Unlimited Internet

[teaser961]

If I purchase the unlimited internet for the length of a cruise can it be used on more than one device at a time? When I purchase the internet at hotels it allows me to use 2 devices so each person in my room can use it.

[Rhea98]

One device at a time.

 

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[teaser961]

Thank you!!

[RVRoadie]

My recent experience on the Star, TA and Baltics, suggest the these unlimited packages are destroying any chance of getting something useful done on the internet. With so many people on all the time, speeds are horrible, especially for those paying by the minute. It was all but useless.

 

If you have a lot of ports, I would check your cell phone plan. Verizon has a new $10/day International access that extends you local plan to most foreign countries. Way cheaper and high speed. But, it only works in port. You are only charged for the days you actually connect and use it. Just turn on your phones hot spot and get access on all your devices.

Edited August 16, 2016 by RVRoadie

[teaser961]

Thanks for the info. I have Verizon and I think the 3 days at port should work for my kids.

[eroller]

Does anyone know how many multiple devices NCL will permit with the Unlimited Usage package? I'm looking to share the cost with 2 friends and hopefully we can each use our own devices, one at a time of course. I realize we can't all be connected at the same time. I'm just hoping multiple devices are permitted.

[mking8288]

I had no problems registering 4 devices to the stateroom, but you can only use it one at a time - remember to log-in or log-out even if you are on unlimited plan; or, the new use logging in would "kick" out someone else already signed into the same account ... not nice if you are 90% done uploading something important on the already "slow" connection.

 

Bonus tip - use devices that can take advantage of dual-band "n" routers (NEC hardware used on the Breakaway) - you want to use 5 GHz channels as it is less congested.

 

Somebody sailing this weekend or soon wanted to get some statistics on this SpeedNet that NCL claimed to be in place and running, supposed to be 4X better than near dial-up speed before ... but, not, according to those who came off the Escape over the weekend. Would like to see a screenshot of the "benchmark" figures for the Getaway too.

[eroller]

I had no problems registering 4 devices to the stateroom, but you can only use it one at a time - remember to log-in or log-out even if you are on unlimited plan; or, the new use logging in would "kick" out someone else already signed into the same account ... not nice if you are 90% done uploading something important on the already "slow" connection.

 

Bonus tip - use devices that can take advantage of dual-band "n" routers (NEC hardware used on the Breakaway) - you want to use 5 GHz channels as it is less congested.

 

Somebody sailing this weekend or soon wanted to get some statistics on this SpeedNet that NCL claimed to be in place and running, supposed to be 4X better than near dial-up speed before ... but, not, according to those who came off the Escape over the weekend. Would like to see a screenshot of the "benchmark" figures for the Getaway too.

 

 

Thanks so much! I appreciate the info and tips!

[pokerpro5]

There is a trick to using more than one device.

 

Google "Connectify" and download that free program. It will allow you to rebroadcast your internet connection to other devices for free. This also works at hotels, on airplanes, or anything else that only allows one device to be connected at a time. I use it, and it works.

 

Regarding connection speeds on NCL, comparing it to dialup is not accurate. Dialup, for all of its slowness, was at least consistent. Believe it or not, you could use an old-school dialup connection today and still do most of your web-browsing and e-mail reading fairly easily, with only minimal delays. Dialup's weakness came when downloading large files. That means that you couldn't watch videos on dialup, nor could you download movies or music in a reasonable amount of time. But standard web browsing would be fine.

 

The ship is a good deal faster than dialup in most cases, but it is also very inconsistent. Think of it as a surface street where the speed limit is 50 mph, but there's a whole lot of traffic lights. So you'll go at a decent speed for a short time, then have to stop. Then you'll go again, and stop again. This is why ship internet is very maddening to use. It will start to download something (e-mail, a webpage, etc), and then freeze up, giving the impression that the whole thing is just really slow. It's more likely that it's just stopping more than it's running, thus giving the appearance of slowness.

 

Now, don't get me wrong. Even at its best, the NCL internet connection is much slower than your home WiFi. But the speed can't really be quantified in comparison to consistent connections, even dialup.

 

BTW, it is possible to have a free INCOMING phone number via the NCL internet. On my last Dawn cruise, I bought unlimited internet, and strolled around the ship with my cell phone, receiving calls from friends and family back on land! Didn't cost me a penny beyond the cost of the unlimited NCL internet. I'll explain this if you want. It's not perfect, but it mostly works.

Edited August 31, 2016 by pokerpro5

[eroller]

Thank you! Great info especially about being able to use more than one device simultaneously. I'm guessing we would have to be close to one another and not on opposite ends of the ship.

 

 

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[esm54687]

Thanks for the info. I have Verizon and I think the 3 days at port should work for my kids.

