Can you hotspot with the wifi?

I used my mac, I couldnt hotspot it, is it cause its not windows 10?

In the latest Creator's Update to Win 10, Microsoft added a feature to allow hot spotting without an app (was required previously). I don't know if MacOS has this feature built in, or if the underlying hardware used in a Mac doesn't allow for it.

In the latest Creator's Update to Win 10, Microsoft added a feature to allow hot spotting without an app (was required previously). I don't know if MacOS has this feature built in, or if the underlying hardware used in a Mac doesn't allow for it.

Thanks Biker

I tried hot spotting my home network and connecting all my devices through my mac and was able to do that. But then on the ship, could hardly connect, and when it finally did, it wasnt functional. :o I figured its cause Royal would be too smart to allow and probably had a way to prevent hot spotting lol.

^ I doubt it was the ship's system preventing the functionality - maybe the crappy signal and lack of a reliable signal.

As long as you can get reasonably good internet speed on the laptop alone, you should get a good portion of that using the hotspot from the laptop if you are close to it. The cabin location may also be a factor, as I would try again out in the open to see if that was any better. Try using one of the internet speed test sites that work at home to test from the ship on both the laptop and hot-spot connected devices. Rebooting the laptop right before may help as well.

I tried hot spotting my phone on level 5 near guest services and that still didnt work. But overall the speed of the internet was a joke so that could have been why too.

I tried hot spotting my phone on level 5 near guest services and that still didnt work. But overall the speed of the internet was a joke so that could have been why too.

You cannot hotspot a phone unless the phone has internet from cellular.

You cannot hotspot a phone unless the phone has internet from cellular.

ahh ok thanks :D

You can hotspot your mac; I did it running macos high sierra but I suspect previous versions would work too.

1) Connect the mac to the ship wifi

2) system prefs -> Sharing -> enable internet sharing; share your connection from wifi to bluetooth

3) turn off wifi on your iphone/ipad;

4) now connect to your mac from my iphone/ipad etc via bluetooth

^That same process should work on a laptop with Win 10 with the Creators update.

You can hotspot your mac; I did it running macos high sierra but I suspect previous versions would work too.

1) Connect the mac to the ship wifi

2) system prefs -> Sharing -> enable internet sharing; share your connection from wifi to bluetooth

3) turn off wifi on your iphone/ipad;

4) now connect to your mac from my iphone/ipad etc via bluetooth

Yes, it works on prior Mac OS versions as I have done this on cruises over the past 3-4 years. Great way to share a connection in a room.

Just off the Anthem. We were able to share the internet connection on several devices at the same time using a Wifi Hotspot / Router. I do not want to say the name of the router used as the IT department might block its Mac address. I purchased it for less then $25 on Amazon. Took seconds to set up using the app it came with and then we all logged on. Shared internet between 2 cabins and six people with decent signal. Speed was on 3MGB but it was fast enough. Message me and I will tell you which one worked. I will even sell you mine as I dont need it anymore.

Hi! Im new here, and dont know how do I message you directly. We are leaving next week on Oasis and would love to purchase Router. Pls message me and let me know which router to purchase? TIA.

Hi! Im new here, and dont know how do I message you directly. We are leaving next week on Oasis and would love to purchase Router. Pls message me and let me know which router to purchase? TIA.

There is no private messaging on this website.

So we are leaving on the Oasis next week. I have read the ENTIRE thread here. I am willing to pay for ONE device wifi (which is expensive enough!), but we are a family of 5! We all have iphones. What is the best and EASIEST way to all get wifi (even if we have to all sit on top of each other in one room). I am a tiny bit tech savy so need easiest way to do this.

So we are leaving on the Oasis next week. I have read the ENTIRE thread here. I am willing to pay for ONE device wifi (which is expensive enough!), but we are a family of 5! We all have iphones. What is the best and EASIEST way to all get wifi (even if we have to all sit on top of each other in one room). I am a tiny bit tech savy so need easiest way to do this.

