Imagine trying to get online from the middle of the ocean or a remote construction site. While getting the internet signal there used to be the main hurdle, today, the challenge has shifted: how do you manage that powerful connection to keep it secure, affordable, and fair for everyone using it?
This article breaks down how Starlink provides the connectivity and how Cloudi-Fi steps in to provide the necessary control, ensuring secure internet access everywhere.
What is Starlink? (The Pipe)
Starlink is a satellite service designed to bring high-speed internet to nearly every corner of the globe. It is particularly effective in places that traditional ground-based internet systems cannot easily reach, such as remote waters.
Using a vast network of satellites, Starlink can deliver speeds of up to 220 Mbps. This connectivity is essential for maritime crews or remote operations, allowing individuals to stay connected even during long voyages. Today, Starlink has about 6M users as of today.
The challenge of Starlink
While Starlink solves the physical challenge of delivering high-speed internet anywhere, that power comes with a significant caveat: cost. Without proper limits, monthly data expenses can quickly escalate. Just a few users streaming or browsing heavily can consume massive portions of the available Starlink bandwidth, potentially causing slow service for others or leading to expensive overages for the organization.
The connectivity gap is bridged by Starlink, but the access control challenge remains unanswered by the service alone.
What is Cloudi-Fi? (The gatekeeper)
Cloudi-Fi is a crucial piece of the puzzle, acting as the intelligent gatekeeper that controls and secures internet usage.
Cloudi-Fi is designed as a 100% cloud-based SaaS solution, meaning it requires no on-premise infrastructure or hardware to manage access policies. This remote capability is ideal for widely dispersed operations, such as managing ships at sea.
Here is what Cloudi-Fi provides:
1. Identity-driven access: Cloudi-Fi uses a captive portal—that familiar login page that pops up before you connect to public Wi-Fi—to ensure that every user, whether a guest, employee, contractor, or even an IoT device, is authenticated before going online. Authentication can use personal credentials, email, SMS, or social network logins.
2. Zero Trust security: Cloudi-Fi applies the principle of Zero Trust, which means it automatically trusts nothing or no one connecting to the network. Every request for access must be verified, whether the user is inside or outside the network.
3. User and device profiling: once a user is identified via the captive portal, the system assigns them a profile. For example, a daily guest might be given less bandwidth than a consultant. For non-user devices (like cameras or smart thermostats) that cannot enter a password, Cloudi-Fi uses a clever technique called DHCP fingerprinting to identify the device type, vendor, and operating system, automatically applying specific security profiles.
4. Compliance and traceability: all activity is logged securely in the cloud. This logging supports traceability and helps organizations meet local data regulations and global compliance standards (like GDPR).
Controlled internet access, everywhere
The synergy between Starlink's ubiquitous, high-speed connectivity and Cloudi-Fi's intelligent management is what truly unlocks the potential of remote internet access. While Starlink provides the foundational layer—a robust and far-reaching internet connection that can penetrate even the most geographically isolated areas—Cloudi-Fi delivers the critical operational intelligence.
Cloudi-Fi's role is to transform raw connectivity into a secure, fair, and cost-effective managed access solution. This is achieved through its seamless integration with existing network infrastructure. By working in conjunction with widely used enterprise networking equipment such as FortiGate firewalls, Aruba, and Cisco access points, Cloudi-Fi can exert granular control over the network.
The key mechanism for control is the use of time-based consumption tokens:
• Cost control: this system helps limit satellite data usage, directly reducing costs.
• Fair usage: administrators can assign a daily usage allowance, such as 60 minutes of internet access per crew member, ensuring equitable access.
• Usage tracking: the system tracks consumption in real-time. If a user browses for 15 minutes, the system saves the remaining 45 minutes for later use, and the timer resets daily, guaranteeing a fresh allocation. This approach prevents a few users from monopolizing the connection and ensures bandwidth integrity.
• Remote policy enforcement: administrators can adjust access policies in real-time from anywhere. This might include enforcing rules like filtering certain websites or limiting data consumption based on the user's assigned profile.
Use cases
- Construction, mining, remote worksites: teams get reliably connected without requiring local fiber or LTE.
- Disaster recovery & emergency sites: spin up secure connectivity where infrastructure is down.
- Transportation & mobile command units: ships, oil rigs, mobile offices—all with controlled, logged access.
Read our Starlink, Fortinet & Cloudi-Fi maritime internet case study.
Conclusion
The combination of Starlink's transformative global internet access and Cloudi-Fi's intelligent, cloud-native access control creates a powerful and scalable, future-ready solution. This partnership not only tackles the complexities of Starlink Maritime CyberSecurity and optimizes bandwidth usage but also leverages a robust Cloud Captive Portal to elevate control and user experience for any organization venturing into remote connectivity. As satellite services continue their rapid expansion, solutions like Cloudi-Fi are paramount for turning ubiquitous access into a managed, secure, and compliant digital environment.
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