Sidekick Satellite Wi-Fi Router
The OCENS Sidekick satellite Wi-Fi router connects all of your Wi-Fi enabled smartphones, tablets, and computers to your satellite telephone for weather, email, messaging and more.*.
*Compatible software required.
With the Sidekick, you can easily connect your satellite phone to any Mac, PC, smartphone, or tablet device. The Sidekick eliminates the need for troublesome USB software drivers or serial connections and comport configurations.
“I wanted to send along my very positive feedback for your Sidekick wireless router. Like all Iridium Satellite Phone users over the last 10 years I have noticed a decline in the quality of their satellite network. I recently purchased the Sidekick and used it on our cruise to Nova Scotia. I was very happy with the improved performance as it greatly speeded up both my connection times as well as upload and download times. The frequency of drops was also markedly reduced. Ocens certainly can't fix the satellite network for Iridium but you certainly seem to be optimizing performance of their network. It is always satisfying to have a product do just what it claims to be able to do. Job well done."
Roger Block
Shango
“Sending data through a satellite phone can be challenging due to limitations of bandwidth. Sat Phones are great for making and receiving calls in remote areas but sending data…not so much. I have tried and tested other solutions that are supposed to convert a satellite phone like the isatphone or MSAT G2 into a Wifi hotspot for sending files, emails, images and text messages. Nothing I have ever tested works as well as the Sidekick by OCENS. I am able to consistently and reliably send emails over an MSAT G2 satellite radio very quickly (less than 40 seconds) where my attempts with other solutions take up to 5 minutes. Time is money and the Sidekick along with OCENS software is a wise choice for sending data cost effectively through any satellite phone.”
Matthew Durian
International Satellite Services
All OCENS software is designed to communicate with the Sidekick
. After auto-dialing through the satellite phone, OCENS software connects to the Iridium, Inmarsat, or Globalstar satellite networks and processes your email, weather request, position report, text message or web browser connect. Press the ‘Connect’ button in the OCENS’ OneMail app on your iPhone, for example, and OneMail will auto-dial through the Sidekick to your satellite phone, connect to the satellite network, retrieve your Gmail to the OneMail app and then auto-disconnect.
So what does the Sidekick do for me?
- It lets me connect smartphones, tablets and other Wi-Fi-enabled devices to satellite phones that do not have built-in Wi-Fi
- It allows me to avoid running cables and installing drivers to PC’s and Mac’s. Although these devices do generally have USB and some still even serial ports, not having to put yourself through the painstaking process of driver install and not being tethered to one location to conduct my satcomm business is a real bonus.
- The Sidekick also prevents your satellite connections from being bogged down by software on your computer which is not satellite compatible. When connecting with a standard cabled approach, these applications see the connection you are establishing to your satellite phone as just another network connection. Then they do what they are designed to do. That is, use that connection to try to update or otherwise pass information through a very tight or expensive bandwidth pipe. Although these programs never succeed in these attempts, they substantially slow down your connection and make all the work you are really trying to get done through your satellite phone that much slower. Slower means more minutes used to complete a given task. More minutes consumed means a higher satellite bill. So for this reason alone, your money spent on the integration of the Sidekick into your legacy satellite system is well spent indeed.
Compatibility -
Sidekick requires compatible software
Include with the Sidekick:
- .5m Ethernet cable
- USB power cable
- 12v to USB power converter
- **not include is a serial to USB adapter that may be required for legacy satellite phone equipment**
Sidekick is compatible with the following satellite devices:
- Iridium: 9505, 9505a, 9555 and 9575 and Iridium OpenPort / All Certus terminals, LarsTrane LT-3100, LT-3100S GMDSS,
- All Beam Communications docking stations and phones
- Inmarsat: IsatPhone 2, Fleet Broadband, FleetOne
- Globalstar: GSP-1600, GSP-1700, GSP-2900
USB-Serial Adapter
Required for legacy satellite equipment such as:
Iridium 9500/9505/9505a
Globalstar GSP-1600, GSP-2900
12v Cig Adapter
