Yacht AV / UniFi Network

Two boats, no second visit

Full network and AV integration on an Ocean Alexander 32E and a Princess Y72: UniFi switching and Wi-Fi, VLAN segmentation, PoE, Control4 integration, and dual-Starlink failover. Including the fabricated mounts and the on-site install.

A yacht is an unusually strict environment to build a network in. There is no running a new cable next week, no spare rack space, and no popping back to swap a switch. Everything has to be specified correctly the first time, fit in the space that actually exists, and survive vibration, salt air and power that is not always clean.

The network

VLAN segmentation matters more here than in a typical install of this size, because the traffic genuinely is different in kind:

• guest and owner devices
• AV control and media distribution
• vessel systems and cameras

Keeping those apart is straightforward Ethernet practice, and on a boat it is also the difference between a guest's laptop being a guest's laptop and a guest's laptop being on the same broadcast domain as vessel systems.

Dual Starlink with failover is the connectivity story. One uplink at sea is not an uplink, it is a single point of failure that happens to work most of the time.

PoE feeds the access points and cameras, which keeps the cable count down; on a vessel, every cable you do not run is space and weight you do not spend.

The fabrication

The mounts were fabricated rather than bought. Marine installs rarely offer a flat surface in the place the hardware needs to be, and an off-the-shelf bracket that almost fits becomes a rattle, then a crack, then a callout.

This is the part of the work that does not show up in a stack list: welding, CAD and 3D printing are as load-bearing on this project as the switch configuration. Both boats went into service on the first install.