Working Remote- Transatlantic

[CruisingWalter]

21 hours ago, kasey68 said:

Thanks for that info. To be clear, I don’t care about my phone. I actually want to be able to sit at my work computer and put in a few hours of work each day. If I can’t do that with a VPN then it won’t be possible. The phone thing doesn’t matter to me. 

 

With the WiFi, download was fine, upload was really slow and we think that's why the voice did not work on outgoing. Even trying to use audio only apps from the computer. Keep in mind this was a Caribbean cruise where the WiFi is the best coverage for ships at the moment. The speeds really slowed down when we were in port as well. At sea the speeds were better. 

[CruisingWalter]

21 hours ago, kasey68 said:

Thanks for that info. To be clear, I don’t care about my phone. I actually want to be able to sit at my work computer and put in a few hours of work each day. If I can’t do that with a VPN then it won’t be possible. The phone thing doesn’t matter to me. 

 

With the WiFi, download was fine, upload was really slow and we think that's why the voice did not work on outgoing. Even trying to use audio only apps from the computer. Keep in mind this was a Caribbean cruise where the WiFi is the best coverage for ships at the moment. The speeds really slowed down when we were in port as well. At sea the speeds were better. 

[cantgetin]

Bottom line for us--same  TA itinerary 3 times, wifi was different  quality each time.. in order, April 2023 best (Starlink, premium), October/November 2023 ok, some glitches (Starlink, Premium), October 2022 awful  once we left land (not Starlink, premium not offered due to lack of quality).

[Freelancer3]

6 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

With the WiFi, download was fine, upload was really slow and we think that's why the voice did not work on outgoing. Even trying to use audio only apps from the computer. Keep in mind this was a Caribbean cruise where the WiFi is the best coverage for ships at the moment. The speeds really slowed down when we were in port as well. At sea the speeds were better. 

IT does throttle the speed. I think they have slowed it down more. On other VV cruises I have gone to VV IT and they have improved it.  I do hope it improves next week in the Caribbean.

[conandrob240]

We had terrible wifi on our 5 nt to Cozumel three weeks ago. Very slow, often wouldn’t connect at all. And this is with the premium service. I’m really glad I used time off and didn’t plan to work on that trip. Too unreliable. 

[kasey68]

5 hours ago, cantgetin said:

Bottom line for us--same  TA itinerary 3 times, wifi was different  quality each time.. in order, April 2023 best (Starlink, premium), October/November 2023 ok, some glitches (Starlink, Premium), October 2022 awful  once we left land (not Starlink, premium not offered due to lack of quality).

All of these were with VV? 

[cantgetin]

Just now, kasey68 said:

All of these were with VV? 

Yes.  We've also done multiple crossings on other lines, but I figured only those on VV were relevant to this group.

[Cloud9 Bob]

I only have experience on Scarlet Lady. I tried to use my VPN for banking unsuccessfully a few times. Wound up going to sailor services. As I was there an IT manager walked through and the agent asked about VPN's and he said "they're blocked."  That was the beginning and end of my VPN questions.

[kasey68]

3 hours ago, Cloud9 Bob said:

I only have experience on Scarlet Lady. I tried to use my VPN for banking unsuccessfully a few times. Wound up going to sailor services. As I was there an IT manager walked through and the agent asked about VPN's and he said "they're blocked."  That was the beginning and end of my VPN questions.

Wow! That is not very encouraging! Thanks for the info

[Steelers0854]

On 11/26/2023 at 11:21 PM, kasey68 said:

My question would be this: My company requires a VPN.  I can access email & Zoom with "normal" wifi, but without being able to log into my company's VPN, which I've heard is most likely NOT possible on Scarlet Lady's transatlantic voyage, I won't be able to access documents and certain programs I need.  Anyone have any updated info on this?  The last time I read about it was this past spring 2023, and it said that without Starlink, it probably won't be possible out in the middle of the Atlantic. 

 

I would be careful about taking general VPN advice.  Most people don’t realize there are different VPN protocols and will just say “my VPN worked”.  Well if your company uses a protocol that the cruise line blocks you’re out of luck.  So while 1 VPN service works for 1 person, it may not work for you.  Even 2 people using the same service can have different experiences if you aren’t savvy enough to understand that there are often times different protocols to switch between.

 

Just don’t want anyone getting into a bad spot and must work only to find out they cannot connect to their corporate VPN.

[neverendingcruising]

Yep, definitely this. My work VPN has not worked on the ships but the one I use out of my own house works fine (great for watching US shows when on a ship in Europe) 

[kasey68]

12 hours ago, Steelers0854 said:

 

I would be careful about taking general VPN advice.  Most people don’t realize there are different VPN protocols and will just say “my VPN worked”.  Well if your company uses a protocol that the cruise line blocks you’re out of luck.  So while 1 VPN service works for 1 person, it may not work for you.  Even 2 people using the same service can have different experiences if you aren’t savvy enough to understand that there are often times different protocols to switch between.

 

Just don’t want anyone getting into a bad spot and must work only to find out they cannot connect to their corporate VPN.

Yes, I appreciate this. It’s what I figured. I’m suspecting my company isn’t going to let it happen.