WIFI Question - Not Related to Price Increase

[ishap]

Do you have to pay for all days you are on the ship or just the day that you use the the internet?  I just want to be able to send a few messages to keep in touch with people back home on sea days, but find wifi when in port.

[mz-s]

5 minutes ago, ishap said:

Do you have to pay for all days you are on the ship or just the day that you use the the internet?  I just want to be able to send a few messages to keep in touch with people back home on sea days, but find wifi when in port.

 

you can purchase 24 hours of the value and premium plans. but the social plan is only available for the entire duration of the cruise.

[resetjet]

The problem with a travel router is the Terrible speed that you get is divided by the number of devices if it even works at all.  You are really better off just sharing the one device subscription by logging out of one and into the account other.  Royal is pretty good and they are the exception.  Especially when hooked up to starlink.  It seems on ships the network is totally overwhelmed.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

4 hours ago, resetjet said:

The problem with a travel router is the Terrible speed that you get is divided by the number of devices if it even works at all.  You are really better off just sharing the one device subscription by logging out of one and into the account other.  Royal is pretty good and they are the exception.  Especially when hooked up to starlink.  It seems on ships the network is totally overwhelmed.

 

Regarding the speed - there is a "workaround" I stumbled upon. I noticed when we were on the Reflection over Thanksgiving that my speed seemed better when I was running a VPN (Hotspot Shield) on my phone. I tested over multiple days (with and without) and the difference was significant. I'd imagine that it won't work in all, or perhaps even most, situations.

 

I didn't know if that was specific to the network/settings on the Reflection, Celebrity, or what. So, I tested it again (3 days in a row) on our Christmas Liberty sailing a couple of weeks ago. Researching this finding, I came across a couple of articles which discussed it - but none with the kinds of results I was getting. The reasoning given was that, by using a VPN, the provider is not able to determine what sites you're going to, thus they do not implement bandwidth throttling. If nothing else, I'm a believer - and even considered not posting this info on the boards - for selfish purposes. Then again, I doubt enough people will either believe this or, further, go to the trouble of running a VPN.

 

Here's an example - while at sea - first without my VPN running, then with it running (only a minute in between the readings):

 

 

 

 

Tom

[resetjet]

18 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Regarding the speed - there is a "workaround" I stumbled upon. I noticed when we were on the Reflection over Thanksgiving that my speed seemed better when I was running a VPN (Hotspot Shield) on my phone. I tested over multiple days (with and without) and the difference was significant. I'd imagine that it won't work in all, or perhaps even most, situations.

 

I didn't know if that was specific to the network/settings on the Reflection, Celebrity, or what. So, I tested it again (3 days in a row) on our Christmas Liberty sailing a couple of weeks ago. Researching this finding, I came across a couple of articles which discussed it - but none with the kinds of results I was getting. The reasoning given was that, by using a VPN, the provider is not able to determine what sites you're going to, thus they do not implement bandwidth throttling. If nothing else, I'm a believer - and even considered not posting this info on the boards - for selfish purposes. Then again, I doubt enough people will either believe this or, further, go to the trouble of running a VPN.

 

Here's an example - while at sea - first without my VPN running, then with it running (only a minute in between the readings):

 

 

 

 

Tom

There are different ways to rate limit. Per ip,  per access point,  per network,  etc.  then there is bursting where you get s great rate up to a certain amount.  However what i have

experienced is that the network is so overehelmed that all of that is out the window.  I dont think a vpn would change that.  They can port block or restrict whatever they on their lan. 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

41 minutes ago, resetjet said:

There are different ways to rate limit. Per ip,  per access point,  per network,  etc.  then there is bursting where you get s great rate up to a certain amount.  However what i have

experienced is that the network is so overehelmed that all of that is out the window.  I dont think a vpn would change that.  They can port block or restrict whatever they on their lan. 

 

I don't know that they're motivated/sophisticated enough to pull that off (predictably) - certainly not on all ships at least, yet... !

 

All that I know is what I've experienced/measured.

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

[Pellaz]

On 1/4/2023 at 1:59 PM, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Interesting - yep, it seems like they're all set up differently. I just learned, after booking my first MSC sailing a couple of days ago, that when they say 1 device, they mean just that. You can't switch one off and another on. 

Wow.  Now THAT's brutal.  

 

On 1/4/2023 at 2:04 PM, BlerkOne said:

I don't know about that. I found the WiFi on Carnival Ecstasy (the oldest ship at the time) was superior to that on Celebrity Reflection and Royal Vision of the Seas.

This varies a lot based on where your itinerary is taking you and what sort of satellite coverage you have.  

I remember taking an Eastern and then a Western Caribbean itinerary on Horizon a year apart.  The first sailing had excellent Wi-Fi speed; the second was lousy to so-so.  Both ships were fairly full as this was pre-COVID. 

 

On 1/4/2023 at 3:04 PM, choppe said:

I have never used my phone to make calls while at sea but does anyone know if I will be able to use wifi calling through the Spirit's premium wifi while at sea?  I specifically gave my travel dates to my clients and they went ahead and scheduled mediation while I am gone.  Glad it was at least scheduled for a sea day.

Unfortunately, no.  Carnival appears to port-block Wi-Fi calling; when I tried calling my sister it connected for a split second and then dropped.  This was years ago, but I'm pretty sure nothing has changed.  

On Royal and perhaps other lines, Wi-Fi calling is not blocked.  I remember getting a call from shore while walking in their Windjammer buffet and thinking "Wait, is that MY phone?   Wow, it IS!"   

With the high prices for ship-to-shore phone service, I kinda felt like -- wait for it -- Royalty.  😄  

Edited January 9, 2023 by Pellaz
structural improvements

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, Pellaz said:

This varies a lot based on where your itinerary is taking you and what sort of satellite coverage you have.  

I remember taking an Eastern and then a Western Caribbean itinerary on Horizon a year apart.  The first sailing had excellent Wi-Fi speed; the second was lousy to so-so.  Both ships were fairly full as this was pre-COVID. 

 

 

I think it varies more with how many people are trying to use at the same time, and also how many people are connected to a specific access point. In Ecstasy, each stateroom (in my experiences) had an access point. That likely is the same on Horizon.

 

It seems like the number of people vlogging and live streaming is growing exponentially which slow things down for everyone.

 

Satellite coverage is obviously a factor but I don't think it varies that much over the duration of a cruise.