Will Nord VPN work with the Medallion Internet on Startlink

[cruiserdf]

We were recently on the Caribbean Princess on a RT cruise from New York to Greenland.  As we sailed into Canadian waters I was locked out of my Yahoo and gmail email accounts.  I was able to recover the account via Yahoo chat without cellphone service required for verification in the Canadian waters.  Once we reached Greenland I was locked out of all email accounts and financial accounts and no way to recover since I had no cellphone service for verification.  The internet service with Starlink remained solid throughout the entire cruise and was the best Princess internet in 47 cruises.  In Greenland everything (facebook, google etc.) appeared to be coming out of the UK.  I suspect I was locked out of everything since I normally sign in from the US. I use a laptop and not a cellphone for internet access and I sign out of every account access every time.

 

So I was considering getting Nord VPN for our next cruise to the Mediterranean and transAtlantic.  My thinking is I would be able to make it look like I am in the US using Nord VPN.  Has anyone used Nord VPN with the Medallion Internet on a laptop with Starlink on the Princess ships?  If so, how difficult was it and what was your experience?

 

 

[odyssyus]

17 minutes ago, cruiserdf said:

We were recently on the Caribbean Princess on a RT cruise from New York to Greenland.  As we sailed into Canadian waters I was locked out of my Yahoo and gmail email accounts.  I was able to recover the account via Yahoo chat without cellphone service required for verification in the Canadian waters.  Once we reached Greenland I was locked out of all email accounts and financial accounts and no way to recover since I had no cellphone service for verification.  The internet service with Starlink remained solid throughout the entire cruise and was the best Princess internet in 47 cruises.  In Greenland everything (facebook, google etc.) appeared to be coming out of the UK.  I suspect I was locked out of everything since I normally sign in from the US. I use a laptop and not a cellphone for internet access and I sign out of every account access every time.

 

So I was considering getting Nord VPN for our next cruise to the Mediterranean and transAtlantic.  My thinking is I would be able to make it look like I am in the US using Nord VPN.  Has anyone used Nord VPN with the Medallion Internet on a laptop with Starlink on the Princess ships?  If so, how difficult was it and what was your experience?

 

 

I used a GLINet travel router and an Amazon Firestick (W/ nord vpn).  No issues closer to shore and was able to stream Youtube TV w/ locals routing Nord thru New York.  Once we started our transatlantic however, the internet signal dropped to unusable until we got closer to the US.  No issues getting to accounts/emails as long as internet was working.

Edited September 5, 2023 by odyssyus

[BabySarge]

Just want to say if there is some way to check that the VPN will work for you before you get it maybe do that, because while I did a ton of research and thought I had all my bases covered and did buy Nord VPN because it looked like the best; it did not work for me with MY bank.  It could just have been my inexperience with using a VPN and the possibility I did not install it correctly on my computer or my bank, but even after contacting Nord for technical assistance and them advising that everything was right, I was still unable to access my bank account when I was connected to the internet through/using routing through Nord.  This was all whilst I was in the US, with a US bank, and choosing US Nord VPN routing.   Nord never could explain to me why my bank would not allow me to access the site and since I could not login at all and I was still here in the US in my living room trying to look at my bank account and not able to do it with the VPN turned on what the heck was going to happen when I was on a cruise ship or overseas?

[Steelers36]

@cruiserdf, i have read that guests have had general success using a VPN on the ship for Internet purposes.  However, you should turn off the VPN when using the Princess App on board (ship Intranet is all that is needed).  Most seem to report that Princess App functions do not work well, or at all, if a VPN is in play.

[Mike07]

If I were running anything from the Cruise Critic Community Bank to a major like Bank of America, I would block all known IP addresses from every VPN private into my infrastructure.

[cruiserdf]

1 hour ago, BabySarge said:

Just want to say if there is some way to check that the VPN will work for you before you get it maybe do that, because while I did a ton of research and thought I had all my bases covered and did buy Nord VPN because it looked like the best; it did not work for me with MY bank.  It could just have been my inexperience with using a VPN and the possibility I did not install it correctly on my computer or my bank, but even after contacting Nord for technical assistance and them advising that everything was right, I was still unable to access my bank account when I was connected to the internet through/using routing through Nord.  This was all whilst I was in the US, with a US bank, and choosing US Nord VPN routing.   Nord never could explain to me why my bank would not allow me to access the site and since I could not login at all and I was still here in the US in my living room trying to look at my bank account and not able to do it with the VPN turned on what the heck was going to happen when I was on a cruise ship or overseas?

