NMEA and Marine Network
Cables, Kits, and Parts
Garmin NMEA 2000
Raymarine SeatalkNG
Navico Simnet
Maretron NMEA 2000
Garmin Marine Network & BlueNet
Raymarine Raynet
Navico Marine Network
NMEA 0183, NMEA 2000, and Seatalk Converters
Network & NMEA 2000 - FAQ
How do I Network my Chartplotters together?
Most Chartplotters have at least one Marine Network Port on the back, to allow it to connect to another device.
In a navigation system, the marine network is used to connect chartplotters to each other, and to connect other high-bandwidth devices like Radar and Cameras to the Chartplotters.
In general, most devices (especially Chartplotters and Radar) need to be of the same product family. Marine Networks are not all compatible.
Depending on the number of ports available on your Chartplotter(s) a brand-specific network hub or router may also be required in order to connect all devices to each other.
Note that a significant advantage of networking Chartplotters together is that they will all share available information. So if only one Chartplotter has pre-loaded charts, the other can make use of them. If only one Chartplotter has a depth transducer connected, the other Chartplotter can make use of that too.
What is the difference between a Marine Network and an NMEA 2000 Network?
A Marine network is a brand-specific Ethernet network that allows high-bandwidth devices to share data, such as chartplotters, radar, and video cameras.
An NMEA 2000 network is a standard protocol network shared by all marine brands, that is used to connect sensor data between all smart devices on board (such as GPS position, wind & weather data, AIS targets, engine sensors, etc).
In most cases, your navigation system will need both a Marine Network and an NMEA 2000 Network.
Some brands make their NMEA networks somewhat proprietary (such as Raymarine's SeatalkNG and Navico's Simnet). While these brands may require their own cables and fittings they are still basiclaly NMEA 2000 networks.