How installation actually works, system by system
Site survey, mounting, cabling, power and commissioning — what to expect before a technician (or you) starts work.
01 — LEO flat-panel
Starlink Maritime
The fastest system to get running on this page. Many owners self-install in an afternoon, though a professional pass for cable routing and grounding is still worth it on larger vessels.
Site survey. Pick a mounting spot with an unobstructed sky view — at least 20° above the horizon and a full 360° azimuth — clear of masts, funnels and rigging (Starlink official install article; Helm Marine Tech).
Mount the terminal. Use the Wedge Mount (8° tilt) for most vessels, or a flat mount for high-speed craft. Keep a minimum ~4m separation from the magnetic compass and adequate clearance from AIS/DGPS antennas (Starlink maritime/mobility install guide; ETO Engineer).
Route the cable. Run the 25m Starlink cable — it cannot be extended — through a sealed conduit or waterproof cable glands down to the below-deck router, kept clear of other RF equipment (Helm Marine Tech).
Power connection. Wire into a dedicated fused DC circuit, ideally backed by a UPS or battery bank so the link survives short power interruptions (Chart House Marine Electronics; Seafy).
Network setup and test. Power on, pair via the Starlink app or router, and confirm signal lock and a speed test before sign-off (Global Satellite step-by-step guide).
No radome removal or dish pointing required. The flat-panel phased array self-tracks satellites, which is the main reason this is the only system here that's realistically a DIY job.
02 — L-band backup or primary
Iridium Certus
Certus terminals (Thales VesseLink, Intellian C700, SAILOR 4300 and similar) split into a small Above-Deck Unit and a Below-Deck Unit joined by a single coax cable — compact enough for one technician to finish in a day.
Site survey. The Above-Deck Unit needs an unobstructed view down to 30° below the horizontal in all directions, and a minimum RF safety distance of 1.5m from personnel for the Certus 700 (0.5m for Certus 200) (Furuno C700 manual; VesseLink install guide).
Mount the Above-Deck Unit. Fix it level and parallel to the main deck, at least 15° above the radar's beam centerline and clear of the magnetic compass (Furuno C700 manual).
Ground and cable. Attach a heavy ground cable to the vessel's ground, then run the single TNC-to-TNC coax cable (up to 25m) between the Above-Deck and Below-Deck Units (VesseLink install guide).
Below-deck setup. Mount the Below-Deck Unit, wire the 10.8–30V DC power feed, and fit the Iridium SIM card into the unit (Global Satellite; KVH VesseLink configuration guide).
Activate the service. Submit an Iridium Certus Airtime Activation form to switch on the SIM (MailASail).
Configure and harden. Log into the built-in web portal, start a data session, then immediately change the default admin password and disable the unit's built-in Wi-Fi for security (Global Satellite; KVH configuration PDF).
Often installed as a fast, low-cost backup alongside a primary VSAT or Starlink system — the Below-Deck Unit weighs as little as 1.2–3.4kg, which is why it's a common same-day retrofit (Riviera Maritime).
03 — Bonded multi-network
Inmarsat NexusWave
NexusWave bonds Ka-band VSAT, LEO, coastal LTE and L-band into one managed service — by far the most involved install here, and one Inmarsat treats as engineer-commissioned rather than DIY.
Inmarsat requires the vessel or shipyard to complete a pre-installation checklist before dispatching an engineer to commission the system (Inmarsat pre-installation checklist):
Foundations. Weld foundations for both the VSAT antenna and the LEO antenna, with a ladder and security rings for safe access, built to IMO standards (Inmarsat pre-installation checklist).
Lift the antennas. Hoist both antennas onto their foundations with certified lifting slings, using only the manufacturer-supplied mounting bolts and washers (Inmarsat pre-installation checklist).
Cable runs. Lay Inmarsat-specified coax between each antenna and the below-deck rack, a gyro signal cable (NMEA HEHDT), and vessel network cabling to the rack (Inmarsat pre-installation checklist).
Power and phones. Connect clean 110/220VAC power on a minimum 16A breaker, and prepare PABX or analogue phone cabling if voice service is used (Inmarsat pre-installation checklist).
LTE and Wi-Fi. Mount separate LTE antennas with line-of-sight cabling back to the NexusWave rack, plus Fleet Hotspot Wi-Fi access points wired with CAT5E (Inmarsat pre-installation checklist).
Engineer commissioning. Once the checklist is signed off, Inmarsat dispatches an engineer to commission and activate the bonded service (Inmarsat NexusWave).
This is a professional-only install. Inmarsat publishes a full technical design and installation guidelines document, and fleet rollouts such as EXMAR's are validated in a shore-based lab before being repeated ship by ship (Inmarsat Maritime Design & Installation Guidelines; Viasat/Inmarsat EXMAR case study).
04 — Stabilized dome antenna
VSAT / Traditional (Ku/Ka-band)
Classic VSAT domes — Sailor, Intellian, Sea Tel and similar — are the most mechanically complex install on this page: a stabilized, motorized dish that has to be craned aboard, fed a gyro signal, and pointed at a satellite before it can be commissioned.
Site survey. Confirm a mounting location with full-sky line of sight, adequate structural strength in the mast or pedestal, and the required separation from radar and other transmitters — at least 15ft from the ship's radar on many systems (ITSO VSAT installation guide; Sea Tel installation manual).
Crane the radome aboard. Remove the shipping bolts, rig a webbed lifting sling to the antenna's lifting brackets, and use a ship's or shore crane to lift the radome onto its mast or pedestal (Sailor 900 VSAT manual; Sea Tel manual).
Align and bolt down. Position the radome so its bow marker lines up with the vessel's centerline, then bolt the base to the mast flange or deck — small misalignment is corrected later with an azimuth trim setting (Sea Tel manual).
Cabling. Route the coax IF cable from the antenna, through a protection plate, down to the below-deck Antenna Control Unit and modem, and connect the NMEA 0183 gyrocompass feed so the antenna tracks the ship's heading (Sailor 900 manual).
Power and rack. Mount the Antenna Control Unit and modem in a 19" rack, wire the DC supply, and connect the modem's IF cables and network ports (Marine Satellite Systems install checklist).
Commissioning and pointing. Set the gyro type and baud rate, calibrate azimuth, elevation and cross-level, set blockage zones, then work with the satellite operator's network operations centre to acquire the bird and verify cross-pol isolation before handover (Sea Tel manual; Marine Satellite Systems).
Never a DIY job. A crane lift, gyro integration and NOC-supervised satellite pointing mean a certified marine satcom engineer is required on-site — one reason providers like Marlink market fast, one-day on-vessel implementation as a selling point against the historically slower norm (Marlink one-day VSAT implementation; Maritime Executive).
At a glance
Install complexity, side by side
| System | DIY possible? | Who's needed | Typical time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starlink Maritime | Yes | Owner/crew, or a tech for larger vessels | 2–4 hours |
| Iridium Certus | No | 1 marine electronics technician | 4–8 hours |
| Inmarsat NexusWave | No | Yard/crew, then an Inmarsat engineer | Multi-day + commissioning visit |
| VSAT / Traditional | No | Certified marine satcom engineer, crane | ~4 weeks order-to-commission |