Having a reliable internet setup is key to staying connected while on the water, but being able to work from the boat adds some additional challenges. I've done it for years, and have found a number of things that help make it easy to do while providing a quality experience.
My requirements
Everyone's requirements for working remotely are slightly different, and can result in a cheaper/more expensive or simpler/more complicated solution. Here is my particular use case:
Office applications – I use Microsoft Office 365 and Google G Suite for email and documents all the time. Being able to send and receive email quickly, manage my calendar, and work on documents or presentations is very important. I don't want to have to download things offline or shuffle things to other places.
Chat – I use Slack extensively, along with Microsoft Teams, for chatting, group chats, and file sharing and collaboration.
Video – My primary communication method is Zoom, along with Teams video calls, sometimes some FaceTime calls, and then voice calls on the cell phone.
These things must work as if I were at home connected to a land-based internet connection. That means:
- No video weirdness or loss of video / audio
- Speedy response within Slack/Teams
- Excellent video in Zoom/Teams
- Quality phone calls
- Connected during work hours reliably
My Current Setup
These are the primary things I've focused on to make my remote work situation the best possible.
- Modular marine system
- 2 cellular connections + remote WiFi
- Redundancy – SpeedFusion
- Good local WiFi
- Controlling Usage
Modular marine system
If you need to work remotely, consider spending an appropriate amount of money to ensure you have a reliable setup, and that it is specifically designed to use with a mobile or marine environment. This includes a DC-powered router/access point, outdoor antennas, and features that support redundancy and performance.
Using a tethered cell phone really won't cut it for my use case, and while hotspots or MiFi devices might work OK, there's no redundancy, and limited external antenna choices. If you need to be connected as reliably as I do, it's worth spending $1000-3000 to get something you won't have to mess with.
I would recommend a system with at least 2x cellular connections, some sort of way to grab remote WiFi signals, and a good local WiFi access point. I personally go one step further and have the following pieces:
- Main router such as a Peplink MAX Transit Duo or MBX responsible for cellular connections and WiFi-as-WAN (remote WiFi)
- Outdoor antennas from Peplink or Poynting for LTE and WiFI
- High quality cabling, as short as possible, between main router and antennas
- WiFi access points such as the AP One Rugged that are distributed in key areas around the boat
2 or more connections + remote WiFi
The most important thing to consider is having at least 2 methods of connectivity at any point. This can be WiFi and cellular or two cellular connections, but in any case, you need two of them to be usable at almost all times, if not 100% of the time.
The main reason for this is reliability. Marina or public WiFi systems are notoriously bad as I've written about many times before, and will ebb 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 out the infrastructure.
Cellular has proven in the last few years 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.
Having 2 cellular radios and at least 2 cellular plans is the norm for most customers that I work with nowadays. When arriving in an anchorage, you can test the two connections and flip between providers until you know which one will work for you. Having 3 providers (in the US, the most common are T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon) makes it even better, as you can choose the two that work the best and know you have some redundancy.
I also use remote WiFi a decent amount but always combined with a cellular connection. This can save data off of other cellular plans, and in some cases if the remote WiFi is decent, can be used alone with priority fall backs to cellular. I have two outdoor WiFi antennas dedicated to capturing the remote WiFi signal, but you could also use the MikroTik Groove connected to a WAN ethernet port on a router.
The most popular solution for this is the Peplink MAX Transit DUO which has two cellular radios, WiFi-as-WAN, and WiFi/ethernet connectivity for your local network. The challenge with this product is the age of the cellular radios, which are a bit older than the newest available. However, if working remotely and having a stable connection is your priority, this is one of the best solutions available right now.
Finding cellular providers is usually the hardest part of all of this, and is critical to having a reliable setup. Relying on a single cellular provider is not a great idea – if you are truly away from docks or in more remote areas, you will need two cellular providers. Sometimes, an anchorage will only have good performance for one of them, or you will want two for full redundancy. In other cases, providers have outages and without a backup plan, you'll have to move or go without connectivity.
