WiFi included but it’s not really

[patty1955]

41 minutes ago, the penguins said:

thanks - well I think it's thanks.

None of the posts refer to "intranet" only "internet". But does that mean that what I said was correct? I  do hope so.

You're correct. The problem is that no most people wifi means internet. 

[hcat]

1 hour ago, the penguins said:

Sorry you have lost me. 

What  connection to the ships WIFI is free? There is always a charge.

Or are you saying that we can connect to the ship's system but that the ship's system can't connect to the outside world?

 

 

on the ship you can  check future X  cruises,  and use the app which we do not use.. We have  no need to go back and forth with others on board.  We use the telephone or sticky notes..

 

OP posted:

"I was pleased to have a package with WiFi included. 
 Unfortunately this is another trick to take your money. 
While it does include a basic access to the Internet you find that you cannot even send a single. ...etc"

 

 Topic of concern was being unable to send e mails and photos..which is what most want to do.( unless working from the ship)

 

.I get that others want to do much more but not all are into tech stuff..esp on a cruise!

 

Edited March 23 by hcat

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

I'm curious what kind of service I'll be getting on the Millie around Japan....

 

 

3 to 5 Mbps with premium...

Edited March 23 by NMTraveller

[Rick&Jeannie]

1 hour ago, arealcheapskate said:

The Basic wifi limitation is artificial and is purposely restricted by Celebrity. 

We use a GL-AXT1800 router with a wireguard protocol VPN. It bypasses all the port blocks/social media blocks/speed limitations and the internet works as the premium would. (Video calls etc). 

 

Because it's not a traditional VPN it's impossible for them to block as it uses the same port as a secure HTTPS connection. In addition we can tether as many devices as we like - they don't seem to throttle the speed. 

Nice!

[DaKahuna]

5 hours ago, arealcheapskate said:

We use a GL-AXT1800 router with a wireguard protocol VPN. It bypasses all the port blocks/social media blocks/speed limitations and the internet works as the premium would. (Video calls etc). 

 

 I use a similar device.  It works great while we are in the room.  I normally have my iPhone with me everywhere so we set mine up on my Wi-Fi account and use my DW's account for the travel router. 

 

5 hours ago, arealcheapskate said:

 

Because it's not a traditional VPN it's impossible for them to block as it uses the same port as a secure HTTPS connection. In addition we can tether as many devices as we like - they don't seem to throttle the speed. 

 

 It is not impossible.  MSC appears to be blocking travel routers using MAC address and / or deep packet inspection.  By looking at the source MAC address on the outgoing packets they can detect the device manufacturer and block based on manufacturer.  The same can be said for use of deep packet inspection.   I am glad Celebrity does not do this.  

 

[arealcheapskate]

1 minute ago, DaKahuna said:

 It is not impossible.  MSC appears to be blocking travel routers using MAC address and / or deep packet inspection.  By looking at the source MAC address on the outgoing packets they can detect the device manufacturer and block based on manufacturer.  The same can be said for use of deep packet inspection.   I am glad Celebrity does not do this.  

 

With wireguard can just use udp2raw to get around this - but it does slow the connection somewhat. I too am glad Celebrity doesn't do this or we would probably cruise elsewhere. 

[Alakegirl]

8 hours ago, jwlane said:

Everything they do is to make money.

Exactly.  It isn’t a charity.

[Shadow9612]

9 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

When starlink was first deployed on X, you could hit 40mbps but they throttled it down. 

Why do they do so? If 40mbps is possible, why limit?

[Georgia_Peaches]

10 hours ago, Traderboy said:

 

Some on this board  think that is a price worth paying. Not me!

What is a price worth paying?  My first cruise was in 1992. I didn’t have a cell phone and I had never heard of the internet. My pictures were taken on a Kodak disposable camera (some of which are in a box in the attic still waiting to be taken to Walgreens for 1 hour development) and all my memories of the trip were relayed to anyone who cared once I got back home. How ever do we manage now a days and what I wouldn’t give to go back to that simpler time. 

[arealcheapskate]

4 minutes ago, Shadow9612 said:

Why do they do so? If 40mbps is possible, why limit?

Quality of service. 40mbps is possible but not consistently and reliably. It's better to deliver 6mbps to everyone, all the time (all things being equal).

[Shadow9612]

2 minutes ago, arealcheapskate said:

Quality of service. 40mbps is possible but not consistently and reliably. It's better to deliver 6mbps to everyone, all the time (all things being equal).

Thank you 🙂

[NutsAboutGolf]

48 minutes ago, Shadow9612 said:

Why do they do so? If 40mbps is possible, why limit?

 

42 minutes ago, arealcheapskate said:

Quality of service. 40mbps is possible but not consistently and reliably. It's better to deliver 6mbps to everyone, all the time (all things being equal).

My WAG (Wild A$$ Guess) is this isn't right and the real reason is they pay for bandwidth.  If this is the case, they are just being cheap.  VV is advertising its 1.5Gbps (or 1,500mbps).I had 25-60mbps consistently on the Carnival Celebration which has Starlink and more people than the E-Class

 

Ms. Nuts and I work from the ship during the daytime on sea days.  The premium speed of 5mbps actually does everything we need except I have MS Team video calls and have had issues.  MS Teams recommends 4mbps so I'm not sure if the issue is inconsistent speeds, connection reliability, or a combination of both

 

I just DMed X/Celebrity on X/Twitter as I've always wanted to know why they cap when other lines do not; I'll reply once I see their response

 

 

Edited March 24 by NutsAboutGolf

[billc23]

13 hours ago, Traderboy said:

I was on Celebrity Millenium and i certainly could not send any photos at all.

