remote desktop

[tvo7]

I will be sailing adventure of the seas and harmony of the seas soon.  I know about the debate about whther to work or not on crusie ship but I will be working just a little.  I will sign up for surf and stream.  

Any recent experiences on using Chrome Remote Desktop, Google Meet, and Zoom on the ship when out in the middle of the ocean.  Both are going to the Caribbean out of Galveston.  

 

Thanks 

 

[Bead Pirate]

As long as you have the surf and stream it will work fine. I always travel with 3 computers and a portable desk table and work a few hours every day. Each client requires I use their equipment (for the curious as to why three). I buy 4 surf and streams (one for VOIP phone meetings) and never had a problem at sea. It is port days when it all runs a little slower...

[GJustice]

I used TeamViewer for 10 days just fine. I DID use a PC in the business center which was hardwired to the network as WiFi on Radiance was pretty spotty/slow.

[tvo7]

Thanks.  

They have not blocked any remote desktop, Zoom apps, or VOIP apps?   In other wise, other than spotty service , I can use the internet just like at home without worrying they will block some app to get connection  back home?

[GJustice]

Not sure if/which they may block. I seem to recall having issues with some of the VPNs I've used in the past, but can't recall anything specific, sorry.

[Sunshine3601]

We had issues with a VPN while onboard Anthem January 2022.  Never had the problem before but the Voom desk tried their best to get us up and running since we were scheduled to be onboard for 24 days.    They reached out to our work IT dept but were unable to work it out due to firewalls, etc.

Sadly, we got off the ship after our first 12 day cruise was over.  

By the time we boarded for our next b2b March 2022 all was worked out and we had 2 different VPN options loaded on work laptop just incase.  

[robmtx]

I think YMMV depending on ship, region, and weather. But I have RDPed to my home server while at sea and it has been utter poop, and buttery smooth depending on the day. I use a non-standard port for my RDP and that port was allowed. I also have App-MFA for signing in to my RDP session and that "popup" on my phone took forever so I had to use offline codes to get in.

[Biker19]

7 hours ago, tvo7 said:

I can use the internet just like at home without worrying they will block some app to get connection back home?

Correct.

[dna1990]

The mention of MFA is a good point, sms-based (texts) MFA didn't work for me.  But MS Authenticator did.  Check that before you sail, harder to get changed once underway.

 

We were on Allure that uses Starlink - speed was fine, but as mentioned above - some places on ship had weaker WiFi signal...For example I could check an email on balcony, but that was about all.  In cabin could scroll thru Reddit but could not RDP consistently.  My best RDP spot was Solarium next to the bar under the ceiling area.  YMMV.

 

Starlink was SO much better that satellite stuff in the old days.

 

I don't know my companies exact VPN config, I think the icon I see is zScaler?  Whatever is was, was not blocked.

 

Congestion may have been a factor at certain times as well.  Early morning was always more snappy.  Makes sense if not 1000 people streaming netflix or something.  And lastly we were on a Feb sailing with very few teenagers and younger folks who tend to stay on their devices more - causing more local congestion and bandwidth sharing.

[tvo7]

5 hours ago, dna1990 said:

The mention of MFA is a good point, sms-based (texts) MFA didn't work for me.  But MS Authenticator did.  Check that before you sail, harder to get changed once underway.

 

We were on Allure that uses Starlink - speed was fine, but as mentioned above - some places on ship had weaker WiFi signal...For example I could check an email on balcony, but that was about all.  In cabin could scroll thru Reddit but could not RDP consistently.  My best RDP spot was Solarium next to the bar under the ceiling area.  YMMV.

 

Starlink was SO much better that satellite stuff in the old days.

 

I don't know my companies exact VPN config, I think the icon I see is zScaler?  Whatever is was, was not blocked.

 

Congestion may have been a factor at certain times as well.  Early morning was always more snappy.  Makes sense if not 1000 people streaming netflix or something.  And lastly we were on a Feb sailing with very few teenagers and younger folks who tend to stay on their devices more - causing more local congestion and bandwidth sharing.

 

 

What was your remote desktop program?  

 

[jk04]

On 3/1/2023 at 12:44 AM, tvo7 said:

They have not blocked any remote desktop, Zoom apps, or VOIP apps?

I haven't had any issues with my work VPN, Zoom or Teams.  Haven't tried SoftPhone, just used IM or Teams, it was easier.

 

6 hours ago, dna1990 said:

I don't know my companies exact VPN config, I think the icon I see is zScaler?  Whatever is was, was not blocked.

DH has issues with the VPN from his company, can't always login.  Fortunately, I had been able to turn off zScaler on my laptop if needed.  Not sure about now with the last round of security lockdowns.