utility of Sentinel? (alternative?)
Printed From: myHanse.com
Category: Hints & Tips
Forum Name: 445/455/458
Forum Description: 445/455/458 Hints, Tips and News
URL: https://www.myhanse.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=15358
Printed Date: 27 March 2026 at 03:42
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Topic: utility of Sentinel? (alternative?)
Posted By: MyBMW
Subject: utility of Sentinel? (alternative?)
Date Posted: 12 September 2025 at 00:43
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Anyone find actual value in the Sentinel application which remotely monitors systems (bilge, power, etc.) on you mobile device? Curious to know if it is actually worth it and/or alternatives to open source? Mostly interested in knowing if the bilge is running while away. Thank you in advance! Brent ------------- Jumeirah San Francisco (458 #253) |
Replies:
Posted By: marsella
Date Posted: 12 September 2025 at 01:06
| You can find a lot of discussion about Sentinel on this forum. I think most folk switches to other monitoring solutions and abandons Sentinel. You can put a sim card based modem router, get local WiFi and make your own monitoring system with CCTVs, battery voltmeters, motion alarms, bilge alarms so on. |
Posted By: 32mike
Date Posted: 12 September 2025 at 01:51
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What Marsella said. However, you have to buy all that stuff and install it, which could be a fun project if you’re really into that sort of stuff. I went the easy route and just kept Sentinel. ------------- Mike S/V Dulces Sueños 458 #087 Tampa, FL |
Posted By: S&J
Date Posted: 13 September 2025 at 11:50
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I wasn't impressed with Sentinel and also lost 6 months of the supposed 2 year subscription due to timing of boat build. I now use a Gl iNet 12V router to provide boat WiFi/internet and a Raspberry Pi running Open Plotter with some custom Grafana displays which give me remote access to almost anything. I played around with the two N2K backbones and put the low power devices (depth, wind, GPS) on one permanently powered, with the Triton, Zeus and autopilot on the other. The new hardware I installed was much less than the cost of a year's Sentinel subscription.
------------- H458 #159 Primal Mediterranean cruising |
Posted By: MyBMW
Date Posted: 19 September 2025 at 14:35
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S&J Sounds like the same situation. Would very much like to learn more about this solution! Thank you and will message directly. Brent ------------- Jumeirah San Francisco (458 #253) |
Posted By: Lyn
Date Posted: 19 September 2025 at 15:50
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I'm the third owner, so I can't claim credit, but I have Siren Marine. Annual subscription expense is ~US$225, which I think is modest in the realm of boat expenses. The initial hardware purchase is either $300 or $800 for the base station, depending on what you chose. This will communicate status to an app on your phone. It has its own cellular communication capability . When I got it, the previous owner just had it connected to the NMEA backbone. If you have CZONE, then you might want to spring for the $800 version (Siren 3 Pro), because it will interface with that and allow digital switching. You can turn circuits or modes on/off remotely via your phone. When would you want that? ... At dinner ashore and forgot to turn on the anchor light and a cockpit light? Think you might have left the freshwater pump on when you left the boat for the month? In either model, you get remote reporting. Though there was some basic sensors when I got it, I added a LOT of other sensors -- all connected via Bluetooth. One or two, they're not very expensive, but if it does add up if you go crazy like I did. That said, if I had them at the time and been alerted I could have avoided a $1600 battery replacement!  I had an unmonitored battery bank drain because the charger failed and there was a small load on the battery for the winter months. I now know: house bank, engine start bat, generator start bat, bow thruster bank, stern thruster bank, high water alarm in bilge, alert if the bilge runs, entry alert (companionway), and engine bay temp. The only one I have occasional issue with is the bow thruster bank because the Bluetooth connection drops (and then reconnects automatically). All sensors (e.g., battery) also report the temperature. That's kind of nice to monitor during winter for the cabin heater or engine room heater or during the summer to know how hot it is in there.------------- Jon S/V Lyn 2017 Hanse 588 | Hull 19 | Deep draft | 150hp | 220v & 110v systems | Lithium House Bank |
Posted By: MyBMW
Date Posted: 19 September 2025 at 20:22
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WoW sounds like you figured it out Going to do a little more research on the options here and might be back for advice This is much more than I expected and I applaud your system, stand-out! Thank you Brent ------------- Jumeirah San Francisco (458 #253) |
Posted By: Wild
Date Posted: 20 September 2025 at 18:58
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Maybe I am old fashion but the must important thing on a sailboat is the windindicator who show you Windspeed and direction, SOG and SOW ,all the other data is just 💩 ------------- Wild and Wet Belgium 545e#268 |
Posted By: MyBMW
Date Posted: 20 September 2025 at 21:33
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curious to know what exactly you mean by SOW and how do you feel about depth? ------------- Jumeirah San Francisco (458 #253) |
Posted By: Wild
Date Posted: 21 September 2025 at 07:57