 

Here's the link to Verizon's TravelPass

 

https://www.verizonwireless.com/plans/travelpass-countries/

 

- Just a bummer that Bahamas is not included

- If you have certain plans (XL and above) then Mexico and Canada are free

- it's $10 per 24 hour period (not day)

 

 

I'm assuming you are going to Bermuda (the 3 days).... they have pretty good WiFi Hotspots right off the ship and all over the dock area (but you have to buy a package per device but still may be cheaper)

[littlelulu01]

There is a trick to using more than one device.

 

Google "Connectify" and download that free program. It will allow you to rebroadcast your internet connection to other devices for free. This also works at hotels, on airplanes, or anything else that only allows one device to be connected at a time. I use it, and it works.

 

Regarding connection speeds on NCL, comparing it to dialup is not accurate. Dialup, for all of its slowness, was at least consistent. Believe it or not, you could use an old-school dialup connection today and still do most of your web-browsing and e-mail reading fairly easily, with only minimal delays. Dialup's weakness came when downloading large files. That means that you couldn't watch videos on dialup, nor could you download movies or music in a reasonable amount of time. But standard web browsing would be fine.

 

The ship is a good deal faster than dialup in most cases, but it is also very inconsistent. Think of it as a surface street where the speed limit is 50 mph, but there's a whole lot of traffic lights. So you'll go at a decent speed for a short time, then have to stop. Then you'll go again, and stop again. This is why ship internet is very maddening to use. It will start to download something (e-mail, a webpage, etc), and then freeze up, giving the impression that the whole thing is just really slow. It's more likely that it's just stopping more than it's running, thus giving the appearance of slowness.

 

Now, don't get me wrong. Even at its best, the NCL internet connection is much slower than your home WiFi. But the speed can't really be quantified in comparison to consistent connections, even dialup.

 

BTW, it is possible to have a free INCOMING phone number via the NCL internet. On my last Dawn cruise, I bought unlimited internet, and strolled around the ship with my cell phone, receiving calls from friends and family back on land! Didn't cost me a penny beyond the cost of the unlimited NCL internet. I'll explain this if you want. It's not perfect, but it mostly works.

 

I would like to know how you used wifi to receive calls. Thanks.

[triptolemus]

I would like to know how you used wifi to receive calls. Thanks.

 

Vonage.

 

http://www.vonage.com/personal/vonage-mobile-app

[Mrdell]

Has anyone used FaceTime on Breakaway to call home? I doubt that there is enough bandwith to support video, but there is an "audio" option on the IPad that may work???

[mking8288]

I would like to know how you used wifi to receive calls.

Google Hangouts does that, I have calls routed over WiFi & Google Voice is a friend, for Voice Mail services with email transcript enabled, and configured to forward only certain calls and ringing one of my 2 mobile, 1 domestic and 1 used for global travel and for emergencies. Setup is a little bit complicated to the average user.

 

Of course, not all devices support WiFi calling and some carriers count that as cellular - which can be enabled/disabled and switched on/off as desired.

 

Has anyone used FaceTime on Breakaway to call home? I doubt that there is enough bandwith to support video, but there is an "audio" option on the IPad that may work???

FaceTime video and audio both tested to be working when we sailed this May on the BA, and, yes - if that's too choppy or both parties having issues with lags, disconnect & restart using audio only> One of our nieces did Facetime and was on the "line" with her mom recently on the Getaway.

 

Even on iPhones and iPads, you can install & run Google's Hangouts, with either video or audio calling while at sea, results were good to acceptable (since I get spoiled with 75, 100 and 200 MB premium business class speed on land). Your results on the BA will be better once the ship is at Dockyard as there's an arrangement for better WiFi speed while berthed.

 

Google Duo is the newest 1 to 1 video calling App, it runs on both Android & iOS platforms - install and give it a trial to get comfortable ... user's feedback are sounding good. It's simple to use ... now, I need an "excuse" to try it on the road.

[easyboy]

There is a trick to using more than one device.

 

Google "Connectify" and download that free program. It will allow you to rebroadcast your internet connection to other devices for free. This also works at hotels, on airplanes, or anything else that only allows one device to be connected at a time. I use it, and it works.

 

Thanks for the info.

[francina]

what is the cost of unlimited internet. RCL ran a special and allowed 2 devices for 103.00 for 7 day trip.

 

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[Mrdell]

FaceTime video and audio both tested to be working when we sailed this May on the BA, and, yes - if that's too choppy or both parties having issues with lags, disconnect & restart using audio only> One of our nieces did Facetime and was on the "line" with her mom recently on the Getaway.

 

Thank you so much for the information!!

[mking8288]

what is the cost of unlimited internet. RCL ran a special and allowed 2 devices for 103.00 for 7 day trip.

Expensive, IMO if you have to ask :D but if you can "expense" it - why not ;) You can register multiple devices on one stateroom's account but only allowed to sign-in/out to use it - you guess it - one at a time. We had the laptop, iPad Mini, Nexus tablet, 2X Nexus smartphone, and iPhone 5S "enrolled" & shared it.

