VOOM Roll Call

On a non O3B, I never got a ping of less than 600 on the Grandeur. I was happy at 600. Though even with O3B, it appears that when you're in port, the ping seems higher than if they're out to sea? At least it appeared to be on the Anthem.

Should be no difference in O3b capability for port vs out to sea. Something else could be going on internally with the ship's internet service, such as a switch back to geosync, unusually heavy load, quality of service changes for guest internet, etc.

Well if that's the case, it doesn't seem like anything new. I got stream on Freedom for $8 extra last year.

 

Maybe it's new to Liberty

 

But no recollection of where you are picking up your server?

 

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What's new to Liberty is that streaming actually works.

What's new to Liberty is that streaming actually works.

Always a plus

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Interesting thread, hope to revive it and keep it going. Good info.

I do industrial wifi for a living. Something that will produce great variance in results between users is the wifi on board. I have recently sailed Grandeur, Harmony and Freedom. Harmony and Freedom have both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz radios. The problem is you can't control which radios your device acquires. If you connect to 2.4Ghz you will have a very different experience compared to 5Ghz. Which radio is chosen and how long you stay connected to one radio before trying to find a better one is controlled by the device and this varies from device, driver and chipset used by each smartphone, tablet or laptop. Apple is different than Android, Windows different than Mac and so on.

On Harmony in late September 2017 I was getting 310ms 23.75M down, 11.7 M up in my cabin off the North east end of Cuba on our way to Labadee while at other times I was getting 239ms 6.3M down, 6M up on deck near Cozumel with Surf and Stream. It's likely I was using 5Ghz in my cabin and 2.4Ghz on deck. Just the luck of the draw.

I went to slide my suitcase under the bed and discovered an access point right under the bed. It's a Cisco 3702i which is a pretty decent AP. This accounts for the great speeds in my cabin. I was impressed to see RCI using this type of AP.

On Freedom last week on an Eastern Caribbean itinerary I had both a Surf plan plus a Surf and Stream plan. Surf and Stream consistently delivered 205-230ms with ~4M down, ~2M up. Surf has the same ping times, but only 0.5M down, 0.25up. Surf was definitely policed down to these limits even when I switched accounts between laptop and phone.

To illustrate how busy the spectrum can be, I used an RF spectrum analyzer to capture both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands. You can see how clean the 5Ghz spectrum is while the 2.4Ghz can be pretty busy at times. This also illustrates how my laptop connected using Surf and Stream ended up on 5Ghz radios while my phone using Surf was simultaneously using 2.4Ghz. Attached.

The good news is even with just Surf on my phone I was able to make several wifi phone calls that lasted hours while my laptop was presenting in a GoTo meeting. Using Surf on my phone I was able to play Pandora radio.

Grandeur was a different story. 500-600+ms 3.38M down, 1.16M up around Bermuda. It stayed consistently like this around the Bahamas. Attempts at voice wifi calls were hit and miss on Grandeur. Streaming Amazon prime or slingbox didn't work. This was all on Surf and Stream, I didn't have a Surf plan to test on Grandeur.

The point to all this jargon is that user experience is equally defined by the device in the persons hand and the wifi coverage available on the ship as it is by the satellite platform in use. An iPhone 5 will be vastly different than an iPhone 6 which is different than a iPhone 7. A Motorola phone running lollipop will be different than a Samsung which will be different than a Nexus. This accounts for one user claiming "Voom sucks on ship XYZ" while another user thinks its great.

The beam forming technology that O3b uses isn't perfect. Like a spotlight trying to follow a performer on stage sometimes the light doesn't follow the performer perfectly. I suspect this is a factor with O3b or the beams are focused to cover major shipping lanes and sometimes a cruise ship can find itself on the fringe of the beam. It's pretty great technology but it has its limits for forming perfect beams. Since MEO satellites are moving there is also the geometry involved with beams coming from a moving source and the switch over period when a satellite is nearing the horizon and a ship must acquire another satellite presenting itself in orbit from a different position in space.

Then there is rain-fade that most users don't consider when they claim "its sucks". During periods of rain, especially heavy rain, yes it may suck. That's satellite life.

Up next Anthem next week and Indy late December. I'll try to keep better notes. That's tough with a drink package sometimes...

This was all on Surf and Stream, I didn't have a Surf plan to test on Grandeur.

 

The point to all this jargon is that user experience is equally defined by the device in the persons hand...

Surf on Grandeur is the same as other non-O3B ships - .5Mbps down and .2Mbps up with a 600+ ping.

The user's experience is likely shaped by ship WiFi conditions and expectations much more than by the device.

BTW, those Harmony speeds are the exception- most ships' Stream is limited to about 4 Mbps down.

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Thanks for posting the notes about the Freedom’s WiFi. I’m scheduled to sail it on Saturday. The last time I was on the Freedom it did not have O3b and the WiFi was very slow with high ping rates; the usual Harris Caprock experience (I.e. sucked). Saves me posting a rant, which usually occurs when I experience bad WiFi.