Steve Mitchell
SpeedFusion – Redundancy & Optimization
SpeedFusion is a technology provided on Peplink routers that has been very popular the last year with the release of SpeedFusion Cloud. This technology allows you to select specific types of traffic, like Microsoft Office or Zoom, and uses multiple internet connections to ensure you are never disconnected and have the highest quality experience possible. SpeedFusion Cloud is really inexpensive too – 500GB for $20, 1TB for $40 and so on. For what it provides, it is worth much more.
Of all of the innovations in the last few years, SpeedFusion is the one key feature that has allowed me to work remotely without having to worry about losing connections or being at docks for WiFi access.
The way it does this is by combining two connections, such as two cellular radios, and connecting to the SpeedFusion Cloud server nearest you. It then uses those two connections to send all of your traffic so that if either one slows down or is disconnected, the other connection is already working and there is no interruption.
Peplink has had this feature for a number of years, but only last year did they make it super simple for you to use via SpeedFusion Cloud. I will be doing a deeper dive on how to setup and configure this in a future article, but you get a 30 day trial for free with any new (or even most existing) Peplink routers. It only takes a few clicks, and you have a redundant setup for critical traffic.
The SpeedFusion Cloud feature allows you to select specific types of traffic like Microsoft Office, Zoom, Google Suite, to send over this redundant link so you aren't wasting bandwidth with Facebook or Netflix traffic. You can even select specific systems or computers to send through this connection for all of their traffic if you have something critical aboard that always needs to be connected.
You do have to consider carefully what traffic and/or devices use SpeedFusion Cloud, as it will not only use more of your cloud bandwidth, but it will also use data on each of your WAN links. In the event you are using two cellular connections, this means using 2x the data could potentially be used for the specific traffic types (Zoom, Office) or device that you have selected to use the SpeedFusion Cloud.
This is why I recommend most people only choose specific applications instead of having a whole network, or even a specific device, that uses SpeedFusion Cloud. This ensures Windows Updates or other less important traffic doesn't use double the bandwidth and capacity in the SpeedFusion Cloud.
Overall, this feature is a game changer to enable you to work remotely, reliably, from the boat. I've even had comments that my connection is so good that it can't possibly be on a boat, which is perfect!
Good Local WiFi
Having a good local WiFi connection is just as important as having a good source of internet. A high quality connection throughout a boat can sometimes be a challenge based on the size and composition. If you use remote WiFi features in some products, such as Peplink WiFi-as-WAN, they will reduce the overall performance of the local WiFi network.
I have a main router responsible for cellular and remote WiFi, and two dedicated access points placed strategically throughout the boat where I spend most of my time. This allows the internet source (cellular, remote WAN, etc.) to be closer to the outdoor antennas, and the access points to provide a strong signal to my work setup.
Steve Mitchell
You should also have 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands for your local WiFi system. Many of the cheaper systems only have 2.4Ghz which can be very unreliable. If you intend on using your setup in marinas, you will definitely want a good system with 5Ghz bands, and for the access points to be close to your work area.
Controlling Usage
I've written about this before in Managing internet usage on your boat, but there are also some specific things I do around work-related traffic that can help:
- Monitor your data usage – most devices allow you to see daily totals of how much data you've used. Work applications tend to use a lot more than general web browsing, especially video applications like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. SpeedFusion will also use more data across multiple plans/connections based on how it works, so keep that in mind. Watching these reports will ensure you have enough data for the month.
- Set Apple devices to “Low Data” mode to prevent them from going crazy with photo uploads, app updates, etc. Similar settings exist for Mac, Android and Windows 10 – you can find more details on how to do this in the Managing internet usage on your boat article.
- Block specific “bad” devices while working – this ensures you have all of the bandwidth available. These can include things like Smart TVs doing random updates, media players, and other devices.
Zoom Tips
Zoom is a challenging application to run from any location, let alone a boat. It is very latency sensitive, and requires a decent amount of upload bandwidth, which is not what most cellular networks or boat internet setups are optimized for.