Thanks for these suggestions.  I do plan to use their 30 day trial period to use Nord VPN from home to access the accounts / sites I need.  I don't fully understand exactly how the VPN works, but thought it was pretty much just controlling where the IP address shows from i.e. allowing access from the US while in Europe.  I appreciate the security, but the older I get my patience wears thin with the hoops I have to jump through.

[cruiserdf]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

@cruiserdf, i have read that guests have had general success using a VPN on the ship for Internet purposes.  However, you should turn off the VPN when using the Princess App on board (ship Intranet is all that is needed).  Most seem to report that Princess App functions do not work well, or at all, if a VPN is in play.

Steelers 36, I have read similar information.  I don't use the Princess App except for checking the account balances and if the printers are working, then that isn't even an issue.  Just need the internet access.  Have you had any experience with Whatsapp and a VPN?

[Mike07]

10 minutes ago, cruiserdf said:

Thanks for these suggestions.  I do plan to use their 30 day trial period to use Nord VPN from home to access the accounts / sites I need.  I don't fully understand exactly how the VPN works, but thought it was pretty much just controlling where the IP address shows from i.e. allowing access from the US while in Europe.  I appreciate the security, but the older I get my patience wears thin with the hoops I have to jump through.

 

 

High level, that's what it's doing. But fraudsters and scammers know how to use VPNs as well.

[Steelers36]

11 minutes ago, cruiserdf said:

Steelers 36, I have read similar information.  I don't use the Princess App except for checking the account balances and if the printers are working, then that isn't even an issue.  Just need the internet access.  Have you had any experience with Whatsapp and a VPN?

Not used VPN on phone.  Not used VPN on a ship.  WhatsApp works great on the ship.

[Yowman]

59 minutes ago, cruiserdf said:

Steelers 36, I have read similar information.  I don't use the Princess App except for checking the account balances and if the printers are working, then that isn't even an issue.  Just need the internet access.  Have you had any experience with Whatsapp and a VPN?

 

 

WhatsApp has end-to-end encryption, so no VPN needed:

 

https://faq.whatsapp.com/820124435853543

 

Most phone apps - browsers (using https), messaging, banking, etc. - use encryption so no need for a VPN there.

 

The issue with commercial VPNs is that all your traffic goes through them giving the bad guys a single vector of attack.  The question is: do you trust the VPN providers and their infrastructure more than the built-in encryption of the apps you use?  I've not used a commercial VPN in years - never had an issue.

 

I have set up a VPN on my home server so that I can connect through it.  I use this for accessing internet resources in my home country that I can't access outside of it - they see my IP address as my home IP address wherever I am in the world.  Some of these internet resources can determine if a commercial VPN is in use and can block you anyway, for example Prime Video, Netflix, and other streaming services.

 

My only use for a commercial VPN would be for nefarious reasons such as torrenting, and even then some of the commercial VPNs that claim they don't log traffic have been caught actually logging traffic.

 

Another opinion on why most people don't need to pay for a commercial VPN:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgxnwk/you-probably-dont-need-a-vpn

 

From the above link:

Security researcher Kenn White added that "for the vast majority of consumers, commercial VPN services add very little value and frankly most incur more security risk for the user."

 

One risk is some VPN providers use self-signed root CAs, which allow the creator to read encrypted traffic coming from a computer. White said this is done in the pursuit of malware prevention, but that "is just a different way of saying 'intercepting your (otherwise) encrypted web and mail traffic.'"

Some VPNs may collect more information than users anticipate, and in some cases expose that data too.

 

 

YMMV

Edited September 5, 2023 by Yowman
Add detail

[CaptainPedantic]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

Most seem to report that Princess App functions do not work well, or at all, if a VPN is in play.

Took me about 30 mins with varying degrees of profanity trying to make the Princess app work on our recent Island Princess cruise until I remembered I had VPN active 😞 it didn't like it at all.

[Steelers36]

10 minutes ago, Yowman said:

 

 

WhatsApp has end-to-end encryption, so no VPN needed:

 

https://faq.whatsapp.com/820124435853543

 

Most phone apps - browsers (using https), messaging, banking, etc. - use encryption so no need for a VPN there.

 

The issue with commercial VPNs is that all your traffic goes through them giving the bad guys a single vector of attack.  The question is: do you trust the VPN providers and their infrastructure more than the built-in encryption of the apps you use?  I've not used a commercial VPN in years - never had an issue.

