A European boat rental service with a fleet vessel of over 100 has been offering boating holidays for more than half a century. They wanted to invest in a network that would enable reliable Wi-Fi and create secure remote access from offices to vessels.
Challenge
This boat rental service offers a variety of vessels to travel an array of rivers and lakes in western Europe. This meant that a lot of boats traveling needed a reliable network infrastructure. The boat rental company struggled to find a cellular modem that was fit for a watercraft and had high bandwidth capabilities. They also wanted to find a solution that was easy to deploy and manage in the event they choose to increase their vessel offerings.
Solution
After trying out different options, the boat rental service found their ideal network infrastructure using Peplink’s UBR LTE routers. At the boat rental office, a UBR LTE was installed with the current router. This was connected to the office LAN to provide internet and VPN access.
In each vessel, the compact UBR LTE was placed in a watertight compartment, with 2 cellular links and a VSAT connection. A FusionHub was established to connect to all UBR LTE routers. This enables the boats to utilize SpeedFusion technologies as well as gain access to a secure VPN connection with the office.
For each watercraft, the UBR LTE would utilize VSAT connections while traveling. When the vessel is within range of a cellular connection, Hot Failover seamlessly switches activity to the dual LTE links of the UBR LTE. Additionally, Bandwidth Bonding aggregates these connections to allow for higher bandwidth applications.
Each UBR LTE was used to provide Wi-Fi access to boat passengers. Additionally, each watercraft’s PLC (programmable logic controller) was connected to the UBR LTE for remote access. With several devices deployed, the boat rental company also subscribed to InControl 2 for management.
Result
The VPN connection created between the office and boats makes it convenient for the company to access the PLCs while allowing users access to the public internet. The UBR LTE’s affordable price made scaling up a painless decision for the company.
The boat rental service was also highly pleased with the UBR LTE’s plug-and-play installation, eliminating the need for regular on-site assistance. Furthermore, InControl 2’s remote management gives the boat rental service trouble-free access to device configuration.
The new Peplink network infrastructure gave the boat rental service more confidence to operate without worrying about network downtime or threats.
Deployment
- Installed in the office and each vessel
- Creates VPN connection for secure remote access to PLCs
- Enables SpeedFusion technologies to maximize network uptime