Holland America - Eurodam - Use of IPAD

[maggiemag]

I am traveling Holland America in June of this year to Denmark, Estonia, Russia, Germany, Sweden, and Finland. I have taken my laptop on many HAL cruises and had no problems connecting via their WIFI. I pay for the 250 minute package and I have had no issues. I now have an IPDA 3 and I would like to bring my IPAD but I am hearing that they having connectivity issues that using the WIFI on the ship. Has anyone sailed recently on the Eurodam and used an IPAD to connect to HAL WIFI on board the ship? Thank you.

[dakrewser]

THe Ipad's wireless radio is relatively weak - especially compared to a laptop or even a Kindle Fire. That said, they ARE usable, but you need to be very close to a wireless access point.

[Charles4515]

Originally Posted by dakrewser

THe Ipad's wireless radio is relatively weak - especially compared to a laptop or even a Kindle Fire. That said, they ARE usable, but you need to be very close to a wireless access point.

The weak wireless radio is a myth propogated on the HAL boards. I have used my iPad around the world on WiFi. I have used it four times on HAL. If there is something weak it is the HAL WiFi networks.

[dakrewser]

Originally Posted by Charles4515

The weak wireless radio is a myth propogated on the HAL boards. I have used my iPad around the world on WiFi. I have used it four times on HAL. If there is something weak it is the HAL WiFi networks.

No myth at all, but personal experience (and well documented in the tech media). While I could use my laptop and Fire in my cabin, the iPad needed to be much closer to the WAP. Did I use my iPad on the Ryndam? Yes, I did. Could I use it anywhere I wanted to? No, not at all.

ASs to the wifi signal - it's no different on HAL's ships then on the others I've used it on - Princess, Celebrity, NCL and more.

[cru1sinforabruisin]

Originally Posted by Charles4515

The weak wireless radio is a myth propogated on the HAL boards. I have used my iPad around the world on WiFi. I have used it four times on HAL. If there is something weak it is the HAL WiFi networks.

It's not a myth or restricted to the HAL boards. A lot of people have wi-fi problems with the latest iPad, including a friend of mine... one of the few times I've been grateful for not being able to afford a new product!

Take a look:
http://www.macrumors.com/2012/03/21/...n-on-new-ipad/
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles..._new_ipad.html

That said I haven't used an iPad onboard so my advice would be to test your iPad to see how strong the connections are versus your laptop. For example go to speedtest.net and run the test on your iPad, and then do the same with your laptop.

[Charles4515]

Originally Posted by cru1sinforabruisin

It's not a myth or restricted to the HAL boards. A lot of people have wi-fi problems with the latest iPad, including a friend of mine... one of the few times I've been grateful for not being able to afford a new product!

Take a look:
http://www.macrumors.com/2012/03/21/...n-on-new-ipad/
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles..._new_ipad.html

That said I haven't used an iPad onboard so my advice would be to test your iPad to see how strong the connections are versus your laptop. For example go to speedtest.net and run the test on your iPad, and then do the same with your laptop.

Those articles say a few people have reported issues. I have had an iPad 1 and I now have the new iPad 3. I have not been onboard with the new one yet but I have done speedtests at Starbucks and Whole Foods. My new iPad 3 gets a faster and better connection on their WiFi than with the iPad 1. And the connection is as fast as on my laptop WiFi. My laptop is four years old. One thing interesting though, the LTE cellular is faster than the WiFi at either of those stores. On my home network the WiFi is somewhatt faster than LTE but you have to do a speedtest to tell.

Cruise ships unfortunatly have crummy wireless. And HAL has about the worst. Last December I did back to back on Allure of the Seas and the next week on Nieuw Amsterdam. Allure of the Seas WiFi was faster and better than NA.

[Charles4515]

Originally Posted by dakrewser

No myth at all, but personal experience (and well documented in the tech media). While I could use my laptop and Fire in my cabin, the iPad needed to be much closer to the WAP. Did I use my iPad on the Ryndam? Yes, I did. Could I use it anywhere I wanted to? No, not at all.

ASs to the wifi signal - it's no different on HAL's ships then on the others I've used it on - Princess, Celebrity, NCL and more.

Do you have a WiFI only iPad or a WiFi plus cellular iPad? Some of the articles say that the WiFi plus cellular model gets a better WiFi signal because the antennas are located behind plastic on those.

[Spender Nui]

Really interesting. Celebrity even promotes them. I've used mine on both (was warned on HaL not to expect much reception) and it did work on both ... but better on Celebrity. Coincidence? I don't know.

[dakrewser]

Testing at Starbucks doesn't count because the WAP is almst directly overhead - the problem is how far from the WAP you can get with an iPad and still get a connection. This has nothing to do with speed, just wifi connecton.

[Charles4515]

Originally Posted by dakrewser

Testing at Starbucks doesn't count because the WAP is almst directly overhead - the problem is how far from the WAP you can get with an iPad and still get a connection. This has nothing to do with speed, just wifi connecton.

And on HAL the problem in my opinion is that they have skimped on the WAP's. I go on three to five cruises a year so I can compare their WiFi to other cruise lines with the same devices. As I mentioned last December I cruises on Allure of the Seas and Nieuw Amsterdam, both ships,of relatively recent vintage. The WiFi on Allure was noticeably better with the same iPad 1. It was the network, not the device. Not that any of the cruise lines have great WiFi.......

By the way I live in a condo and I can see 8 other strong networks besides my own on my iPad 3. There are another 9 that show weak signals.

[cruisinjudy]

I used my ipad2 in my cabin on Oosterdam with no problems.

[KirkNC]

I used my ipad in our cabin on the Nieuw Amsterdam without a problem, in fact we had three of them going at once on occasion.

[gentlemancruiser]

Originally Posted by butlerana

Really interesting. Celebrity even promotes them.

it's because Celebrity sells Apple products on thier ships. The computer room is entirely Macbooks.

[CRUZBUDS]

Our neighbor on our last cruise was picking up wifi from shore on her netbook and was unable to see it on my iPad. They don't have the range of larger machines which seems reasonable because of the antenna size constants.

My home wifi was fine with my notebook anywhere in the house. When we got iPads, I needed to add a repeater.

It's a minor issue -- I love my iPad