Protective DNS for ferry crews, ports and onboard passenger WiFi
At sea, one satellite or cellular link carries crew systems, onboard shops and hundreds of passengers at once. Shield answers each DNS lookup and stops phishing, malware and command-and-control callbacks before they connect. Blocking ads and trackers cuts data used by up to 44%, so the link carries more of what matters. Crew WiFi, onboard shops and port offices each get their own policy on the same platform.
- Anycast node 1
- Anycast node 2Offline
- Anycast node 3
What is at stake
One link at sea, many networks behind it
Satellite data spent on ads
Satellite and cellular backhaul is costly and finite. Ads, trackers and autoplay video eat into it before passengers load a page.Crew on shared networks
Crew laptops and phones join port WiFi and onboard networks. A phishing link opened on one can reach the email and booking accounts they use ashore.Onboard shops and bars
Card terminals and ePOS in the shop, bar and restaurant share the ship with passenger devices nobody has checked.
How Shield fits
Separate policies for passengers, crew and systems
- Passenger WiFiFamily-safe categories, Safe Search, ad blocking and file-sharing apps blocked to save satellite data.
- Crew WiFiThreat defense first, with its own allow and block lists and rules that change by time of day.
- Shop, bar and ePOSThreat-first rules on their own VLAN, locked to the domains your payment provider needs.
- Port offices and check-inThreat defense and new-domain blocking, with users mapped from Microsoft Entra ID or Active Directory.
Ads, trackers and bloatware load on every page
Ads and trackers stripped before they load
Proof
More of the satellite link spent on passengers
- 44%
- less data used once ads and trackers are blocked
- 20-40%
- less web traffic with ads and trackers blocked, in Purple's own measurements
- 10 days
- earlier warning of new malicious domains than standard blocklists
- Friendly WiFistandard met by Shield's family-safe filtering on passenger networks
FAQ
Questions we hear from teams like yours
How much satellite data does ad blocking save?
In Purple's own measurements, blocking ads and trackers cuts data used by up to 44% and web traffic by 20 to 40%, with up to 62% fewer DNS queries. On a satellite link priced by the gigabyte, that capacity goes back to passengers.
Do we need equipment fitted on board?
No new hardware. Point the ship's router, firewall or DHCP at Shield and the onboard networks are covered. Use a relay where crew and systems VLANs need each device's internal IP in the reports. Nothing installs on passenger devices.
What happens if Shield has an outage mid-crossing?
Shield runs on a dual anycast DNS network, so if one node or network fails, the next one answers. It fails closed, so an outage never leaves passenger or crew networks unfiltered. Your onboard firewall stays in place, with Shield as a layer behind it.
Can passengers get round it with a VPN?
You choose. One-click app blocking covers VPN and proxy apps, so you can block them on passenger WiFi to keep the family-safe policy in force and the link free for others. Crew devices can keep a sanctioned VPN on the allow list.
Does Shield help with PCI DSS for onboard card payments?
It helps you meet it. Payment terminals sit on their own VLAN with threat-first rules, malicious lookups are blocked before they connect, and scheduled PDF reports give you evidence of the control. Shield is a layer behind your firewall, not a replacement for it.
Other industries
Airports
Threat defense for airport operations and staff, with family-safe passenger WiFi proven at AGS Airports.Airlines
Threat defense for airline offices, crew rooms and outstations, plus family-safe lounge WiFi.Trains
Threat defense for rail staff and depots, and onboard WiFi that spends less cellular data on ads.
Decide what your network reaches, free for 30 days
Tell us which networks and sites you run and who is on them. We map a policy to each one: staff, guests, students, residents and IoT. Then point one network at Shield and see what it stops for 30 days, before you pay anything. Running change control? We plan a pilot on one site with your team instead. No hardware to install.
- We map your networksA Purple expert maps your networks, your venues and the people on each, and answers your questions on bypass, outages, data handling and integrations.
- You get a policy for each oneStaff, guests, students, residents, IoT and paid tiers, each with the policy it needs.
- You prove it, then get your tailored quote30 days free on one network, or a pilot on one site planned with your team, then Shield priced standalone or as an add-on to your Access plan.
Your policy map
Tell us your networks. We map a policy to each one.
A Purple expert comes back with a policy for every network and group you run, from the team that has run content filtering since 2012 and runs WiFi for 80,000+ venues in 90 countries.