FYI: RCI blocking routers on their network

[Russ_MT]

Windows 10 allows creating a hotspot. But who wants to keep your laptop turned on and carry it around.

 

iPhone has hotspot for sharing Celluar. It won't natively share WiFi. There may be apps out there that do the same thing. I haven't checked.

 

Android tends to be more flexible with their apps. I bet they have a WiFi sharing app. The key is you don't want to share Cellular (on a ship), you want to share WiFi. So the "router" needs to have 2 connections. A WAN and a LAN connection.

This sharing needs to be able to login via the provider webpage portal and enter credentials. Then share the LAN side of that connection.

 

The Hootoo also works with any WiFi account, in an airport, airplane or in this case a ship to share an Internet account.

I think RCCL was getting smart about blocking MAC addresses of routers for this reason. However, I've heard the Hootoo was obscure enough of a manufacturer that they didn't have it on their list.

An alternative might be to spoof the MAC address on the router to get past this. I'm sure the lines aren't thrilled, but as long as folks don't abuse it, I doubt it will become an issue.

[Biker19]

I'm sure the lines aren't thrilled, but as long as folks don't abuse it, I doubt it will become an issue.

Not sure RCI cares much - an unlimited VOOM package is just that; if you choose to split that paid pipe x ways via a router, there's probably not much diff in terms of BW usage. RCI may care about the potential revenue loss from selling a few more device packages, but folks who go to the bother of a router would probably not buy more than a one device package anyway.

[Russ_MT]

Not sure RCI cares much - an unlimited VOOM package is just that; if you choose to split that paid pipe x ways via a router, there's probably not much diff.

 

Probably right. Voom has so much bandwidth it's insane. However, if they wanted to be jerks, they could and make you pay for another login if they found you sharing.

 

It is technically wrong to share and many have made a case as such. I would agree if everyone is streaming netflix, you are abusing it. However, we mostly used it for checking email and making phone calls. All of which we didn't do concurrently. Sharing via the router simply saved us from logging out/in all the time to use the account. And allowed incoming texts/calls on all our phones.

 

We were in a suite on Allure and they gave each guest their own login, so my guess is they aren't stingy with bandwidth. It was nice because we could walk around the ship and text/call each other.

[HallOfPromise]

Doing a search for trying to get my Roku to work on Harmony with the help of HooToo has led me to this thread.

 

So it seems HooToo routers are (or were) working at some point. But has anyone been able to get it to work with a Roku, or Chromecast for that matter? We plan on bringing a universal remote to change the input and would really love to be able to use our Roku before going to bed.

[Biker19]

Unless the any device has an issue with the location of the IP address seen by the device (could be out of the US), it should work.

[Cigar King]

I'll bet their tech support has seen a variety of issues where people bringing their own routers or AP's caused an outage for other guests. It's very easy to misconfigure these devices, and many people are not too tech savvy.

[SRF]

All cruiselines are about the $$$...that's why they charge $4 for a freaking coke!

 

And they didn't make money, they would be out of business, and you could not cruise.

 

Business is about making money.

[proggieus]

Very interesting. Albeit, now that I think about it, not all that surprising. Those inclined to use such a device are also likely well versed in the use of a variety of wireless technology. Clearly could be an "end around" for multiple users...

 

its very easy to spot multiple devices using one mac address.

even if you spoofed the mac address it would not take long for system to sniff it out.

[Biker19]

RCI probably doesn't care about any sharing of their service. Think of it like the water service at home - you get either a 1/2 in pipe with 20 PSI of water pressure (Surf) or 1.5 in pipe with 50 PSI of water pressure (Stream). RCI doesn't really care how much water you use (data) or if you pour the water into one bucket or several (sharing across several devices via router) - you pay for the pipe size and pressure, not volume of water.

[Milwaukee Eight]

Not sure RCI cares much - an unlimited VOOM package is just that; if you choose to split that paid pipe x ways via a router, there's probably not much diff in terms of BW usage. RCI may care about the potential revenue loss from selling a few more device packages, but folks who go to the bother of a router would probably not buy more than a one device package anyway.