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I am sorry,I had forgotten depth. SOW=STW = speed tru water. But I see you got the message.😄 ------------- Wild and Wet Belgium 545e#268 |
Posted By: Keakaka
Date Posted: 25 September 2025 at 05:59
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hi - I had the same issue with my Sentinel subscription expiring after 18 months ownership. However after contacting Sentinel they offered a reduced programme that works well for a single vessel with medium sensors and it retains access to the manuals. This is available to all users I believe: - Up to 10 sensors: €120/year - Up to 15 sensors: €163.75/year - Up to 25 sensors: €250/year - Worldwide Coverage: €30/year (EU Coverage included at no extra cost) Switching from the Safety Cloud to the new flexible plan will also let you retain access to all non-telematics functionalities of Safety Cloud, including digital documentation, service logs, and direct in-app communication with your dealer. I have gone with the 10 sensor option and it does everything my old subscription offered
------------- This is not a rehearsal. Go for it. Kiakaha |
Posted By: S&J
Date Posted: 25 September 2025 at 06:29
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A reduced cost subscription wasn't offered to me when I enquired in 2022. I wonder if they have adjusted their pricing to reduce customers abandoning them once the dealer subscription expires? I have now removed the Sentinel device from the boat. Incidentally I also contacted them about the changes to their website which denied me access to the documentation. These were initially still available without a subscription but they made website changes a couple of years ago to remove all access without a subscription. IMG reminded me that all the manuals are also supplied in PDF format on a USB stick so I just copied these into my own cloud storage. ------------- H458 #159 Primal Mediterranean cruising |
Posted By: marsella
Date Posted: 25 September 2025 at 08:29
| Not sure I understand how Sentinel can track all those sensors, it has about 6 wires, two are for powering up, 2 for measuring voltage of house and engine banks, 1 for remote switching and 1 for bilge alarm. Maybe there was one or two more wires for extra relay and alarms, i forgot. The device I received with my boat had no wifi and no Bluetooth, its LTE modem with hardwired controls, and added GPS module. As such, its functionality is very limited compared to any LTE modem router. I only see their pricing for sim cards had dropped by a lot. At the time of my renewal, they want me to pay 600 euros/year to roam my boat, which I thought is excessive. |
Posted By: MyBMW
Date Posted: 26 September 2025 at 16:28
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Here is the latest offer Sentinel provided us: This plan is a fixed-price, all-inclusive package designed specifically for your boat. It includes:
This package covers up to 25 sensors with worldwide coverage. 2. New Flexible Subscription Plans (starting from €120/year) These plans are more adaptable, allowing you to configure monitoring based on your needs:
Optional add-ons:
You will still retain access to all non-telematics features of SafetyCloud (e.g., digital documentation, service logs, dealer communication), but the monitoring flexibility lets you adjust your subscription level depending on how many sensors you actually require. In summary:
------------- Jumeirah San Francisco (458 #253) |
Posted By: marsella
Date Posted: 26 September 2025 at 17:14
If this is the device whose pic is below, those are not very interesting packages. The device has only one or two relays to control remotedly and the rest is the batteries status and bilge alarm sensor that are simply hardwired to it. Trips and geofense is just from the boat GPS position. Everything else comes from NMEA plug, so the 25 sensors they are mentioning are the data seen on the chartplotter. I do see on their website they now have a new looking device, maybe something has changed. |
Posted By: Nebulas
Date Posted: 30 October 2025 at 09:54
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The sentinel system itself is not that expensive. Hanse just charges a lot for it as it is integrated into Hanse Cloud. 10 sensors would be plenty for most users, so dropping to Sentinels own subscription would reduce your cost quite significantly. The picture by Marsella is the sentinel hub. Effectively an additional module to allow for remote switching and extra signal lines. For our size boats not necessarily the most useful addition. I wouldn't leave my house batteries on to be able to switch my lights from home as example. Depending on which version of the unit Hanse has installed (light or standard) you can read out your NMEA2000.
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Posted By: 32mike
Date Posted: 30 October 2025 at 10:41
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So, recently, after an an offshore passage of a few days, the Sentinel stopped communicating entirely. It only logged a partial trip and none of the sensors were reporting through the app. I reached out to Sentinel and they were quick to respond. Said the issue was that the unit is a 3G cellular device and that these 3G networks are being phased out to make room for the newer 4&5G networks. The solution was to have a new 4G unit installed to replace the old one. They offered it at 50% off if I bought it directly. A few days later it started working again. I reached out to my dealer and they were aware of the issue and had already done one replacement but they weren’t going to cover the cost. Apparently it’s a little more involved than I had figured, requiring some more extensive wiring changes for some reason. ------------- Mike S/V Dulces Sueños 458 #087 Tampa, FL |