Hello from Insignia...

[hondorner]

A very brief message from aboard Insignia. We rounded Cape Horn this morning. We just saw some snow from our veranda -- weather had been great but cold.

 

This is confirmation that it is possible to reach the internet from a personal laptop using a Sprint Aircard and the Sea Link facilities aboard Oceania, instead of using the ship's internet service. What has yet to be determined is how much this will cost; I will probably have to wait until all bills are in (from ship and Sprint) before I know that answer, but this is a test to determine the answer. the speed is good, better than dial-up.

 

Not knowing how much it costs, I probably won't be logging in again, so I'm afraid I can't answer any questions until we return.

 

So far, cruise is wonderful, ship is decorated beautifully, food is outstanding as usual, and we are now headed towards the Chilean fjords and glaciers.

 

So long for now..

 

Don

[GeriatricNurse]

A very brief message from aboard Insignia. We rounded Cape Horn this morning. We just saw some snow from our veranda -- weather had been great but cold.

 

This is confirmation that it is possible to reach the internet from a personal laptop using a Sprint Aircard and the Sea Link facilities aboard Oceania, instead of using the ship's internet service. What has yet to be determined is how much this will cost; I will probably have to wait until all bills are in (from ship and Sprint) before I know that answer, but this is a test to determine the answer. the speed is good, better than dial-up.

 

Not knowing how much it costs, I probably won't be logging in again, so I'm afraid I can't answer any questions until we return.

 

So far, cruise is wonderful, ship is decorated beautifully, food is outstanding as usual, and we are now headed towards the Chilean fjords and glaciers.

 

So long for now..

 

Don

 

Hi Don:

Pleased to read that you are enjoying your cruise onboard Insignia!

DW & I will be on this cruise in January 2010! We can hardly wait!

[debsjc]

Can't wait to hear all about it when you get back :D

[bbwex]

It will be interesting to hear what the charges are. Unless you were close enough to land for the aircard to hit a land-based tower, I would agree that you were likely using the ship's system, so will they charge you the same as if you were using a ship's computer. Many of us look forward to your answers both as to the ship and as to Sprint.

[hondorner]

We're home from Chile. There were no charges on my Oceania shipboar invoice for SeaLink data usage, so I suspect they will show up on my Sprint bill. I just checked the current Sprint usage, and there are no additional data charges, no SeaLink charges and no international roaming fees -- yet. Perhaps it takes a few days for the charges to be posted. Bottom line -- I still have no idea what it cost me to use the AirCard on board.

 

I can assure you we were not close enough to land; at one point when I made a test connection we were slgging though the South Atlantic about halfway towards the Falkland Isalnds. My aircard does not work with South American or European connections; it's either the SeaLink connection or none at all.

 

I do not expect the charges will be related in any way to the ship's internet fees. The ship charges by time units (so much per minute of connection, regardless of the amount of data passed, while the best information I can find about SeaLink is that they charge based on megabytes of data transferred, regardless of the abount of time spent on line.

 

I logged on a total of 3 times; the 2nd time was when I posted the above message to start this thread; the third time was to "tune up" the computer for this type of use. Travelers who are more experienced than me will already no these things, but I learned some things the hard way.

 

The first is, if you are using your won computer to hook up while traveling, it needs to be set up propely to save time and data. Most of my traveling with the laptop is in an RV, the signal I receive is always fast and "free" (included in my basic rate), and I never worried about it. But, the first time I logged in, the computer started a lengthy -- and slow -- download of the latest Windows updates, logged in to download the latest antivirus updates, started a Java update and automatic printer driver update, and started an automatic on-line backup program I use called Mozy, all while attempting to download several dozens of email messages. What a mess -- megabytes slogging everywhere, all at little more than dial-up speed, and nothing getting accomplished.

 

So, Important Point Number 1 -- learn how to turn off all those updates, dowloads and backups before you try to use even a moderately expensive internet function. Strictly control what your computer is doing and maximize the task you most want to accomplish.

 

Important Point Number 2 -- if you forget something, and it suddenly leaps out of the woodwork and starts to hog all the bandwidth, know how to turn it off -- and if all else fails, how to turn off the AirCard) before you waste alll that data transmission on something that could wait until later.

 

Trust me -- this is from someone who has learned everything he knows about computers by making every mistake there is to make -- and then learning how to avoid them.

 

The speed with an AirCard is not going to be much faster than dialup from on board the ship, because regardless of the native speed of your equipment, you are still sharing a satellite connection with many others.

 

My AirCard is from Sprint, and I now know it works through SeaLink. Verizon, ATT and others also make AirCards, but I have no direct experience with them. I have heard that Verizon works and ATT does not, but that is third or 4th hand knowledge.

 

Betsy and I love the AirCards; we each have our own, and they are the only internet comnnections we have. We use them at home, on the road in the RV, on board ship and anywhere else we happen to be. We have always gotten a signal and we generally enjoy something close to broadband speed. They are not the least expensive way to access the internet at $60 each per month for unlimited access, but we have two homes, and having a high speed cable or DSL connection in each would be almost as expensive, and could not be used on the road.

[lcand1923]

Just curious - have you gotten your Sprint Bill?

 

I'm wondering if you got a roaming or any other additional charge.

The AirCard sounds like a wonderful idea.

[hondorner]

Thanks for reminding me.

 

I just checked my last bill, for the period beginning Dec 25. I made my first use of the AirCard on board the ship on Dec 28, and another a couple of days later.

 

I'm shaking my head in wonder.

 

There were no charges on my ship's invoice.

 

There was no bill from Sea Link, the provider of cellular service to Oceania.

 

There were two (2) message units charged to my Sprint bill, specifically to the AirCard that I used, for a total of $0.40. Yep, you read that right, I logged onto the internet twice, downloaded email, composed the message to this forum while on line and sent it, and read some of the other messages, and my total charges were 40 cents.

 

The AirCArd is a wonderful thing. If there is high speed broadband cellular service available, the speed is nearly as fast as DSL. If there cellular service of any kind available, the speed is still faster than dial up. On board the ship, which went to the ship's cell antenna and was then converted to a satellite signal, then converted back to a cell signal and then hooked to the Sprint Network, the speed was slightly faster than dial up, which is about what I was told that the ship's internet service is like.

 

Just this morning, I was at a county park, sitting in my RV in between my grandchildren's soccer games, reading my email and connecting to the forum at mobile broadband speeds. So far, I have been able to get onto the internet anywhere I have been, except in International shore service -- my air card is not set up for their systems. But, once the ship is at sea, the Sea Link connection appears to either be ridiculously cheap, or else I fell betweenthe cracks, somehow, and they failed to bill me properly. Either way, I like it...:cool: