Will Wifi Every Be Perfected on Cruise Ships

[mcrcruiser]

We had Star Link on 2 B2B  recent March Celebrity cruises . To say the lease it was out about 35%  out  & was not working .As a side note HAL's new Pinnacle class ships has far better TV than Celebrity .More movies by far & better reception

Edited April 6, 2023 by mcrcruiser

[chengkp75]

"Wifi" is likely about as good as it's going to get.  "Internet" will get better, but will never compare to land based internet, just because of the physics involved (with the corresponding cost).

[GeezerCouple]

3 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

"Wifi" is likely about as good as it's going to get.  "Internet" will get better, but will never compare to land based internet, just because of the physics involved (with the corresponding cost).

 

And I certainly wouldn't consider any of the land WiFi or even Internet we've used to be "perfected".

Not yet, anyway...!

 

GC

[clueless2]

Not without a really long Ethernet cable,

[1025cruise]

I'm sure the WiFi itself on the ships is fine. It's the internet access that's questionable.

[OlsSalt]

How much of bridge navigation also requires "good internet"?  

(wifi - whatever - low tech here)

 

One captain also bemoaned his service was not better than what the passengers were also complaining about.  

 

I assumed the ship's navigation was at least "wired" electronically for ...... everything. Safety, weather, at sea communications with other vessels, corporate headquarters.  How do they arrange for any onboard or at sea emergencies, when they too are struggling with dropped service or fuzzy connections?

 

What other instant back up communication systems does the bridge have? Or do they just rely on stringing out those lovely colored flags, like the good old days.

[richwmn]

1 hour ago, OlsSalt said:

I assumed the ship's navigation was at least "wired" electronically for ...... everything. Safety, weather, at sea communications with other vessels, corporate headquarters.  How do they arrange for any onboard or at sea emergencies, when they too are struggling with dropped service or fuzzy connections?

Traditional radio still works just fine and is still available

[chengkp75]

5 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

How much of bridge navigation also requires "good internet"?  

(wifi - whatever - low tech here)

 

One captain also bemoaned his service was not better than what the passengers were also complaining about.  

 

I assumed the ship's navigation was at least "wired" electronically for ...... everything. Safety, weather, at sea communications with other vessels, corporate headquarters.  How do they arrange for any onboard or at sea emergencies, when they too are struggling with dropped service or fuzzy connections?

 

What other instant back up communication systems does the bridge have? Or do they just rely on stringing out those lovely colored flags, like the good old days.

Virtually none requires internet connection.  What the Captain was complaining about is his corporate internet connection (e-mail), and the system is set up so that the ship's server prioritizes corporate communication over passenger communication.  Much of the ship's operation is "real time" with corporate, meaning that the maintenance and supply programs are connected to, and communicating with, the corporate office 24/7.  Accounting (including all passenger portfolios) are continually updated at corporate after each POS sale.  This is why the passenger service is spotty, and varies with time of day (passengers get better service when there is little activity on the corporate net), the passengers get whatever is left over of the contracted bandwidth, after ship's usage.

 

And, "wi-fi" is merely the network on the ship that allows your device to wirelessly connect to a server.  That server provides the connection to the internet, whether wired (on land) or via satellite (at sea).  All of the ship's devices are wired to the ship's network, so don't rely on "wi-fi".  If you go to the ship's "internet cafe" in the old days, you plugged your computer into the ethernet connection, and used the internet without using "wi-fi".

 

Nearly everything on the bridge uses satellite connectivity, but not to the internet, they are various (weather, notices to mariners, emergency position, GPS, security alerts) special purpose satellites and services, not through the internet, much as that would be considered heresy by most folks these days. Some things like chart updates (sent by NOAA) for updating electronic charts comes by internet, but those are low priority communications.

 

As noted, there will be dedicated satellite phones and various radios that can be used in emergencies.

