do on the network (allow 3G, not 4G).
Our MBR550 router comes with a USB flash drive that needs to be plugged into the router’s left front (USB slot). The extra storage is required during Carrier Update processing. For ALL products, you need an ACTIVE INTERNET CONNECTION to something other than Cellular. That usually means WiFi unless you have another WAN/Internet source.
Our Routers have a page within Settings > Miscellaneous – found near the bottom under “Advanced Settings”. There is a hyperlink (a weblink) “click here” that accesses that.
This first presents the WiFi AP country and power settings, and below that section, it will start by “Checking for installed mobile data interfaces”. Then it will show a list of installed carrier firmware(s). There is a paragraph about that with a “Click here” link to check for available carrier updates. Click that link.
After that, it will come back with a line in GREEN telling you of success and presenting an updated list. If you get Radio Buttons (checkboxes) between installed and needed carrier firmware(s), you need to update. You do not have to update carrier drivers that you do not use. Most are named by the carrier. T-Mobile uses GENERIC. Some other carriers that do not have specifically named firmware updates may also use GENERIC.
From there, you are checking the boxes you need and click the “Update” button at the bottom of that section.
Our Cat 20 5G cellular products are not locked to a particular cellular provider (carrier) but are limited to the sim cards/5G plans that We provide and have verified. All carrier networks are not fully completed and still transitioning across the globe. Please also recognize the limitation in distance for true 5G cellular on the water.
Compability
Our products are not locked to a particular cellular provider (carrier). Our products take a 2FF size (Form Factor) Sim Card (usually given on a 1FF credit card sized card) that must already be activated, data only, and no E911 services provisioned on it. We are not a cell service provider, yet do provide various sim cards and competitive multi-carrier plans to help you stay connected and are tailored to the transient, seasonal, and/or high data boating community.
Our Cat 20 5G cellular products are not locked to a particular cellular provider (carrier) but are limited to the sim cards/5G plans that We provide and have verified. All carrier networks are not fully completed and still transitioning across the globe. Please also recognize the limitation in distance for true 5G cellular on the water.
Internet
Our products are not locked to a particular cellular provider (carrier). Our products take a 2FF size (Form Factor) Sim Card (usually given on a 1FF credit card sized card) that must already be activated, data only, and no E911 services provisioned on it. We are not a cell service provider, yet do provide various sim cards and competitive multi-carrier plans to help you stay connected and are tailored to the transient, seasonal, and/or high data boating community.
Our Cat 20 5G cellular products are not locked to a particular cellular provider (carrier) but are limited to the sim cards/5G plans that We provide and have verified. All carrier networks are not fully completed and still transitioning across the globe. Please also recognize the limitation in distance for true 5G cellular on the water.
Set Up
15 – 20 Feet above the water line is ideal for catching signals. Cellular antennas can be installed higher as the cell towers usually are higher up than WiFi systems.
Our products are not locked to a particular cellular provider (carrier). Our products take a 2FF size (Form Factor) Sim Card (usually given on a 1FF credit card sized card) that must already be activated, data only, and no E911 services provisioned on it. We are not a cell service provider, yet do provide various sim cards and competitive multi-carrier plans to help you stay connected and are tailored to the transient, seasonal, and/or high data boating community.
Our Cat 20 5G cellular products are not locked to a particular cellular provider (carrier) but are limited to the sim cards/5G plans that We provide and have verified. All carrier networks are not fully completed and still transitioning across the globe. Please also recognize the limitation in distance for true 5G cellular on the water.
Troubleshooting
15 – 20 Feet above the water line is ideal for catching signals. Cellular antennas can be installed higher as the cell towers usually are higher up than WiFi systems.
Our products are not locked to a particular cellular provider (carrier). Our products take a 2FF size (Form Factor) Sim Card (usually given on a 1FF credit card sized card) that must already be activated, data only, and no E911 services provisioned on it. We are not a cell service provider, yet do provide various sim cards and competitive multi-carrier plans to help you stay connected and are tailored to the transient, seasonal, and/or high data boating community.
Prepaid / Third Party Sim providers may limit what you can do on the network (allow 3G, not 4G).
Our MBR550 router comes with a USB flash drive that needs to be plugged into the router’s left front (USB slot). The extra storage is required during Carrier Update processing. For ALL products, you need an ACTIVE INTERNET CONNECTION to something other than Cellular. That usually means WiFi unless you have another WAN/Internet source.
Our Routers have a page within Settings > Miscellaneous – found near the bottom under “Advanced Settings”. There is a hyperlink (a weblink) “click here” that accesses that.
This first presents the WiFi AP country and power settings, and below that section, it will start by “Checking for installed mobile data interfaces”. Then it will show a list of installed carrier firmware(s). There is a paragraph about that with a “Click here” link to check for available carrier updates. Click that link.
After that, it will come back with a line in GREEN telling you of success and presenting an updated list. If you get Radio Buttons (checkboxes) between installed and needed carrier firmware(s), you need to update. You do not have to update carrier drivers that you do not use. Most are named by the carrier. T-Mobile uses GENERIC. Some other carriers that do not have specifically named firmware updates may also use GENERIC.
From there, you are checking the boxes you need and click the “Update” button at the bottom of that section.
Our Cat 20 5G cellular products are not locked to a particular cellular provider (carrier) but are limited to the sim cards/5G plans that We provide and have verified. All carrier networks are not fully completed and still transitioning across the globe. Please also recognize the limitation in distance for true 5G cellular on the water.