After consistently traveling for work over the last five and a half years, it’s nice to have a break. As with most other folks, I have not traveled since the second week in March. While I am enjoying the time off the road, I am now living with the travails of logging in remotely every morning. I work in the health insurance industry, and those who are familiar with HIPAA know that there are many regulations and guidelines around keeping data secure.
My first client issued me a laptop, but that laptop is currently sitting in my office in California. I have a business laptop and use Citrix to log in to a virtual desktop. The process includes an RSA app on my phone that generates a 6-digit code that I key every time I log in. Once I reach the virtual desktop, there is an icon I use to “RDP” into my client laptop. Essentially, this means I’m able to work on my client laptop in California all the way from the desert.
The problem with all these steps is that there are myriad places for me to get snagged. Sometimes, the initial Citrix log-in is slow or doesn’t let me in. Sometimes I make it to the virtual desktop, but then I can’t RDP into my laptop. This usually means someone onsite has to reboot the laptop. Sometimes I am able to RDP into the laptop and it is as slow as molasses, which usually means I have to restart it and try again.
My second client also issued me a laptop, which I have with me. In order to log in with that laptop, I need to first start a Virtual Private Network (VPN) and enter my password. I was issued a key fob that generates a 6-digit code that I key in each time I log in. Then I log in again to Windows. The advantage of having the physical laptop (and maybe VPN from the get-go) is that I have not had any connectivity issues.
So let’s review:
Client 1:
Log in to business laptop.
Log in to Citrix and use RSA token.
In the virtual desktop, log into my client laptop using RDP.
Hope no issues come up.
Work 9+ hours/day.
Client 2:
Log in to VPN session and use VPN token.
Log in to Windows desktop.
Observe that there are no issues (cross fingers).
Work 8-10 hours/week.
Oh, and I keep hearing about ExpressVPN and decided to try it out for one reason. I don’t have EPSN, and I’m very interested in the Chicago Bulls/Michael Jordan documentary The Last Dance. I watched the first few episodes at a friend’s house, but it’s a pain waiting every week. Someone mentioned watching it on Netflix, and when I went to search for it I couldn’t find it. It turns out it’s available on Netflix if you are in Europe. Somehow, ExpressVPN lets you set a location, and in terms of the internet, it looks like you are physically in that location. I chose the UK location in the VPN and launched Netflix and Poof there was the documentary like magic!