IN-HOUSE INSTALLS

Meridian4G’s systems are lightning-fast, but proper installation and integration are key. According to co-founder Julian Clemens, a yacht’s IT network can create blockages and slowdowns. Because of this, “We made a decision as a company that our resellers don’t install the equipment,” Clemens says. prohibitive cost of fiber-optic internet connections, Clemens invented a way of combining numerous digital subscriber line (DSL) connections to allow far greater DSL speed. Clemens also added backup 3G technology that aggregated multiple cellular connections, each with a dedicated SIM card and modem, to create a high-speed, relatively low-cost data superhighway. ¶ In 2010, a friend in the superyacht industry suggested that Clemens’ technology could dramatically increase connectivity speeds for yachts cruising close to shore. ¶ “It took me two and a half years to investigate, as water is a little bit special,” says Clemens, referring to the difficulties of dealing with radio-frequency energy and, well, oceans. ¶ His first prototypes were ready by late 2010-11, and in 2012, Cellweaver (now Meridian4G) was launched. Now, “more than 150 yachts are using our technology as the primary source of internet on board, including such notable vessels as Eclipse and Pelorus,” says Dasha Grupman, Meridian4G’s co-founder and CEO. ¶ Meridian4G’s systems, designed primarily for yachts 98 feet and larger, use four in-parallel 4G SIM cards and modems whose signals are combined. Information is transmitted and received as myriad tiny data packets, which SIM cards, modems and antennas tackle, a process that helps ensure secure communications. Meridian4G’s system automatically determines the most robust (speed and bandwidth) of its four cellular connections, and balances data loads among the SIM cards to create the fastest connection. ¶ “We only use the cellular network to close the gap to the shore, and then it’s routed to one of our data centers,” Clemens says. ¶ The result is a transmission scheme that starts, for example, as a Google query on a wireless device. It travels through the yacht’s IT system (see sidebar) to the Meridian4G system. There, it’s split into data packets, which are encrypted and then sent — via the SIM cards and modems — through Meridian4G amplifiers to antennas, which transmit them to land-based cellular towers. Once there, the transmissions are routed to a Meridian4G data center, where they are reaggregated and unencrypted, and then piped to the closest internet hub. ¶ Received transmissions follow a reciprocal course to the yacht and, ultimately, to each user’s device. ¶ In addition to Meridian4G’s aggregator machines, the system also includes one rack-mounted amplifier per antenna, and at least two MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) antennas, which allow for signal splitting and help prevent in-port signal blockages from nearby yachts or buildings. And each of the four SIM cards has a dedicated modem. While users can