Diamond connection speeds

[tgh]

Getting close to time , and I need some guidance on the current state of the Diamonds Internet connection problems.

 

Last report I could find enroute to Australia the connection was still very very slow.

 

Not much good running the gauntlet of the airline weight police with a laptop if the speed makes the whole process unworkable.

 

Any updates from those on board please pretty please??? :)

[kimba_99]

I have received emails both yesterday and today from two different people on the ship and neither mentioned internet problems. One of them has their own laptop and is using it to send emails and browse the web.

I'll email back and ask them how the connections have been if that will ease your mind... ;)

Kim

[tgh]

Thanks Kim... another local..hi

 

First cruise for twenty+years and we are a little excited ..

 

but life goes on and in this world one is expected to be "findable".. anywhere anytime

[elliecat]

We are on board at the moment and the internet speed ranges from .4k to 33k. Unfortunately it spends more time at the lower end of the range.

 

If you are used to broadband access you will be bitterly disappointed.

 

Some days the internet is not available at all due to "maintenance" when the doors of the internet cafe are locked.

 

Yes bring a book......

[elliecat]

Further to the above you may find it worthwhile to bring your laptop as we were able to access the internet on the wireless when the doors of the internet cafe were locked

[kimba_99]

tgh... Just got home from work and found a message saying my email was undelivered... sooo not sure if that is my servers problem or not... other emails were sent out though.

The ship will be in Hobart tomorrow so maybe they will have a better connection when in port.

Kim

[tgh]

Thanks Kimba..guess I will lug the laptop and hope for the best.

 

The Diamond bridge cam seems to have been a bit lost over the last few days...wonder what else isn't working on board...we will soon know

[kimba_99]

Just checked again and have a reply for you...

 

"Using there PC is very slow takes about (on average ) 5 min to get connected. I brought my own LT and just purchased wireless cards and it's a whole lot faster too plus it's very busy and sometimes there have been sign up sheets".

 

Hope this helps you...

Kim

[Guest AdmiralNelson]

Internet speeds on ships will never be as fast as broadband; it's the nature of the beast. You have to remember where you are when you sit down to use the Internet. Remember even when the ship is in port, it still uses the same satellite to connect so being in port does not make it faster, in fact it's usually better at sea as there is less interference. For those of you who have satellite at home and are thinking, “Well I have the same system and mine is fast,” you don’t have the same system. Ships use high orbit satellites, as ships are are moving through oceans. The sat has to transmit over a large distance so the Sat needs to be further out. The type used by residential areas is low orbit, which have low latency as there are many sats relaying information over a small areas, a little bit like a cellphone network.

 

Get a basketball and a flashlight, point the flashlight at the ball close, see the coverage, now the further out you move the flashlight the more of the ball is covered by the beam, well that's the same idea of the coverage of the Satellite. Only problem is the further out the Sat the longer the signal takes to get there hence the slower speed.

 

Just be glad you have a connection at all and you wont be disappointed!

[elliecat]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm.. - that would be fine if there was a connection - unfortunatley there have been several days when there was no connection at all and no it was not due to the satellite! We have been on the Diamond now since Beijing and have been in the same ports twice - at the same ports one day the internet was open and on another day it was closed. I would imagine that the satellite is in the same position in the same ports. The internet cafe was closed in Melbourne and again today in Hobart for the best part of the day - may I suggest it could be the internet provider who is at fault and the satellite is an easy scapegoat?

 

On the cruise from Beijing to Singapore the internet cafe was completely closed for at least 3 days in a row - some pax formed a small protest group and the internet cafe was reopened - seems odd to me!

[CruisinChris]

Weather can obscure satellites. I believe it's been raining the last couple days...

[Guest AdmiralNelson]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm.. - that would be fine if there was a connection - unfortunatley there have been several days when there was no connection at all and no it was not due to the satellite! We have been on the Diamond now since Beijing and have been in the same ports twice - at the same ports one day the internet was open and on another day it was closed. I would imagine that the satellite is in the same position in the same ports. The internet cafe was closed in Melbourne and again today in Hobart for the best part of the day - may I suggest it could be the internet provider who is at fault and the satellite is an easy scapegoat?

 

On the cruise from Beijing to Singapore the internet cafe was completely closed for at least 3 days in a row - some pax formed a small protest group and the internet cafe was reopened - seems odd to me!

 

It always interests mee when people use phrases like 'Scapegoat', if the cafe is closed, it is for a reason, most likely techincal.

