This page provides a more detailed feature matrix of the abilities found in each edition of SNIP than the information found on the models or the pricing page.

In more Detail

Note: The links below lead to the SNIP knowledge base articles
providing additional information about how these features are used.


Connected Users

All SNIP nodes can support as many users as your local internet connection will allow.  Unlike some other Casters, SNIP does not limit the number of user connections or user accounts you can have.  Rover devices (NTRIP Clients) can connect using NTRIP Rev 1 or Rev 2 and receive any type of data provided by the SNIP Caster (RTCM 2.x or 3.x, CMR, uBlox, or any other data format).

  ItemLite Basic Pro
Number of Connected UsersUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
Maximum User AccountsUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
NTRIP Rev1 Client Connections
NTRIP Rev 2 ClientConnections
NTRIP Rev1 Caster Connections
NTRIP Rev 2 Caster Connections
Accepts NMEA $GPGGA
Accepts NMEA $GNGGA
Closed Operation
Open Operation

 

In-Bound Stream Connections

SNIP supports many ways to connect In-bound GNSS data streams to the Caster.  Each In-bound connection becomes a data stream which SNIP can then send to the subscribed NTRIP Clients.  The number of simultaneous in-bound data streams allowed at once is the primary difference between the SNIP models.

  ItemLite Basic Pro
Serial Port Streams
Remote Relayed Streams
PUSH-In Streams (accepting NTRIP Servers)
Push-Out Streams (as an NTRIP Server)
Raw TCP/IP Streams
PFAT Streams3
NEARest Base Station Streams (self connection)15 +
"+" Indicates that the limit is extendable using add-on licenses.

The different types of streams can be combined in any fashion up to the connection limit of the license.  Additional stream licenses can be purchased as your connection needs grow for all but the Lite model of SNIP.  Add-on stream licenses are available in units of 1, 3, 5, 10, and 25 streams. In the Enterprise model, the stream count is unlimited.

Hint: If your older GNSS device does not have a built-in NTRIP service, use a free Lite copy of SNIP to send the data to your primary SNIP node.

 

OUT-Bound Data Connections

SNIP supports all the common ways to connect out-bound GNSS data to the other NTRIP Casters, to and from NTRIP Clients, and to other remote devices including automated periodic FTP file logging.

  ItemLite Basic Pro
NTRIP Clients
NTRIP Servers
File Logging
Remote FTP
UDP SendingEnterprise Only
DSRC Sending With Plug-In

Connections to specialty devices and networks (including roadside DSRC delivery to vehicles in the SAE J2735 format) are supported by the Enterprise model of SNIP.  Please contact us for details.

Note: Aggregation and connection of clients NMEA-183 $GGA sentences to various 3rd  party AVL fleet tracking tools is in development at this time.  Contact us for information about connections to specific AVL and GIS display products.

 

User Management

SNIP supports creating and editing user accounts for use in both Closed Casters, as well as operating an Open Caster systems where no prior user account is required to access data.  Remote users can also  use web-based status queries not found in other NTRIP Casters.

  ItemLite Basic Pro
Account Free Use (Anonymous Users )
Unlimited User Accounts
Allow Rev 2 style connections
Allow "pre NTRIP" connections No
Advanced User Management (Plug-In)NoNo
Customer Accounting Records (Plug-In)NoNo
Restrict User Access by Date/Time (Plug-In)NoNo
Restrict User Access to selected Bases (Plug-In)NoNo
Restrict User Access by Equipment Used (Plug-In)NoNo
eMail User / Customer accounts (Plug-In)NoNo
Automatically alert Users when their access will soon expire (Plug-In)NoNo

 

Navigation

All models of SNIP support a self contained navigation filter set which the operator can use to validate the RTCM3 data contents from any stream.  The filters consist of a basic least-squares filter, and a trivial PPP filter using Hatch smoothing and broadcast orbital data and clocks.  A wide variety of plots and charts can be displayed to gain insight into the data quality.

  ItemLite Basic Pro
Antonymous Navigation Filter
Simple PPP Navigation Filter
Real-time Global Orbital Ephemeris
Supports both L1-only and L1/L2 data streams
2D Lat-Long Scatter Plots
3D Lat-Long-Elevation Scatter Plots
Delta Lat-Long-Elevation vs Time
GNSS Clock Solution Offsets
Standard Deviations vs Time
Plot solutions on Base Map

SNIP does not supports a self contained RTK style navigation filter at this time.  However, many people simply employ a copy of RTKLIB for this need.

