Quick Wifi question

[txflood33]

There have been a few threads about how people communicate with family/friends on board the ship. I have seen some people talk about using WhatsApp or some other texting app.

 

Cut and dry.....if my wife and I both have a wifi package on the boat, and we both have iphones....it seems we can put our phones in airplane mode with wifi on and connect to our plan on the ship and text normally via imessage without racking up extra charges.

 

Is this correct or am I overlooking something? 

 

I know the wifi is going to be pretty slow on board. Does this affect the speed at which these texts are delivered?

 

Just trying to check off some low hanging fruit if I don't need to download/learn a new app. 

[ghstudio]

All of the built in applications require internet connectivity to a shore based server. 

However, you may want to find a third party app that could do what you are trying to do.  Not sure if any of them will work with just the ship's internet alone.

 

Here's a start:

 

https://www.bustle.com/p/emergency-apps-you-can-use-without-wi-fi-during-a-disaster-2307076

 

https://www.geckoandfly.com/22562/chat-without-internet-connection-mesh-network/

Edited January 13, 2019 by ghstudio

[wrk2cruise]

If you each have a wifi package (or a 2 device package) and you each have iPhones then yes put your phone in airplane mode and enable wifi.  You can text and use wifi calling just like you do on land.

[txflood33]

13 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

If you each have a wifi package (or a 2 device package) and you each have iPhones then yes put your phone in airplane mode and enable wifi.  You can text and use wifi calling just like you do on land.

 

thank you...this was what I wanted to confirm

[ghstudio]

7 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

If you each have a wifi package (or a 2 device package) and you each have iPhones then yes put your phone in airplane mode and enable wifi.  You can text and use wifi calling just like you do on land.

however your speed (and ability to use) will be impacted by the required operational ship to shore link. If that link is down, you won't be able to communicate.   Fair warning: If you are sitting on your balcony with the door closed, you will likely not be able to connect to the internet on the ship....(spoken from personal experience).   

[Jim_Iain]

Agree with others that you simply put your iPhone on Airplane Mode and enable WiFi.  By default you will have texting (to anyone on land or on your sailing), You will also be able to use apps like What'sApp, FaceTime etc.   

[harrywpb]

Interesting to hear the use of airplane mode. I always turn off cellular data instead. 

[harrywpb]

I now know why I don’t use airplane mode. Just did a test. Turned on airplane mode and WiFi. I asked my wife to call me and it went to voicemail. I prefer to be able to receive calls ( you don’t have to answer but it may be important  ). Of course you can only recieve calls if your traveling through a cellular network of anothe Country. 

[mikemartin774]

Talking from experience turn on airplane mode and the enable wifi. I was on a cruise last year with voom and cellular data turned off and was checking on my store camera system before I went to sleep and got a text in the morning from my carrier that I have gone over my roaming data limit of 8GB at $15.00 a MB that could have been a bill for $120,000.00. When I was able to contact my carrier 2 days later I found out that they had put a limit of $100.00 of roaming data on all their customers since they have had the same issue many times before. Needless to say I was very relieved after two day of worrying.

Edited January 13, 2019 by mikemartin774

[harrywpb]

6 minutes ago, mikemartin774 said:

Talking from experience turn on airplane mode and the enable wifi. I was on a cruise last year with voom and cellular data turned off and was checking on my store camera system before I went to sleep and got a text in the morning from my carrier that I have gone over my roaming data limit of 8GB at $15.00 a MB that could have been a bill for $120,000.00. When I was able to contact my carrier 2 days later I found out that they had put a limit of $100.00 of roaming data on all their customers since they have had the same issue many times before. Needless to say I was very relieved after two day of worrying.

I don’t follow how you were billed if your cellular data was turned off. I’ve done this on dozens of crises. 

Harry 

[mikemartin774]

I do not know how but it happened, I used to sell cellular devices and have had it happen to customers that

swear that they had their data turned off and did not believe that they did but now I do. What I do now after

that cruise is put airplane mode on and use wifi only with whatsapp or imessage if people need to contact me they do it like that

Edited January 13, 2019 by mikemartin774

[harrywpb]

Thanks. I’m going to call Verizon to see if they can put a roaming data limit in my plan 

[txflood33]

3 minutes ago, harrywpb said:

Thanks. I’m going to call Verizon to see if they can put a roaming data limit in my plan 

 

Using Airplane mode with wifi enabled avoids any issues of roaming charges. Anyone needing to contact you for an emergency could still text/email you and as long as you have access to wifi(ship or coffee shop right off the ship at port) and you will have access to everything.

[harrywpb]

I beg to differ with you however I just turned on airplane mode and WiFi and didn’t get a test text from my wife. I could get a text from another iPhone using iMessage but not from a user who isn’t on iMessage. Therefore I just turn off cellular data and can still recieve phone and text from anyone. As I stated before , I’ve been doing it this way for years. 

 

Harry

[mikemartin774]

That is why I said whatsapp or imessage. When I am on vacation I only want to communicate with some

people so that eliminates the unwanted phone calls and text messages and also makes sure I do not

get unwanted charges on my cellular bill a win win situation

[txflood33]

So I just did a test....my son lives about 4 hours from me. I have an iphone and he has a droid

 

Asked him to put his phone in airplane mode and turn on wifi and text me. He said droids can't do that and it's an iphone thing. I told him to try.

 

We chatted for about 5 min via text...both in airplane mode and both with wifi enabled....and his mind blown. He said he never thought droids could do this. He's on Verizon. There was no noticeable delay in the texts. I can only assume Google phones have this technology as well.

