Ethernet (IPv4) networking of Raymarine devices with third-party products

Networking (IP) OverviewIP networkingEthernetRayNet

Overview

• Ethernet (IPv4) networking is a method for interconnecting multiple electronic devices, allowing many devices to function in a network and share data using only a single RJ45 or RayNet connection for each device.

• In order to function correctly, every Ethernet (IPv4) device (whether Raymarine or third-party) must have a unique IP address allocated to it, and it must not conflict with that of any other device.

• IPv4 addresses can be centrally-allocated to devices either automatically, using a method known as DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), or manually (i.e. allocated a static IP address). The most common method for allocating IPv4 addresses on vessel electronics networks is DHCP. In this configuration, the server device is known as a DHCP server.

It’s also possible to have multiple DHCP servers issuing addresses on an IPv4 network, but to avoid addressing conflicts, all DHCP servers must be carefully configured to only allocate IP addresses in distinct address ranges. The subnet mask must also be carefully configured, to ensure that devices can correctly communicate with one another.

Implementation

• Raymarine Ethernet (IPv4) devices expect to use a private Raymarine IPv4 network, which is designed to be internal to the vessel only. Raymarine has carefully chosen a specific IP address range (198.18.0.0/21) to ensure that it does not interfere with any external IP address ranges, or other legacy and real-world addressing constraints (including but not limited to marina Wi-Fi networks).

  Note

  Raymarine’s IP address range is for local traffic within the vessel’s private Raymarine network only, and does NOT traverse across Raymarine products to external networks, or to the Internet.

• In a Raymarine Ethernet (IPv4) network, IP addresses are self-allocated by certain Raymarine equipment in the following range: 198.18.0.32 to 198.18.3.255 (inclusive). You must avoid placing any devices in this range using manual (static) IP addresses.

• Whether your network includes only Raymarine Ethernet (IP) devices, or a mixture of Raymarine and third-party Ethernet (IPv4) devices, you have 3 options for configuring the Ethernet (IPv4) network and managing the IP addresses for your devices:

  1. Use a Raymarine device as the sole DHCP server to allocate IP addresses automatically to all Raymarine and third-party Ethernet (IPv4) devices on the network. For the purposes of simplicity and reliability, this is the recommended option for most vessels. The following Raymarine devices can act as DHCP servers:

     1. Raymarine chartplotter (MFD), running LightHouse 3 or LightHouse 4; or:

     2. Raymarine YachtSense Link-Series YachtSense Link router

        Note

        If both a Raymarine chartplotter (MFD) and YachtSense Link-Series YachtSense Link router are present in the same network, the YachtSense Link-Series YachtSense Link router MUST be configured as the DHCP server for that network. To facilitate this, the Raymarine chartplotter’s (MFD's) DHCP setting defaults to Automatic as standard. On power up, if the YachtSense Link-Series YachtSense Link router is detected on the Ethernet network, any chartplotters (MFDs) in the network will disable their own DHCP Server, to permit the YachtSense Link-Series YachtSense Link router to manage the network's IP addresses. Only Raymarine chartplotters (MFDs) running LightHouse 4are compatible with the YachtSense Link-Series YachtSense Link router. Additionally, the most recent versions of the LightHouse 4 and YachtSense Link software must be used.

  2. Use a third-party Ethernet (IPv4) device (such as a router or Access Point) to allocate IP addresses automatically, as a sole DHCP server. To do this, refer to the Configuring a third-party router as DHCP server section, below.

     Note

     Any Raymarine LightHouse 3 or LightHouse 4 chartplotters (MFDs) will still self-allocate their own IP address, even if a third-party DHCP server is being used to allocate IP addresses to other Raymarine or non-Raymarine DHCP client devices (Camera, Radar, Sonar etc.) on the network.

  3. Manually configure static IP addresses for your devices. The address range 198.18.0.32 to 198.18.3.255 (inclusive) is used by Raymarine equipment, and any other third-party equipment on the network should not be set to a static IP address in this range. It should instead be set elsewhere in the 198.18.0.0/21 range.

Adding third-party devices to your Raymarine Ethernet (IP) network

• It is recommended that any third-party products connecting to a Raymarine Ethernet (IPv4) network (e.g., a third-party IP camera) are configured as DHCP clients, so that they automatically get allocated a correct IP address within the range used by the Raymarine IPv4 network. If this is not possible, (for example, in the scenario that your third-party IP Camera requires a static IP address), you should configure the product to have a static IP address within the following range: 198.18.0.1 to 198.18.0.31 (inclusive).

• Any third-party router in your network should be performing IPv4 Network Address Translation (NAT) from the private address to another one on an upstream interface.

Configuring a third-party router as DHCP server

In the scenario that you wish to use a third-party DHCP server to allocate the IP addresses for your vessel’s IPv4 network, use the following information to help you configure the third-party DHCP server to work with Raymarine Ethernet (IPv4) client devices:

1. Configure the third-party DHCP server / router to use Raymarine's subnet details, which are as follows:

   1. Set the DHCP server's IP address to 198.18.0.1

   2. Set the netmask to /21, i.e. 255.255.248.0

   3. Set the DHCP range from 198.18.4.0 to 198.18.7.254 (inclusive). If this is not possible, ensure that the address range is smaller than this (but within the range of 198.18.4.0 to 198.18.7.254 (inclusive)).

   4. The address range 198.18.0.32 to 198.18.3.255 (inclusive) is used by Raymarine equipment, and therefore you must ensure that any other third-party equipment on the network is NOT set to a static IP address in this range.

2. It may be necessary to set the DHCP setting for all of the chartplotters (MFDs) on the vessel to Off. However, the default option (Auto) will likely work fine in many cases. If for any reason the third-party DHCP server starts up after the chartplotter (MFD) starts up, the user should manually set the chartplotter’s (MFD's) DHCP switch to Off. This is because, when the chartplotter (MFD) starts up, its DHCP Auto feature tries to detect if another DHCP server is already present on the network.

3. In case of failure of the third-party device, the chartplotters (MFDs) can be easily configured to be the DHCP server again, by setting the chartplotter’s (MFD’s) DHCP setting back to Auto.

Adding third-party Wi-Fi Access Points / Wi-Fi routers to your Raymarine Ethernet (IPv4) network

• There is a large volume of multicast IPv4 traffic on the Raymarine Ethernet (IPv4) network. Many consumer Wi-Fi Access Points / Wi-Fi routers simply bridge all multicast traffic from the Ethernet interface to the Wi-Fi interface when there are connected Wi-Fi clients. This will result not only in poor Wi-Fi performance but also in a reduction of usable Wi-Fi spectrum to other Wi-Fi users and vessels in the vicinity. If using a third-party Wi-Fi Access Point or Wi-Fi router, Raymarine recommends that IGMP Snooping is enabled on the third-party device, and additional checks are performed, in order to ensure that your device is not bridging any unexpected multicast traffic to its Wi-Fi interface from the Raymarine Ethernet (IPv4) network.

• Raymarine’s YachtSense Link-Series YachtSense Link router is pre-configured with IGMP Snooping enabled, and therefore does not bridge internal multicast traffic on the wired network to the Wi-Fi network. No additional configuration is required in this respect.