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Biker19

Biker19

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Not sure how, if at all, this will affect further expansion of O3B or performance in general:

 

Speedcast International provider of fully managed, remote communication and IT solutions, announced it has extended its relationship with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL), which will further increase the bandwidth delivered across 37 ships.

 

‘Speedcast has been an integral part of our long-standing efforts to implement the latest connectivity solutions that allow us to provide enhanced communications for everyone, from our guests onboard to our employees onshore,’ said Guillermo Muniz, director, network and satellite engineering, Royal Caribbean.

Speedcast’s experience with Royal Caribbean dates back to 2006, when the company installed RCCL’s first Ku-Band VSAT antenna on board a vessel to satisfy peak seasonal communication demand in the Brazil region.

The Speedcast network now delivers fully managed communications solutions and value-added services to 37 Royal Caribbean brand ships for shipboard administration, and guest and crew usage.

Multiple antennas on each ship with seamless automatic failover between Ku-Band and C-Band ensures high availability and Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

PJ Beylier, ceo, Speedcast said, ‘Over the past 11 years, we have seen tremendous growth in Royal Caribbean’s business, and we look forward to helping them continue to develop their brands as they introduce new ships and look for innovative ways to enhance guest and crew experiences.’

 

 

http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/speedcast-international-to-further-increase-bandwidth-across-37-royal-caribbean-ships.html

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Biker19

Biker19

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Aiming to dash the perception that connectivity is a liability of cruising, Carnival Corp. & plc today made an unprecedented level of bandwidth available to Regal Princess passengers as part of a big media splash.

 

Using its newly developed MedallionNet and working with SES Networks, the world-leading provider of satellite-enabled connectivity solutions with 67 satellites in orbit, Carnival Corp. and Princess Cruises achieved bandwidth exceeding 1.5 gigabits per second, the most ever delivered to a mobile platform.

That equates to more than 6,000 users concurrently surfing the internet, or 1,500 Netflix or Hulu subscribers streaming TV shows or movies.

This was achieved Monday morning with Regal Princess anchored off Princess Cays on the southern tip of Eleuthera in the outer Bahamas, according to John Padgett, chief experience and innovation officer for Carnival Corp.

Previously, Padgett said, the largest known bandwidth delivered to any cruise ship was 580 megabits (Mbps) per second.

 

'MedallionNet puts to rest the notion that connectivity at sea will never be as fast or reliable as your broadband at home,' added Steve Collar, CEO of SES Networks. 'Powered by our O3b fleet of medium earth orbit satellites, and complemented by our geostationary earth orbit constellation, we are not only able to exceed average land-based bandwidth capabilities, but also are able to set a new industry apex for guest connectivity experience.'

Collar said he has been 'better connected here on board (Regal Princess) than I am in my office.'

 

For now, MedallionNet in its full implementation is available only on Regal Princess, though Padgett said today's apex will set the bar for brands within the Carnival Corp. fleet.

 

Pricing for MedallionNet on Regal Princess starts at $9.99 per day for one device when purchased for the entire voyage. Per device savings can be greater by choosing multi device plans.

 

According to a study conducted last year by Ookla, an Internet speed test company, the average US fixed broadband download speed was 64.17 Mbps in the first half of 2017, while the average upload speed was 22.79 Mbps.

 

MedallionNet download speeds can exceed residential service levels, often eclipsing 100 Mbps, with upload speeds exceeding 60 Mbps. Mark Holmes, editorial director for the Satellite and Aviation Group of Access Intelligence, was aboard Regal Princess to help authenticate the record capacity and validate that MedallionNet exceeded any disclosed bandwidth in the cruise industry.

 

The activities surrounding the attempt to set a new apex for bandwidth capacity included a series of Facebook Live streaming sessions. The stars of Carnival Corp.’s Ocean Originals television programs were on hand to put MedallionNet to the test on the ship and at Princess Cays. Hosts used their mobile devices to stream high-definition videos, play mobile apps, FaceTime with friends and post video stories on social media—all to maximize the amount of bandwidth use.

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  • 2 weeks later...
twangster "Live from...." Rare

twangster

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4 more O3b Satellites successfully launched on Friday. Four more early next year.
It's not clear to me how the new satellites will impact Voom. I was disappointed that Adventure was not upgraded to O3b in her 2018 dry dock. With Carnival migrating to this same internet satellite provider and 2 new RCCL ships this year I'm not sure the new birds will have any impact to existing Voom. Time will tell. Don't get me wrong, more satellites in the constellation should be a good thing unless they are service spares to address unpublished maintenance issues with existing spacecraft.
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twangster "Live from...." Rare

twangster

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Increase in capacity by 38% and increase in coverage reach by 5 degrees from equator.

 

Pretty good article here:

 

http://spacenews.com/o3b-meo-constellation-grows-to-16-with-latest-soyuz-launch/

Thanks for that, it explains a lot. Looks like NZ will now be fully covered by O3b. Sadly the UK is still out of the footprint. I'm hoping service gaps due to satellite switch over will be reduced.
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Biker19

Biker19

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I don't believe any recent reports have Empress with O3B internet. A good indicator if O3B may make it to any other existing ships is the dry dock of Mariner - if she doesn't have it (we should know by late next week) it is doubtful any other ship will get it in the near future - it seems like RCI has stopped the upgrades at the Freedom class ships.

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Omax4

Omax4

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I’m on Mariner of the Seas right now. Purchased the Surf and Stream Package and cannot even get more then a 3000 to 4000 ping and a download speed of around 0.5 to sometimes 0.7

 

Very disappointed. I’m not really expected YouTube or Netflix but with that slow speed some of my apps just won’t load up and give me communication errors

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