// OUR MOBILE OFFICE
Working from a campervan — we run an IT business from ours
The 365 Crafter is our mobile office: an off-grid VW Crafter campervan powered by a Victron system, online through a Netgear 5G router with Starlink as backup. We work from it most days — remote support, admin, the lot — and its power system publishes a live public dashboard, so none of this is a brochure claim. Rated 4.9 on Google.
- ● 5G-first, satellite backup
- ● Victron off-grid power
- ● Live dashboards as proof
/01 — THE VAN
A working office that happens to have wheels
The 365 Crafter isn’t a showroom or a marketing prop — it’s where a good chunk of 365 Techies actually happens. Remote support sessions, bookings, invoices, the writing of pages like this one: done from the van, parked wherever the day’s work has taken us around Dorset.
It runs entirely off-grid on a Victron power system charged by solar — no campsite hook-up, no generator. And because we’d rather show you than tell you, the van’s power system streams to a live public dashboard: real state of charge, real solar yield, right now. If the office were flat, you’d see it.
/02 — THE INTERNET
5G first, satellite second — and honest about why
The setup people always ask about. Our daily connection is a Netgear 5G router — for most of Dorset, mobile broadband is quick, low-faff and easily enough to run remote support sessions all day. Starlink is the backup, on a Business Priority service: it earns its keep in the deep not-spots, at outdoor events, and on the days a mast lets us down.
Two links, not one, because our diary doesn’t care which mast is congested. That’s the same advice we give businesses about backup internet — we just live it in miniature.
Depending on mobile signal daily also made us slightly obsessive about measuring it: the van logs signal as we drive, and we publish the results on our free Dorset mobile signal map.
/03 — WHAT WE’VE LEARNED
Advice we’d give anyone working from a van
- Signal beats speed. A steady 30 Mbps you can hold a video call on is worth more than a flaky 300. Park for signal first, view second — you get used to it.
- Carry a second way online. It doesn’t have to be satellite — even a different network’s SIM in a phone covers most failures. One link is a promise to be let down.
- Budget power like money. Laptops, router and screens all day is a real load. Know what you use before you depend on it — our live dashboard is exactly that discipline, made visible.
- Rehearse the bad day. Turn the main link off deliberately and see whether work still happens. If the answer is no, fix that before it’s a customer call you’re dropping.
And to be straight about what we don’t do: we’re not a motorhome fit-out shop, and we won’t sell you a van kit. Where we can help is everything on the laptop side of the equation — secure remote-work setups, cloud, backups and fast remote support wherever you’re parked.
FAMILY-RUN SINCE 1995 · ★ 4.9 ON GOOGLE · 200+ COMPUTERS UNDER OUR CARE · NO FIX, NO FEE · SAME-DAY REMOTE SUPPORT
// GOOD QUESTIONS
Frequently asked
Is 5G really enough to run a business from a campervan?
For us, in Dorset, most days: yes. A decent 5G router handles remote support sessions, calls and cloud work comfortably where signal is good — the catch is the “where”. Coverage varies street to street, which is why we log signal as we drive and publish it on our free Dorset signal map.
Why keep Starlink if 5G is the main connection?
Because two links fail differently. Mobile signal has not-spots and busy-mast days; satellite doesn’t care about either. Starlink is our backup and our events link — most days it stays in its box, which is exactly what a backup is for.
Do you install internet or power kit in campervans?
No — we’re not a motorhome fit-out business, and we’d rather say so than sell you something half-hearted. Our lane is the IT: secure laptops, cloud, backups and remote support for people who work from anywhere, plus emergency connectivity for businesses when their broadband dies.
Is the van genuinely off-grid?
Yes — solar and a Victron battery system, no hook-up. We publish the van’s live power dashboard, so you can check the state of charge yourself right now rather than take our word for it.
Your office moves too?
Whether you work from a van, a spare room or three countries a year, the IT problems are the same — and we fix them remotely, from our van to wherever yours is parked. Plain English, family-run since 1995.
01202 775566 · help@365techies.co.uk · MON–FRI 9AM–5PM