 

 

 

Is revenue loss similar to old days sharing drink packages? I understand the BW argument but I believe Royal is more concerned about revenue? Isn’t this similar to hacking Satellite Receivers?

 

 

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Edited January 25, 2018 by Milwaukee Eight

[Biker19]

Is revenue loss similar to old days sharing drink packages?

No, because there's no stated limitation on the amount of water (data) used - you get unlimited water and it can go anywhere.

[Milwaukee Eight]

No, because there's no stated limitation on the amount of water (data) used - you get unlimited water and it can go anywhere.

 

 

 

The dink package is quasi unlimited but it must all going down same throat.

 

 

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[proggieus]

RCI probably doesn't care about any sharing of their service. Think of it like the water service at home - you get either a 1/2 in pipe with 20 PSI of water pressure (Surf) or 1.5 in pipe with 50 PSI of water pressure (Stream). RCI doesn't really care how much water you use (data) or if you pour the water into one bucket or several (sharing across several devices via router) - you pay for the pipe size and pressure, not volume of water.

 

your water analogy is somewhat true for the ships connection, but for the users it falls apart.

 

 

 

how come the lower tier data plans for your phone only come with a fixed amount of data and not a throttled speed?

 

if I have one device streaming a show I am using a certain amount of the pipe, if have two shows on two devices I now using twice the amount of the pipe.

 

the ship has 1 pipe coming in- every user is sharing that pipe

 

if I am taking up more then my share of the "pipe" then I am effectively reducing the available data throughput for everybody else. Just because the traffic is going through a secondary router doesn't mean that the actual data used is any less,

 

in fact it will increase the overhead for the ships router since now there are more hops for packets to get dropped and have to be resent

 

 

then we can talk about the individual APs located through the ship, each one can only handle so much throughput, when designing a large public/amenity area Wifi system you generally calculate expected device counts and desired speeds and scale from there.

 

And finally RCI has admitted that they price the Internet packages to price out users to compensate for data throughput. lower throughput =higher prices=less users willing to pay for the service.

 

now the vast majority of the cruising population would have no idea how to set up a WiFi router to allow for additional users. but when and if it becomes a large enough issue the lines will implement some of the many ways you can isolate and identify rogue routers on the system.

[Biker19]

your water analogy is somewhat true for the ships connection, but for the users it falls apart.

 

if I have one device streaming a show I am using a certain amount of the pipe, if have two shows on two devices I now using twice the amount of the pipe.

 

if I am taking up more then my share of the "pipe" then I am effectively reducing the available data throughput for everybody else. Just because the traffic is going through a secondary router doesn't mean that the actual data used is any less.

 

There's virtually no diff between someone watching an HD Netflix stream (5 Mbps) and 5 people (at 1 Mbps each) sharing a one device connection across 5 devices (by way of a HooToo). You use/pay for the same data - how that is used makes virtually no diff.

 

I made no mention of what that usage does to other users.

[Biker19]

And finally RCI has admitted that they price the Internet packages to price out users to compensate for data throughput. lower throughput =higher prices=less users willing to pay for the service.

Of course - something similar is starting to occur with land based ISPs as well, whereby there's usually a very high cap on data but only the most data hungry customers have that issue and they have to pay for it. This has existed for a long time with cell service.

[Milwaukee Eight]

There's virtually no diff between someone watching an HD Netflix stream (5 Mbps) and 5 people (at 1 Mbps each) sharing a one device connection across 5 devices (by way of a HooToo). You use/pay for the same data - how that is used makes virtually no diff.

 

 

 

I made no mention of what that usage does to other users.

 

 

 

What about the revenue on those other 5 devices (4).

 

Don’t you love resurrection

 

 

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[Biker19]

What about the revenue on those other 5 devices (4).

Yes, RCI would love to have that revenue, but I have a feeling their bean counters have already figured out that the implementation of such a scheme is outweighed by the cost and customer push back. It was much easier to simply increase the cost on all VOOM tiers as they did last month.

[HallOfPromise]

If the HooToo and Roku thing doesn't work, then I will just bring my laptop and stream my content to the TV that way. I thought the HooToo would be easier than bringing my laptop, but at least my laptop can log into the sign-in page.