 

We both have fairly current model phones....iphone 7plus and a galaxy s7 edge

 

Really just wanted to make sure the wifi on a ship was not something that would interfere with imessages. Really not here to learn a new app....there's actually recent warnings about using What'sApp in Asia right now out of fear the messages being able to be read by third parties. I really just performed the test for my own general knowledge and sharing it for others interested.

[mikemartin774]

I did not think it would work on an android device and your results might vary on a cruise ship 

as far as Whatsapp it is using end to end encryption so privacy should not be an issue. Also

on Whatsapp you can do voice and video calling which works very well if your ship has good

internet like ob3 that Royal Caribbean uses

[txflood33]

this caught my attention more because my next cruise is to SE Asia. I'm sure if your next trip is to the Caribbean it may not have caught your attention. This could be of concern if travelling to certain European ports as well.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/11/asia/university-california-china-wechat-intl/index.html 

[ghstudio]

Voice over LTE (VOLTE) service may be active on your phone even if you disable data over cellular  (in settings) and your carrier may still charge for calls made over LTE between phones.  

 

The key settings you need to check are...in settings/cellular  (on an iphone) where you set cellular data off....you have to be sure to also set wifi calling off.....you must turn BOTH off. If you don't change both settings, any voice call you make (your phone will still be working, just over LTE) will be charged per your carrier's terms...and you may get incoming calls (including junk calls) on your phone which will also incur those charges. 

 

Verizon users should read:

 

https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/wifi-calling-faqs/

 

imsg and facetime should work without incurring any charge when connected to the ship's wifi since they connect to apple's servers, not your cell carrier's system. 

 

Similarly SKYPE and other similar services operate using only data...your phone company is not involved.

 

One additional important note:

 

if there is no satellite connection, the ship won't let you sign on to the internet.  If you can't sign on the ship's internet because they lack satellite connectivity or if you are sitting someplace where you can't get the ship's internet...like on your balcony none of these applications will work.  

 

 

 

Edited January 13, 2019 by ghstudio

[harrywpb]

Excellent point. Thank you. I was advised long ago to turn off my WiFi calling. 

[mauimary]

Last Oct we cruised from Vancouver BC to New Zealand and ended in Sydney Australia. We had WiFi pkgs. We kept our phones in Airplane mode the whole time. No extra charges.  We did not use WiFi calling.  Yes we could only text family with iPhones. We had beautiful internet the entire way even when in the middle of the Pacific 3 days from anywhere. We were quite impressed how well it worked.   

Edited January 13, 2019 by mauimary

[jagoffee]

16 hours ago, ghstudio said:

Voice over LTE (VOLTE) service may be active on your phone even if you disable data over cellular  (in settings) and your carrier may still charge for calls made over LTE between phones.  

 

The key settings you need to check are...in settings/cellular  (on an iphone) where you set cellular data off....you have to be sure to also set wifi calling off.....you must turn BOTH off. If you don't change both settings, any voice call you make (your phone will still be working, just over LTE) will be charged per your carrier's terms...and you may get incoming calls (including junk calls) on your phone which will also incur those charges. 

 

Verizon users should read:

 

https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/wifi-calling-faqs/

 

imsg and facetime should work without incurring any charge when connected to the ship's wifi since they connect to apple's servers, not your cell carrier's system. 

 

Similarly SKYPE and other similar services operate using only data...your phone company is not involved.

 

One additional important note:

 

if there is no satellite connection, the ship won't let you sign on to the internet.  If you can't sign on the ship's internet because they lack satellite connectivity or if you are sitting someplace where you can't get the ship's internet...like on your balcony none of these applications will work.  

 

 

 

I am only slightly confused.  If I am in Airplane mode with WiFi turns on, do I need to turn off WiFi calling?

 

Thanks

[Gordoncruickshank]

On ‎1‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 2:43 PM, ghstudio said:

however your speed (and ability to use) will be impacted by the required operational ship to shore link. If that link is down, you won't be able to communicate.   Fair warning: If you are sitting on your balcony with the door closed, you will likely not be able to connect to the internet on the ship....(spoken from personal experience).   

The routers are all in the corridors which is why this happens which is a pain if you are like me and like to sit out early morning dealing with emails and messages before breakfast (and usually before we dock anywhere).

[ghstudio]

23 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

I am only slightly confused.  If I am in Airplane mode with WiFi turns on, do I need to turn off WiFi calling?

 

Thanks

you should be confused...my post was confused, but I can't go back and correct it...sorry

 

Simply put, make sure that airplane mode is on, cellular data is off (and wifi calling is off on your phone, if your phone has that option).  If you want to make voice calls between phones on the ship, use skype or similar.  I would not advise activating/using "wifi calling" between phones on the ship which involves your cellphone carrier and may or may not incur charges calling between phones.....

 

some info on wifi calling: https://www.lifewire.com/use-iphone-wifi-calling-1999746

[jagoffee]

30 minutes ago, ghstudio said:

you should be confused...my post was confused, but I can't go back and correct it...sorry

 

Simply put, make sure that airplane mode is on, cellular data is off (and wifi calling is off on your phone, if your phone has that option).  If you want to make voice calls between phones on the ship, use skype or similar.  I would not advise activating/using "wifi calling" between phones on the ship which involves your cellphone carrier and may or may not incur charges calling between phones.....

 

some info on wifi calling: https://www.lifewire.com/use-iphone-wifi-calling-1999746

Thanks.  Fortunately we are an IPhone extended family group, so I messaging and FaceTime work great for us.

 

A lot of people say turn on airplane mode and turn off Cellular data, but in my case Cellular data turns off when I go to airplane mode.  (I know to turn on WiFi if it shuts off).

 

I did notice that roaming is still on, but that does not really matter if Data is off, correct?

 

Thanks, again.