Sorry all if this a retread but I ran a quick search and didn’t find anything exactly on point. A friend of mine wants to be able to remote into work using his home internet, but his company checks on the GPS location of his laptop as part of the corporate VPN, so my initial thought of setting up a Brume or Beryl to which he’d remote (I think?) won’t work. Or would it?
Would a Comet solve this issue, by allowing him to keep his work computer at home, and then remote to the Comet and go from there? Also, if I understand correctly, the Comet will not require any software installation on the corporate computer (which is a crucial requirement, as any software installed will raise flags).
Any insights on how to most elegantly and cost-effectively address this scenario would be greatly appreciated! He currently uses an Orbi Mesh setup that is driven by a FiOS router.
Your “friend” could use the cloud access or enable the Tailscale client on the Comet.
They may be disappointed with the performance and reliability, as it is not designed for heavy workloads. It is designed for occasional use or remote access to the BIOS.
It does not require any software to be installed, but the default EDID of the Comet may raise red flags by itself.
I think the important question is WHY corporate has this policy. Subverting it without permission may mean your friend will need to look for a new job.
This would be for very occasional use. It’s not a situation of a digital nomad by any means and, believe it or not, this is one of those situations where I am actually asking for a friend. You’ll note from my prior posts that my only interests have been trying to remote home with a Brume and Beryl from a hotel when on vacation. I do not need KVM functionality because I work from home and like actually being at home.
And by GPS tracking, I just inquired and it turns out that he believes the tracking appears to be through MS Teams, which is a bit confusing to me as my own Teams usage doesn’t seem to indicate location at all.
My guess is that it's not GPS tracking, but just that the MS O365 management system shows the geolocation of the IP address it connects with. And condolences to your friend about needing to use Teams...
Thanks for that insight! If it is indeed just the geolocation of the IP address, then would a KVM be needed at all, as opposed to just remoting back home (using say a Brume/Beryl at home and one of GLiNET’s travel routers, and then going from there?
And, Yes, I feel for him…. and me. I revile the UI and the cumbersome meeting connectivity.
Very few laptops actually have real GPS chips. Getting details around the policy (or checking the laptop model for real GPS) could obviate the need for any workarounds. I had no ethical or legal issues with logging in from a local restaurant for much of the day, but we did bust an employee who claimed to be in Ireland but ended up spending 90% of their time in the US (which opens up legal tax issues for the company!). But we found that out without IT admin-level snooping.
That’s good to know. My buddy needs to better determine how they are obtaining location. The use case really comes down to being able to occasionally (two or three days a month) work an hour or two away from home.
That’s wild about your colleague! I’m curious as to how he was nabbed, if not via IT snooping?
He claimed to be in Dublin, but wouldn't meet his manager who was local. Eventually that led to video chats where the lighting was wrong for an Irish timezone and he admitted to a US residence in addition to the Dublin residence he officially worked from. Amusingly we wouldn't have minded him working from the US instead of Ireland, but not being honest about it was what killed him.