 

Mapping

All models of SNIP support a basic mapping ability that can plot Base Station locations, User positions, and the output of the above Navigation filters on a Google Base Map.  Maps can also be displayed in the tabs of the document reports viewer.  Combined with details about station parameters, the map view provides a quick summary about any base station.  The follow objects can be displayed on the map tabs:

  ItemLite Basic Pro
Base Stations; from Caster Table entries
Base Stations; from RTCM messages
Base Stations; from navigation filter solutions
Client Locations; from NMEA $GGA
Client Locations; from IP address Free use for nowFree use for now
(sm annual fee coming)
Free use for now
(sm annual fee coming)
NEAR Pool Coverage Regions
Remote Caster Table Entries

 

Nearest Base Station

SNIP provides a single baseline VRS NEAR™ stream ability that automatically connects each user to the nearest suitable Base Station. You can read more about it here.   The Basic model can run one NEAR™ stream with RTCM3 data.  The Pro model can run five or more NEAR streams with different message contents in each.  This feature is not available in the Lite model.  For both Basic and Pro models, every 10th additional stream added beyond the model limit provides the ability to run another near stream.  [So for example a Pro user who has licensed the ability to run 50 streams can run as many as 7 near streams, 2 additional streams]

  ItemLite Basic Pro
RTCM 3.x Streams
RTCM 2.x Streams
CMR, CMR+ Streams
Raw Data Streams
BINEX Streams
ubx (UBlox) Streams
Other proprietary GNSS data formats
The number of allowed NEAR pools allowed increases as additional streams are added.

 

RTCM 3 Message Decoding

SNIP provides the ability to decode and display RTCM 3.x messages in both the console log and in a dedicated RTCM 3 message viewer function.   You can read more about it here.   The Basic and Pro models can decode most RTCM 3 messages down to a bit level.  The Lite model is limited to be most common message types encountered.  In all models, multiple streams can be decoded and viewed at once or paused in a multiple tab display layout.  Handy pop-up tool tips provide usage and decoding commentary on the messages.  A summary of the decoded message types and rates is also shown in each stream’s tool-tip display.

  ItemLite Basic Pro
Linear and Tree view displays of decoded messages
Decodes valid RTCM 3.x messages
Decodes valid RTCM 2.x messages
Running counts of each message type
Bit level decode of the common RTCM 3.x messages
Bit level decode of the nearly all RTCM 3.x messages
Handy pop-up tips to describe each message type

Because it decodes and tracks the live contents for RTCM3 messages, SNIP is able to provide a level of real time quality monitoring directly at the Caster that many other Caster designs cannot.

 

PFAT Methods

SNIP provides a unique set of transformation tools called PFAT™ used to operate on each RTCM3 data stream.  P.F.A.T. stands for Parse, Filter, Add and Translate and relates the set of operations that can be performed on a data stream.  You can read more about it herePFAT is particularly handy when combining Base Stations  where the SNIP operator cannot control the precise message content or the frame of reference being used.   The PFAT features are not available on the Lite model of SNIP.  The Basic model can run PFAT on up to three streams with RTCM3 data.  The Pro model can run PFAT on an unlimited number of streams.

  ItemLite Basic Pro
AutoParse Streams
Parse RTCM 3.x messages
Auto Caster Entry Completion
PFAT Allowed Number of Uses
RTCM 3.x Message Filtering
RTCM 3.x clutter removal (NMEA & others)
Filter and remove any Message Type
Stream Adding, merge any streams
Orbital Adding, add ephemeris to any stream
Translation, Adjust last observation message flags
Translation, Adjust Base Station Datum position (shift ECEF)

 

Reports and Web Support

SNIP provides the ability to create reports for the operator and to share these reports over the web with others (if the operators enables this feature).  Several of these reports are presented in html form and can be shared over the web / internet directly by the SNIP Caster.  Other reports (with more sensitive data) are only presented internally to the operator.  You can read more about it here.  Another area of web support is whenever a non-NTRIP device connects to the caster a html web-friendly page can be returned rather than just a formal Caster Table.  When another remote SNIP enabled device experiences a connection issue, the advanced SNIP-2-SNIP reporting logic allows sending recommendations on how to correct the issues to the remote device console, saving on operator support time.