Latency is a challenge with cellular links when you are far away from a tower, or or are moving around at anchor or underway. SpeedFusion is critical for helping with this – see more on that above.
Upload bandwidth is important to ensure your video looks the best to everyone else. Many cellular connections have good download bandwidth, but have very limited upload bandwidth if you are far away or have lower signal strength. Below are some tips to help Zoom work better on these types of connections.
Turn off HD – the limiting factor in almost all connections is upload bandwidth, which is the amount of capacity you have to send data from your boat somewhere. If you use Zoom and have your camera on, you are transmitting a decent amount of upload traffic. The HD option increases this quite a bit, and really isn't needed. Turning this off will not only save you bandwidth, but because it's using less overall, you're less likely to have any quality issues.
Stop video – if you're seeing connection issues, try stopping video for a while. Do you need to be sending video all the time anyhow? We didn't use to do this with conference calls…. Stopping video during screen sharing can also help with bandwidth limitations.
Smaller Zoom window – if you are in a decent sized Zoom or Teams meeting with more than 5 participants, changing the size of the actual overall window will dramatically reduce the amount of bandwidth Zoom/Teams sends to you! You can watch this in the real-time graphs on whatever router you have, and as you make the window smaller, it slows down quite a bit. In the example below, a large Zoom window is using 2.27Mbps of download bandwidth, and a small one is using 1.20Mbps, which is quite a savings. I've seen it even smaller depending on screen sharing / no screen sharing, and is a great quick tip to try if you have limited connectivity – just make the window smaller!
What about Microsoft Teams? – as of the date of this article, Teams does not have end-user controls for the quality of the video (HD/no-HD) and tends to use more bandwidth than Zoom in any situation. I try not to use if I can, but that isn't an option for a lot of meetings or people. Just be aware it tends to be a lot more bandwidth intensive, in particular on upload bandwidth for your video. The only real way to reduce that piece is to turn off your video.
Conclusion
Being able to work remotely from the boat is easier than ever before. The majority of my consulting engagements are focused around helping boaters achieve this, and if you follow some basic guidance – 2 connections, multiple providers, SpeedFusion, and optimizing your traffic – you can successfully do this too!
If you have specific tips for your remote work environment, please leave them in the comments.
Archived Community Comments
These comments were posted on the SeaBits forum before February 2026. Scroll down to join the current discussion.
Hi Steve,
Curious, how big is the boat in this application that you are adding wireless access points connected to the modem? I’m wondering if in a campervan I could use the rooftop Poynting antenna wired to the Peplink Transit Duo and be ok? It’s not a big bus or RV.
Thanks!
Hi @Mike_N,
It’s not 100% tied to size. Boats can have various types of materials within them that block or degrade WiFi signals to the point of causing performance issues.
For your application, you should be able to place the router inside and run the cabling outside and have decent WiFi signal within.
Thanks! Your reply is appreciated and helpful!
A post was split to a new topic: HD1 Dome additional WAN source
Hi Steve,
Thanks for this invaluable website and discussion forum! We are in the process of buying (hopefully) a 37’ sailboat and will be needing to set up proper internet for remote work, etc. I happen to have an unused TP-Link Archer AX50 Dual Band WiFi 6 Router – I’m wondering if this could serve as a router. I like your Peplink et al. “ecosystem” description, as you provide good detail on that – but out of curiosity, could the TP-Link work as well? Not sure how familiar you are with the various routers, I know there are lots out there. Thanks for any enlightenment! --Carolyn
Hi @Carolyn,
TP-Link’s Archer series has been one of my favorites for a long time because they are well built, have a good feature set, and many can run directly off of 12v DC power. I mention one in my Best Boat Internet Systems article, which is a bit older…
You could use what you have for the local WiFi network, but you would need a source of Internet, what we usually call a WAN source. If you are at a dock, you could get this from a local internet service provider who will provide a modem that can plug into the TP-Link Archer.
To use it to grab remote WiFi is a little harder, but possible, although it would not likely work very reliably. To get cellular connections would require another device, or tethering it to a phone, both which would add some complexity and cost.
