NEW ELECTRONICS

Lumishore’s Lumi-Link Command Center for lights, ACR Electronics’ Class B AIS transponder, and JL Audio’s marine-ready speakers.

VSAT antennas can be purchased with or without data plans, depending on the manufacturer. While bandwidth, speed and coverage are the usual buying-decision suspects, KVH’s Jim George identifies support as another key differentiator: “With the KVH Superyacht Group, there’s just one person to call,” he says. cybersecurity. For example, owners can take network-protocol steps to reduce the amount of “invisible” data moving over their networks, such as cloud-syncing services and virus and software updates. Rick Driscoll, KVH’s vice president of service development and implementation, says KVH offers optional services enabling network administrators to tourniquet these data bleeds. Users also can access KVH-supplied data-use analytics tools, including bar graphs detailing daily and monthly use, and pie charts showing how current data use is being sliced. ¶ As for increased cybersecurity, the V11HTS’s belowdecks ICM ships with KVH’s “cybersecurity at sea” training program preinstalled. This program represents step one of KVH’s bigger “six-level cybersecurity strategy,” which considers onboard hardware and network configurations, and supporting satellite and land-based networks, and includes access to KVH’s cybersecurity response team. ¶ “Traffic passes over the satellite in a secure, encrypted manner and then through threat-detection devices at the terrestrial network’s edge. The V11-HTS supports all traditional secure protocols [including] HTTPS, [and] as a value-added service, KVH can provide end-to-end virtual private-network capabilities.” ¶ While the V11-HTS offers faster speeds, lower airtime costs and better cybersecurity features than its V11-IP forbearer, the two systems have virtually identical hardware, making for an easy upgrade. The antenna delivers high-performance connectivity in places where smaller antennas or terminals operating on different frequencies would struggle, while offering a serious speed gain.