  ItemLite Basic Pro
HTML friendly page replies
General Status Report (SNIP::STATUS)
Steam Summaries (internal report)
User Connections (internal report)
Up Time Report
Linked Base Station Reports
IP Use Reports (internal report)
IP Ban Reports (public report)
IP Ban Reports (internal report)
NEAR Streams
Base Station Usage Reports
eMail reports to others (Plug-In)

 

IP Management

SNIP provides a powerful set of tools to manage who is allowed to connect to your Caster.   Various settings control when users are automatically banned for misbehavior (typically repeated connection attempts without the correct credentials) and when they are released.  Reports provide a means to monitor events 24/7 and to inform users they have been banned.  The entire process can be unattended or manual. You can read more about it here and here.  The IP banning and management features are not available on the Lite model of SNIP.  The Basic model enables automatic banning features, while the Pro model fully unlocks this feature.

  ItemLite Basic Pro
Detect & track incorrect mountPt & credentials & other ill-formed connections
Detect & track repeat Table downloads
Detect & track empty TCP/IP events
Auto-reset on connection success
Ability to set trigger thresholds and ban duration
Ability to Add or Remove specific IPs
Ability to Set add ban an IP permanently
Progressive ban duration logic

 

Which to Chose?

Select the model which best fits your needs. If you are an extreme hobbyist or a PROsumer then the Lite model of SNIP may be all you need.  It was created for those needing to share a single base station.  Small survey offices or Precision Ag applications are often best served by the Basic model where the additional management and reporting abilities are needed.  Larger networks are best served by the Pro model where there are no limits on NEAR™ streams, IP connection management, or PFAT uses.  Users converting from one of our competitors are typically best served by the Pro model and will also experience considerable annual cost savings (the core Caster functions of SNIP have no annual fees).

SNIP is available in several different models to suit your needs. The Evaluation download allows exploring SNIP‘s primary features. In this mode, each time SNIP is started, users have a limited one-hour evaluation period with all of the features in the Basic model enabled and a few other Pro abilities.

snip_installer100x168

The Evaluation application can be registered as a Lite model at any time free of charge by completing a brief in-app registration. The Lite model is a free Caster used by hundreds of small NTRIP Caster deployments all over the world. The Basic and Pro models have more features and can be purchased by way of a simple cart checkout process. An Enterprise model is available to support various unique needs (including delivery of RTCM in DSRC messages).

You may use any model of SNIP for either private or commercial applications, including the free Lite model. You may charge other parties who access your data as you see fit (or make it free).  Lifetime upgrades as new releases of SNIP occur are always free to all registered users.

SNIP® Model Summary

Lite Basic Pro
CONNECTIONS Supports 3 simultaneous connection streams Supports 8 simultaneous connection streams, with ability to add more Supports 30 simultaneous connection streams of various types to provide a rich set of network sources, with ability to add more
FEATURES
(see above list)
Lots More Even More

$1050.00

$4,850.00

For potential SNIP Lite users (the free edition), Press the above button and you will be taken to the checkout page. On our checkout page you will see various credit card logos, but we will not ask for any such data from Lite users.

After you have evaluated SNIP, decide which model best serves your needs and register that.

And unlike most other Caster vendors, SNIP has no annual or reoccurring fees. Your purchase price is your only price. Period. Most of our competitors have reoccurring charges that quickly become burdensome.

 

Add-on Licenses

Existing Users who wish to increase their simultaneous stream limit without upgrading to the next license tier may elect to purchase an add-on license. These licenses will allow the SNIP operator to add 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, 50 or 100 streams to the maximum allowed simultaneous connections.  All licenses can be used in a cumulative fashion, adding to the allowed total for that copy of SNIP.

ProductInfoCountCost
Additional Stream LicenseInfo1-Pack$250.00
Additional Stream LicenseInfo3-Pack$650.00
Additional Stream LicenseInfo5-Pack$1060.00
Additional Stream LicenseInfo10-Pack$1,800.00
Additional Stream LicenseInfo25-Pack$4,000.00
Additional Stream LicenseInfo50-Pack$8,000.00
Additional Stream LicenseInfo100-Pack$16,000.00

 

Plugs-Ins

SNIP Pro users can further increase the available features and options by using our Plug-In system.  This allows adding specialty features needed by commercial deployments who need to manage users accesses and billing / accounting or have unique messaging needs (such a sending RTCM over DSRC).

 

Enterprise

Please contact [email protected] to speak with us about our Enterprise edition, SAE J2735 DSRC support, 24-7 monitoring services, radio connectivity, our patented RTCM compression messages, and other available SNIP options.  The Enterprise edition of SNIP is intended for development partners with various unique needs.   Most larger network deployments can be easily handled by the Pro model and then adding additional stream licenses or Plug-Ins as required.

 

Next Steps
Try SNIP features using our free evaluation download.
After your download this page will be quite useful to you.