Freedom has had generally good WIFI this week. It does get bogged down and not as fast as what we had on Harmony though. Maybe some of it is the difference between Eastern vs Western Caribbean routes?

When it works it is great but doesn’t seem to be able to handle the capacity at times.

I got 3.91 down, 1.98 up and 200 ping from my balcony last night.

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Freedom has had generally good WIFI this week. It does get bogged down and not as fast as what we had on Harmony though. Maybe some of it is the difference between Eastern vs Western Caribbean routes?

 

When it works it is great but doesn’t seem to be able to handle the capacity at times.

 

I got 3.91 down, 1.98 up and 200 ping from my balcony last night.

 

 

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Those numbers mimic what I experienced on Oasis at the beginning of this month.

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The guy who runs royal caribbean blog .com boarded Indy today in Ft Lauderdale. His day 1 blog includes speed test results for Voom Surf and Stream . 202-264 ms, max 3.9M down, 2 M up. Looks like O3b. Very similar to my Freedom results last week.

https://www.******************.com/2017/11/23/independence-of-the-seas-live-blog-day-1-embarkation-day

Day 4 on Anthem. Surf and Stream has consistently delivered 4 x 2. 3.91M down. 1.98M up. 205-220ms latency.

I'm beginning to think this is the new standard Voom S&S and it mirrors my Freedom experience two weeks ago.

I did much better on Harmony two months ago. Perhaps they are letting it run open on Harmony to maintain the title fastest internet at sea.

I'm beginning to think this is the new standard Voom S&S and it mirrors my Freedom experience two weeks ago.

 

I did much better on Harmony two months ago. Perhaps they are letting it run open on Harmony to maintain the title fastest internet at sea.

Yes and Yes.

Freedom used to be higher (reported ~8 Mbps down less than a year ago) but all ships (with exceptions like Harmony), including non O3B ones, have Stream limited to about 4 Mbps. When VOOM first came out we routinely had reports of 20+ Mbps down - ah the good ole days.

Majesty of the seas - however certain vpn sites are blocked were getting about 6 MP hows and just over 2 up. wifi coverage on the ship was great, no blank areas

last sailed 11/13/2017

How about the Voom on Radiance. Has anyone used it lately?

How about the Voom on Radiance. Has anyone used it lately?

Still the old geosync service.

How about the Voom on Radiance. Has anyone used it lately?

Radiance 😱

Does it have a FlowRider now?

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Radiance 😱

 

Does it have a FlowRider now?

No FlowRiders on Radiance class ... yet.

No FlowRiders on Radiance class ....

ever.

Still the old geosync service.

Radiance

 

Does it have a FlowRider now?

 

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Darn, I was hoping it would be better. I’m mixing it up. Alaska southbound 2018.

No FlowRiders on Radiance class ... yet.

Could you imagine the uproar if adding a flowrider meant eliminating the outdoor seating area of WJ. 😱

Oh, the humanity. 😉

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Could you imagine the uproar if adding a flowrider meant eliminating the outdoor seating area of WJ. 😱

 

Oh, the humanity. 😉

I wonder if they could put the FlowRider in place of the mini-golf.

Could you imagine the uproar if adding a flowrider meant eliminating the outdoor seating area of WJ. 😱

 

Oh, the humanity. 😉

 

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I wonder if they could put the FlowRider in place of the mini-golf.

Bob, that’s a great idea. The mini-golf can easily be replaced with a flowrider. It could also fit in the Solarium.;):D

Bob, that’s a great idea. The mini-golf can easily be replaced with a flowrider. It could also fit in the Solarium.;):D

Andrew, I thnk you would not be happy until they put a FlowRider in your stateroom!;);p

Andrew, I thnk you would not be happy until they put a FlowRider in your stateroom!;);p

Have you seen the uber family suite pics on Symphony. I'll bet Andrew designed it. All that is missing is a dog walk.

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. Alaska southbound 2018.

Set Voom expectations low for Alaska. It's way up there and even geosync is fringe coverage. On a geosync X ship this past June there were good Voom times and just plain bad Voom times.

13th night on Anthem and Voom S&S hasn't been as good as Freedom a couple weeks ago in general terms. I've had several WiFi calls drop over and over up and down the East coast even on fair weather days.

Rain fade definitely impacts Voom in a big way. When I see heavy rain coming our way I've noticed there goes the internet.

Just back from Indy. Definitely O3b. Standard 4Mb down, 2Mb up. 200-220ms latency.

Wifi phones calls on Christmas Day worked fine.

In other Voom news, seems like some price variance is being reported. On Indy Surf and Stream on board pricing was $15.99 for Surf and $19.99 for Surf and Stream when purchased for the whole cruise before any C&A discounts.

Advanced cruise planner pricing including 20% off from on board prices (for whole cruise packages of Surf & Stream):

Anthem January 2018 $15.99 per day

Liberty February 2018 $15.99 per day

Explorer June 2018 $14.39 per day

Symphony October 2018 $11.99 per day