Speed and bandwidth of Wifi on Regent Splendor

[Captainlyle]

To anyone on the Splendor now or to anyone who has been on Splendor.Can you please inform me if the WiFi is fast enough to watch live telecasts.I'm a avid NFL fan and love following the games.Also like Pod casts and the ability to load down audio books.Thanks in advanced for the info.

No I don't come on cruises to watch football,however the one we are taking has many sea days so its nice to entertain yourself while watching the sea roll by.

[Pcardad]

Streaming - probably not. Downloading an audiobook - sure but slowly. Your connection will be slower than base DSL...you might get 3mb down and 10% of that up......at 4AM.

[wcsdkqh]

Definitely not. Even with the ship at half capacity, no way to stream anything.

[Jimmcdaniel]

When I first logged in two days ago, they did offer a high-speed option for an additional fee (I think maybe $9.99 per day). I didn’t purchase it so I don’t know how well it works. The basic service (no charge) is definitely not for streaming. 

[Pcardad]

The optional internet is not faster...it is a bit tricky. What it does is put your request to the head of the line (ahead of your fellow passengers) and so it cuts the wait time as your request waits in the queue.

 

Sometimes there is a positive difference, other times not so much. You can get a better result by finding a strong wifi signal on board and sitting directly underneath the ceiling mounter router. I run an app on my phone and sweep the ship when I get on.

[Jimmcdaniel]

11 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

The optional internet is not faster...it is a bit tricky. What it does is put your request to the head of the line (ahead of your fellow passengers) and so it cuts the wait time as your request waits in the queue.

Then that is pretty shady on Regent’s part because I believe they represented it as streaming-capable. Glad I didn’t bite. 

[Pcardad]

It might be able to stream some things simply because your request to stream is a series of re-requests that keeps you at the front of the line.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

On 10/27/2021 at 3:24 PM, Captainlyle said:

To anyone on the Splendor now or to anyone who has been on Splendor.Can you please inform me if the WiFi is fast enough to watch live telecasts.I'm a avid NFL fan and love following the games.Also like Pod casts and the ability to load down audio books.Thanks in advanced for the info.

No I don't come on cruises to watch football,however the one we are taking has many sea days so its nice to entertain yourself while watching the sea roll by.

Too bad you're not in port that day.  We spent a pleasant several hours in Cozumel in a sport's bar so my husband could watch a big game.

 

I doubt that downloading a book would be a problem, but I don't know that for a fact.  I'd load up before the cruise, myself.

[SusieQft]

I have not tried it on Regent, but Crystal blocks book downloads.   I tried and tried, to no avail.  When I disembarked and got to my hotel, it downloaded in a few seconds.

[Portolan]

1 hour ago, SusieQft said:

I have not tried it on Regent, but Crystal blocks book downloads.   I tried and tried, to no avail.  When I disembarked and got to my hotel, it downloaded in a few seconds.

 

Ouch!  That's terrible for Crystal.  No problem on Regent.  Ebooks are usually very small (<1MB) unless they are graphic novels.  They download in seconds, even on board.  Makes me wonder how they block them since, unlike say YouTube videos, there are many sites that provide ebooks.  I use Overdrive and connect to my local library which has a great and every evolving collection.

[macnoir]

On 10/30/2021 at 8:40 AM, Pcardad said:

I run an app on my phone and sweep the ship when I get on.

Pcardad, if you don't mind sharing, what's the name of that app you use to find strong wifi signal / map the ship? Sounds like it could be really helpful. 

Thanks!

[Pcardad]

I use both a paid one and Wifi Analyzer...

[-Lew-]

25 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

I use both a paid one and Wifi Analyzer...

 

Can you please provide the apps' names?

[Pcardad]

5 minutes ago, -Lew- said:

 

Can you please provide the apps' names?

Wifi Analyzer

 

[jsea]

We are onboard Splendor now. We opted for the “faster” WiFi and it is indeed not impressive. A couple months ago we were on Crystal Endeavor and the speed was phenomenal; the best I had experienced on a ship, and we were in Antarctica, no less. Also, it allowed for 4 devices per login.

[Pcardad]

6 minutes ago, jsea said:

We are onboard Splendor now. We opted for the “faster” WiFi and it is indeed not impressive. A couple months ago we were on Crystal Endeavor and the speed was phenomenal; the best I had experienced on a ship, and we were in Antarctica, no less. Also, it allowed for 4 devices per login.

The faster wifi is not faster. It merely pushes your requests for data to the front of the queue...giving you a fighting chance to stream non-high-def video from some sources. I measured bandwidth on my last trip and compared both and the difference is slight..but the priority helps if you need to stream. Other than that, probably not worth the $10 a day.

[flyau98]

Splendor (in the Caribbean) in late December/Early January  streaming sports worked fine...with the $9.99 package.  Without the upgrade, the onboard network usually blocked streaming video content.

 

I watched some of a bowl game on an MacBook...video quality was pretty decent and there were few cut-outs.

 

I did find out from the internet cafe guy that if you go though him personally you can buy the $9.99 plan by the day...otherwise it is paid for your entire cruise.  

 

Regent really should spend the $$ for ESPN TV service on board.

[Pcardad]

Actually, and I find this funny, the only websites blocked by Regent are porn sites.

[UUNetBill]

1 hour ago, Pcardad said:

Actually, and I find this funny, the only websites blocked by Regent are porn sites.

And I'm sure you know this because, uh, people told you so...yeah, that's the ticket...  🤣

[Pcardad]

12 minutes ago, UUNetBill said:

And I'm sure you know this because, uh, people told you so...yeah, that's the ticket...  🤣

Well, it IS the only reason the internet was created!

[flyau98]

They must have tightened up the blocks...even embedded videos in Tweets were blocked on the included internet in January.  AppleMusic couldn't download or stream anything.  ESPN app wouldn't stream audio or video.  

 

 

[UUNetBill]

I kind of chuckled when I saw the title of this thread, "Speed and Bandwidth of WiFi on Regent Splendor."  I was like, "Nope, neither speed nor bandwidth are part of the WiFi on ANY Regent ship."

 

Shame, actually, for those of us who are still in the workforce and need to check in with the office every now and then.  How bad is it when you're paying over a grand a day per person and you need to scurry around the ports trying to find a decent signal?  Shame.

 

📡  📶   🐁

[-Lew-]

On 3/4/2022 at 5:55 AM, flyau98 said:

They must have tightened up the blocks...even embedded videos in Tweets were blocked on the included internet in January.  AppleMusic couldn't download or stream anything.  ESPN app wouldn't stream audio or video.  

 

I wonder whether using a VPN would bypass Regent's block of streaming content.  Anyone tried yet?

[Pcardad]

9 minutes ago, -Lew- said:

 

I wonder whether using a VPN would bypass Regent's block of streaming content.  Anyone tried yet?

The only thing Regent blocks is some major adult content sites. You can stream Netflix with a basic connection at 4AM when no one else is awake and using bandwidth.  A VPN would be effective only if the website itself blocked Regent.

Edited March 6, 2022 by Pcardad

[-Lew-]

34 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

The only thing Regent blocks is some major adult content sites. You can stream Netflix with a basic connection at 4AM when no one else is awake and using bandwidth.  A VPN would be effective only if the website itself blocked Regent.

 

There was mention that Apple Music won't stream which is a bummer.  I know I can download music before embarkation, but we enjoy listening to some of the streaming radio stations.