Using ship wifi for kindle download

[sherylc]

Anyone know if you can use a minute or two of wifi on a kindle to download a book that is coming out while I am cruising. I have used the ship's wifi on a laptop, but never on my kindle. Wondering if I would be better off trying to find a wifi hot spot in one of the ports for the 30 sec or so my kindle would need to download a book I prepay for.

[AKman2495]

The ship's wifi does not work on the basic Kindle's because the log in required cannot be done on a Kindle. I do not know about the Kindle fire. It might work.

 

If you can get access to a free hot spot, I see no reason why it wouldn't work.

[CaptainKlutz]

The login worked fine on my Nook HD+...you have to connect the WiFi and then open a browser to login. The browser may be the missing component on basic readers.

[Pam in CA]

I find it a lot easier to download books before leaving home. There are several sites with free or almost free books so you can download a good selection before leaving home.

 

Here's a great site which lists a number of sites where you can download free Kindle books. http://freebies.about.com/od/onlinebooks/tp/free-kindle-books.htm

 

I've found new authors this way and read books I've thoroughly enjoyed I wouldn't have noticed otherwise. I subscribe to http://www.ereadernewstoday which sends me a list of 5-8 free or $.99 books a day in a variety of genres.

[seamanfs]

Used my Kindle Fire with ships' wifi with no problems. First time I had some difficulty logging off but a quick trip down to speak with the wifi manager pointed me in the right direction. Down loading from Amazon will be slower on the ship but can be done,esp if you are looking for a great new book to read!!!

[Vexorg]

As long as you can do the login through the web browser (I believe all of the e-ink Kindles should be able to handle this) this should be fine. E-books generally aren't particularly large in file size, but if the connection is poor the download might still take a little bit of time. One thing to note is that you will need to be sure to go back to the browser and go to http://logout.com when you're done to end your session.

[-Lew-]

 

I find it a lot easier to download books before leaving home. There are several sites with free or almost free books so you can download a good selection before leaving home.

Pam...

 

I'm using the Kindle app on my iPad Mini much more than my Kindle Touch now. I'm finding it much easier to download titles using Mobile Safari and I just feel it gives a better presentation.

 

Lew

[Pam in CA]

I'm using the Kindle app on my iPad Mini much more than my Kindle Touch now. I'm finding it much easier to download titles using Mobile Safari and I just feel it gives a better presentation.

I use the Kindle app on my Mini as well pretty much all the time. :)

 

I'm going to be very interested in the new larger iPhones that are coming out and I'm excited for iOS 8 and Yosemite. :)

[clueless2]

You can "check out" up to 10 kindle books from my local library for 3 weeks via the internet. If you turn wifi off on your kindle after you download them they don't expire after three weeks. I assume since they can't "phone home". Once you turn wifi on they expire immediately. So before a cruise I check out 10 books. Turn off wifi. And I'm good to go.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[msw.delafield]

I also have gone on cruises with a purchased book or two that was being released mid-cruise.

I’ve always managed to download at one of the ports during the trip.

 

Have never connected the Kindle to the ship network.

Mainly because of the ship internet expense, I didn’t want the Kindle eating up my minutes by being connected.

I also find the ship networks to be less than reliable.

 

Would just wait until the Kindle could sync at one of the next ports.

I have found my Kindle-2 will connect at most ports using their free-3G connection.

While connected at a port, it will update the clock and auto-download any new content that has been released since my last connection.

I’ll generally use the ‘menu’ and ‘sync’ functions to force this, simply to save time.

Once the sync has completed, I do turn off the wireless (in Menu) to save battery.

 

Note that I say most ports, there are a few Caribbean ports where I've noted the Kindle isn’t cellularly compatible and cannot make a connection.

Was never a big deal, if it didn’t connect today in St. Maarten, it would connect and sync the next day in St. Kitts, etc.

 

Amazon does have coverage maps on their Kindle help webpages if that would help answer your questions.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Downloading an e-book is quite fast, even with slow ship wifi. I used Overdrive and downloaded e-books several times while on cruises; most took just a few minutes (less than 5). Audiobooks are a significantly larger file size and they're pretty much impossible to download over ship's wifi.

[critterchick]

You can "check out" up to 10 kindle books from my local library for 3 weeks via the internet. If you turn wifi off on your kindle after you download them they don't expire after three weeks. I assume since they can't "phone home". Once you turn wifi on they expire immediately. So before a cruise I check out 10 books. Turn off wifi. And I'm good to go.

 

Has the library come up with a way to assess you for an overdue return?;)

[Pam in CA]

Has the library come up with a way to assess you for an overdue return?;)

It's electronic and the library's system puts it back in circulation on the due date so technically, it's not overdue nor has the next person waiting for the book had to wait. Turning on WiFi just updates the device.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Has the library come up with a way to assess you for an overdue return?;)

They attach the bill to a sea gull, send it to the ship, you attach the fine and send the bird back. :D

[Times Prince]

Anyone know if you can use a minute or two of wifi on a kindle to download a book that is coming out while I am cruising. I have used the ship's wifi on a laptop, but never on my kindle. Wondering if I would be better off trying to find a wifi hot spot in one of the ports for the 30 sec or so my kindle would need to download a book I prepay for.

We typically have a laptop with the Kindle for Windows program loaded plus our Kindle Fire HD (normally kept in airplane mode onboard ship).

 

I had some problems because Silk would connect to the internet like any browser, but it would then close when I went to the books app or the Amazon connection app. After several frustrating iterations, I finally went to my laptop, logged on the ship's internet then to amazon.com and bought the book I wanted.

 

Then I used the wireless connection (and Silk browser) on the Kindle to connect to the ship's internet and it automatically downloaded the new book to the Kindle.

 

I don't really see why one couldn't go to the Amazon website using Silk, logging into the ship's internet on the way, buy the book, have it automagically download to the Kindle, then logout of the ship's internet.

 

It is important to keep the Kindle in airplane mode when not downloading a new selection so it doesn't take forever trying to sync the latest book and page location to/from the cloud.

[Times Prince]

They attach the bill to a sea gull, send it to the ship, you attach the fine and send the bird back. :D

If really overdue, does the seagull leave a "little present"?

[rdsqrl]

Getting back to what the OP actually asked: The answer is yes, you can connect to the internet onboard using a Kindle device -- not a laptop, not an ipad, not a phone, but a real Kindle -- mine is the Paperwhite version, not the Fire. And yes, you can download a book easily. Typing in of my log-in info took longer than the actual download of the book. And this was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Brilliant.

[Kamloops50]

I have had no problems with using the ship WiFi with our Kindles.

The older 3G model is a little harder to login but can be done. My Paper White model is a snap to log in. Keeps in mind that the ship WiFi is high speed but more like dial up. Downloading a book would probably be very tedious.