Transatlantic Premium WiFi Reliability?

[int4i]

I'm looking to do Celebrity Beyond Oct 12. Does anyone know what I should expect for the reliability of the premium wifi on the cruise? Would I be able to do work and do video work meetings? Anyone with experience? Thanks!

[kentlady]

We recently did a transatlantic on the Silhoutte and although we had the premium wi fi and at one stage we were without it for 3 days, the captain explained it was because we were  between signals and there was nothing they could do.

[Arizona Wildcat]

On a TA you probably will have periods when signals are weak and service poor to fair.  Particularly in the middle of the ocean.

[1025cruise]

On a good day I wouldn't expect the ability to do video meetings. On a TA, I'd expect not to have internet at all for some period.

[Hlitner]

There is a myth among cruisers that is buttressed by the cruise lines.  Paying extra for Premium (call it what you want) Internet does nothing to improve your bandwidth.  It simply removes some software blocks so you can stream...assuming the Internet service is good enough for streaming.  But when you are sea, your service depends on location, atmospherics, how many others on the ship are using the Internet at that moment, etc.  On TAs (with any cruise line) your Internet service will vary from very good to "not working."  

 

Hank

[canderson]

Once we determined the company currently supplying satellite data service and looked at that company's satellite constellation, some things became clearer.

 

The company's birds are all in an equally spaced geostationary configuration.  That is to say that they are uniformly strung around the equator.

 

As such, being in the middle of the Atlantic or docked in FLL makes no difference.  Particularly high and low latitudes (Alaska or southern S. America) can reduce signal.  

 

At-sea days on a TA definitely strain the system as that's when the max number of pax are aboard daytime to use what bandwidth the ship makes available.

 

C'mon Elon!

Edited June 16, 2022 by canderson

[PTC DAWG]

Posts like this make me glad I'm not all that important.  The World can make it without my input for a week or so.  

[TFree]

On the Apex transatlantic last month, I think we had the better part of a day when the premium WiFi was not working at all.  At other times it worked, but it was not impressive for the second newest ship in the fleet.

 

Tom & Judy

[canderson]

3 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

Posts like this make me glad I'm not all that important.  The World can make it without my input for a week or so.  

Posts like this make me wish I weren't 'unretired' and in part responsible for support for a key piece of government space surveillance infrastructure.

 

Not all of us can just walk/float away from life for a couple of weeks of joy without remaining connected 'just in case'.  I'll be glad when this gig is complete.

[RTShaker]

6 hours ago, TFree said:

On the Apex transatlantic last month, I think we had the better part of a day when the premium WiFi was not working at all.  At other times it worked, but it was not impressive for the second newest ship in the fleet.

 

Tom & Judy

Newest or oldest in the fleet has little bearing on the supplied signal from a satellite provider. You can have the latest and greatest on board, but you are at the mercy of a third party to connect you to the rest of the world.

[TFree]

1 hour ago, RTShaker said:

Newest or oldest in the fleet has little bearing on the supplied signal from a satellite provider. You can have the latest and greatest on board, but you are at the mercy of a third party to connect you to the rest of the world.

I understand that, but the point I was trying to make is just that you cannot expect much in the way of premium transatlantic WiFi, even if you are on one of the newer ships.

 

Tom & Judy

[Jim_Iain]

I was also on Silhouette for the TA crossing and being a techno nerd living in Silicon Valley I'm probably connected much of the time in some manner.   I only recall loosing connectivity for about 70% of the time on one day the day before the Azores.   Most of the remainder of the crossing I generally had good connectivity for Zoom Calls and posting.  Sometimes the bandwidth was very limited but with repeated tries I could get through.

 

Out cruise was a Mid Atlantic Crossing and I generally find better connectivity on a Southern Crossing

[int4i]

Thank you all for the wonderful help.

[cachouonacruise]

I am on the Silhouette now, crossing in the North Atlantic from England to Iceland.

 

There is a storm in the vicinity of Iceland and we are experiencing strong winds and good waves.

 

The Premium wi-fi is slow.

 

Able to communicate via Messenger (text), Cruise Critics, etc. Unable to access the website for my bank. Unable to open a short video clip on Messenger.

 

Did not try yet, to do a video chat, but my hopes are not too high.

[Bgwest]

On 6/16/2022 at 8:37 AM, Hlitner said:

There is a myth among cruisers that is buttressed by the cruise lines.  Paying extra for Premium (call it what you want) Internet does nothing to improve your bandwidth.  It simply removes some software blocks so you can stream...assuming the Internet service is good enough for streaming.  But when you are sea, your service depends on location, atmospherics, how many others on the ship are using the Internet at that moment, etc.  On TAs (with any cruise line) your Internet service will vary from very good to "not working."  

 

Hank

are you saying that for email, wife’sFB, and other “non-streaming” sites that basic and premium provide the same speed and bandwidth?

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, Bgwest said:

are you saying that for email, wife’sFB, and other “non-streaming” sites that basic and premium provide the same speed and bandwidth?

I have never noticed any difference.   I do not think that buying premium gets you more bandswidth but simply gets certain options not blocked!  Perhaps some other posters have better information, but that has been my experience.   While you obviously need slightly more bandwidth for functions like streaming (vs text, e-mail, etc) that does not necessarily mean you get more speed.  You might look at what the cruise line says you get with the upgraded package?  Does it say "more speed?"

 

Many cruise lines will tell you that their basic Internet gives you e-mail, browsing, and text.  They will then sell a package upgrade that they say "allows use of social media and certain streaming."  That is not a matter of bandwidth or speed but simply software that blocks your access to various sites.  Pay more money and they remove the block.  Does this get you more speed?  Not likely.

 

Hank