Thanks, Steve - that’s right, I forgot about the modem, as this is only a router. I have managed to make an old modem/router combo work with the Archer but it did seem a bit like a house of cards. Well, by the time I’m actually ready to dive in on this project, the tech may have evolved, as it does. I’ll stay tuned to see how things go. Thanks again!
Hi Steve,
In one of the photos of your PepLink setup I saw that you had “home” as a pepvpn location. I wasn’t aware you could connect to a home vpn with speedfusion. I thought you had to go through PepLinks servers. How did you do this?
Thank you
Hi @Sam_Tadros,
Good question!
SpeedFusion has been around for a long time at Peplink and was actually called PepVPN originally. SpeedFusion Cloud is a specific service, which I think might be what you’re more used to, and uses a specific feature built into newer versions of Peplink firmware to route your traffic across multiple WAN links to Peplink’s cloud service, and then out to the internet.
You can still use SpeedFusion or PepVPN to connect to other Peplink devices, which is what you see in some of those screen shots. I have a large Peplink router at home that has two 1Gbps fiber connections, and my boat connects to that device so that I can manage things at home, and have access to my boat when I am sitting at home (rare!).
I also have a product called Fusion Hub which is a virtual machine of SpeedFusion running in a cloud provider (AWS) that all of my Peplink devices connect to. This is similar to connecting to a dedicated router, and it likely was the inspiration for Peplink to create SpeedFusion Cloud over the last few years.
So the short answer is that you can’t connect directly to non-Peplink routers. You could buy a Peplink router for home, or run a piece of software on a server if you wanted to and have a connection between all of those devices using a private VPN.
Hey, Steve! Thanks so much for all this great information! Quick question about a statement in your article:
“Overall, I don’t think the OMNI-402 is worth the $400+ price for what you get. It would likely be better for diversity to have two OMNI-400’s mounted apart from each other at the same cost.”
I have a MoFi 4500 and had planned to purchase a 402, but it sounds like I could use two 400s to better effect, but I can’t find any information about how to configure such a set up. Would I need different connections at the router? Where to position the 400s, what orientation, etc.? Any advice would be much appreciated!
Hi @Daniel_Price,
That review was written when most of the cellular modems only required a 2x2 MIMO antenna, or two elements/antennas. At the time, if you had a single CAT12 radio or less, then two OMNI-400s were the best choice because they were separate antennas which provided more diversity and better performance than the 402.
I actually would wait a few more weeks while I finish my testing of the new Peplink 20G antennas which are looking to be quite a bit better than even the OMNI-402.
There are a number of versions of the MOFI-4500 - not sure if you have the older 4G one, the newer 5G one, etc. Each of them have slightly different cellular modems and might change a recommendation for antennas and how to connect them.
In general, antennas should be separated by 3’ at a minimum. They should not have cabling longer than 20’ from the antenna to the router, and you should try to use (if they come with it) factory cabling that is directly attached without any extensions.
There are a lot of other recommendations or design I’m sure depending on the specific boat, spaces to mount it, and the specific router.
Thanks, Steve! I have a 4G LTE MoFi4500. I’m checking out the Peplink 20G Maritime now. The description states ‘made for 5G’, but it still looks like it’d support my 4G router, right? Unfortunately, I have to make a purchase decision in the next few days because I’m moving aboard in early December.
There are a couple different versions of the 4G LTE model, but most of that has to do with the modem. That could change whether you need a 2x2 or 4x4 antenna, so you will want to check the specs.
The Peplink 20G will work with 4G and 3G as well. All they’re saying is that it has support for some of the newer frequencies that are specific for 5G.
Hi Steve, have you had any luck creating an outbound policy or SpeedFusion setup that picks up FaceTime for WAN Smoothing? I’ve been able to get my Teams and Zoom traffic routed through there, but haven’t had luck with Apple/Facetime. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Hi @nh5622,
I actually haven’t tried FaceTime with a policy. I noticed recently that a number of new Microsoft applications showed up in SpeedFusion cloud, so I suspect Peplink are figuring out more of these and adding them as people request them. However, this is specific to SpeedFusion Cloud - are you using that, or just SpeedFusion standalone? If the former, it might be good to put in a feature request for FaceTime.