The easiest way is to buy one 5-device package. The least expensive way is to share a 1-device package (logistically difficult). Or just find some free WiFi in the ports.

The easiest way is to buy one 5-device package. The least expensive way is to share a 1-device package (logistically difficult). Or just find some free WiFi in the ports.

Thanks but with 4 kids, "sharing" will be difficult. I want a way to have wifi for us all simultaneously.

So we are leaving on the Oasis next week. I have read the ENTIRE thread here. I am willing to pay for ONE device wifi (which is expensive enough!), but we are a family of 5! We all have iphones. What is the best and EASIEST way to all get wifi (even if we have to all sit on top of each other in one room). I am a tiny bit tech savy so need easiest way to do this.

i used this on the Harmony and it worked great:

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless-Travel-Router-TL-WR902AC/dp/B01N5RCZQH/ref=sr_1_sc_2

here is my post from that: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2574722

or if it can be detected.

It can, Easily,

Its not hard at all for the system to notice any type of router(which is essentially what that device is) due to the traffic patterns.

I am sure if they wanted too they could revoke your paid package just like if you were caught sharing a drink package.

then of course theroetically you could also take the voom system down if you were to somehow screw up the settings, Like having your rogue router somehow responding to DHCP requests. although they would also need to make mistakes for that to happen.

i plan to do a little bit of poking on my cruise next month, i assume they have client isolation enabled but i am going to try and get them to whitllist my apple watch and Iphone so i can leave the phone in the cabin and have full use of the watch any where in the ship. I have heard of it being done for others.

i used this on the Harmony and it worked great:

 

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless-Travel-Router-TL-WR902AC/dp/B01N5RCZQH/ref=sr_1_sc_2

 

here is my post from that: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2574722

So I thought I was more tech savy than I actually am :)

I will have a MacAir laptop with me.

I ordered the Router you used on Harmony and am dowloading their manual but have no clue how to set it up.

Are these the right instructions I need?

http://www.tp-link.com/en/faq-2032.html

These are the various instructions, but wasnt sure which ones I needed-

http://www.tp-link.com/en/download/TL-WR902AC.html

Any specific instructions you can help with would be GREATLY appreciated...... by all my kids :)

So I thought I was more tech savy than I actually am :)

I will have a MacAir laptop with me.

I ordered the Router you used on Harmony and am dowloading their manual but have no clue how to set it up.

Are these the right instructions I need?

http://www.tp-link.com/en/faq-2032.html

 

 

These are the various instructions, but wasnt sure which ones I needed-

http://www.tp-link.com/en/download/TL-WR902AC.html

 

Any specific instructions you can help with would be GREATLY appreciated...... by all my kids :)

steps attached.. your faq link was almost correct.. there seems to be a step missing that i needed.. which was to set the CLONE mac address (seen in my PDF).. the only step i forgot to add to the PDF and is missing is clicking the SURVEY button on step 4 to select royal-wifi (the ships wifi which comes up)

also i believe the way i set it up was to first connect normally with my iPhone to the WiFi and make sure my connection works normally, then plugin the TPlink and follow the instructions (in their FAQ or in my PDF) and make sure the TPlink switch is set to "share hotspot".. once you go thru the guided setup, (and not forgetting the step to tell it to clone your MAC address), it basically just acts like its your phone still connected.

one other piece of advice is to buy an Anker (or some other brand https://www.amazon.com/Anker-PowerCore-Portable-Ultra-Compact-High-speed-Charging-Technology/dp/B0194WDVHI) battery, and then [for example] when you are all out at a bar or dinner, you can plug it into the anker and leave it in your pocket and then your hotspot is traveling with you..

only thing to keep in mind if your connecting it in the stateroom is when you leave the room, you should unplug it.. my issue was the ship was only allow a MAC Address (your device's hardware ID) connected once, so it would kick off my iPhone if i tried to connect to the ship's wifi (without going thru the uplink) thinking it was already connected (which it sort of was, cause the TPlink was connected with that MAC address).

