Starlink on Celebrity Ships - ISP/IP address location?

[Tharkhold]

Good morning,

 

I tried to find this using the ol google machine, but nothing; so here it goes:

 

What ISP/IP is reported while using Starlink on a Celebrity Ship?  I know Starlink is based in the USA, but what region are you considered to be in while aboard a ship and using said service?  Interested in this to see if/how I can watch some regional-specific things on streaming services (Netflix, disney, discovery+, etc.)

 

(If someone sees this onboard and doesn't know how to check, you can search for "What's my IP" in any search engine and first/second result should be a link that indicates your public IP and 'location').

 

Thank you!

Edited September 26, 2023 by Tharkhold
Added stream services as this could influence answers :)

[cruisinsusin]

When we were in Italy this summer the Starlink IP was listed as Spain 

[Tharkhold]

26 minutes ago, cruisinsusin said:

When we were in Italy this summer the Starlink IP was listed as Spain 

 

Thanks. I'm assuming this was while the ship was in Spanish waters/territory?

[groryjm]

When we were off the coast of Ireland in July it went through London, the Shetlands in July it also went through London and in May in the med off the South of France it went through Berlin. I don't think whose waters you are in reflects where it routes through

Edited September 26, 2023 by groryjm

[NutsAboutGolf]

There are free VPNs you can use where you can change locations/regions

[DaKahuna]

 We did a Panama Canal East to West earlier this year and had IP addresses from both the US and Mexico.  

[cruisinsusin]

44 minutes ago, Tharkhold said:

 

Thanks. I'm assuming this was while the ship was in Spanish waters/territory?

No, fairly sure it was that way most of the trip around the boot of Italy- I’m told it depends to which satellite the ship connects 

[Wineaux007]

34 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

There are free VPNs you can use where you can change locations/regions

I recall when I had a VPN, I had to disable it in order to connect to the ship's internet.  Is this still the case?

[DaKahuna]

45 minutes ago, Wineaux007 said:

I recall when I had a VPN, I had to disable it in order to connect to the ship's internet.  Is this still the case?

 

 I have not had to disconnect mine to connect to the ship's internet.  I use Private Internet Access as my VPN client.  I am able to chose endpoints all over the world, so no matter where Starlink earth terminals are located, my connection always looks like it is coming from my VPN endpoint. 

 

[cruisinsusin]

53 minutes ago, Wineaux007 said:

I recall when I had a VPN, I had to disable it in order to connect to the ship's internet.  Is this still the case?

With Nord, you need to turn it off and then connect to ship internet and then turn it back on 

[mnocket]

Your IP location will change depending on where you are.  Starlink uses their new satellites to serve mid-ocean users.  These satellites user laser inter-satellite communication to jump satellite-to-satellite until a ground station is within range.  That ground station establishes the IP location and will vary. 

[Tharkhold]

Ack all, thank you for the answers 🙂

[Jim_Iain]

5 hours ago, Tharkhold said:

Good morning,

 

I tried to find this using the ol google machine, but nothing; so here it goes:

 

What ISP/IP is reported while using Starlink on a Celebrity Ship?  I know Starlink is based in the USA, but what region are you considered to be in while aboard a ship and using said service?  Interested in this to see if/how I can watch some regional-specific things on streaming services (Netflix, disney, discovery+, etc.)

 

(If someone sees this onboard and doesn't know how to check, you can search for "What's my IP" in any search engine and first/second result should be a link that indicates your public IP and 'location').

 

Thank you!

 

It varies  and may be which satellite they are hitting or which ISP they are connecting to .

 

I recently took a  B3B cruise -   First Caribbean, Second TA and Third British Isle.  

 

When running speed tests it always identifies StarLink but as for location varied from U.S., Mexico, Spain, Germany, UK.   

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, Wineaux007 said:

I recall when I had a VPN, I had to disable it in order to connect to the ship's internet.  Is this still the case?