 

Nothing you have said changes the facts of what I said in my previous post. There could be a hundred reasons for the problems you are having. I was explaining for the majority how the internet works onboard ships. Anybody who has ever used wireless knows that it's not as good as wired in terms of connectivity and in terms of speed. Now think about the fact you are in the middle of the ocean using a Sat hundreds of miles away from the earth, that gives you an idea of the set-up and how easy that connection could be upset.

 

Now for your particular ship, I'm not saying that the Sat is the problem, I'm not there so how could I know? There could be a hardware problem onboard (they may have been waiting for items to be shipped to repair the problem), there could be bad weather, heavy cloud cover reduces or completely blocks the signal. You being in the same port twice has nothing to do with it. Like I said in my first post, being in port does not make any difference. Unless that port lies in an area that is known for having bad reception (and there are places around the world chartered).

 

I can tell you one thing, if they are experiencing problems with hardware or Sat reception (the only reasons I can think of why they would close the cafe), then your little protest group whilst it must have been a lot of fun (?) had nothing to do with the restoration of the service. Although it sounds like you are really enjoying yourself!??

[Pam in CA]

While I can't comment about the Internet connection while in port, it was explained to me by a techie on a Princess ship that the satellite coverage is much more sporadic when you are at sea for a couple of reasons: the ship is moving and because it's moving, it's going between satellites sometimes and out of range; that the satellites are directed towards where there will be reception or activity and that they don't cover all areas of the oceans or seas. It's not unusual to lose internet connection for a day or two -- or more -- when doing a trans-ocean crossing. I pretty much expect it.

 

The internet connection and speed isn't just a Princess problem. I've seen much worse on Royal Caribbean cruises over the past few years. If you absolutely must be accessible or have access to the internet, then perhaps cruising isn't right for you. There are too many variables and unknowns over which Princess (or any other cruiseline) has no control.

[raringtogo]

I was on that cruise (diamond Singapore to Sydney Christmas 2005) and Princess told us it was a 'land-based' problem in USA

 

I would have thought that in the years 2005-2006 you could expect to go on a cruise for a month but still be able to pay bills and contact your family by e-mail :) - some of us just get "separation anxiety ;)) doesn't mean we don't want to have the wonderful experience that is cruising

[Guest AdmiralNelson]

While I can't comment about the Internet connection while in port, it was explained to me by a techie on a Princess ship that the satellite coverage is much more sporadic when you are at sea for a couple of reasons: the ship is moving and because it's moving, it's going between satellites sometimes and out of range; that the satellites are directed towards where there will be reception or activity and that they don't cover all areas of the oceans or seas. It's not unusual to lose internet connection for a day or two -- or more -- when doing a trans-ocean crossing. I pretty much expect it.

 

The internet connection and speed isn't just a Princess problem. I've seen much worse on Royal Caribbean cruises over the past few years. If you absolutely must be accessible or have access to the internet, then perhaps cruising isn't right for you. There are too many variables and unknowns over which Princess (or any other cruiseline) has no control.

Yes this is very true, it's not that common for the internet to be out for more than a few hours on most ships. It is only likely to be out for a long time when out in Atlantic or Pacific doing the crossings, and like I said there are places where the coverage is low to nil (Anyone been to Skagway, Alaska???). Like I said, the coverage is like a cellphone network (in that one Sat takes over from another, imagine a honeycomb) however, at sea sometimes they don't overlap so you lose coverage.

 

Sometimes it can be land based. MTN and Harris (Satellite ISPs for Princess) are both based in Florida, and during the hurricane season there were quite a few times where service was interupted by the weather there. If you want to know more, go to http://www.mtnsat.com

[elliecat]

Hi Admiral - just to let you know I did not join the protest group... just said that there was one(it was common knowledge as someone posted a sign outside the closed cafe)

[raringtogo]

hey elliecat- I hear you're only home for 12 days then off again- where to this time?

happy (belated) birthday btw:)

[RodneyG]

The problem was evidently with the land based ISP and had something to do with the server, at any rate I was able to connect barring a few days using a wifi enabled laptop and the break from the internet or "being in contact" for those few days was welcome to me. In fact I only connected for about an hour and a 1/2 total over a few sessions and mostly just to IRC as it was a novelty to chat to my pals from the middle of the ocean. Amazingly I was able to also IRC and be connected on a singapore airlines boeing at 33 000 ft for $5 for 1.5 hrs which was a TON cheaper than the Diamond.