 

In order to send any photo at all I would have had to pay 91 dollars for 12 days. 

Some on this board  think that is a price worth paying. Not me!

Does it depend on the size of the photo? Low resolution vs High resolution? I'm just thinking that may be a reason people are having different results with photos. 

[billc23]

10 hours ago, arealcheapskate said:

The Basic wifi limitation is artificial and is purposely restricted by Celebrity. 

We use a GL-AXT1800 router with a wireguard protocol VPN. It bypasses all the port blocks/social media blocks/speed limitations and the internet works as the premium would. (Video calls etc). 

 

Because it's not a traditional VPN it's impossible for them to block as it uses the same port as a secure HTTPS connection. In addition we can tether as many devices as we like - they don't seem to throttle the speed. 

I will look into that router. I currently use a VPN that has different protocols and quickly scrolls through them to find one that works. It does bypass the restrictions of the premium internet connection too. Port 443 is not a problem. The protocol list is:

 

• WireGuard®
• OpenVPN™
• Chameleon™
• IKEv2
• L2TP/IPsec
• PPTP

[arealcheapskate]

Just now, billc23 said:

I will look into that router. I currently use a VPN that has different protocols and quickly scrolls through them to find one that works.

That one is like the top of the line one - there are cheaper versions of the same router without wifi 6 etc. I just wanted something future proof. 

 

Chances are with your current VPN service you'll be able to just plug those details into the router and it will channel all traffic over that router so your devices can all connect. 

 

What I do is connect all on the same router so I can stream to the Chromecast I bring. I am not sure when or if they removed Streaming video services on the television maybe someone else can correct - but Apex had them and edge did not. 

[the penguins]

3 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

What is a price worth paying?  My first cruise was in 1992. I didn’t have a cell phone and I had never heard of the internet. My pictures were taken on a Kodak disposable camera (some of which are in a box in the attic still waiting to be taken to Walgreens for 1 hour development) and all my memories of the trip were relayed to anyone who cared once I got back home. How ever do we manage now a days and what I wouldn’t give to go back to that simpler time. 

You can - don't log in to the WiFi, put the phone in the safe as soon as you board, take real pics and make a photo book when you get home. Leave nothing but footprints wherever you go and take memories home to share. If there was a dire emergency at home the ship can always be contacted.

[billc23]

21 minutes ago, arealcheapskate said:

That one is like the top of the line one - there are cheaper versions of the same router without wifi 6 etc. I just wanted something future proof. 

 

Way off topic, but I’m running Pi-Hole and Unbound on an RPi4 at home and use my VPN as a less secure bypass. We can chat onboard sometime. 

[Liao]

20 hours ago, Traderboy said:

I was pleased to have a package with WiFi included. 
 Unfortunately this is another trick to take your money. 
While it does include a basic access to the Internet you find that you cannot even send a single photo to your loved ones. 
In order to share even simple photos  you have to pay another 91 dollars for 12 days.

I can understand why they might want to prohibit streaming videos or online video chats. However the banning of sharing a few photos is just a way for Celebrity to make money.

What do others think?

You lost me at "banning"! 

[LA24]

Was on the as ascent first week of march.

I did not have a wifi package but my friend and her mother did.

it never seemed to be working. They went to customer service twice and it was fixed for a short time. By day 3 they gave up as they didn't find they were using it anyhow and it was not working well at all.

she is easy going I would not of been happy at all paying for something that didnt work well.

 

 

Edited March 24 by LA24

[zitsky]

I work in IT and could probably figure out how to bring along a VPN.  It just creates two tiers.  One pax with a VPN with 40mps service. And one without with 1mps service.  Both paying the same price.

[paulh84]

16 hours ago, the penguins said:

the wording is correct basic WIFI can only be purchased pre boarding. Once onboard you can only purchase the Premium WIFI option. 

 

They stopped selling Basic WiFi a la carte several months ago. If you book Cruise Only you cannot purchase Basic. You have to purchase Premium. 

[PTC DAWG]

22 hours ago, Traderboy said:

I was pleased to have a package with WiFi included. 
 Unfortunately this is another trick to take your money. 
While it does include a basic access to the Internet you find that you cannot even send a single photo to your loved ones. 
In order to share even simple photos  you have to pay another 91 dollars for 12 days.

I can understand why they might want to prohibit streaming videos or online video chats. However the banning of sharing a few photos is just a way for Celebrity to make money.

What do others think?

Using the internet never crosses my mind on a cruise…

[patty1955]

24 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Using the internet never crosses my mind on a cruise…

Getting drunk on a cruise never crosses my mind but I know lots of people do.

[NutsAboutGolf]

17 hours ago, arealcheapskate said:

The Basic wifi limitation is artificial and is purposely restricted by Celebrity. 

We use a GL-AXT1800 router with a wireguard protocol VPN. It bypasses all the port blocks/social media blocks/speed limitations and the internet works as the premium would. (Video calls etc). 

 

Because it's not a traditional VPN it's impossible for them to block as it uses the same port as a secure HTTPS connection. In addition we can tether as many devices as we like - they don't seem to throttle the speed. 

 

What speeds are you seeing?

[bEwAbG]

The internet discussion is interesting but a fatal flaw of the OP's post is the idea that you have to send a photo to anyone, let alone pay more money to do so.  Texting photos is a relatively recent development in our lifetimes, even more so from the middle of the ocean.   I'm sure the recipients will survive without visual proof that you are where you say you are.