also, I purchased the 2-device package for that sailing, and the 4 device package for my next sailing (the kids wanted wifi out of the room more than i realized).. i primarily used this so our iPads and my laptop could be connected in the stateroom. but it worked great.

tplink2.pdf

For your purpose the hot spotting over wifi wouldn´t work anyway. If you created a hot spot with your iPhone and you are let´s say in the Schooner Bar and your Kids are on the sports deck, your Wifi range wouldn´t be wide enough that your Kids could connect to your hot spot. If they would be Close enough to connect they could just talk to you;)

I agree, it wont work for keeping in touch over the whole ship.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

steps attached.. your faq link was almost correct.. there seems to be a step missing that i needed.. which was to set the CLONE mac address (seen in my PDF).. the only step i forgot to add to the PDF and is missing is clicking the SURVEY button on step 4 to select royal-wifi (the ships wifi which comes up)

 

also i believe the way i set it up was to first connect normally with my iPhone to the WiFi and make sure my connection works normally, then plugin the TPlink and follow the instructions (in their FAQ or in my PDF) and make sure the TPlink switch is set to "share hotspot".. once you go thru the guided setup, (and not forgetting the step to tell it to clone your MAC address), it basically just acts like its your phone still connected.

 

one other piece of advice is to buy an Anker (or some other brand https://www.amazon.com/Anker-PowerCore-Portable-Ultra-Compact-High-speed-Charging-Technology/dp/B0194WDVHI) battery, and then [for example] when you are all out at a bar or dinner, you can plug it into the anker and leave it in your pocket and then your hotspot is traveling with you..

 

only thing to keep in mind if your connecting it in the stateroom is when you leave the room, you should unplug it.. my issue was the ship was only allow a MAC Address (your device's hardware ID) connected once, so it would kick off my iPhone if i tried to connect to the ship's wifi (without going thru the uplink) thinking it was already connected (which it sort of was, cause the TPlink was connected with that MAC address).

 

also, I purchased the 2-device package for that sailing, and the 4 device package for my next sailing (the kids wanted wifi out of the room more than i realized).. i primarily used this so our iPads and my laptop could be connected in the stateroom. but it worked great.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ill let you know how it goes when I return. You're a star!!!!!!

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ill let you know how it goes when I return. You're a star!!!!!!

I'm back!!!!!!!

So here's the final report: IT DID WORK!!!! But only after much trouble-shooting on the phone with my techie bro. Not sure that I could have done this without him.

Here are the issues I had:

1. First- the router did NOT come with a usb connector, only ethernet. All my laptops have only usbs, so I invested $20 and bought a usb-ethernet converter before we left.

2.I couldnt get on to http://TPLINKWIFI.net. So my brother told me to try 192.168.0.1 (but wifi on laptop must be off for this to work).

3. Also when you put your iphone MAC address in (which is found in settings-general- about-wifi address) - the phone shows it as having colons between every 2 numbers but for TPLINK router you need to put dash, not semicolon

4. Once in, your instructions were perfect.

5. Also, when we wanted to leave the room with the router - as soon as I unplugged it, we lost all connections and passwords. Eventually I figured out that I had to turn off everyone's wifi on their devices. And leave it off until router totally booted up again, and only THEN turn on our wifi and select the router as our wifi. We still did lose the passwords a few times but just re entered them, so not terrible.

Overall it did work, but setting it up was tricky. But once we ironed out all the kinks.... it was smooth sailing :cool:(sorry!!!) and definitely worth the $50 investment (+$20 for converter) for connecting so many devices simultaneously.

And the distance covered was really great! (One night I had the router with me and my kids got to the show and didnt know where I was sitting and were able to text me from across the Opal theater!!)

All in all- if you want to try this, have some techie on stand by so you can call them as you set it up and before you leave your initial port.

Happy Sailing!!!!