You are 100% correct.   I have to do the same.   If you are on VPN it ignores the Celebrity Intranet for log on purposes.

[Wineaux007]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

You are 100% correct.   I have to do the same.   If you are on VPN it ignores the Celebrity Intranet for log on purposes.

Then how will the VPN help you since you will be connecting thru the ship's IP?

[NutsAboutGolf]

4 hours ago, Wineaux007 said:

I recall when I had a VPN, I had to disable it in order to connect to the ship's internet.  Is this still the case?

 

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

You are 100% correct.   I have to do the same.   If you are on VPN it ignores the Celebrity Intranet for log on purposes.

 

You login without the VPN and once connected, turn on the VPN.  I've done this many times

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Wineaux007 said:

Then how will the VPN help you since you will be connecting thru the ship's IP?

You first connect to the ships wifi to enter your credentials.    After connected you turn on the VPN and you can spoof location and protect your data behind a firewall.

[DaKahuna]

I guess my use of the travel router makes it different for me.  

I connect the travel router to the ship's WiFi - no VPN involved.  I then connect my devices, which have the VPN enabled, to the travel router.  

 

I'll have to double check whether I turn off he VPN on my phone when I connect it direct to the ship's WiFi.  I do not remember having to do so but then again I have slept a couple of times since I did it last. 

 

[Tharkhold]

13 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

I guess my use of the travel router makes it different for me.  

I connect the travel router to the ship's WiFi - no VPN involved.  I then connect my devices, which have the VPN enabled, to the travel router.  

 

I'll have to double check whether I turn off he VPN on my phone when I connect it direct to the ship's WiFi.  I do not remember having to do so but then again I have slept a couple of times since I did it last. 

 

 

Ohh, what travel router do you use? (Also, how are you connecting using the router to the wifi? Can you connect to the ship wifi as a normal 'device' like a phone/computer?)

 

Thanks

[DaKahuna]

7 minutes ago, Tharkhold said:

 

Ohh, what travel router do you use? (Also, how are you connecting using the router to the wifi? Can you connect to the ship wifi as a normal 'device' like a phone/computer?)

 

 

I have been using an older model of this router that I purchased years ago.

 

GL.iNet GL-SFT1200 

I set up the router at home giving it an SSID and Password.

When I get on the ship I plug it into a power source and the connect to it using the pre-configured SSID and password. 

 

 I then go through the router's procedure for connoting it to the ship's WiFi using the procedures provided by the ship.  Sometimes I set up my shipboard account with my phone and sometimes I do it on the router.  I find it easier to set up the shipboard account with my phone and then disconnect my phone.  

 

 Once connected to the shipboard WiFi, I connect my in-room devices to the travel router and this gives me internet access via the ship's WiFi.  

 

[Jim_Iain]

30 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

I guess my use of the travel router makes it different for me.  

I connect the travel router to the ship's WiFi - no VPN involved.  I then connect my devices, which have the VPN enabled, to the travel router.  

 

I'll have to double check whether I turn off he VPN on my phone when I connect it direct to the ship's WiFi.  I do not remember having to do so but then again I have slept a couple of times since I did it last. 

 

 

I often do the same ---- the problem with many of the travel routers is they don't have a built in VPN and if you try to access some sites like YouTubeTv or sometimes Netflix you can't view the content outside the U.S. (different if you download in advance).    The router I use has a OpenVPN feature and you drop in the NordVPN applet in and it spoofs the location to San Francisco so I can watch my home news station.  

 

For this I have to disable the VPN before I logon to Celebrity and then once connected re-enable.   After that all the traffic on my travel router is via VPN.

[Jim_Iain]

20 minutes ago, Tharkhold said:

 

Ohh, what travel router do you use? (Also, how are you connecting using the router to the wifi? Can you connect to the ship wifi as a normal 'device' like a phone/computer?)

 

Thanks

 

There are many youtube videos on "hotel mode travel router".

 

I use a GL-iNet GL-MT1300 because it has VPN capabilities.