 

First, RCI's ship internet will blast NCL's speed out of the water, even with the claimed SpeedNet upgrade, consisting of hardware, compression & cache tech.

 

Second, Breakaway apparently, it seemed, still has the better & relatively fast satellite internet within the fleet (it's all WiFi-based, no Ethernet or hard wired connection).

 

Third, Unlimited plans are only sold on day 1 and day 2 for the duration of the cruise, was (is ??) priced most recently at $29.95 per day without any surcharge or supplement, nor activation fees. No discount regardless of your Latitude status that I know of. There are other plans, exclusive to the BA only, based on MB data used - a 1 GB or 1,000 MB plan was (is) available for about $125 and might be more than enough for the typical user, depending on how you manage data & time while online ... from my calculations, it translated into about 17 hours of airtime, at the rate of 1 minute per MB of data downloaded & uploaded.

 

If you are sailing to Bermuda and don't plan to be "live" all 7 days, this is almost 3 hours of average daily use over 6 days. You saved about $85 over the 7 days, unlimited plan - if you need more data, you can always add extra MB and there is a smaller plan, 300 MB. Otherwise, it will cost you $210 unlimited for 7 days - price subject to change without notice, FWIW.

 

In the end, we used about 1.6 GB worth of ship WiFi data over 7 days - on the islands, we mainly used 3G cellular roaming cellular data, about 200 MB only.

Edited September 1, 2016 by mking8288

[francina]

thank you

 

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[littlelulu01]

If I have a wifi phone, and the unlimited internet, would this work instead of getting these apps for wifi calls? I know ship is slower than home. My home is in a cell service dead zone so when I'm in the house the phone automatically switches over to wifi call. Didn't know if ship is like that but just slower and potentially lags with calls? Sorry about the questions. Not very savvy with this sort of thing.

[pokerpro5]

If I have a wifi phone, and the unlimited internet, would this work instead of getting these apps for wifi calls? I know ship is slower than home. My home is in a cell service dead zone so when I'm in the house the phone automatically switches over to wifi call. Didn't know if ship is like that but just slower and potentially lags with calls? Sorry about the questions. Not very savvy with this sort of thing.

 

Yes, it would work.

 

You won't get lags with calls, but perhaps "cut outs" when the connection lags. However, I used a version of a Wifi phone (I'll explain below) and it was mostly okay.

 

You will sometimes get "auto logged out" by the system for no activity after 30 mins, so be aware of that if you are expecting incoming calls (or want to make outgoing ones and discover it suddenly doesn't work!) To remedy this if it happens, simply go to a web browser, go to any web page, and it will force you to re-login.

 

You do not need a premium service like Vonage to receive calls or send/receive texts while onboard. There are many apps you can download for your phone (search for free texting) which will allow this. Typically these apps will assign you a phone number (which you can give to friends for the cruise only), and then you can both receive free calls on it AND send/receive texts on it. The only restriction typically comes in that it costs money to make outgoing calls, but you can buy some cheap plans for that, and it often gives you something like 10 free minutes.

 

That's what I did.

 

Skype also sometimes works for incoming and outgoing calls. You need to sign up for premium service if you want a real phone # and the ability to call out, though. However, some ships block Skype, so beware of that.

[littlelulu01]

Yes, it would work.

 

You won't get lags with calls, but perhaps "cut outs" when the connection lags. However, I used a version of a Wifi phone (I'll explain below) and it was mostly okay.

 

You will sometimes get "auto logged out" by the system for no activity after 30 mins, so be aware of that if you are expecting incoming calls (or want to make outgoing ones and discover it suddenly doesn't work!) To remedy this if it happens, simply go to a web browser, go to any web page, and it will force you to re-login.

 

You do not need a premium service like Vonage to receive calls or send/receive texts while onboard. There are many apps you can download for your phone (search for free texting) which will allow this. Typically these apps will assign you a phone number (which you can give to friends for the cruise only), and then you can both receive free calls on it AND send/receive texts on it. The only restriction typically comes in that it costs money to make outgoing calls, but you can buy some cheap plans for that, and it often gives you something like 10 free minutes.

 

That's what I did.

 

Skype also sometimes works for incoming and outgoing calls. You need to sign up for premium service if you want a real phone # and the ability to call out, though. However, some ships block Skype, so beware of that.

 

Thanks

[urquie]

There is a trick to using more than one device.

 

Google "Connectify" and download that free program. It will allow you to rebroadcast your internet connection to other devices for free. This also works at hotels, on airplanes, or anything else that only allows one device to be connected at a time. I use it, and it works.

 

.

 

 

Pokerpro - do you know if there is an alternative that would work with Apple devices (iPhone, iPad or MacBook)?

 

Or... is it as simple as turning an iPhone into a hotspot?

Edited September 3, 2016 by urquie

[Froggitt]

I *think* the iPhone hotspot shares cellular data only, not wifi data.