 

I have set up a VPN on my home server so that I can connect through it.  I use this for accessing internet resources in my home country that I can't access outside of it - they see my IP address as my home IP address wherever I am in the world.  Some of these internet resources can determine if a commercial VPN is in use and can block you anyway, for example Prime Video, Netflix, and other streaming services.

 

My only use for a commercial VPN would be for nefarious reasons such as torrenting, and even then some of the commercial VPNs that claim they don't log traffic have been caught actually logging traffic.

 

Another opinion on why most people don't need to pay for a commercial VPN:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgxnwk/you-probably-dont-need-a-vpn

 

From the above link:

Security researcher Kenn White added that "for the vast majority of consumers, commercial VPN services add very little value and frankly most incur more security risk for the user."

 

YMMV

My only reason for a VPN in play is to pretend I am in USA when we are not down in Florida.

 

[cruiserdf]

43 minutes ago, Yowman said:

 

 

WhatsApp has end-to-end encryption, so no VPN needed:

 

https://faq.whatsapp.com/820124435853543

 

Most phone apps - browsers (using https), messaging, banking, etc. - use encryption so no need for a VPN there.

 

The issue with commercial VPNs is that all your traffic goes through them giving the bad guys a single vector of attack.  The question is: do you trust the VPN providers and their infrastructure more than the built-in encryption of the apps you use?  I've not used a commercial VPN in years - never had an issue.

 

I have set up a VPN on my home server so that I can connect through it.  I use this for accessing internet resources in my home country that I can't access outside of it - they see my IP address as my home IP address wherever I am in the world.  Some of these internet resources can determine if a commercial VPN is in use and can block you anyway, for example Prime Video, Netflix, and other streaming services.

 

My only use for a commercial VPN would be for nefarious reasons such as torrenting, and even then some of the commercial VPNs that claim they don't log traffic have been caught actually logging traffic.

 

Another opinion on why most people don't need to pay for a commercial VPN:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgxnwk/you-probably-dont-need-a-vpn

 

From the above link:

Security researcher Kenn White added that "for the vast majority of consumers, commercial VPN services add very little value and frankly most incur more security risk for the user."

 

One risk is some VPN providers use self-signed root CAs, which allow the creator to read encrypted traffic coming from a computer. White said this is done in the pursuit of malware prevention, but that "is just a different way of saying 'intercepting your (otherwise) encrypted web and mail traffic.'"

Some VPNs may collect more information than users anticipate, and in some cases expose that data too.

 

 

YMMV

YMMV - I understand what your are saying about the potential security risks of using a commercial VPN.  Although I really don't want to invest time and effort to create a personal VPN.  I don't see any other options to use email and some financial accounts outside my home country without the use of a VPN.  I probably won't use it at home, just for travel and keep my fingers crossed it works well on the ships.  With the pre-Starlink Princess internet, I seemed to have been lucky with my access out of the United States.  This last trip, no such luck.

[Steelers36]

9 minutes ago, cruiserdf said:

YMMV - I understand what your are saying about the potential security risks of using a commercial VPN.  Although I really don't want to invest time and effort to create a personal VPN.  I don't see any other options to use email and some financial accounts outside my home country without the use of a VPN.  I probably won't use it at home, just for travel and keep my fingers crossed it works well on the ships.  With the pre-Starlink Princess internet, I seemed to have been lucky with my access out of the United States.  This last trip, no such luck.

I could always access my banks using ship internet (no VPN) prior to Starlink and have not been on a ship with Starlink as yet.  Even with 2-factor ID, I was okay as long as the verification could be done via email and not forced to be MSM to my phone.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

3 hours ago, BabySarge said:

and thought I had all my bases covered and did buy Nord VPN because it looked like the best; it did not work for me with MY bank.

 

Financial institutions of any stripe don't play well with anonymous browsers and the like.

[Rick&Jeannie]

4 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I could always access my banks using ship internet (no VPN) prior to Starlink and have not been on a ship with Starlink as yet.  Even with 2-factor ID, I was okay as long as the verification could be done via email and not forced to be MSM to my phone.

Same here...

[Bollycats]

5 hours ago, Yowman said:

 

 

WhatsApp has end-to-end encryption, so no VPN needed:

 

https://faq.whatsapp.com/820124435853543

 

Most phone apps - browsers (using https), messaging, banking, etc. - use encryption so no need for a VPN there.