We are going through SpeedFusion Cloud and I use their Optimization for Zoom. Prior to them having Teams available I had found some info on the Peplink forums for an Outbound Policy that’s worked great. I haven’t changed to the built in one yet (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it). I thought you might have figured out something similar for FaceTime. I’ll put in the feature request for FaceTime…great idea.
Thanks,
Nick
Let me know if you hear anything about the feature request, and how you put it in. I can pile on as well!
Hi guys sorry to revive an old thread but I need some help. I purchased peplink equipment for my boat and I need some tips on installation. I have 1 MAX Transit 5g router, 1 Maritime 40g, and 1 maritime 20g. My current issue is finding a good place to put the router.The cables that come with the antennas are 6’7" long so I don’t have much room to work with. I am mounting the antennas to the hard top of my boat. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Rob,
Unfortunately I don’t really have any suggestions because I don’t know the layout of your boat or any other details
Your goal is amenable - keeping the factory cables directly connected to the router is the best choice if at all possible. I’ve put Peplink routers in flybridge cabinets, under fiberglass tables, in storage cubbies, and even in Pelican cases when mounting them. The extreme examples include things like empty satellite TV domes - mounting the router inside of that with the antennas as well, or nearby, is an option.
Steve
Thank you for your response. Two of your suggestions have caught my eye. I am trying to choose between mounting the router in a waterproof enclosure (similar to the pelican case you had mentioned) or mounting it inside of an empty satellite TV dome. I currently have a KVH sat tv dome on my boat and we have no plans on using it. If I were to use the dome, I would want to remove the equipment from it so that I can use it for the router. Using the dome would almost certainly not require extending the cables. If I go with the waterproof enclosure instead of the dome, I would have easier access to the router, but I might need to extend the cables, and I am concerned about the router overheating in the enclosure. I believe the router is able to operate at 150 degrees Fahrenheit but the boat is located in Florida so it will definitely be hot (not sure if this concern is justified).
A few questions:
Should I be concerned about water or corrosion damage if I choose to keep the router in the dome?
Should I be concerned about overheating if I choose the waterproof enclosure?
What would you recommend?
Any tips/suggestions?
I really appreciate your help. Thank you!
anecdotal but i think the domes are sealed pretty effectively. Pulled the guts out of a v7 dome to swap in a v30 and the old v7 hardware
looks immaculate and the gear has been there for at least 13 years
That’s great to hear. Thank you. Anyone else please feel free to chime in!
It needs to be kept dry, so if the dome leaks or has some other issue, then you may have an issue. By being outside it may be more exposed to salt water corrosion through the ambient humidity but that is probably not going to affect it as much. You can use dielectric grease or something similar for parts that are metal and exposed.
You actually may have the issue with both approaches. If the waterproof enclosure is black and exposed to a lot of sun and has no vent at all, it will definitely overheat at some point. 150F sounds like a lot, but it really isn’t as that includes the heat generated from the unit, the case, and everything else. I’ve seen many Peplink routers mounted on the dashes of cars or pilothouses overheat just from being in direct sun.
Having a temp controlled fan or some sort of vent might be necessary for both.
Definitely a lot of good information there. Lets say I go with the dome idea. If I take the satellite equipment out of it and see no signs of corrosion, is it safe to assume that dome is properly sealed and I shouldn’t have to worry about corrosion or moisture? Also, the dome is white and much larger than the router so I don’t think temperatures would reach 150 degrees in there but just in case I could add a thermometer that I can monitor from my phone. If temperature is higher than I like then I could catch it early and adjust accordingly. What do you think? Thanks again for the help!
I think you have a good plan! As long as it’s dry, and there’s enough space, you should be good.
Thanks again for all the help.