[Ipeeinthepools]

The best Wi-Fi and internet I ever experienced on a ship was this past December on the National Geographic Explorer (an old ship) on a round trip to Antarctica.  I was able to stream programs from Xfinity, make Wi-Fi calls and Netflix even downloaded recent episodes of programs while I was gone.  I wasn't even expecting to have much satellite coverage in that area.  Contrast that to my HAL experience on the Rotterdam in February were no streaming or Wi-Fi calling was available (or at least I couldn't figure out how to make them work) in the Caribbean.  I'm assuming that HAL blocks those applications.  I wish HAL would at least allow Wi-Fi calling.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

Virtually none requires internet connection.  What the Captain was complaining about is his corporate internet connection (e-mail), and the system is set up so that the ship's server prioritizes corporate communication over passenger communication.  Much of the ship's operation is "real time" with corporate, meaning that the maintenance and supply programs are connected to, and communicating with, the corporate office 24/7.  Accounting (including all passenger portfolios) are continually updated at corporate after each POS sale.  This is why the passenger service is spotty, and varies with time of day (passengers get better service when there is little activity on the corporate net), the passengers get whatever is left over of the contracted bandwidth, after ship's usage.

 

And, "wi-fi" is merely the network on the ship that allows your device to wirelessly connect to a server.  That server provides the connection to the internet, whether wired (on land) or via satellite (at sea).  All of the ship's devices are wired to the ship's network, so don't rely on "wi-fi".  If you go to the ship's "internet cafe" in the old days, you plugged your computer into the ethernet connection, and used the internet without using "wi-fi".

 

Nearly everything on the bridge uses satellite connectivity, but not to the internet, they are various (weather, notices to mariners, emergency position, GPS, security alerts) special purpose satellites and services, not through the internet, much as that would be considered heresy by most folks these days. Some things like chart updates (sent by NOAA) for updating electronic charts comes by internet, but those are low priority communications.

 

As noted, there will be dedicated satellite phones and various radios that can be used in emergencies.

You note that passengers get better service when there is little activity on the corporate net. Is there generally a time when there is little activity on the corporate net? Conversely, is there a time to avoid for passengers as it would almost always be a busy time with the corporate net?

[chengkp75]

20 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

You note that passengers get better service when there is little activity on the corporate net. Is there generally a time when there is little activity on the corporate net? Conversely, is there a time to avoid for passengers as it would almost always be a busy time with the corporate net?

0800-1700 ship's time will be the busiest, along with around midnight as the accounts update.  The slowest times would be 0300-0600, typically.

[Colorado Klutch]

It's about bandwidth:

- StarLink has only so much bandwidth between the transceiver and the satellite

- Likely that bandwidth is allocated between ship operations use and passenger use. So if the operations bandwidth isn't being used, it's not like passengers get more bandwidth. The network switch onboard won't allow it

 

- The passenger bandwidth is divided among all passengers using the network

- The more passengers there are on the network, the more subdivided the bandwidth. 

- Thus, when a lot of passengers are on the network, the smaller the percentage of your bandwidth
 

As a passenger, if you want the best bandwidth, try accessing the network when most of the other passengers are asleep. 

Likely if most of the passengers on your ship are elderly, they are not using the Internet very much; especially after hours. If you happen to be on a ship where there a lot of young people, especially kids, you can count on them being online pretty much all the time; even late into the night. So, you're bandwidth will always suck. 

 

[CruiserBruce]

@Colorado Klutch, satellite location is also a factor. I suspect the constantly increasing number of Starlink satellites will factor into this.

[ontheweb]

5 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

0800-1700 ship's time will be the busiest, along with around midnight as the accounts update.  The slowest times would be 0300-0600, typically.

Thank you once again, very helpful.

[OlsSalt]

5 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

0800-1700 ship's time will be the busiest, along with around midnight as the accounts update.  The slowest times would be 0300-0600, typically.

 

Thanks for your excellent and detailed explanations.

 

Assume you mean 0300-0600 would be the fastest times for passenger internet access-   when these might also be the slowest times for ship use activity?

 

Do the daily working hours at corporate headquarters also matter - Seattle or Florida?

[chengkp75]

22 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

Assume you mean 0300-0600 would be the fastest times for passenger internet access-   when these might also be the slowest times for ship use activity?

Correct.

 

22 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

Do the daily working hours at corporate headquarters also matter - Seattle or Florida?

Not really.  Not as much as the ship's working hours.  Corporate has much less traffic going to the ship compared to what comes to them from the ship.  Sometimes, even third party vendors have access to systems onboard, one example was the manufacturer of the advanced waste water treatment plant, who could access the program for the plant, and monitor data and change parameters and settings.