 

The issue with commercial VPNs is that all your traffic goes through them giving the bad guys a single vector of attack.  The question is: do you trust the VPN providers and their infrastructure more than the built-in encryption of the apps you use?  I've not used a commercial VPN in years - never had an issue.

 

I have set up a VPN on my home server so that I can connect through it.  I use this for accessing internet resources in my home country that I can't access outside of it - they see my IP address as my home IP address wherever I am in the world.  Some of these internet resources can determine if a commercial VPN is in use and can block you anyway, for example Prime Video, Netflix, and other streaming services.

 

My only use for a commercial VPN would be for nefarious reasons such as torrenting, and even then some of the commercial VPNs that claim they don't log traffic have been caught actually logging traffic.

 

Another opinion on why most people don't need to pay for a commercial VPN:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgxnwk/you-probably-dont-need-a-vpn

 

From the above link:

Security researcher Kenn White added that "for the vast majority of consumers, commercial VPN services add very little value and frankly most incur more security risk for the user."

 

One risk is some VPN providers use self-signed root CAs, which allow the creator to read encrypted traffic coming from a computer. White said this is done in the pursuit of malware prevention, but that "is just a different way of saying 'intercepting your (otherwise) encrypted web and mail traffic.'"

Some VPNs may collect more information than users anticipate, and in some cases expose that data too.

 

 

YMMV

I never use my phone on public wifi-not even with a VPN. I was thinking of using my Norton VPN to check my email on the cruise. (not doing any banking or sending credit card numbers anywhere. ) So you're saying my email is encrypted (I checked and it has https) so I'm safe just reading emails and deleting them without a VPN on the ship?

[KLM3164]

6 hours ago, Yowman said:

I have set up a VPN on my home server so that I can connect through it.  I use this for accessing internet resources in my home country that I can't access outside of it - they see my IP address as my home IP address wherever I am in the world.  Some of these internet resources can determine if a commercial VPN is in use and can block you anyway, for example Prime Video, Netflix, and other streaming services.

I’d love to be able to set this up as we’ve been using Express VPN for international travel with limited success. I’d like to be able to access YouTube TV and Netflix from outside the US. Do you have any good resources you’d recommend for the setting up a VPN through your home system?

[lx200gps]

6 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I could always access my banks using ship internet (no VPN) prior to Starlink and have not been on a ship with Starlink as yet.  Even with 2-factor ID, I was okay as long as the verification could be done via email and not forced to be MSM to my phone.

Methinks you're not a TD customer ;o) 2FA with them is absolutely by cellphone/SMS, no Email. Even accessing the system  at home, I will will occasionally get a pop-up demanding a verification by text or phone to my cell, necessitating long trudge to find the  phone elsewhere in the house. .At least Aeroplan allows 2FA verification by email, but not the Green Machine

[Steelers36]

8 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

Methinks you're not a TD customer ;o) 2FA with them is absolutely by cellphone/SMS, no Email. Even accessing the system  at home, I will will occasionally get a pop-up demanding a verification by text or phone to my cell, necessitating long trudge to find the  phone elsewhere in the house. .At least Aeroplan allows 2FA verification by email, but not the Green Machine

You are correct.  I have main business with RBC, but also BNS, CIBC (only due to the Cdn Big Box card), Oaken, EQ Bank, and RBC US.  Oh, and HSBC for GBP cash account, but I don't need to access that while away.

 

[Mike07]

Have you all ever considered that a lot of fear mongering goes into VPN sales? If I wanted to do something really nefarious on the Internet... The last action I would take is no VPN, followed closely by most every VPN provider.

[odyssyus]

Too much overthinking in this thread...

 

The primary need for a vpn when travelling internationally is to stream US based media that won't work outside the US.  There is no need for a VPN to access banks and other services that aren't geo blocked.  

 

For streaming media services such as youtube tv, Roku etc. and/or watching various sports games like a local, the vpn works brilliantly.  Nothing like than watching my Capitals play Hockey in DC with the local broadcast while I'm sitting on some boat in the Med. Now if they would only win but that's another discussion.

 

I don't run any VPN software when I'm at home.  Pointless with 2fa, dns over https, etc.  35 yrs experience in Infrastructure & Network engineering.

[LeeW]

Had some issues in Norway with connecting to secure accounts.  Downlink was apparently in Germany and several of my normal sites refused to connect.  VPN sometimes worked although still had to do two factor authentication with phone.  The free VPN that is part of the Opera browser sometimes worked by specifying a US server location.