 

To connect -

1.  First fire up your Travel Router and log onto it usually by the iP address of your router -  it is usually listed on the router's label.   for the GL-iNet it is 192.168.8.1   many others use 192.168.1.1

 

GL-iNet has a good tutorial https://docs.gl-inet.com/router/en/3/tutorials/connect_to_a_hotspot_with_captive_portal/

 

2.  Enter your credentials and go into setup

 

3.  You then select the type of protocol you wish to use... I use Extender Mode -  select that and search for internet connections.     When you see Celebrity Guest choose that one.

 

4.  Just like on your phone while still connected to your router on your Pc browser go to guest.onboardicafe.com which will pop up Celebrity's Log On Screen -   Put in username and passcode and you will connect.

 

5.   I use NordVPN and next go to VPN and activate the OpenVPN server I have loaded on my router.  NordVPN have tutorials on how to do this.

 

Now anyone that connects to your router they will access the internet via the VPN.    VPN by nature will slow down speeds by 30-40%.  

 

As a convenience when setting up my router I call it the same name as I use at home and then my laptop and tablets automatically connect to it without having to enter the passwords etc.

[NutsAboutGolf]

58 minutes ago, Tharkhold said:

 

Ohh, what travel router do you use? (Also, how are you connecting using the router to the wifi? Can you connect to the ship wifi as a normal 'device' like a phone/computer?)

 

Thanks

 

Assuming you're bringing a Mac or PC laptop, they both have built in hotspots which does the same thing a travel router does and they're far easier to set up.  For Macs, in the settings search for "internet sharing" and for PC's it's "mobile hotspot".  I've successfully used them both on X's starlink many times.

 

Test this out when your free, put your phone in airplane mode, and setup a laptop hotspot and connect to it to verify it works.  Will take you under to a minute to test

 

PC: 

 

Mac:

[TwoBeAtSea]

I'm on Equinox right now using Starlink and Watching YoutubeTV. 

My IP address shows as "Miami". 

 

I have installed OpenVPN on my phone to my home LAN.  

Once I am connected to the ships WiFi I enable the OpenVPN connection (Full tunnel configuration) and then use my phone as a hotspot and use that to connect my latptop to the Internet. A that point websites like Netflix or YouTubeTV see me as sitting at home and work normally. 

 

Note I was not able to use my phone by itself, at least for YouTubeTV.  It looks at the location data from the phone and blocks me.  If I disable location data it also blocks me which is why I am using the laptop. 

 

The Wifi has been spotty.  Yesterday it froze quite a bit and I had to disconnect and reconnect Wifi to get it back online.  Today it's been stable in the 3mb range.  Note: the disconnects have only happened in my cabin (9th floor).  Wandering the rest of the ship inside and out as been solid. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

34 minutes ago, TwoBeAtSea said:

I'm on Equinox right now using Starlink and Watching YoutubeTV. 

My IP address shows as "Miami". 

 

I have installed OpenVPN on my phone to my home LAN.  

Once I am connected to the ships WiFi I enable the OpenVPN connection (Full tunnel configuration) and then use my phone as a hotspot and use that to connect my latptop to the Internet. A that point websites like Netflix or YouTubeTV see me as sitting at home and work normally. 

 

Note I was not able to use my phone by itself, at least for YouTubeTV.  It looks at the location data from the phone and blocks me.  If I disable location data it also blocks me which is why I am using the laptop. 

 

The Wifi has been spotty.  Yesterday it froze quite a bit and I had to disconnect and reconnect Wifi to get it back online.  Today it's been stable in the 3mb range.  Note: the disconnects have only happened in my cabin (9th floor).  Wandering the rest of the ship inside and out as been solid. 

 

Only the pixel and a few other androids can successfully take an incoming wifi signal and turn that into a wifi hotspot.  Most other phones including the iPhone cannot do so.  While iPhone's have a "hotspot" function, it only works if you have cell phone reception