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FYI: RCI blocking routers on their network

momo2000

By momo2000,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Clarea

Clarea

Posted
Posted
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

As I recall, I connected my laptop to the wired port on the router and used it's web page to configure it.

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Clarea

Clarea

Posted
Posted
Ah okay.....hoping to use the ipad.........

Before you leave home, set it up on your home router. Then you will have access to the management features via a wireless from your iPad. When you get on the ship, all you need to configure is the wireless connection to the ship. Don't mess with the wireless config that connects to your iPad..

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dssking

dssking

Posted
Posted

Good advice and thank you.

 

What router do you recommend? Hootoo, TP-Link....... there are many.....

 

 

Before you leave home, set it up on your home router. Then you will have access to the management features via a wireless from your iPad. When you get on the ship, all you need to configure is the wireless connection to the ship. Don't mess with the wireless config that connects to your iPad..
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Russ_MT

Russ_MT

Posted
Posted
Good advice and thank you.

 

What router do you recommend? Hootoo, TP-Link....... there are many.....

 

That N300 seems like it needs to be externally powered.

 

I bought a HooToo router and love this little thing. It's self-contained and self powered and even provided a USB power port if you need to charge something. You can plug in another drive (eg: USB Flash) full of movies/photos and view them from any device. The RAVPower looks similar, but I've never used one.

 

Originally I bought it because it's an obscure device whose MAC address isn't likely to be blocked. I doubt that's true now. If they are blocking routers, I'm sure they have all of them blocked. Although maybe spoofing the MAC address would overcome this.

 

On Royal, we each had our own WiFi account, so I didn't use it. On Norwegian Escape, they only gave us one WiFi account and we took this little guy with us around the ship. The HooToo was THE logged in device all week and our iPhones/laptop/iPad shared it all over the ship because it's self-powered. It lasted about 2 days between charges.

We never had to log back in and it felt like being at home with a constant WiFi connection.

 

I changed the SSID to something official-looking (eg: ROYAL 3B or BOBS iPhone) so as not to attract too much attention. Turnin off the SSID broadcast created connect issues with our devices.

 

We've used it on airplanes to share a paid connection to check email etc.

I'd feel guilty streaming video and high bandwidth stuff, but we mostly check email, surf, post photos to social and checkin airlines.

But really, you are on a cruise, watch TV at home. How often do you get to look out at the ocean?

 

Royal has 2 packages. The Surf and Surf & Stream which I assume is faster bandwidth.

 

  • Surf & Stream Voom
    • 1 device: $19.99 per day, per device
    • 2 devices: $18.99 per day, per device
    • 4 devices: $16.99 per day, per device
    • Single Day Pass: $29.99 per day, per device

    [*]Surf

    • 1 device: $15.99 per day, per device
    • 2 devices: $14.99 per day, per device
    • 4 devices: $12.99 per day, per device
    • Single Day Pass: $22.99 per day, per device

I guess they need to pay for that O3B satellite link. I'm just not going to pay $15/day more so I can avoid logging out/in to each device to check our email.

If you are watching videos, buy the extra account.

Royal uses the O3B network and has TONS of bandwidth. This network was designed to serve small countries. A ship with 5,000 people is nothing. On Allure, we were amazed at how solid the WiFi infrastructure was and the ample bandwidth and low latency. VOIP calls were perfect. Sending video was a breeze. I've heard older ships with older infrastructure may have problems.

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Biker19

Biker19

Posted
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Amazing how easy it is to justify theft when it’s convienant isn’t it?

Sharing a paid for VOOM package is not theft. There are no rules against sharing published by the cruiseline and they make no effort to limit the login to one device.

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proggieus

proggieus

Posted
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Yup. And when I spent $10,000 on cruise fare and I only want to check my email from my phone 2 times a day.

 

What does how much you spent on a cruise have to do your morals?

 

Is it really that hard to sign in and out twice a day if that is truly all you want to do?

 

Maybe next time you should go for an inside cabin and then not have to resort to stealing to enjoy your trip.

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Russ_MT

Russ_MT

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This is the one I bought

 

https://www.amazon.com/HooToo-Wireless-10400mAh-External-Performance/dp/B074LHG47K/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1517860235

 

It's a few years old now. The RAV looks interesting also. It might be more ergonomic to fit in your pocket.

 

As a side benefit, the router also acts like another firewall between you and other guests.

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Russ_MT

Russ_MT

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Posted

 

I think that one is similar to the N300. It's a travel router, but not self powered/battery. I think it would function the same, although not as portable.

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dssking

dssking

Posted
Posted

Russ,

 

Okay, the Hootoo just got delivered. Configured it on my network and it worked perfect. Now.... question is that if I use my ipad to log into the ship's network using the login page that it'll send you to with the user name and pass, how does the hootoo then share THAT access?

 

The app (Tripmate) won't allow changes to the forms of connection....AP, router, etc. It's stuck on WIRELESS ACCESS....

 

Thanks for the help. (BTW - the one I got was the one without the battery which is no big deal). The app is the same for both devices.

 

Vijay

 

 

I think that one is similar to the N300. It's a travel router, but not self powered/battery. I think it would function the same, although not as portable.
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Russ_MT

Russ_MT

Posted
Posted
Russ,

 

Okay, the Hootoo just got delivered. Configured it on my network and it worked perfect. Now.... question is that if I use my ipad to log into the ship's network using the login page that it'll send you to with the user name and pass, how does the hootoo then share THAT access?

 

The app (Tripmate) won't allow changes to the forms of connection....AP, router, etc. It's stuck on WIRELESS ACCESS....

 

Thanks for the help. (BTW - the one I got was the one without the battery which is no big deal). The app is the same for both devices.

 

Vijay

 

I don't remember the interface. I'll have to dig mine out and see.

 

The Router (HooToo) is the login device that the Hotel/Ship will recognize as the authorized device. Once you get past the login screen, it will treat every subsequently attached device as having already logged in.

 

In our case. I logged in ONCE to Norwegian's WiFi via the HooToo. The HooToo then remained connected. Now if you turn it off, I don't know if you need to go through the login process again. Maybe.

 

I'll dig mine out and try it on my local WiFi

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dssking

dssking

Posted
Posted

So I went to the local Starbucks whose network has a login page much like Royal does.

 

It worked! I was able to log in to the router, then to the network. Each device I then connected

to the router worked without having to sign in. Mission accomplished.

 

Thanks Ryan!

Vijay

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  • 5 months later...
Biker19

Biker19

Posted
Posted
Has anyone successfully used a router on the Symphony?

There should be nothing different on Symphony from other ships - as long as you have a router which can accept the VOOM credentials, it should work. This assumes you know what you need it for and doing.

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BillHana

BillHana

Posted
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On many ships I see what looks like a wired network connector near the desk power connectors but I never had the courage to try it. Does anyone have experience with these wired network connections? Do they work?

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