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Tech Talk with Seabits
WORKING REMOTELY FROM THE BOAT by Steve Mitchell Working remotely from a boat has been around for a long time, but in the last few years has become very popular. Technology has continued to advance and provide new ways to enable this nomadic worklife more than ever before. There are a few key things I’ve found that will help make your remote experience easier and more reliable.
The author's workstation aboard his Ocean Alexander 420, Rendezvous. and flow in terms of speed and reliability. This is especially true in the summer months when more boaters are visiting these locations and stressing the infrastructure. In the last few years, cellular has proven to be the most reliable solution for coastal cruisers, but it can still have challenges. If you're anchored, your boat can move causing signal issues and adding latency, which will affect the connection. Many boaters have used cellular routers or hotspots and are familiar with leveraging those to connect multiple devices aboard to the internet. A more robust work-from-the-boat setup takes that to the next level by ensuring you have a high quality cellular connection, usually with an indoor router and outdoor antenna, and by having multiple cellular connections at the same time. Having two active cellular connections means that if one starts misbehaving, the other one can take over, providing you with a seamless experience with no interruptions. A lot of systems have multiple “slots” or places to store SIM cards, but still only have one cellular modem. While this is a good setup, it doesn’t meet the requirement of having two cellular connections active at all times. Many of these systems take 2 to 5 minutes to switch from one SIM card to another, and during that time you are disconnected. If your work requirements can handle that sort of an outage, you can choose a single cellular radio product and save some money and complexity. In addition to cellular, most people will want the ability to connect to a remote WiFi network, such as one available at a marina, and pull that into the boat. This is sometimes referred to as “grabbing remote WiFi” or more technically as “WiFi as WAN” (with WAN standing for Wide Area Network). This feature provides an additional connection, and can be very helpful in reducing the usage of cellular plans. While you’re at the dock, you can use the remote WiFi as your primary connection, and also have cellular service as a backup in case something happens.
DEFINE YOUR WORK There are many ways to work remotely, and everyone has their own approach. Sometimes it is defined by the job or employer, and other times there is a lot more freedom or flexibility. In most cases, I see people who need reliable access to business applications and websites, and require video conferencing via tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams for time windows ranging from a few hours per week to all day every day. Defining how you work and what you use is key to having a trustworthy remote work setup. If you are in a role where you use websites, chat tools, and other lower bandwidth applications, you could probably pare back some of the redundancy and connection requirements I cover below. If you are in a more typical role with Zoom meetings throughout the day, Microsoft Teams chats, Sharepoint and Outlook stuff constantly, then you will likely want a more extensive system. Not everyone will have the same requirements when working remotely, and that will dictate your eventual system, budget and complexity. What I cover below discusses the more common use case with a decent amount of video, business applications, and the like. REDUNDANCY & QUALITY At the core of a quality remote work system is redundancy in how you’re connected. Since you could be anchored in a beautiful bay, or tied up at a marina guest dock, having multiple ways to connect is critical to ensure that you can continue working reliably. This can be done with two primary technologies — cellular connections and nearby WiFi networks. The main reason for having two connections is reliability. Marina or public WiFi systems are notoriously bad, and will ebb 48º NORTH
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NOVEMBER 2021