 

It's too bad Roku's can't log into such networks. It would make hotel stays a lot more enjoyable and vacations even more fun, especially during those down times in the rooms. I know they want us to purchase their PPV movies and content, but I never do anyway.

[coaster]

If the HooToo and Roku thing doesn't work, then I will just bring my laptop and stream my content to the TV that way. I thought the HooToo would be easier than bringing my laptop, but at least my laptop can log into the sign-in page.

 

It's too bad Roku's can't log into such networks. It would make hotel stays a lot more enjoyable and vacations even more fun, especially during those down times in the rooms. I know they want us to purchase their PPV movies and content, but I never do anyway.

Did not know the HooToo routers are so popular. Might need to change the default password on mine now. I take my HooToo on all trips land and sea. Connect a hard drive full of videos to it and all is good. My videos come from the TV shows I download from my TiVo and then to a PC which then gets offloaded to a hard drive.

 

No need to bring a heavy laptop onboard or worrying about connecting a Roku device to the cabin TV. Stream videos onto our tablets from the small HooToo router and the external hard drive connected to it.

 

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[perditax]

(Good ol 11111111. I also change my SSID to something less obvious. And yeah my RavPower worked fine on Oasis last year. Just used it to cast Netflix to my FireTV stick, mostly.)

[proggieus]

There's virtually no diff between someone watching an HD Netflix stream (5 Mbps) and 5 people (at 1 Mbps each) sharing a one device connection across 5 devices (by way of a HooToo). You use/pay for the same data - how that is used makes virtually no diff.

 

I made no mention of what that usage does to other users.

 

actually there is a difference. it creates 5 times more overhead on the system .lets say each device has 10 open TCPIP sockets active- now instead of 10 sockets for the 1 account there is now 50.

 

and lets say each socket drops 2 packets a second you now have 100 packets that need to be re requested instead of 20-

 

And there is a big difference 1 person using 5 Mps and 5 people using 5 Mps ea (25Mps)

 

or are you suggesting people are going to police themselves and not use highbandwith services while using a wifi router to avoid paying for the internet they want,

Edited January 26, 2018 by proggieus

[HallOfPromise]

Did not know the HooToo routers are so popular. Might need to change the default password on mine now. I take my HooToo on all trips land and sea. Connect a hard drive full of videos to it and all is good. My videos come from the TV shows I download from my TiVo and then to a PC which then gets offloaded to a hard drive.

 

No need to bring a heavy laptop onboard or worrying about connecting a Roku device to the cabin TV. Stream videos onto our tablets from the small HooToo router and the external hard drive connected to it.

 

Sent from my Lenovo TB-8504F using Tapatalk

We already have Voom purchased for 2 devices, so we can just stream to our tablets and devices. I'm somewhat of a nerdy kind of guy, so I wanted to have something on the TV for our down time enjoyment, mostly an episode of The Twilight Zone before bed.

 

Nevertheless, thanks for the advice!

[Biker19]

And there is a big difference 1 person using 5 Mps and 5 people using 5 Mps ea (25Mps)

 

or are you suggesting people are going to police themselves and not use highbandwith services while using a wifi router to avoid paying for the internet they want,

The 5 people would use the same BW limited 5 Mbps single device connection when they share a connection via a router as the single person streaming the HD Netlfix video. And in reality, you are right, the overhead would eat into the shared connection so the same 5 Mbps connection would probably not support 5 1 Mbps connections - each of those would be less.

[dssking]

Hey There. We're on the AoS on Feb 10 as well and would like to know how you managed to connect the N300 to the Royal Network......I haven't bought one yet but the TP-Link n300 seems viable. Can't seem to find any config methods....... Don't really care what I purchase as they're all around the same price point.....just want to know that one works with the current system on the ship.

 

Thanks

Vijay

 

 

Speed is slow, faster than old dialup, but not by much.

 

I've successfully used the Netgear Trek N300 travel router.

[MrMan]

The real question is not how you got the router aboard, but where does one smuggle the big bag of Cheetos[emoji41]

 

 

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